Done Sanding? Too Good To Be True?
February 2014
Feb 3rd: It’s hard to fathom that 2013 went by without an update. The cars - Urraco, Miura, and MGB - all just sat there and got older, as did I. I did work on the Urraco occasionally, but not con brio. I started the engine once or twice a month, just to keep it up. It’s hard to start after it’s been sitting so I need to figure out what’s going on there. Also, when I drove it home (a year ago?) the left front brake seized so I pulled both front calipers apart to rebuild them. It wasn’t too hard to get them out, but now I need to find the proper seals to rebuild them. And I may as well do the rear ones too.
At the risk of being indulgent, here is one of the things that kept me from cars. My other love: Music. I play guitar and keyboards in a rock ‘n roll band and it takes a lot of time to learn new songs, practice, and rehearse weekly with the band. But it’s great fun.
But back to cars. This past Sunday I finished sanding with 2000 grain sandpaper, buffed with a wool pad and some polishing compound, and finally with a foam pad and some light swirl-remover. The paint looks good and I’m declaring it done! (Unless I see things that need to be touched up next weekend.) It was a grey day and I couldn’t quite look for remaining orange peel or scratches, but I’m pretty happy with it.
I masked the car off, and started buffing
Here are some shots showing reflections in the paint. First, the roof:
Passenger door:
Close up of passenger door:
I then triumphantly pulled off all the masking paper and cleaned it up. Here it is for the first time in years with no tape or paper.
I hope next weekend is brighter so I can really examine the paint. And I hope it's all done. Finally. Then I'll start putting it back together.