Well, I guess I spoke to soon when I said this bonnet was the nicest original Series 1 bonnet I had seen yet – the splotchy gold coating of some type of older metal conditioner was hiding a MAJOR problem\u2026<\/p>\n
I went out into the shop one night this Winter to knock down this bonnet to get started on the project but also to make space \u2013 it was before the new building was up and the \u201963 roadster (GW) was coming in a couple days.\u00a0 The bonnet came in only as an outer shell \u2013 just the center section, wings, and lower valance were bolted together.\u00a0 The inner valances and smaller panels and flanges were just in boxes, so I quickly took it apart and leaned the pieces up against a Series 1 coupe shell, and then cleaned the rest of the shop\u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019m kind of a \u201cneat-nick\u201d \u2013 I make a big mess when I work, but I like everything to be neatly organized just the same, so I am always subconsciously straightening things out, etc.\u00a0 As I was cleaning the shop, I noticed that the center section was leaning against the coupe body crooked, so I straightened it out\u2026\u00a0 Then I noticed that the rear edge was not lined up straight on the floor \u2013 which has checkerboard tiles on it.\u00a0 So I straightened it out again\u2026\u00a0 Then it got ugly\u2026<\/p>\n
The center section was warped.\u00a0 It had a long, slow twist to it, so that if you laid it on the floor, both rear corners touched, one front corner touched, and the other front corner stood off the floor 4 inches!\u00a0 You could grab it with your hands and twist it back to straight easily enough, and it seemed to be OK as part of a completely assembled bonnet, but I knew there was only ONE thing that could have done this, and I was afraid of what was coming next\u2026<\/p>\n
HEAVY SANDBLASTING \u2013 Someone in the past had sandblasted this bonnet with a MAJOR sandblast unit \u2013 like something you would use to blast down truck frames or graffiti-covered concrete!\u00a0 The heat from the abrasive sand, coupled with the high volume and pressure of the industrial blasting unit used, introduced a lot of heat into the panel and gave it this warpage.\u00a0 I immediately started running my bare hands over the flat sections on the sides of the power bulge, and not only did I feel the tell-tale \u201cwaves\u201d from over-blasting, but there was something even WORSE being hidden by the splotchy gold coating!<\/p>\n
As I closed my eyes and ran my hands over the top surface of the center section, which was blasted bare and had the flanges and all glue removed, I could FEEL the pattern of the flanges as a raised imprint!\u00a0 AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!\u00a0 At first, I thought these barbarians had blasted the bonnet assembled, and done so with so much force from the top that it formed the center section \u201caround\u201d the flanges, raising that imprint.\u00a0 That might be the case, but what I now think happened is that they pulled the bonnet apart, pulled the flanges off, and used the blaster to remove the remaining bonding agent.\u00a0 The bonding agent is flexible and blast media \u2013 including sand, bounces back off of it and it takes a lot to get it off with blasting \u00a0– and so they just sit on one area and concentrate on it, all the while heating the metal and pounding it with high pressure sand!<\/p>\n
Sadly – this type of damage is VERY hard to erase.\u00a0 You need to do a lot of shrinking and in just the right place, and it will never be \u201cperfect\u201d again for a show car \u2013 it will need filler in these flat areas for sure.\u00a0 So I called the customer and told him – not a fun call\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, I guess I spoke to soon when I said this bonnet was the nicest original Series 1 bonnet I had seen yet – the splotchy gold coating of some type of older metal conditioner was hiding a MAJOR problem\u2026 … Continue reading