body work

[azbruin]

I've started to knock down the raised mold seams and can already see a couple of places that will need filler. I know there have been a couple of detailed posts on the appropriate products and processes. Can somebody point me to one of them? I've been using a small detail sander and a lot of hand work because I'm nervous about cutting too deep. What tools have others used?

[Jeff Kleiner]

Start reading here:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/266792-mk4-bodywork-thread.html

and here:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/230701-started-body-work-6583-a.html

and here:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/245817-yet-another-bodywork-thread-scott-l-sands-sands-sands-some-more.html

and here:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/33-ask-street-rod-painter/183106-body-work-progress-photos.html

That ought to keep you busy for a while :)

Jeff

[skullandbones]

I have done the first part which I was a little worried about at first. So I taped both sides of the seam with tape and used a small electric grinder with a cutting bit and then a fine grinder. I didn't have to do any hand work. Then I removed the tape and used an 5 inch orbital sander and did the final smoothing down to the level of the two body panels. There is a natural concave space between the panels but if you lay a flexible french curve tool over them you will see that they are pretty well lined up. There should not be much "fairing" to be done as far as the creative body work. The only thing is that there may be some voids (I think I have found about 3 or 4). Those should be filled with a resin that is compatible with the body. I have a small syringe that I will inject the hole with resin and then sand it down. Another thing that you might want to do before even beginning the grinding process is to wipe the whole body down with a wax mold release sovent. You don't want to push any of that mold wax down into the pores of the bodywork. I also used a air source to blow off the area as I went along the process. The better you keep the dust and other particles out of the work the better your results will be. I don't know about you but after I got the seams off the body, it changed the way I felt about the remaining body work. BTW, I was working on a MKIII so if you have an MKIV, it will probably be easier still. But getting those seams off makes it look so much better!!! Good luck, WEK.