Polishing

Because I'm working in a single garage and a little bit tight for space, I have for some time been moving the bonnet around the garage placing it on the body when I wasn't working on the car and leaning it up against as wall when I was. I was starting to get cheesed off with this so made an effort to get this part of the build finished. First I installed the resevoirs for the brakes, clutch and washer bottle.



I painted up the hinges with POR-15 which dries to a nice shiny and seemingly bullet proof finish but I did have a little trouble getting a nice clean appearance. The paint seemed quite thick and didn't flow as I would have liked. I may revisit these later and have them powder coated but for now they'll do. I don't get much time in the garage these days, I've come to realisation that if I go for perfection, I'll never get this thing finished. The next step was to polish the bonnet, well the middle section at least so I could bolt the scoop on permanently. Here's when things started to go downhill and my aim for perfection got in the way. I followed advice I got elsewhere and polished the bonnet with Farecla Profile 200 and a wool mop followed my Profile 500 and a lambswool mop.... result, shiny but scratched to hell :-( I was obviously doing something wrong. I set about masking the bonnet into different sections and using different combinations of compound and pads ( I have a few different ones that I've previously used on my tin top) to see which produced the best result. Not happy, I turned to the internet and after a little research bought some different compound and pads, and then some more after that. This seemed like the longest week ever with nothing seeming to work and being unable to attain anything like the finish I've seen and admired on other similar builds.

I finally gave up on the bonnet and moved onto a different area, partly to take my mind off the disastrous attempt at polishing the bonnet but I also wanted to get the windscreen fitted for the final time so set to work polishing the scuttle area. Given all the combinations of compounds and pads I'd tried I was determined to get it right. It seems someone was watching and as if by magic, it all came together.



And just to prove to myself it wasn't just luck I had another go at the bonnet



Sure there's still a few marks which I may go back with my newfound knowledge and experience and rectify but for now, that'll do for me !