The 1971 Duster That Wouldn't Die

[LennyB]

10 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Now, now, boys…don’t get into a pissing match.?

I think we've hit an all time low. ?‍♂️

 

But I'm sure we can do better. ?

[customline]

Dont look at me, I tried to stop it. ?

[LennyB]

We were doing so good today. Weather was nice and it was a good day to paint. Got the 2K clear done on my Vette, then I moved on to the Duster. Got the body done.

 

Then I went to do the hood, picked up the body to move it to the back of the paint booth and it slipped in my hand and the air hose hit the body in two spots.

The right rear quarter

And the lower right corner of the trunk.

 

As Charlie Browne would say ARRRRGGGGHHHHH! ?. Actually that last part was for Jim.

 

We'll, let it dry and  sand it out and do it again. 41% chance of rain tomorrow, so that doesn't look promising.

 

So until then.....?

[customline]

What?

[slusher]

Man, I hate for you but we all have that kind of luck thru the years..

[LennyB]

Thanks guys.

 

I decided to give a go at sanding out the damaged spots. It was going well at first, fixed the damage on the trunk and I thought I had the rear quarter done as well. But as I was getting down to the finer sanding pads this happened. I had broken thru to the primer.

 

I needed to lay down some more paint anyway as I needed to spray the firewall and the radiator core support. As well as a bit of touch-up over-spray on the chassis after I fixed those random holes. So despite the rain today I took a chance and sprayed these bits and it went without incident.

 

I will just need to wait for another good day to spray the 2K clear again. Hope it come sooner rather then later. ?

[Bullybeef]

Nice save on the paint work. 

[LennyB]

So the weather couldn't be better today, humidity was 28% this morning. Perfect for spraying the 2K clear.

So we are moving forward once again on the Duster. Fixed the two flubs and now we have a good clean clearcoat. Will give it a break for a few days to dry and then on to the polishing. It actually looks pretty good as it is but I need to tone down the gloss a bit for this one. The Duster that wouldn't die never shined like this. ?

[customline]

Looks like you had a good day, Dave....uh...oh, Len. ?

[slusher]

Nice repairs Len!

[LennyB]

On 10/20/2024 at 2:20 AM, customline said:

Looks like you had a good day, Dave....uh...oh, Len. ?

Yes, we both did.

17 hours ago, slusher said:

Nice repairs Len!

Thanks Carl, I can always count on you to get my name right.?

[LennyB]

Made some slow progress on the Duster. After polishing out the body I sprayed the top with some Baer Matte Black Texture paint. I would like to get some pics out in the sun as the paint looks washed out under an incandescent light.

 

Next stop BMF land.

Edited October 28, 2024 by LennyB

[customline]

Happy paintday!  Looks good! Have fun BMFing!  Ooooo...that sounds dirty...?

[LennyB]

15 minutes ago, customline said:

Happy paintday!  Looks good! Have fun BMFing!  Ooooo...that sounds dirty...?

That makes it all the more fun.?

[Moparman18064]

Looking pretty snazzy there Len. You’ll be able to hear the valve train clatter pretty soon.

[spkgibsonfirebird]

Wow that's turning out nice! I'd love to do this with one of the new '71 Demon kits, or the Up and coming MPC based 1972. Those seats look great! As does rest. 

[LennyB]

10 hours ago, Moparman18064 said:

Looking pretty snazzy there Len. You’ll be able to hear the valve train clatter pretty soon.

Thanks Rich, hopefully I can find the engine as it's been rolling around the workbench for weeks now.

10 hours ago, spkgibsonfirebird said:

Wow that's turning out nice! I'd love to do this with one of the new '71 Demon kits, or the Up and coming MPC based 1972. Those seats look great! As does rest. 

I have been waiting for HL to put kits on sale again so I can pick up one of those Demon's Stephen. Probably going to use the Duster chassis on it.

[LennyB]

I guess you could say it was BMF week, as that is pretty much all I did this week. Well, maybe not all. The Duster was wet sanded down with sanding pads starting at 1K and working up to 3K. Then out came the Mcguiars polish, heavy cut cleaner, light cut cleaner and then swirl remover.

 

Following after this was the BMF. One little caveat was the vinyl top. While the textured paint worked out great on the top, the over-spray from the top on the moldings left some lumpy BMF. I was able to clean up the moldings by scraping with an X-Acto #11 and got most of the lumps out. Note to self, next time mask the moldings. Probably use the BMF for a mask before spraying the top.

Anywho, this is where we stand now. Need to get the polish out of the crevices.

 

Next I need to find the tower of power and introduce it to the chassis.....

[STU111]

G’day Len, I’m  still following this one. Starting to come together nicely.??

[LennyB]

16 hours ago, STU111 said:

G’day Len, I’m  still following this one. Starting to come together nicely.??

Thanks Stuart, hoping to get the bottom half of the car to catch up with the top half soon.

[customline]

Hey, Len, I recently discovered that I don't need to be careful around the trim (that will be covered with foil) while color sanding/polishing. In fact, if the polishing burns through on the trim, it's smooth and it will play nice with the foil. Does this make sense or am I all wet? (Not literally; that's another thing entirely ?)

Edited November 5, 2024 by customline
Punctuation

[LennyB]

5 hours ago, customline said:

Hey, Len, I recently discovered that I don't need to be careful around the trim (that will be covered with foil) while color sanding/polishing. In fact, if the polishing burns through on the trim, it's smooth and it will play nice with the foil. Does this make sense or am I all wet? (Not literally; that's another thing entirely ?)

I understand what you are saying but are you referring to my lumpy BMF issue from the paint on the vinyl top?  If that’s so you’re all wet☔️

[customline]

13 hours ago, LennyB said:

I understand what you are saying but are you referring to my lumpy BMF issue from the paint on the vinyl top?  If that’s so you’re all wet☔️

Well, it's not the first time, Len ☺️.   I was referring to the "over-spray from the top on the moldings..." but my comment was aimed not specifically at your situation, just in general. If I could rephrase it I would say "don't sweat burning through color on trim that will be foiled because you would be doing said trim a favor by smoothing it during the rub-out operation, thereby providing a better surface for the foil."  Your post sorta reminded me of my great discovery (stuff everybody probably knows already) and I wanted to put it out there. Please forgive the wet foot prints. Your remedy for your specific situation sounds like a good plan and I have used it recently myself.  ?

[LennyB]

50 minutes ago, customline said:

Well, it's not the first time, Len ☺️.   I was referring to the "over-spray from the top on the moldings..." but my comment was aimed not specifically at your situation, just in general. If I could rephrase it I would say "don't sweat burning through color on trim that will be foiled because you would be doing said trim a favor by smoothing it during the rub-out operation, thereby providing a better surface for the foil."  Your post sorta reminded me of my great discovery (stuff everybody probably knows already) and I wanted to put it out there. Please forgive the wet foot prints. Your remedy for your specific situation sounds like a good plan and I have used it recently myself.  ?

The wet footprints have dried by now?

 

I think the worst thing about doing these vinyl tops is you have to be careful touching them after they are done.   I was putting in the side windows last night and I felt my finger stick to the top.  I’m like oh no, what did I just do? Thought I has something on my finger when I touched it.  Turned out there was some glue residue from the BMF on the top that my finger found.  Luckily I was able to clean it off without harm to the top.   Didn’t see the residue before as it was the same color as the top ?‍?

 

Edited November 6, 2024 by LennyB

[customline]

5 hours ago, LennyB said:

The wet footprints have dried by now?

 

I think the worst thing about doing these vinyl tops is you have to be careful touching them after they are done.   I was putting in the side windows last night and I felt my finger stick to the top.  I’m like oh no, what did I just do? Thought I has something on my finger when I touched it.  Turned out there was some glue residue from the BMF on the top that my finger found.  Luckily I was able to clean it off without harm to the top.   Didn’t see the residue before as it was the same color as the top ?‍?

 

Oh yeah...I like to keep some 92% IPA on the bench and I will use it for various clean-ups including foil residue. It works great for that but you must not use it on lacquer, of course. I almost used it on a lacquer job but I caught myself in time ?.  

 

Edited November 6, 2024 by customline