1973 gtm coupe

[tedmcedd]

that elan looks so sexy!

not much special to do RE: fibreglass painting.... just dont use celly as that will crack....

looking good sir!

i should have quite an exciting update on tuesday....

Ed

[guru_1071]

ive got the outside wing started.

i first went over it with a flap wheel to pull all the damaged gel coat & fibreglass out of the really bad areas. i also chased out most of the impact cracks that had spread all over the wing and cracked the gel coat.

i then laid the normal grp mat iinto the deeper damaged areas and then overlaid the whole area with grp tissue.

ive also bought some red pigment, so the end result will be easier to sand.







in the above pictures you can see that the shape is starting to look right, but is still a bit lumpy round the arch where so much of the original damage was.

however

three hours of hand block sanding later.........



the arch is about perfect, with just a couple of little dips, i laid a bit more on last night and by next week it should be ready for the smallest ammount of body filler ever.

[guru_1071]

after the smallest amount of filler ever the arch is about 99% right, it just needs a little more and i will be happy with it






it needs a bit more on the return part underneath, but i will do that when i tip it on its side.

ive also got the screen out, which was difficult as it had been bonded in, it took about an hour of slowly cutting the seal away, then cutting through the sikaflex.

the whole car is now sanded and all the rough edges from the moulds have been removed - might even be in primer by next week



ive also started patching the bits im not happy with inside, im going to bond over all the joins where the various parts where pop rivited together.



spot the bit of a stick been used as a high tech mould former!!!

[tedmcedd]

might even be in primer by next week

famous last words... you'll have to get your sanding block back out if you want it as shiney as mine lol!!

looks good though, top ob on the arch repair!

Ed

[guru_1071]

yacht varnish edmund, yacht varnish!

[austinisuseless]

Blimey, yacht vanish. Guru has gone to sea, in inner lancashire!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D42nI0VGiW4

[tedmcedd]

thinking about the enormous back lights, you could make a big plate out of ally to go on the back, paint it matt black, get some smaller lights on the scene like pickup/van ones....

that pic of the back end with the large holes in just made me think... curved at the top and along that body line just inder the lights...

[tomkidd]

Looking good Rich, is the 8 port going in this?

[COOPERCO]

This what I had for rear lights. Blacked out the pockets the original 'truck like' units were in, fitted some new round lights (same as on Zonda's!), folded up some mesh & painted that black too.

[Vegard]

I like your skills Rich. I guess all handicapped people living on social benefit hates you

[guru_1071]

Looking good Rich, is the 8 port going in this?

tom, nope its having a 1071 with a tall diff in it

[guru_1071]

I like your skills Rich. I guess all handicapped people living on social benefit hates you

eh?

[Pandora]

thinking about the enormous back lights, you could make a big plate out of ally to go on the back, paint it matt black, get some smaller lights on the scene like pickup/van ones....

that pic of the back end with the large holes in just made me think... curved at the top and along that body line just inder the lights...

Nah, cut the whole lot out and put a black mesh panel in with Mk1 Cortina 'Ban the bomb' lights.

Al (who just happens to have a set of lights available.......)

[guru_1071]

thinking about the enormous back lights, you could make a big plate out of ally to go on the back, paint it matt black, get some smaller lights on the scene like pickup/van ones....

that pic of the back end with the large holes in just made me think... curved at the top and along that body line just inder the lights...

Nah, cut the whole lot out and put a black mesh panel in with Mk1 Cortina 'Ban the bomb' lights.

Al (who just happens to have a set of lights available.......)

p

it wont work, the later gtms (like mine) have a flat panel which would be smaller them the big round lights.

the only way would be to flatten off the whole rear end.

ive see a car with some fitted and it looked really rubbish.

ive decided to leave mine with the big square lights - ive not yet seen a car with a pair of round lights fitted that i like the look of - they are all either too big, too small or too modern (and beleive me, ive bought a few sets!)

i guess i just need to accept that its 'of period' and leave it at that!

i cant see the back when im driving it anyway!

[Vegard]

I like your skills Rich. I guess all handicapped people living on social benefit hates you

eh?

You prove that handicapped people can infact work

[guru_1071]

I like your skills Rich. I guess all handicapped people living on social benefit hates you

eh?

You prove that handicapped people can infact work

i can still kick your arse!

[austinisuseless]

Looking good Rich, is the 8 port going in this?

tom, nope its having a 1071 with a tall diff in it

Since the spark plugs are a couple of inches from the seats, carbs might be ambitious!

[guru_1071]

got a bit more done

all the rear underneath is now stonechipped white (will be painted red). the bits of the engine bay are done as well, but i will probably paint these black. you can also see the grp'ing ive done between the rear boot and the engine bay



note quality masking off job - and the no expense spent 'light on a stick' that i made from stuff my garage landlady left there!!!



ive also started on the front pillers - these have a metal tube that is poked in from the outside, then glassed to the top and welded to the bulkhead. both the tubes where in different places and it would have been to invasive to hack them out, so it was a case of trying to make them both look a little more equal.

the previous owner had just stuck hairy felt stuff over, but it hadnt stuck very well, so i decided to make an inner skin part so that its flat like a mini.

passenger side piller - you can see the metal tube (the hairy felt has been peeled off)



expandy foam - i did this to bulk it up and fill the void beteen the metal tube and the outer skin - it wasnt as successful as i hoped - the foam i bought dried to a very soft sponge cake type of consistancy - which was easy to cut into an appoximate shape, but virtually impossible to sand into a final shape



layered up with some mat and a final coat of tissue - it will need a rough sand and some filler to get it close, but im going to cover them in black vinyl so it doesnt have to be 100%. ive had to be careful to make allowances for the windscreen seal fitting in against the metal tube (doesnt photo very well)

[chris-pilling]

looking good guru!

[JanWulf]

BMW 2002: