Cool Car Trailer...

[jorian]

BTW - those running lights you mentioned selling for $700 a pair? When we got our trailer, all four were missing. A few days after moving it on site, during cleaning, I found all 4 housings with the glass covers intact!

[barry2952]

Originally posted by jorian
Barry/Kach,

I did use the tape AND I tarred over top. I knew this would be a temporary measure that I would eventually have to do properly. I would be interested to know about the solid rubber membrane. How is it applied? What's the approximate cost per sq ft? My lake property is about 60 miles from a medium sized town so I may have to do this myself. The trailer does not move as the wheels are removed.

There's nothing better than a full membrane roof but you've done the next best thing. As long as the EPDM tape is fixed to bare metal you should be fine. The membrane roof is attached with contact cement. Very difficult to get a perfect job out of it with all of your roof penetrations.

The membrane roof came from Camping world. The light color helps to reflect heat and gives you maximum protection. The kit was about $500.00.

I wouldn't polish your trailer if I were you. It took me hundreds of hours and about $1,000 in material to complete mine. My trailer is stored inside. Yours would look the same as it does now only two years after polishing sitting outside.

BTW, that's a very stylish trailer. I like the curved aluminum detail on the side.

[barry2952]

10-20-2006 Update on the Porsche

Stripping all the paint uncovered a lot of bad previous bodywork, but no rust except for the bottoms of both doors. Actually there were no perforations but the doors had swelled slightly at the bottom and couldn't be aligned flush with the door sills.



I know it looks ugly now but it will be a prize when it's done.

[kach22i]

Is it going to be the same color, maroon red?

[barry2952]

Yes, Turkish Red is the appropriate color. That's the color on the Kardex. The green is an epoxy primer that is sprayed over the bare metal to bond the body filler to the car. When the bodywork is done another coat of epoxy primer will go on to bond the final coats of paint to the car.

Since they can't spray lacquer any more the finish paint will be clearcoated.

[barry2952]

10-20-2006 Found some hidden damage after removing the upper door to fit the new latch mechanism. One of the hinge plates had ripped away from the wood frame. Since the holes were stripped I drilled them out and bolted the plates through the frame with nylock fasteners.



The latch mechanism was designed to mount through a sheel metal facade like a cabinet or locker door. The unit was about 1/4" too tall to fit within the space so I altered it slightly to fit.





The old mounting location for the steel license plate bracket was badly corroded from dissimilar metal being in contact. It turned out to be an ideal place for the locking latch.

After careful measuring (I hate cutting holes in this thing) I played connect the dots again and roughed out the proper size hole. When I was done I polished the area and flipped the door over again

[barry2952]

The central mechanism pull two rods toward the handle drawing back the latches.





One of the door panels was damage so I duplicated it from a salvaged section of side panel.



The door is ready for reinstallation. I'm trying to decide whether to cover the access ports with white material, semi-polished aluminum or polished tread plate.

[jorian]

Checker-plate would look great IMO.

[barry2952]

I've never heard it called that.

[jorian]

Must be a Canadian thing.

[kach22i]

I say White Material , why call attention to an access panel?

[barry2952]

White it is. I mocked it up and it looks right.

10-30-2006

The Porsche is nearing final paint. The body work, from what I can tell in primer, is flawless. The color they mixed is very near what was on there and it's a standard formula based on Porsche color charts.

They said they would shoot the door jambs and inside of the doors, hood and engine cover separately today. Tomorrow the edges and overspray will be sanded and the final coats of urethane paint and clearcoat will be applied.





The Phoenix is nearer to completion. I reinstalled the upper hatch after completing and testing the latch. The wiring to the tail and license plate lighting was rehooked in the hinge access hatches and the system tested.

During the original build some had commented on how cheesy the white plastic moulding looked interfacing with the aluminum body. I found some aluminum edging made for do-it-yourself teardrop top edging. It's made of a very soft alloy so it can be bent. A little polishing and it should blend right in.

[kach22i]

They said they would shoot the door jambs and inside of the doors, hood and engine cover separately today.

Barry, did they leave the dash (and other interior painted parts) in the original paint?

Looking good, I get another ride in it when it's done, right?

[barry2952]

There's only one small scratch on the dashboard so I opted not to paint it. The new color is so close that it will be indisguishable from the outside paint. The windshield frame will be painted on the outside but original on the inside.

You know you're always welcome to take a ride in it.

[Seahawk]

Saw the article about the car in Hemming's Sports and Exotics...nice write-up.

Your wife must be pleased with the progress!

[barry2952]

11-3-2006 Porsche update

WOW!

It's going to be beautiful. Almost too perfect. No Porsche ever came out of the factory looking this straight.

Most Porsche headlight trims don't fit perfectly as there is a slight variation in all of them. My headlight trims served as a guide to shape the metal of the fender to fit the trim rather than use body filler to create a proper gap.

I asked the painter today what the paint job entailed. Earlier photos showed a green primer. That is an epoxy primer shot over bare metal. It seals off all oxygen and bonds to the rough metal and provides a base for the body filler to bond to.

Body fillers are a necessary evil but the object is to use as little as possible. The body filler is only to be used to take out hammer marks, not straighten body curves. A thin layer of body filler is applied to the whole car. It is block-sanded until it reveals high or low spots in the sheet metal. The metal in the flawed area is reworked to need the least amout of filler. This process often exposes raw metal so the finished work is shot in green primer again.

I believe he said they then spray gray primer and block the car again. The green underlayment serves as a visual guide to proper filler thickness. I'm told that a small magnet should stick anywhere on this car. Multiple sprays of gray primer sanded in-between builds the base for the color coat.

The car was shot in urethane, or two-stage color. Any imperfections can be removed at this stage. Numerous coats of clear coat are sprayed to further build up the base.

The surfaces are then sanded with 800, 1,000 and 1,200 grit before buffing. The smoother the surface the less heat will be generated significantly lowering the risk of burning the paint. The only part that hadn't been buffed yet was the hood. they are going to remount the hood, engine cover and doors and ship it back to the guy that took it apart for painting.

He's restoring the steering wheel while the car's being repaired. He'll do the reassembly of the windshield, wipers and all the trim. Then it will come back to Autometrics for detailing and spraying the fenderwells black again. Then we can bring it home.

[kach22i]

I should of drove it when I had the offer and chance to. There is no way I want to be anything but a passenger now.

It's more than nice, or soon will be.

[barry2952]

Update:

[barry2952]

11-7-2006

I took the PHOENIX out today. I towed it 15 miles to the shop that foamed the damaged areas. The trip made me very nervous. I drove it empty and without the weight equalizing hitch, just to see how it handled and it did just fine. I drove it just to see if there was a natural wag, and there isn't. It tracks straight and true but it is a big trailer and I have to get used to it.

The wall cavities were filled and I headed home.



The countertop had just been installed a couple of hours when we took off on the maiden voyage. The accident shifted the trailer so badly that the top moved and the glue cured with the top in the wrong position. Using lots of shims I was able to free and reset the top where it belongs.



These appliances were installed just before we left. I'm not sure if I posted the pictures. The top cabinet contains a microwave and a 6-bottle wine cooler. I've had it running for days and it holds steady at 40°.



Installed the latches in the front access doors. Simple devices that look pretty natural in this environment.

[kach22i]

Nice work as always.