james caruso
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Uhhh, well i have a tri axle dump here right now. I guess thats close. I cant really answer your questions though since i have never shot the elite amd the hood i repaired was glass not smc. I did a regular glass repair, bodywork, rebase the hood, did some airbrushing on it and shot 2 coat of spi euro clear.
here are a couple more pics all done and sitting on the stand. well as i said 65 hors i am guessing but actually now that i think about it maybe add 10-12 hours to that with all the computer design work for the graphics, body work on the fender and stand plus fabricaring the stand.
[IMG]http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m192/xtremek6/IMG_3042.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m192/xtremek6/IMG_3043.jpg[/IMG]
hey thanks everyone. bondo, normally i would kinda have an idea but its something we have been working off and on and was started 6 mos ago. if i had to guess, the one fender 60-65hrs from bare metal. i’ll throw up another pic when its all done on the stand.
actually its a display piece and goes on a stand that sits on the floor. it hold the fender up a few feet so it can be viewed. its just a display piece to take around to shows, stuff like that. thanks btw!!
its a pretty common effect that they have been doing for years. its done on both aluminum and steel tanks. i have seen sign shops doing it more and more on aluminum signs, decorations and about everything else. just about every casino here in AC has it all over the inside. it looks really good with a candy over it and worked into some graphics. the effect is usually done with a grinder and a scotchbrite disc. surprisingly enough clearcoat bonds really well to the bare grinded metals.
looks good but in the last pic your using the wrong finger!! :rofl
[b]Stone wrote:[/b]
[quote]when I do exterior body panels (rust patch) I butt weld a patch in …. takes some practice to master,(no warping) but once you do there is no other way …. lap welds are a rust trap :whistle: :pcorn: B)[/quote]your right but not only that, the tack welds end up being much thicker than the original sheetmetal. the weld may look fine but get it in the sun and the panel heats up you will see the weld. a bunch of dots from tacking. lap welds are often done where the quarters meet the roof then they are leaded. guys that just use regular filler always have a ghosting problem right there because of it. the only thing that locks that down is lead or all-metal filler but really your just hiding the problem and it should be butted together.
sorry, i was mainly speaking on the exterior body panels, somewhere that will be painted and seen. wasn’t really thinking of floor pans, stuff like that.
Anything i have ever seen that has been done with adhesive on the middle of a panel has ghosted. You dont want to lap weld either. Always butt weld the panels in. Lap welds will come back to haunt you as well. They are a no no.
2.0 – 2.5
with all the sanding and buffing i do here in the shop i need the fastest, easiest system and so far to date of all the ones i have tried 3m’s newest system is the best one yet. it does however take some getting used to. once you figure it out it so fast and nice its not even funny. the big thing is the 3000 trizact. i have heard alot of guys say they think its too big a jump in grit but you gotta rememebr its trizact paper so a different animal. if your disc is good, it will take out 1500 scratches in seconds. the big mistakes i was making with it was overusing the 3000 discs. its tough to tell when it stops cutting. you should get a hood and fender out of one disc, usually no more. the other i found, is wipe each panel with a tack rag before starting. if i follow those steps i get a pigtail free finish every time that buffs out with one quick single pass with the buffer. also you guys say you like the meg105 better. i have some here, you know its just the new 3m compound relabled right? the thing with buffing is everyone has their way. you ask 100 different people what they do and it will all be different. i was a little weird on the new 3m system as well, i mean the compound feels more like a polish so i thought how can this even work. i dont have good luck with it on 1500 scratches but thats not the system. stick with the system and its super fast with absolutely great results. i was using presta before and while that system works good, its extremely messy and oily. cakes up the pads real easy, very smeary. 3m’s stuff is so clean and makes next to no mess.
got the exact same marlin but in .35
something interesting, i did a little googling on that clear. it appears that prospray’s amtech line is relabeled morton/usc. amtech’s glamour clear is the stuff you are using right there.
came out nice. is that a cave your painting in? :lol1
no, its not necessary. you will have a better bond with the clear direct to the plastic. they are usually polycarbonate, not a hard to stick plastic.