Body Work and Paint Now or Spend the Summer in Gelcoat?

[Kevin Davis]

I'm nearing my go-kart stage, close enough to actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Summer comes late here and doesn't last long, so I've got some time before the snow melts and it warms up enough to be able to drive the roadster.

I'm doing my own paint and body work, which means it'll be a long process.

Given that it's March 1, I have a couple of months (minus some time spent on vacation next week) to get the rest of the aluminum in, the fatmat down, and all of that. I also need to get the body on to work on the hidden body mounts and QJ deletes.

I'm looking for some feedback on a couple of things.

1) If I start down the body work road, but assuming I can do part of it on the chassis (properly sealed engine bay and cockpit, plus no carpet in), does that mean the car has to sit, or could you take it for a couple hour drive and just plan on cleaning up the front end a bit (assuming it's dry of course)?

2) Or, should I just take the body off the ceiling where it's stored, mount it up and drive it like that until next Fall, then do it all start to finish?

If I go ahead and get moving on the body work, it's pretty unlikely I'll have it all in paint and done before the end of summer. I hate to have a perfectly good car I could be driving sitting in the shop. Plus, I can always find something else to do around here in the summer.

Any ideas from you guys?

[Darren]

My vote is to continue getting the chassis ready for the season. When it is close enough or done slap the body on, knock down the seams a tad and seal them up then drive that SOB for the season. When fall arrives or winter pull the body off and fix all the things you want to change, add heat or whatever and also do the body work.

[Kevin Davis]

Cool, looks like we're in the same boat! Feel free to bring yours out for a trip over to Yellowstone...about 2 hours from here.

[Someday I Suppose]

If its done except for paint, and you can have some fun driving it I would go for it. The only consideration might be title process out by you and if it will have any impact with it not being painted, etc.

[Scott Meyer]

Kevin,

Drive it in gel coat like you stole it! That's what I did, no regrets. The body work will take you longer than expected, and it's a great activity to do when it's not driving weather. You'll be kicking yourself this summer if you start and then will be rushing to get done to try and enjoy some of the season. Also, I would not recommend doing the body work with the body on the car chassis for the whole shebang. That's what I did and it was a mess with the dust and filler.

Good luck,
Scott

[Jeff Kleiner]

All or nothing (says the guy about to begin his fourth season in epoxy sealer). Leaving fillers and raw fiberglass unsealed can allow the introduction of contaminants (oil, grease, silicones, even water) that will come back to haunt you later in the paint process. Once you commit to knocking down the parting lines and adding filler you really need to be prepared to take it far enough to get it protected under sealer, otherwise you are better off to put the body on and do nothing to it. OK, I'll take that back---ask Scott about dressing the gelcoat up with some "Ghetto Stripes"!

Cheers,
Jeff

[Kevin Davis]

Thanks guys, I think that helps me make some decisions.

I'm just a little confused about one thing though, should I do the initial seams and get the resin in place, or not, or just leave it like it is and do that stuff all at once? I see the issue with contaminants. I guess you could do the seams, get them filled in and protected, then shoot it with sealer. But, the assumption there is that you go back and sand out the sealer. Is that a bad idea? Sorry, dumb questions I guess.

Registration should be a non issue, btw, the state here isn't concerned about paint.

[Justen]

Just drive it and then do everything at once at the end of the season

[Jeff Kleiner]

Like I said Kevin, my thinking is all or nothing. Judging by your serial number you probably won't have to deal with gelcoat within the parting lines ("seams") so you shouldn't have to apply resin or HSRF. Yes, you could knock down the flashing and hit it with a sealer. Proper catalyzed sealer is not available in rattle cans so you're talking about breaking out spray equipment. Before you begin grinding the "seams" the body would need to be fully degreased (twice) and given the Scotchbrite & Comet scrub treatment to assure that you don't introduce mold release wax into the raw glass. Then when you are ready to tackle the full body prep process you'll need undo what you have done and cut back down to fiberglass again to begin the filler. See where I'm headed? Believe me I understand where you're coming from and don't want to discourage you if you truly want to go this direction, but in the end you would be doing a lot of work for very little gain---it still isn't going to look "finished". I'd say spend your time driving it, not doing body prep that you'll have to undo later! Scott and I had this same conversation about two years ago and you see what he did...

Good luck,
Jeff

[TimC]

Knock the seams down so you don't get scratched or cut. Some of those edges can be sharp take my word for that I know from personal experience. I wouldn't worry about any sealer at this point. I would think any contaminants would be clean out when you prep the seams. I put nearly a thousand miles on mine before I started the body work and that was over 2.5 years ago and I have no problems. Drive and enjoy the car this Summer then get on the body work after the season is over.
Unless of course you can do like Joe C and paint it in a week.

[Chris Young]

Kevin - I did what you are planning. I used that 6 months in Gel coat as kind of a shake down. I ended up adding a few things, and it was easier to do with the body off while I was doing the body work. Also, check and see if any of your local Community Colleges offer a weekend or evening autobody class. That's what I did, and for the price of tuition you get to use their tools and paint booth and spray guns. Plus you have an instructor there to answer your questions.

Have fun!

[steno]

Pay attention to your lifeline! I drove with duct tape holding the doors and hood for over 6 months! Didn't even have a dash in it! Just slapped a GPS on the dash and went for it! The best shake-down, and could get to everything if I needed. No problems and got it painted over the off season. Good luck, Sten

[Kevin Davis]

Thanks Guys! I think this will be the plan.

I'd love to take some autobody classes, but being in the boonies, the closest school with that stuff is 2 hours away. I've already got all of the stuff I need here to do body work and paint, including some test paint I'm going to shoot on the donor hood, so I'll have plenty of time to practice. I'm also putting a temporary paint booth (I have a huge air handler I can use) in my shop, so that'll give me some time to play around with that too, and just keep my "enjoy the build process" mantra.

Thanks for the advice Jeff, I hear you loud and clear. I'll probably take TimC's advice and see if I can smooth out those seems, just to keep from getting cut up, but not down through them to the glass. The seams on this body are pretty rough.

I actually am the kind of guy that could pull off a "paint job in a week" like Joe C, but it would probably kill me and the family, and it wouldn't look that good. Plus, no real reason for me to do that.

Thanks to all, you guys rock!

[LuckyWinner]

Drive it!!!! Drive it!!!! Like some of the guys have said it will give you a shake down period and you might find somethings you want to change.

[Pierre B]

Driving it in gel coat will also help with the seasoning of the body. Fiberglass will outgas for quite a while after molding, and that's best done with an unsealed body. In the case of my MKII, the body was painted after I took three years to build. Here in Massachusetts, we cannot drive an umpainted car, so driving in gel coat was not an option. however, on several occasions, I placed the raw body out in the summer sun on its buck and covered in black plastic. Even with that, two or three years after painting and running, I noted that two bubbles developed under the paintwork, one of which was about 1/2-inch long.

[buildit]

My vote is to continue getting the chassis ready for the season. When it is close enough or done slap the body on, knock down the seams a tad and seal them up then drive that SOB for the season. When fall arrives or winter pull the body off and fix all the things you want to change, add heat or whatever and also do the body work.

Could someone make a specific recommendation for the "catalyzed sealer" mentioned? I know nothing about bodywork........

[Kevin Davis]

Could someone make a specific recommendation for the "catalyzed sealer" mentioned? I know nothing about bodywork........

I think he just means a 2 part epoxy type primer, vs. something you'd get out of a rattle can. It seems it's most often referred to as 2K Epoxy Primer. I'm sure you know when you spray "real" paint, it comes in 2 parts, the paint color/etc. and then the catalyst/activator. That way, it's a chemical and physical adhesion to the surface and each layer of material.

I could be wrong on that, jeff would have to clarify.

[UpstateCobraGuy]

Drove my first summer in gel-coat, loved it!