13-11-2017, 10:22 AM
Hi Arthur,
Yes, I know 'overthink' very well....it's that thing which happens when you spend all day at work dreaming about working on the Seven, then come home and realise it's not quite how you pictured it!
Radius arms seems to have been covered. On the topic of painting, I'm just completing an 'overhaul' of my Ulster rep. It's a slightly different situation as I was re-painting but maybe something of interest. I should start by saying I have no clue what the original scheme was.
The floor: I stripped inside and out to bare clean metal and treated with POR 15 & Blackcote. This included the scuttle & footwell area. I'm not sure I would do this again, it's difficult to get a nice finish brushing on Blackcote & the whole thing was quite an enterprise. I reckon Hammerite would be just as good. I also put a couple of coats of underbody seal on the underneath. I feel pretty confident it will last forever - it has been running the last 35 years with nothing but a coat of underbody seal and only rusted where this has finally dropped off. Paint the floor before you paint the body colour.
The tail (interior): I gave it a clean up, a squirt of etch primer, and a coat or two of 2-pack from an aerosol. The finish is not important here but I think it looks better in body colour.
Body interior: I didn't paint the interior body sides, but made some wafer thin trim panels from aero grade 1/16" ply, which I then covered with black Rexine. You can easily fabricate a couple of clips to hold the panels in position, mostly I used existing bolts and holes, the cockpit edge trim, etc. The beauty of these is you can run wiring for the tail lights behind them, secured to the body sides with tank tape.
Body exterior: Whatever you paint it with, ally will need a thin etch primer coat to begin with.
I was quoted £1500 to spray the body shell alone with 2-pack, which sounded a bit rich to me (though I gather this is a fair price). I'm not a fan of 2-pack paint either (in my experience it chips easily). I chose to brush paint my car with Craftmaster enamel. I will happily write you an essay about this if you choose to follow the same path. I warn you though that it's a major undertaking, which will eat at least one summer! And that you will not finish the job without some endearing imperfections. If I had another car to do I think I would buy a spray gun! The plus side of this is it's cheap (a couple of hundred quid perhaps), and when all's said and done, I hate 'restored' cars with flawless spray jobs, it's the single thing in my opinion which kills the character of a vintage car most effectively.
By the way, something which ought to be better known is that Ulster bodies are not particularly strong and eventually crack alongside the windscreen irons, and below the spare wheel aperture (especially if you carry luggage in the tail!) If building from new it is worth incorporating a bit of reinforcement in these areas. Make sure the dash supports fit well and consider bonding a patch of ally under the dash ends to increase the thickness of the body sides locally. At the rear, I installed thin steel panels on the inside of the body which bolt into the floor and bridge the gap between the front and rear of the spare wheel well, boxing it in. I also connected the (steel) floor panel of the tail to the back of the spare wheel slot using shelf brackets, making a strong and continuous floor. I have seen pictures of original 'Ulsters' which were modified (or repaired) in a similar way.
Chris
Yes, I know 'overthink' very well....it's that thing which happens when you spend all day at work dreaming about working on the Seven, then come home and realise it's not quite how you pictured it!
Radius arms seems to have been covered. On the topic of painting, I'm just completing an 'overhaul' of my Ulster rep. It's a slightly different situation as I was re-painting but maybe something of interest. I should start by saying I have no clue what the original scheme was.
The floor: I stripped inside and out to bare clean metal and treated with POR 15 & Blackcote. This included the scuttle & footwell area. I'm not sure I would do this again, it's difficult to get a nice finish brushing on Blackcote & the whole thing was quite an enterprise. I reckon Hammerite would be just as good. I also put a couple of coats of underbody seal on the underneath. I feel pretty confident it will last forever - it has been running the last 35 years with nothing but a coat of underbody seal and only rusted where this has finally dropped off. Paint the floor before you paint the body colour.
The tail (interior): I gave it a clean up, a squirt of etch primer, and a coat or two of 2-pack from an aerosol. The finish is not important here but I think it looks better in body colour.
Body interior: I didn't paint the interior body sides, but made some wafer thin trim panels from aero grade 1/16" ply, which I then covered with black Rexine. You can easily fabricate a couple of clips to hold the panels in position, mostly I used existing bolts and holes, the cockpit edge trim, etc. The beauty of these is you can run wiring for the tail lights behind them, secured to the body sides with tank tape.
Body exterior: Whatever you paint it with, ally will need a thin etch primer coat to begin with.
I was quoted £1500 to spray the body shell alone with 2-pack, which sounded a bit rich to me (though I gather this is a fair price). I'm not a fan of 2-pack paint either (in my experience it chips easily). I chose to brush paint my car with Craftmaster enamel. I will happily write you an essay about this if you choose to follow the same path. I warn you though that it's a major undertaking, which will eat at least one summer! And that you will not finish the job without some endearing imperfections. If I had another car to do I think I would buy a spray gun! The plus side of this is it's cheap (a couple of hundred quid perhaps), and when all's said and done, I hate 'restored' cars with flawless spray jobs, it's the single thing in my opinion which kills the character of a vintage car most effectively.
By the way, something which ought to be better known is that Ulster bodies are not particularly strong and eventually crack alongside the windscreen irons, and below the spare wheel aperture (especially if you carry luggage in the tail!) If building from new it is worth incorporating a bit of reinforcement in these areas. Make sure the dash supports fit well and consider bonding a patch of ally under the dash ends to increase the thickness of the body sides locally. At the rear, I installed thin steel panels on the inside of the body which bolt into the floor and bridge the gap between the front and rear of the spare wheel well, boxing it in. I also connected the (steel) floor panel of the tail to the back of the spare wheel slot using shelf brackets, making a strong and continuous floor. I have seen pictures of original 'Ulsters' which were modified (or repaired) in a similar way.
Chris