Nick Jones Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 One handmade original Vespa! Your dedication is impressive! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 With Hanoi Jane finally running, Buffy came out of hiding today. The grinder, power file, dremel, wire wheel, hammers, dollys, and body files came out, and her legshield and horncast got a tidy up. More to do, but its getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 (edited) 50 minutes ago, GT6MK3 said: Thats a great candidate for a clear coat finish. Edited April 28, 2019 by Hamish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 Tempting. Very tempting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick B. Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 How about a sidewagon rat-style? Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Nice photo Nick, but it’s a scary looking thing? Is it even legal in Denmark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick B. Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Probably not legal, looks like a nasty accident waiting to happen when it collides with a pedestrian .... this one were sighted in Flensburg, northern germany. Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted October 5, 2020 Author Share Posted October 5, 2020 Why has Buffy not progressed? Well, I screwed up. This, Quite simply, was shoddy work. It's crooked. And it remained crooked when it was welded in. And because I didn't think through the way it was welded in, when it was all done and ground back, it was both crooked, and sunken in at the edges. No amount of filler was going to straighten it, and the sunken edges were never going to look right. So it sat, and quietly rusted while I pondered it, and played with other toys. For 18 months. Then I bit the bullet, got medieval and forced myself to find a better solution. No turning back. This time I was serious about going straight. (Could say I was laser focused). Much better, straight and flatter. So, trim, measure again, and puddle in slowly and generously. Looked fug ugly at this point! Quick grind, and on with the horn section This gave me lots of trouble, because to make it fit I had to trim the top back, which meant the curves didn't meet. But, deep breath, and push on. We'll sort the gaps later. Before looking at prettying things up, I needed to run some 6mm rod into the edge of the legshield to stiffen the whole bike up. This time I made a jig out of craftwood, and pre bent the basic shape. Still a palava to get done, but better than the last one I did. In it went. Those weld were never going to be able to stay like that, so the grind fest began, and went on for about 12 working hours. 200 welds. 2 sides each. That's 400 cleanups. And I wire wheeled the entire body for good measure. Time to make her curves match up. This calls for some filling and sanding. Which is a slow But annoyingly painful and steadily depressing Process. Which feels like 2 steps backwards for each step forwards. Eventually though, it was into the booth for an initial coating in epoxy. Which gave me and idea of where I was at, and led to another 9 hours of rubbing and filling. Back to the booth. More epoxy priming. I'm starting to understand how to hit the curves without runs. And she's taking shape There's still a couple of small bits of obvious work needed, but I'm hopeful they won't be too onerous. Time will tell when I rub back this coat, but I may yet get her in high fill primer this week. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Lot of hours in that. Not very exciting ones neither. You patience and dedication is to be commended! Looks like its paying off too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Inspiring stuff! Hope you're happy with the front post and horn cover bit now. Not sure if I'm deceived by the camera angle / lack of handlebars but are those ss90 leg-shields? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 Good pickup Pete, I decided to go slimline. There's something almost depressing about taking something that looks good in the booth, sticking it on a table and covering it in black dust. There's a _lot_ of elbow grease between that moment and getting ready to go back to the booth But she's now in thick primer filler Which is drying, and waiting for me to take the pain of applying a guide coat and rubbing that back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 I did a night course a few years ago at a local TAFE learning to spraypaint. Actually, I mostly learnt to fill, prep, and sand, and learnt that most of the battle is those three. My work partner in the class was an interesting girl who was studying because she wanted to give up her day job and get into painting cars as a new career. Apparently being a full time Dominatrix was no longer fulfilling. Go figure. It was the instructor that pointed out that if she wanted to break someones spirit in the future, all she had to do was keep making them rub guide coat off curved surfaces. I guess that makes me some kind of masochist. Guide coat on (I need a new applicator) 90 minutes later and 2 hours after that. Mistress Sharon would be pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Coat of shine coming up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 Tonight was finally time to get colour onto Buffy. I'd thought hard about what colour to go with, and decided to go with Bright Platinum Metallic to match the SixFire. (Which might motivate me to finish it!!!). I'd forgotten just what a bitch that particular colour is to spray - the basecoat is full of metal flake, and it will run the moment your technique slips. And mine did. First pass of a heave flake metallic should be a light adhesion coat, and my muscle memory laid it on like clear. Run city. Luckily, it was just the first coat. So I soaked some rags with thinners, and in 30 minutes I'd rubbed it all off. After another 30 minutes of air hosing it to fume out the thinners, I got back to it with a much lighter touch. After a good scare, I was back in the groove, and with my earbuds in and smooth 80's classics rolling, 3 coats of Bright Platinum and 3 coats of clear flowed on really nicely. Lots and lots of hours to get to here, and the proof will be in the pudding when it's in the sunlight sometime soon, but looking at it as it dried, I think it's a sub 3 foot combo of bodywork and paint job. She's gonna be a beaut! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Wow! Great colour, looks classy on that bodywork. Looking forward to seeing the finished article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 Buffy and her two companions finally spent some time in the same room this week. First, there was a _lot_ of masking and plastic wrapping. With that done, a tie coat of primer went down, then the underbody gun came out, and each body received a water based underbody coat. This has the potential to make an unholy mess, thus the investment in tape and plastic it's effective, but very very messy. After 48 hours it had dried to a dull paintable black. Meaning it was time to touch up the masking tape, don the gas mask, and head back in with colour. (I note that I do look axe murdereresque at the moment. Blame the extended lockdown.) Magnum got colour Buffy got colour. And they both got 3 layers of clear on the engine bay, and 4 on the floor. (The Voodoo ratrod got rattle canned. I think it felt neglected.) Today I spent a couple of hours carefully peeling off masking. The results. Lots of shine, lots of protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Must be nearly time to start bolting stuff on..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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