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nicksL98 · 09-01-2007, 09:01 PM

Been reading through your story for a bit now, great stuff, I must admit! One quick question though... you said your bodyman was puttin an NOS door skin on the door, but without the car - what is he going to do about door gaps when it comes time to fit the door to the car/quater/fender?

njsteve · 09-01-2007, 09:45 PM

We will see how he does. He has been doing this for years. He has a rough idea of the fit. Knowing the quality of GM original sheetmetal, there is always going to be a lot of trimming and fixing to get things to line up better than they were originally.

PB · 09-03-2007, 03:35 PM

Man those wheels look great! Has me motivated to try something on mine...Check out these pics of mine and do you think I'll need to sand before trying the plasti coat? Mine doesn't have chunks missing, but looks like the outter coating has been worn away. In the corners there are bumps and there are spots on it that appear to still have orginal type finish. Will I need to prep it much before trying the plasti coat, or will it just fill in a lot of the areas? Thanks, lot of great info here steve.
Pat

njsteve · 09-03-2007, 04:30 PM

That wheel is mint compared to what I started with. All you need is a Sears Craftsman $30 mini handheld orbital sander and some 120/220 grit paper. Just gently sand the entire surface of the wheel but keep away from the fake sewn seam area. Also, use heavy masking tape on the spokes so you dont damage the aluminum finish. After you get a smooth surface on the rim, spray several coats with the Plasti-Dip stuff and you're golden.

PB · 09-03-2007, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njsteve

That wheel is mint compared to what I started with. All you need is a Sears Craftsman $30 mini handheld orbital sander and some 120/220 grit paper. Just gently sand the entire surface of the wheel but keep away from the fake sewn seam area. Also, use heavy masking tape on the spokes so you dont damage the aluminum finish. After you get a smooth surface on the rim, spray several coats with the Plasti-Dip stuff and you're golden.

Will a black and decker mouse sander work the same as an orbital hand held? Just got my plasti dip!

njsteve · 09-03-2007, 10:13 PM

Actually I think that is the same unit I used. I bought it at Sears on sale last Spring. Good luck!

njsteve · 09-06-2007, 06:45 PM

More helpful hints from the toolbox: I was deciding whether to replace the carpet in the car due to it's overabundance of fuzz and pilz sticking up, when an idea lightbulb went off over my head. We have had this dog trimmer sitting in the cabinet for about 15 years now and no more long haired dogs to use it on.

I just spread the carpet out and gave it a crew cut! The trimmer worked amazingly well. No snags or pulls, it just buzzed all the extraneous fuzz that accumulated from years of using those floormats with the little rubber nubs and from normal foot wear. After that I used what remained of the vinyl spray dye and misted both the front and rear sections to blacken the sunfaded spots. So now I guess I'll keep this carpet set.

The next episode will be "1001 Uses for a Flowbee."

schneidsd455 · 09-07-2007, 01:26 AM

I tried the PlastiDip stuff a couple of years ago on my wheel. It wasn't in too bad of shape, just had the surface cracks. I don't recall what grit I sanded with to prep (probably 400), but after about a year (I drive the car about 1000 miles/year), I noticed the PlastiDip coating starting to lift at the wheel's inner seam. This eventually lead to the coating lifting toward the center of the rim where my hand grips the wheel. I eventually peeled off the coating and now use a little shoe polish from time to time. Not sure how much better the PlastiDip would have held up it I'd have prepped the wheel with 120. But, like I said, the lifting started at the seam, so something would have be be done to prep there better than I did.

PB · 09-07-2007, 08:40 AM

I jut put a coat on my wheel...I will post up somepics. Think a clear coat would work over the plasti dip to help seal it??

PB · 09-07-2007, 03:26 PM

Well, I really like the outcome from the Plasti kote, here are some pics. Just sanded and painted. I think if after a year of use it doesn't hold up, it is very easy to spray again. I am very happy with the look and feel, Thanks Steve!

PB · 09-07-2007, 03:29 PM

Here is the finished product:

tdavidl · 09-07-2007, 04:47 PM

great work PB, steve's gonna make us all formula wheel restorers.....thanks steve !

Jon Salem · 09-14-2007, 06:36 AM

NJsteve

I need a TCS temperature switches for my 1971 Lemans. Any ideas on finding one? It has a number AC-85M-220B-253M, very different from the number you give above. How did you get the ID number?

njsteve · 09-27-2007, 07:52 PM

OK, being the perfectionist I am I wasn't satisfied with the way the repro wheel came out. Since it is a harder urethane material, the Plasti-Dip spray nicked rather easily and didn't adhere as well as I would have hoped. When I picked at it a little, the entire coating peeled off in one piece. That, of course, meant that I did not prep the repro wheel well enough.

I also wasn't satisfied with the fact that it still had a bunch of grain along with a fake outer seam that marred the surface. So I ended up hand-sanding it with 80 grit, then 200, then 400 then 600 until it became as smooth as the factory wheel. I was very careful to keep away from the fake threads along the inner seams. I then sprayed it with a flexible plastic primer and sanded that with 600, reprimed and resanded by hand until it was shiny and smooth. I also reshaped the edges where the urethane meets the spokes as the repro was a bit too angular in that area. Once I was satisfied, (I know, I've said that before) I sprayed the wheel in numerous heavy coats of the SEM Landau Black and the result was beautiful. SEM is the coating to use and it is great stuff, much better than Duplicolor or VHT or any of the other brands. Other than the black anodizing looking way too new, the wheel looks like an NOS wheel now. And it feels a lot better as well. I will be installing this one in the car and saving the original wheel for posterity.

cdoggy81 · 09-28-2007, 01:38 PM

Top notch!

Norwood · 09-28-2007, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdoggy81

Top notch!

Just like always.......

Formulabruce · 12-07-2007, 11:01 AM

Bump, great thread to keep near the front, hope nobody minds, Bruce

njsteve · 12-07-2007, 11:39 AM

No new news since I have been pushing the bodyman to make some headway on the rest of the sheetmetal. I am getting close to pulling everything from his shop since there is no observable progress recently and he has had the front sheetmetal, doors and trunklid for 21 months now. Anyone have any recomendations for dependable paint shops in the central NJ area?

Lloyd-TX · 12-07-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njsteve

No new news since I have been pushing the bodyman to make some headway on the rest of the sheetmetal. I am getting close to pulling everything from his shop since there is no observable progress recently and he has had the front sheetmetal, doors and trunklid for 21 months now. Anyone have any recomendations for dependable paint shops in the central NJ area?

That SUCKS Steve. Sorry to hear about it.

Not that I can help, being in Texas, but . . . good luck my friend!

weranc55 · 12-07-2007, 04:48 PM

21 months with the sheetmetal? Pull the parts and find someone else. It would be a different story if he was doing a complete frame of resto but for a repaint that silly. You still have the body at home right. I have tried four or five body shops over the last 10 years and have finally found two that I fell comfortable taking my cars to.

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