Quote:
Originally Posted by clodev
accat,
Just started the hood today. i fiberglassed inside first. Should i put more than 1 layer? I also picked up some bondo to fill in the imperfections on the top side. I got the sled all together and it runs with no distinguishable noises from the trans. It leaks though i need to find out if it was the seal from the bearing or i overfilled it and its from the overflow spout. Waiting for the fiberglass to dry now kinda like watching paint dry. I'm gonna go play some Rock Band for a little bit. By the way fiberglass is freak n sticky hahahahaha. I was tryn to be careful and i ended up looking like my 8yr old with glue and feathers.
How do you center a track by the way. I thought i tightened it evenly but it seems its off by 3/4 inch. No rubbing that i can see do i loosen one side and tighten another?
I almost forgot i took the ski shocks off and repainted them blue they look pretty good.
Last question when I'm done painting should i spray this with clear coat about 12 times? I picked up some 600 1000 and 1500 sand paper that should do right?
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Hey Clode, ya, the fibreglass resin mesh is messy stuff, you can usually cut or sand some away to make it look better. If you used the mesh on the inside, then you shouldn't need to double coat it, it should form up rock solid. You can if you want but probably don't need it. You can speed up the fibreglass dry time by adding more hardener, though you add to much and it'll dry before you can apply it. Its the bondo mix without the mesh for the top coat that your going to want to layer. If you add to much, i.e repair is too high compared to the hood, then file it down while its hardening. If you wait till its completely hardened to file, or sand it, it'll take a long time. Thats tough stuff to cut through when its fully cured. DOn't forgot to put a littl primer on the fibreglassed areas. If i'm doing a small repair area, i've brushed it on then sanded it smooth.
Clear coats a tough call. You definitely should clearcoat the paint to help protect it. I've never had "fantastic" results with applying clear. You have to make sure all the dust and dirt and bumps are off the hood, or the clear will be rough looking and i don't have a dust booth. If you lightly wet sand with 1500 grit, keep the paper wet, and change it often, then wash the dust then dry it, then tac cloth it for the fine fine particles, you should be allright. Sorry to not be to convincing but clear is in my opinion the trickiest part because as soon as the hood shines, you'll see all the imperfections. Keep in mind that you can buff out some stuff later on once the clear is completely cured, or you can always "scratch" the clear with wet paper and try again. OR you could bring it to a shop and see how much they'd charge to do it ( i hate doin that, but we all want our toys to look the best).
Your choice of grits for the painting is fine. Again, keep the paper wet and clean. You don't want to drag any grit that you taken off, over fresh areas.
For the track, loosen but don't remove the rear axle shaft/idler wheel assembly, enough so that it can slide. I just looked back at the pic of your painted skid (nice). Looks like you have those two bolts that stick out the rear, i assume those are what you tighten and loosen to centre the rear axle shaft. Mines different, they are in front of the shaft and push the hole assembly to the rear of the sled. For me, i pushed the shaft back as far as i could then tightened the two bolts. For my sled, i hooked a 10lb weight on the track and tightened it till the tension was right (top of my head i don't remember how much hang my track should have had). At the same time i would take measurements on either side of the skid where the track hangs past. If one side measure was too wide, then i'd tighten the bolt on the other side, back and forth until it was centerd. Again though, my tightening was from the other side and it would push the axle shaft towards the rear of the skid.
One other trick i learned to keep dust down while you painting, soak your garage floor, if you can. Close windows and doors, and i saw that you had hung some poly. Great idea to keep any drafts from blowing around!
Can't wait to see the pics.
Wow...long winded i am today. Hope it helps!
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