The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Reg wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:10 am Fabulous work Matt! You are spot on about the new paint..that lovely blue is a great motivator to getting the car done.

Hopefully, I will get to see it in the flesh this year! Another one on the road can only ever be a good thing.

Let's hope so Reg! I look forward to seeing you to. There may be some final additions to this car which I know you will like! I'm sure you can guess!

Hi folks.

The last few weeks have been spent continuing on the o/s rear inner arch and wing.
I had to close off the inner rear arch as I had cut out quite a large rotten patch repair much earlier on in the project. My mobile welder ran out of time when he fitted the sill on this side, so I thought I would do it.

While i had a gaping hole I could see right down the length of the sill, so I thought I would apply some Dynax aerosol through the sill first so as I could see how well it covers - very well to be honest, so it is well protected for the future.



I then set about making 3 repair sections that I welded in place. Welds were linished down before a coat of epoxy primer, followed by a skim of fibreglass filler over the welds just to make sure any pinholes were filled. This was then primed again, before a coat of Epoxy Mastic black over the top. Eventually I intend to paint the inner arches body colour, but this should give good protection for many years.




Once this was complete I carried on preparing the wing for top coat. I have spent a long time preparing it, and to be honest I just wanted to get some blue paint on it! So after a final rub down with P800, followed by panel wipe etc, I got up early on Saturday morning to put some top coat on before the washing went out on the line!

Multiple coats were applied and I am really pleased with the paint match and the finish from the can. It will need wet flatting and polishing, but should look ok. However, it is a bit 'wavy' in places and the swage line isn't perfect.

What I have learnt from this:
1. I should have spent a bit more time on this and not let the thought of shiny blue paint run away with me!
2. I should have bought a longer, flexible sanding block. Mine is rigid and due to the contours of the panel I didn't get full use of it and preferred using a small flexible sanding block with abrasive rapped round it. Despite going through the grades and using guide coat, some of the low spots didn't get picked up due to the use of smaller sanding blocks. I have purchased a longer block now, so I will use this on the n/s!

For now it is fine. I may return and have another go at it once the rest of the car is up and running and see if I can improve it. My intention long term is probably to have the sides painted professionally anyway, but I would have been delighted if I was 100% happy!








Other than this, I have painted the o/s sill today and also the black panel on the rear of the bootlid. Both look good in 'Satin' and I used a can of Simoniz 'tough paint' for this - quite forgiving paint and hopefully hard wearing.





I have also cleaned up, rust treated and painted the transmission tunnel before fitting a new seal. I bought some rubber seal on a roll in Australia last summer! Stuck with Evostick, should do the trick I hope.




I am just waiting to hear if the PC Resto show will be on at the NEC - highly unlikely I feel, but if it is, then I will be taking the car along to work on for a few days... if not I will self isolate in the garage and continue!

Kind Regards

MC

That looks pretty good Matt, i think you will find once polished and trims and wheels on, it will look rather nice If you are wet flatting before buffing? I would use a 1000 grade paper and soap. And be careful not to go though the paint on any corners.
One of the best paint jobs i have seen was done with rattle can's on a Vitesse done by an old chap! it was unbelievable he had photos of him doing doing it. It did take him a long time as he smoked a pipe as well. It took 3 dozen cans to do it, but what a job.

Tony.

Another vote here for the "soap trick" I use exclusively "Sunlight soap" which doesn't dry your hands out too badly after a week's worth of wet flatting with a block and 1000 or 1200 grit! Dip the block and paper in the bucket, then rub it across the bar of soap, just enough to pick up a bit on the paper, then rub away, replenishing the soap every time you dip the block. it's great for stopping the paper clogging and ripping the paint, especially with relatively fresh paint.

PS, it takes about 30 hours of wet flatting with 1200 and soap to do an entire Dolomite sized car (be grateful you have a vinyl roof!) Some of us think the effort is worthwhile!

Steve

30 HOURS! Good job everything is shut up at the moment Steve! I will need something to do!
Good advice though gents, so thanks for that. I will carry on with the other repairs and prep then return to the flatting and polishing in due course.

Kind Regards

MC

Great stuff Matt! Really enjoy your thread, keep it coming!

Cheers
Keith

Awaiting Repair wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:50 pm Great stuff Matt! Really enjoy your thread, keep it coming!

Cheers
Keith

That's very kind Keith and I'm glad you are enjoying it!

Matt Cotton wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:20 am 30 HOURS! Good job everything is shut up at the moment Steve! I will need something to do!
Good advice though gents, so thanks for that. I will carry on with the other repairs and prep then return to the flatting and polishing in due course.

Kind Regards

MC

This is why the top painters charge so much! A top job is VERY labour intensive! But you get out precisely as much as you put in! Paint is pretty much paint, a couple of hundred quids worth will paint a medium sized car and most anyone can learn to apply it to a reasonable standard. But the actual painting is the shortest part of the job, prep is everything! I recently spent nearly £200 on sandpaper, buying it by the quire (a pack of 40 or 50 sheets) to get a decent price and have enough to prep the Dolomega (yep, just ONE car) I've not done ANY painting for years, I found I couldn't make a profit from it, i'm too much of a perfectionist to make it pay, but i'm doing the lions share of the prep on the Dolomega to keep the cost down. And i've been shocked at the increase (since my painting heyday) in the price of all the "consumeables" needed, paper, filler, stopper, primer, thinners, gunwash etc that most people never even consider when pricing a respray.

Steve

Steve is spot on Matt, time and patience is everything in painting. You could actually brush paint the car and get a fantastic finish..... If the time is put in You are doing a good job so far though

Tony.

dollyman wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 3:11 pm Steve is spot on Matt, time and patience is everything in painting. You could actually brush paint the car and get a fantastic finish..... If the time is put in You are doing a good job so far though

Tony.

My uncle painted his hillman minx by hand, with coach paint by time he finished you couldnt tell it wasnt sprayed

Dave

I hope everyone is well during this strange and worrying time we are in at the moment.
I've made reasonable progress over the last few weeks, concentrating on the back end of the car.

Earlier on in the project, I cut out and let in a couple of small repair sections on the rear panel, where the holes for the chrome trim clips had rotted through. These areas were linished back, epoxy primed, filled and primed.

The whole panel was rubbed down, with a bit of filler here and there to eradicate some low level dents etc. 3 coats of primer were applied before flatting back and then applying some blue top coat.
I then masked up and painted the upper rear panel with satin black before refitting the rear lights (cleaned up well) and the refurbished numberplate I made up last summer - seems ages ago!

It is nice to see the car looking more like a Dolomite again.. well from the back anyway! Especially with the polished boot that Mike Groom kindly renovated for me.
As many of you will have read, Mike sadly passed away on holiday earlier on in March. This has really taken the wind out of my sails, along with many of us. He was a good friend for over 25 years ( I met him when I was 13!) and he will really be missed.

All this shiny stuff is all well and good, but really I knew I should be cracking on with the front end of the car - the last major area that requires repair.
At the weekend I removed the headlights,bumper, spoiler etc to get a better look at was lurking behind..

No real surprises. The o/s has had a previous repair to the inner valence around the headlamp surround and while it isn't particularly pretty, it is still solid so I think I will just clean it up and paint it. The eyebrow is shot though, along with the lower horizontal section and of course the headlamp mounting panel will be replaced. Alun has provided me with the neccesary panels to carry this out.

On the nearside, the inner valence is much worse - it hasn't been repaired before, so will be cut out (what's left of it!) and replaced. The eyebrow is marginally better, but I will remove it and replace it with a club grp panel.

Sometime ago I obtained a NOS front panel.. which has been in the loft for a while. I may use this to replace the original, as although it isn't in terrible condition, the corners are a bit rotten and i've already patched it where an 'additional' air vent had been cut behind the numberplate. It would save some time and I can repair the original in my leisure and put it back in the loft...when Mrs C isn't looking!

Plenty to keep me busy over the next few weeks - like many of you i'm sure, I am so glad I have this project to occupy myself at the moment with a bit more free time to spare.


BFN.

MC

Looking excellent Matt, (from the back anyway) The front does not look to bad? I have seen a hell of lot worse. The eyebrow looks ok in the picture, of is it full of filler? I really like that colour I resprayed my mk1 escort van the same back in the 70's.

Tony.

Looking excellent Matt, (from the back anyway) The front does not look to bad? I have seen a hell of lot worse. The eyebrow looks ok in the picture, of is it full of filler? I really like that colour I resprayed my mk1 escort van the same back in the 70's.
I have only just noticed what a restricted space you are working in. So hat's of to you for the quality of your work.

Tony.

Corr that rear end is looking good.

I'm still at work so a bit jealous as I have plenty to get on with at home car wise, but needs must, our order book has gone crazy for the components we supply to make medical equipment.

Keep up the good work Matt.

Nice one Tony.. You are doing your bit for the country.

Thanks for the comments. Yes, just a single garage albeit a bit longer than average. We are pondering and extension sometime which would enable the garage to incorporate two cars in series.. We will see.

The eyebrows are both holed up at the top near the front panel, especially the nearside. Not too much filler to be fair, but I think the front panel has been replaced before as the welds don't look factory spec.