Been a while since I've been able to report on any meaningful progress. Whn I dropped by shell off back in May the shop was already packed with work which meant my project was not the centre of attention until they had been completed. One project in particular was making use of the roll over spit thing which my shell needed to be fixed onto.
Paul has spent the last 3 weeks or so working to get the alignment, swage lines etc all lined up as best as he can. This has been quite an involved job as has removing and repairing a variety of dents and dings that the shell has picked up during 30 years of storage.
One of the most important stages though was well underway when I popped in the other day. When they were new the application of seam sealer and underbody coatings was pretty poor to say the least which lead to an early death for many a Dolomite. I decided that if it were possible to improve on the original application of both of these then I would do so. With the car on the spit Paul and his team have gained perfect access to all the underside of the car to apply seam sealer where required. In particular the rear wheel arches needed some work to ensure that any gaps were filled to prevent leakage into the boot etc.
Also the heat fusiable anti-drum pads have been installed on the floors and also the boot floor as per original style. I'll employ better more modern style pads for inside the rear panels and doors as these are not really seen. The caulking gun has also been hard at work on the inside of the car.
Originally I could not detect any seam sealer under the bonnet around the turrets etc. Paul was unhappy about leaving these unfilled so we settled on a 'wipe-in' application to help prevent problems with the joints here. By the time it's painted you won't even notice.
The next job is to apply an epoxy based orange primer to the under side of the car. This is tough and flexible and body coloured. From there a stone ship will be applied and again body coloured. next time I go over the car should be orange underneath and inside with the rest of the body in a white high build primer with the doors attached ready for my inspection prior to the final top coat being applied.