8/25 UPDATE
Posted by Dr Diecast at 8/26/2008 6:53 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
So as you can see im at a "post once a week" mode lately. Nothing more then just time thats all. My plan as its been was to post updates with pictures. Like I have said I prefer not to take pictures as I go but to wait but to shoot them all at the same time. Well wouldn't ya know it sunny AZ has been a cloudy rainy state the last couple of days. This of course means no pictures since I only take them outside in natural sunlight. It rained last night and is 100% overcast this morning so I hope it clears out later and I can get some pictures shot.
Couple things...... one was the White GTO I, believe I posted pictures of, just didn't have the reflective shine to it it should so I took that apart and re clear coated it. Of course with that comes more sanding and polishing on top of putting it together again. While this is normal its just time consuming. I clear coated it over the weekend and spent all of yesterday, and I mean all, polishing and assembling the car.
Here is another example of the little things people have no clue about that make everything take a little longer.
In some cases I cannot strip a cars paint...... sometimes there are parts that are attached made from plastic and the stripper will damage them so the next option is to hand sand the whole car with 220 to break done most of the paint, then followed with some 400 to smooth it then shooting some high build primer. This is basically done 75% of the time. So once the paint is applied along with the clear there is probably more paint on the car then originally done at the factory (diecast) but not so much that the body parts will not work. But in the case of this GTO it was done..... then I had to resand it with some 800 to break down most of the clear on the car then re clear it though not shooting too much clear. Its a feel thing...... it's the only way I can put it. Too much clear and it will look thick and the doors, hood and trunk will not close right, not enough and as soon as I run some 2000 grit over it the paper will blow right through the new clear.
Anyway..... that got done and the car looks a ton better so all is good right ? Just pop it back together right.......... but noooooooo. Lets go back 100 other times I have typed this, these cars are NOT made to be taken apart and put back together in the first place and this one is getting it done for the 3rd time. Remember after the initial paintwork is done its dry assembled..... then it was final assembled and now its being re assembled again due to the clear issue. All this taking apart and putting together effects anything additional that might have been done from stock. This means the interior with the converted to an automatic shifter and pedals that get bumped while taking it apart that come off and have to be reglued each time, the vinyl top that gets bumped or rubbed a little while the car is flipped over on a towel for dis assembly and then in this case last but not least the under hood AC setup that was made custom for this car.
These GTO's have inner fender wells that look more realistic and are an assembly nightmare. These imped the chassis fitting back onto the body and take some bending and flexing in order to accomplish the task. Here in lays the problem. The AC was built to clear everything but was not built to be on the car when it was assembled. That of course meant the AC compressor broke off the engine while assembling it, the freon hoses that were designed to fit the car also came loose and had to be put back on. While it seems simple its not..... the placement is not conducive to assembly while the car is together.... mind you it wouldn't be a problem if the car didn't have a hood but thats not the case. So now its onto the tweezers and toothpicks (for the glue) to get it right. Well yahoo it was finally together...... but wait...... the hood wont close all the way... so its back apart again (4th time) to figure out why the hood wont close. The problem is the heater core box that was created for this car... the lower edge sits in line with the right hood hinge so when it closes the hinge will not sit down far enough so the hood lays flat. Mind you the solution was simple..... trim a little off the heater core but... somewhere between the first and third assembly something had to shift since was never a problem before. Anyway.... the whole 6 screws, wiggling and flexing and added to redoing the AC for the 4th time and it is finally together and done.
See even for me to type this it took probably close to 45 minutes. But the actual work took hours, 3 hours longer then I had expected. So when I get a call about someone unhappy that there car has taken a year to do I can only shake my head and repeat that if they think its so easy they need to work a day in my shoes. There is a reason I don't put a completion date on my contracts and this just makes it apparent why.
Ok...... well it looks like we will get some clearing here and see the sun so I will attempt to shoot some pictures today and give you guys more updates tomorrow.
Im out !
Couple things...... one was the White GTO I, believe I posted pictures of, just didn't have the reflective shine to it it should so I took that apart and re clear coated it. Of course with that comes more sanding and polishing on top of putting it together again. While this is normal its just time consuming. I clear coated it over the weekend and spent all of yesterday, and I mean all, polishing and assembling the car.
Here is another example of the little things people have no clue about that make everything take a little longer.
In some cases I cannot strip a cars paint...... sometimes there are parts that are attached made from plastic and the stripper will damage them so the next option is to hand sand the whole car with 220 to break done most of the paint, then followed with some 400 to smooth it then shooting some high build primer. This is basically done 75% of the time. So once the paint is applied along with the clear there is probably more paint on the car then originally done at the factory (diecast) but not so much that the body parts will not work. But in the case of this GTO it was done..... then I had to resand it with some 800 to break down most of the clear on the car then re clear it though not shooting too much clear. Its a feel thing...... it's the only way I can put it. Too much clear and it will look thick and the doors, hood and trunk will not close right, not enough and as soon as I run some 2000 grit over it the paper will blow right through the new clear.
Anyway..... that got done and the car looks a ton better so all is good right ? Just pop it back together right.......... but noooooooo. Lets go back 100 other times I have typed this, these cars are NOT made to be taken apart and put back together in the first place and this one is getting it done for the 3rd time. Remember after the initial paintwork is done its dry assembled..... then it was final assembled and now its being re assembled again due to the clear issue. All this taking apart and putting together effects anything additional that might have been done from stock. This means the interior with the converted to an automatic shifter and pedals that get bumped while taking it apart that come off and have to be reglued each time, the vinyl top that gets bumped or rubbed a little while the car is flipped over on a towel for dis assembly and then in this case last but not least the under hood AC setup that was made custom for this car.
These GTO's have inner fender wells that look more realistic and are an assembly nightmare. These imped the chassis fitting back onto the body and take some bending and flexing in order to accomplish the task. Here in lays the problem. The AC was built to clear everything but was not built to be on the car when it was assembled. That of course meant the AC compressor broke off the engine while assembling it, the freon hoses that were designed to fit the car also came loose and had to be put back on. While it seems simple its not..... the placement is not conducive to assembly while the car is together.... mind you it wouldn't be a problem if the car didn't have a hood but thats not the case. So now its onto the tweezers and toothpicks (for the glue) to get it right. Well yahoo it was finally together...... but wait...... the hood wont close all the way... so its back apart again (4th time) to figure out why the hood wont close. The problem is the heater core box that was created for this car... the lower edge sits in line with the right hood hinge so when it closes the hinge will not sit down far enough so the hood lays flat. Mind you the solution was simple..... trim a little off the heater core but... somewhere between the first and third assembly something had to shift since was never a problem before. Anyway.... the whole 6 screws, wiggling and flexing and added to redoing the AC for the 4th time and it is finally together and done.
See even for me to type this it took probably close to 45 minutes. But the actual work took hours, 3 hours longer then I had expected. So when I get a call about someone unhappy that there car has taken a year to do I can only shake my head and repeat that if they think its so easy they need to work a day in my shoes. There is a reason I don't put a completion date on my contracts and this just makes it apparent why.
Ok...... well it looks like we will get some clearing here and see the sun so I will attempt to shoot some pictures today and give you guys more updates tomorrow.
Im out !
Good to hear from you, John, have missed 'sharing' part of your life, but I still look nearly everyday, 1st, to see if there is new content, 2nd, to add to your counter so you will know there are loyal readers out here in the netherland.
Hope you get your sun
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