More gel coating and polishing

I have plucked up courage to tackled the edge of the doors. You can see where the outer skin is bonded to the inner skin. This shows as a pink line all around each door. After filing, this edge needs rubbing down with P400 wet or dry paper. It is then coated with a couple of coats of gel.


First coat of gel applied - doesn't look good!

The second coat made it look better. It is then rubbed down with P800 then P1200, to create a smooth rounded edge.

Next I rubbed down the gel coat that I had done the other day. Most was ok, but some of the imperfections should have been gently ground out before I applied the gel coat. As a result, the rubbing down exposed the original fault.

I polished all the front bodywork, excluding the bonnet, using the polishing machine. I wrecked the foam mop head on the wheel arches and especially the light apertures. So with hindsight, I should have polished the body before I cut any holes to minimise this risk. I used Farecla G6 and then G3 and I am really pleased with the results.

Gleaming bodywork!

Now the front bodywork is polished I fixed the grills in place using the Car Builders Solutions adhesive. It is applied by a silicone gun and is available in black and white.

Oil cooler grill fixed in place

Then I took note of Keith Townsend's blog and trial fitted the front registration bar, as it is awkward to do once the body is on the chassis. The bar is bolted between the two inner wings and is a requirement of the IVA test to reduce the size of the opening and is also used by GD to mount the registration plate. I measured 120mm from the bottom of the radiator opening to the bar to get the position. A couple of washers were used on each bolt as packing, as the inner wings were a little wider than the bar.

Front number plate bar fixed