Bfg

On the 9th July,following various conversations about paint and seals, I posted . . . ...half the problem with seals is how to keep them in place, and with lift off parts how to avoid them getting snagged and damaged. Neoprene strip has a large sticky face and even if it does get damaged then it's dirt cheap to replace. Still, I note your suggestion and will have a look through the cross-sections available. There may be one that inspires confidence. Cheers Stuart. In the meantime - latches. I like the lever-arm latches of the TR6 hood frame. They are very quick n' convenient to use and neatly tuck out of the way.. but with my having a very lightweight grp (rather than a pretty heavy pressed steel) front rail, I needed to make some changes. . . ^ After some thought .. I decided to turn the screwed-on chromed bracket the other way up. This is because, in the original configuration - the stepped flange on the actual lever pin (seen in the second photo) twists on and pushes down against the chunky steel of the hood frame's front rail. However, if I did the same with this fibreglass front rail, that very narrow flange would soon wear into / through the softer material. It's also a very localised transfer of load, which again wouldn't work well ..because grp is a lot more flexible than the same thickness of pressed steel. So., turning the screw-on plate over has the pin's flange running on the screw-on plate's metal and its loading is now distributed across the full footprint of that plate. Still I wanted to add some reinforcement . . . ^ I cut n' drilled a piece of steel angle to bolt on top (..anticipating the need for such a piece I'd picked it out of the skip on Monday. I think it might have been an office-furniture drawer runner). I found longer countersunk screws to fit and cut those 1/8" shorter, to be clear under the lever arm. This steel angle, although only about 1mm thick, is pretty rigid and so I'm using it to help prevent the ends of the grp front rail from curling up. It also serves to holds the flanged pin in place, within the screw-on bracket. ^ the angle section was bedded onto bridging filler, so load transfers will be more evenly be distributed. The g-clamps are simply holding either end of the fibreglass rail down while the resin sets. Once cured and the fibreglass filler was cleaned up, the metal was treated to a liberal coating of cold galvanising (zinc) paint. ^ front edge of the lift-off lid was then bonded onto the fibreglass rail. Again I used fibreglass bridging paste to do this, although once all is cured I'll add some fibreglass laminate too. ^ on the workmate bench.. the panel's front rail now looks like this. It's not yet tidied up, and the edge overhangs are not trimmed to size, but it gives you a clearer picture as to progress. Naturally, with beam depth added - the lid is structurally stiffer. ^ The backlight's cap rail was trimmed to best fit the lid tightly down onto, and then similarly bonded on ..with the aid of clamps, masking tape, lengths of timber wedged in place and an obscure weight.. to hold the lid down as the filler set. This was all set up beforehand, as a dry run ..because in this heat there's only a few minutes working time before the bridging-filler part-sets. Having worked out what I'm doing ..and how - I'm repeated the same sequence on the drivers side of the car . . . Poor little Katie will be glad when I'm done making a mess everywhere.! That's it for now, So once again.. bid you a good weekend, Pete p.s. I'm sure this all seems very seems slow progress, but please bear in mind that I'm not copying someone elses lid (ie., I'm making things up as I go along ). I also have to allow each stage of fibreglass to cure (giving me an opportunity to do other things inbetween times), and if you look back - it's only been a month since I started to make the mould for this.

moving on to the 5th July I posted . . . Yesterday I was working on the boat while the poly-tunnel was closed up in the sunshine to accelerate the resin's curing. Today I'm back here to see how things pan out . . . ^ starting off with removing the hardboard formers, used to make the panel's inside flanges. The little white piles of dust are from drilling indexing / locating holes. And then things started to happen . . . ^ the lid's box section T-beam is being bonded to the fibreglass windscreen and backlight cap rails. I used GRP filler paste for that and of course weighted the lid, still in it's mould, down. Then I had lunch. By which time I decided to get straight on and release the mould off the lid moulding . . . ^ starting in the middle (the flattest part of the shape) I prised the edge of the mould up and slipped in a first thin batten of wood. Working from that to the side I slipped in a long thin batten, and further worked that towards the lid's gutter. Pushing that in (over the stiffer curved shape over the doors) released the gutter, and so I then managed to slip in a thin piece of wood in along the front and worked that to the centreline. Over to the other side, I started again at the back and inserted a batten along that side working my way forward. ^ Then with all the edge released, the mould was easily lifted off. ^ the flatter part of these side panels is just a layer of surfacing tissue and one layer of 300g/m chopped strand mat, so it's very thin and nicely translucent (bright inside the car). It is after all just to keep the rain off my bald patch ! Heavy rain will be like dropping onto a drum though. So finally having a roof, what did I do next ? I chopped it up . . . ^ Starting with a hacksaw (front and rear edges) from the inside gave me cut lines to align the masking tape to, so that I could use a powered jig-saw. ^ Btw., there are blades for cutting grp ; without teeth, but with an abrasive edge which cuts in both up and down strokes, with minimal chipping to either face. After a little cleaning up of the sawn edges I had a look-see . . . The T-bar, although just 4" x 1" in section, looks bigger than I'd expected. It's got a job to do, so I'll live with it. Hopefully it'll blend in a little better when the edges are softened and it's painted. Being along the centreline of the car, inbetween the sun visor brackets it ought not present headroom issues. ^ just the one side panel fitted (passenger seat covered) ought to further reduce drafts and road noise, and then (photo 2 ^) a quick look to see how the panel(s) might be carried on a boot rack (nb., this panel is presently without its front and rear fixing rails & sealing flanges, so the final item will not sit so neatly). These lids would also fit inside the boot ..but I'd have to alter its stay if I wanted to strap it up to the underside boot frame. The photo clearly illustrates why the original (one piece, full size / width) panel is nigh on impossible to carry ..when fitted not in place. And so there we are for today. Again useful progress in the right direct. I'm off to the TSSC club meeting at the Sorrel horse now, so that's it for today. Bidding you a good evening, Pete

. . . I'll quickly catch up by simply copying and pasting from 'the other' forum. After all it'll only take seconds to skip over those posts or, for anyone who may be interested, just a few minutes to read them. Where we left off.. was with my adding a foam beam into the fibreglass Surrey-top lid I was making < here >. Gareth, on the other forum, commented that "It's more complicated than I thought, when I thought of the roof area I forgot about how to secure it, so all the parts to complete it are adding up." To this I replied . . . " Yes indeed, Although just the outside skin is seen to the casual onlooker ..who might further venture to note if n' what there might be in way of headlining or interior finish - the success or failure of a hardtop or removable lid panel is in how well it secures & seals against the wind n' weather. Getting things to fit snugly is not easy when, what it attaches to, both the windscreen and the backlight are in slightly different positions (..between one TR and the next). Similarly with the door glasses, and the corner gaps between those and the 'fixed' frames. Triumph's Surrey top was actually quite brilliant for its day insomuch as it both looks great and also mostly works to keep the wet n' wind out. Most Design-engineers have never designed a soft-top, or a removable hardtop ..let alone a surrey lid / targa, and so their evolution has been slow. In many instances Regency-period carriages were better, but of course they didn't have such high wind-velocities / water pressure to be dealt with, nor the fashionable streamlined 'styles' to constrain their efforts. Larger 1940's - 1970's cars, like Jaguar had lesser problems because their structures and hood frames were heavier built. For lightweight / economically produced cars, opening-hood & removable-top designs needed a fresh look, which is not something the British car manufacturers were used to doing ..or could afford to take a risk on. American, German, Italian and Japanese manufacturers noted the dismal reputation of British soft-top weather and draught-proofing ..and started again, mostly introducing the T-bar .. which fixed and braced that dimensional parameter. Citroen of course did their own thing with their 2cv and Dyane ..which cleverly benefitted from their door side rails to brace the structure and to land door seals on (interestingly those door's lip seals were fitted to the doors rather than on the door frames). Most other manufacturers avoided these issues altogether by not offering a convertible version of their cars, particularly so as vehicle structure evolved to monocoque ..better leave those costs and the warranty headaches to specialist coach-builders. The 'obvious solution' to weather-proofing is to make the seals bigger and squidgy, but more often than not - such seals are ugly. There's also the matter of how to best secure those seals, because many seals are not where one part simply pushes up to another ..but rather there's also a bit of scuffing sideways, which can push a seal away from where it is glued or clipped. A better weather-tight seal is achieved by moving the split line to a place of low pressure, even though visually that can look sorta wrong. For example, where the front rail of a soft-top hood or a hardtop-panel splits from the windscreen cap rail horizontally, as it does on most British sports cars.. then as the vehicle drives along - the wind n' rain water pushes into its seal. But when that split line is turned to the vertical, then the lifting air-flow stream over a windscreen results in a low-pressure zone over the roof, whereby any rain water (which is not flung straight over the top) tends to be drawn out of a top seal. This is why flush-fitting opening sunroof mostly work. Any rainwater that does get in - is in low pressure zone, and that can be easily drained away. Of course, if those drains are too small (perhaps for a car wash), or part-blocked, or if the car is parked on a sloping driveway, then water may dribble into the car. For me to change the design of this windscreen's cap rail and its seal would have been more work still. I'm working with what I have but am making a concerted effort to keep those gaps as tight as practical. The overhanging front bead of the the Surrey-lid roof will work against my weather-proofing, but I'm leaving it on because its part n' parcel of the car's 1960's style. Of course my splitting this Surrey top lid into three panels necessitates even more seals (..and awkward corners) where water might get in. But my real concern is in making the windscreen cap-rail stiff enough to clamp down without curling up at the edges. Fibreglass is very useful for creating shapes but it's not a rigid material unless cored &/or boxed-in structures are used. We will see.! Pete "

funny you should ask that.. Thread drift rather than a TR in a drift .. I've now finally rediscovered the password to my TR register account ..which was so secret that I didn't know it myself, so the question now is ...should I resume from now, or should I go back and fill in all the gaps since July 3rd - when I last managed to post an update on this forum.? At that time I was just making the fibreglass Surrey-top for Katie, whereas my more recent posts are more along the lines of a travel-log. Pete

I'm not primitive Pete, I'm well passed using the quill and abacus ..Indeed I'm happy to use a sliderule, even a modern WH Smiths plastic one that I got on my birthday (...some years ago). But what fool put a nipple in the middle of this typewriter's keyboard !?

Testing, testing, testing, 1234, 54321 ..... I'm almost back.. with BIG thanks to Colin, TSSC - Suffolk group leader (who meet at the Sorrel Horse, Barham, IP6 0PG the first Tuesday of each month). Colin has very kindly helped me out with a 20th century computer, running on windows 7 (whereas my old but faithful Dell is still on Windows XP) Of course, even a replacement computer did not help me find out out to hotspot the internet from my mobile phone. The dastardly passwords hide so cleverly that it's taken me half a day to find them ..Bottom line is that I can now post on this forum. I was still able the TR Register, so I don't know why the changes to this website blocked me out, but hey ho, as and when I can get my fingers to work on this keyboard, and my eyes used to the vibrant colours and all the icons of this later version of Windows, I'll come back with a few of Katie's travel-log updates. All the best for now, Pete.

Since Wednesday I've continued to potter, between finishing reading the historical novel (..575 pages is something of an achievement for me) and the sciatica, I'm steadily moving along with shaping the lid's fitting structure of the lid to the car. As it's a sorta bitsy process, I'll try to run through photos as a comic strip .. On Wednesday, I'd signed off after having just bonded and side-laminated the foam-core, which I plan to be a T-Bar between the windscreen and the Surrey-top back-light. Above is later that same evening when the fibreglass resin had cured to a hard cheese consistency (ie. before it goes really hard) and I was able to green-trim those edges of the flash. Timing when doing this is quite critical insomuch as the resin has to still be soft enough to cut with a craft knife (note the angle of the blade as it's drawn along) and yet not be too soft whereby the resin pulls / crumbles off the glass fibre strands ..which then leaves a frayed edge. ^ I released (just peeled off) the laminate from the top rail of back-light, which thankfully hadn't stuck to the paint at all. That fibreglass could then be safely trimmed. ^ Similarly I released the laminate from the TR6 windscreen's cap rail, for it to be trimmed. Fibreglass doesn't stick to aluminium very well at all (which makes it a really useful material for quick n' easy moulds when making flanges, fibreglass brackets, etc) ..so I wasn't concerned about it sticking. However I did have to careful prise it off (with thin wedges / battens of softwood) because the glassfibre laminate had wrapped around the underside edges, and I didn't want to use a power tool for trimming those edges for fear of damaging the (soft metal) cap rail (..which is to go back on). Twisting the cap-rail & moulding, snapped the bond between the two, so the softwood wedges were mostly to prise the aluminium out ..before I could get fingers in to pull. ^ the new fibreglass windscreen cap rail trimmed, ^^ trial fitted, and then ^^^ (loosely) fitted with the latches. In the latter two photos the fibreglass piece is sitting on the aluminium cap rail. ^ with both the aluminium + fibreglass cap rails in place, as well as the fibreglass cap rail for the backlight, the hardtop lid (still in its mould) was placed on the car, and marked where the foam core of the T-bar beam needed to be trimmed back. ^ with the T-bar's foam core shaped, whereby the lid sat down on the two new cap rails, I closed-in the underside of this box-beam. The above shows a laminate just wetted-out, but before its side overhangs were stippled (with brush) down to form sides of the box. Once that was smoothly achieved the wet laminate was paddle-wheel rolled to squeeze the air out from under and between the glass-fibre filaments. ^ while I had the glassfibre out, I laminated three layers over a rolled length of angle (salvaged from the skip). This is one of two such fibreglass angled-flanges to be made ..which will soon be bonded along the inside of the lid moulding, in place for the door-glass weather-seals. I've spoken of the foam core, now within a box-section fibreglass beam as a T-bar. The plan is for that to be screwed to the windscreen header rail and the back-light's cap top rail, and then for the two side panels (over seats) to be qd removable Surrey-lids, that are lightweight and small enough to carry within the car or on a boot rack. To achieve this I needed two more inside edge weather-seal flanges. . . ^ hardboard was used as faces to laminate against, and to hold those in place I used blocks, with weights where necessary to keep the pressure on. You can hardly make it out from the photos but the outside face and edges of those pieces of hardboard have been covered with aluminium tape (left over from when I insulated my container). As previously said, the fibreglass doesn't stick well to aluminium so this tape is a cheap and easily shaped release-face for something like hardboard, which grp would normally stick to with a vengeance. The inset photo simply illustrates my fibreglassing up this flange face, inbetween the blocks. When the resin of those first thin layers had kicked off, the blocks could be removed and the fibreglassing of these flanges properly done. . . ^ the new flanges have been laminated against the aluminum-faced hardboard formers. At the front-end ; the hardboard was held against the foam-core beam simply with a piece of masking tape. Further back (where the blocks had been) you can just about make out packers of very thin plywood. 2/3rd the way back are slightly thicker packer pieces, and then right at the back (top of this photo) are 3/16" thick packers. The reason for this was that back width of the metal hardtop lid, and therefore the mould and moulding I'm now using, was a little too wide for a neat fit against the side notches in backlight frame. I suspect the depth of their rubber seal was more than I hope to use. So these packers holding the flange further apart across the rear, whereby I then hope to trim a little of that excess width off the panels I'm making. It's a risk and a complication, but hey.. if that's what'll be better fitting - then I'll give it a go. And that my friends is as far as I've got this week. Slow progress, but steadily in the right direction. Bidding you a good evening, Pete

Not a whole lot to report on, not least because I've been lazy these past few days and have enjoyed reading a book (well., half way so far). That's not something I've done very often in my lifetime, mostly I think because as a dyslexic my reading ability has always been incredibly slow. However, as I've written more over these past few years, it seems to have greatly improved. Still, aside from a dozen or so car orientated books, I guess I've only ever completely read a dozen or so others ..including the bible and those required in schooling, so it is enlightening and refreshing to now be able to read ..and to let my imagination paint the pictures. My reading this book started when I was aching so bad, in my lumber and sciatic nerve regions, that I skipped getting on with the workshop tasks in hand. I placed loose chocks under a chair to tilt it back and that helps with the discomfort, and the enthralling tale has on the whole otherwise kept my mind distracted. That is until I try to get up ! Anyway, aside from that, I've not done a whole lot because the temperatures in this poly-tunnel result in my perspiring to the point of blotting vision (..the inside of my spectacles) and literally pouring out of the short nitrile gloves I'm wearing for fibreglassing ..whenever my hands are upturned. A weak excuse for sure. But this is all I've done since Sunday . . . ^ fibreglassing the windscreen header-rail proved to be right pain in the xxxx. That of course is my fault because foolishly I was trying to fibreglass a lightweight, long and unstable piece of aluminium ..which moves around as I tried to work the resin into the glass fibres. In retrospect I should simply have screwed it to a block of timber that could be clamped in the workmate. #2 mistake was in my not extending its edges. This can easily be done with strips of cardboard, or even just masking tape. Then once the surfacing tissue is applied and its resin cured, there there would have been a flange on which the 'flash' (untrimmed edge ..to be cut off) would have laid flat. As it was., I fought to get the short strands of fibreglass to conform with the short down-turned edge ..and then to keep it there rather than for it to spring back again. I ended up running around and using sprung clips and battens to hold the edges down, along with blocks and weights. In short my laziness in preparation, made for far more more work and stress than there ought to have been. Not at all a professional approach and this will yet again reflect in more trimming and rework being required, before the part is usable. In contrast, the fibreglass laminates over the backlight's top rail went very much easier. ^ That's better ! Today, I was better prepared, and of course Katie is making herself useful as well. . . ^ a work-table is quite necessary for marking out and cutting the fibreglass mat, irrespective of the limited work space. NB. I'm using scissors and hand tearing the fibreglass rather than using a Stanley-knife to cut the glass mat on the bonnet ! I do try to keep the sticky resin and paint destroying acetone off the car though. My task today was to add a backbone spine to the lid moulding being made. The idea being that this will end up as a T-bar, to brace backlight rearwards from the windscreen. And that in turn ought to keep the rear window glass from falling out ..which'll add a little to peace-of-mind when driving along the motorway ! For a lightweight beam I'm using 1" thick 'foam-core' (hard urethane foam ) that I have left over from replacing the balsa-core structure in the bridgedeck throughout the boat. ^ I've cut a strip, just a little narrower than 4" to go from front to back of the hardtop lid, and rounded its edge corners. This rounded-edge will be face down in the moulding. As seen above.. I've bowed the foam to open the pre-cut kerfs (slits) and painted catalysed resin into them, on both sides. ^ the balsa core was then placed, centrally, over a 6" wide strip of glassfibre, and another lightweight layer of glassfibre applied over the top of it. The kerfs in foam-core are to allow it to conform (under pressure) to compound surface shapes. On my boat I used a specific purpose polyester adhesive to 'goo' the balsa-core down ..and then used numerous 25kg lead weights placed on plywood boards, which were laid over a part inflated air bed - to hold the core down (the air bed of course complied to the curved shapes of the boat while at the same time applies equal pressure all over). It worked well. On this occasion I'm hoping that a wrap around of glassfibre will bond the foam in place, but I still needed to hold it down while the resin cures. I'd preplanned this to use the primitive resources I have to hand. . . ^ a tubular steel beam (left over from my making a camping-trailer chassis) clamped down at either end to the workmates the hardtop-lid is resting on. And thereafter packing / wedges between that and battens laid the length of the foam core. The 1" edge of the 6" wide glassfibre strip that was under the foam core has been lifted up the sides of the core. Another 1" wide strip of glass fibre was added over those vertical sides and then two more layers of glassfibre (their top edge scissor cut, outside edges hand torn / feathered) placed down the sides and to spread out on the moulding's inside surface. I think it went well. ! ..but I'm worried that the shape may be more bowed than it should be. The pre-planning (unlike my effort on the windscreen cap-rail) paid me back with this task being easy. That will now need to cure, before the underside of this 'beam' can be shaped to the two new fibreglass windscreen and back-light cap rails. And then the bottom face of the foam-core can be fibreglassed over to create a very stiff (..but light-as-foam) box beam. As this place is now looking like a fibreglass workshop mess, that walks into my home, I'll now do some tidying up. Accordingly.. that's it for today. Pete

^ Surfacing tissue applied, ready for tomorrow's heavier glass-fibre laminates. Again, this very fine glass-fibre 'tissue' is being used as a first layer - because it's better able to follow the shape over hard corners and down into local depressions in the pattern. Often cars and hardtops made in fibreglass have very rounded panel and edge definitions ..and so look like fibreglass cars. The objective here, is to make a Surrey-top lid with the edge-definitions of a steel or aluminium panel ..which to my eyes looks more authentic on a a 1960's classic. Only by physically touching the panel (..its warmth and its duller sound) might another person realise that it is not made from metal. Having said that.. I'm blowing it - by trying to make it semi-translucent ! Hey-ho that's me .. trying to achieve more than is possible with the limited resources I have. ..But if anyone has a large enough vacuum forming machine and the right colour of ABS sheet.. then please drop me a line. Pete

Good afternoon all.. ^ As the moulding cures a little more in the polytunnel's warmth under the honeysuckle ..and for just an hour or so this Sunday afternoon, I did a little more, starting with my removing the windscreen-frame's cap rail. . . ^ This is the TR6 type cap rail, without a front overhang for the TR4's fabric Surrey top (as that initiates wind-noise above 50mph), but with dip-recesses for the 90-degree-turn lever-arm securing clamps (in these photos the masking tape is covering the holes for those). I've waxed it a couple of times with Mirrorglaze and filled over the rivet / screw holes with raised blobs of plasticine, and then given it a couple of coats of PVA. The plan is to take a moulding directly off of it and to bond that to the underside of the top-skin I've made. ^ Similarly I've masked up the rear window seal of the Surrey-top backlight, over its forward facing vinyl-wrapped weather-seal flange, and also covered over the surrey-top attachment holes. I've used a polythene-sheet to protect the car's interior and rear wings from drips of resin. And again, a couple of coats of Mirrorglaze and a couple of coats of PVA release agent. ^ each are now clear gel-coated and set aside to cure. I'm winging it, so I look forward to seeing if this lightweight version of a hardtop Surrey lid, when it's all together, will work.!? Pete

^ impressive how someone has managed to plug the holes in those Top gear cars. I would have thoroughly enjoyed doing that challenge. Hey-ho back to my own reality, in a polytunnel .. Well, I got the new gel-coat and surfacing tissue in and so could proceed with work on the Surrey-top lid on Thursday. Tbh it didn't go well, perhaps because I was trying to get things done in a rush before I went out at midday. I didn't make that appointment because me be me.. I first wanted to do a little more flatting on the inside of the mould. Looking afresh at the inside surface - I decided to rubbed it down some more with 320 grit wet n' dry and then to go over it again with 600 grit. That done I was behind schedule by an hour, but still keen to get the job done and to go out. My back-ache, which had been giving me serious jip on Wednesday, had abated quite a bit and so this rubbing down, followed by a couple of very vigorously worked-in (Mirroglaze) wax coats (..to seal pinholes and hopefully prevent the mould and the moulding-panel chemically bonding together) gave it plenty of stretching exercise. ^ I then wanted to fill in a few blemishes around the edges of this mould, for which I used Plasticine (kiddies modeling dough, which is better for this work than than any subsequent clone I've come across (such as Play-Dough). It was just applied with a metal paint scraper, and it does not go hard, but in the above instance it reshaped the very rear-end of the rain-water gutter. Next then, as previously described was a couple of coats of the PVA release agent. By this time of day it was reportedly 23-degrees outside the poly-tunnel ..and much warmer within. The weather forecast has said 40% chance of thunderstorms, but that never happened here. Instead we had 98% humidity. My face and hands were literally dripping with perspiration. Anyway the conditions were not favourable for coating the mould smoothly. And the brightness of sunlight, although diffused through the clear plastic polytunnel, onto a white mould made things so much more difficult.. I gave the mould two coats of PVA and then looking at it.. phoned my friend to advise him that I'd not be able to meet him for lunch. Instead I washed the PVA off (fresh water and soft cloths), dried the mould, and erected a dark-cover over where I was working (..so that I might better see what I was doing). I then gave it (the mould) another two coats of Mirroglaze, repaired the shape of the now dented plasticine filler, and eventually got to gelcoat the mould (for what will be the outer skin of the moulding). ^ The boat-yard was kind enough to provide (sell me) 1/2-litre of clear gel-coat (ie. without pigment) in an ice cream tub I'd provided. It comes as a vibrant but translucent magenta-pink colour, but as you can see when catalysed & painted on - it is all but clear. I have never liked dark interiors to my cars, and so I wanted this lid to be as translucent as possible. It will probable look 'terrible' (..please feel free to substitute your own word there) and will end up being painted, but I thought I'd at least give it a go. That was on Thursday. And then yesterday I gave it a layer of surfacing tissue ..bought from the marina's chandlery (..shop by any other name, with yachty-inflated prices) . . . ^ Like most other things - there are differences in supplies, and this 'fibreglass tissue' ( 30g/sq.m ) was tight and heavily starched. That may be fine for flat surfaces (..which are generally avoided in fibreglass work) but for compound curves - it was a right nuisance. In the bottom-right of this photo you can see how loose my old-stock tissue had been, conversely the new stuff ..which I'd specifically had to cut to the curved shape around the front of this roof, was like a regency gentleman's starched collar. When wetted-out with resin - it was of course much more flexible ..but still it's brand I'll avoid buying again. ^ Anyway, one layer of tissue was applied all over and then another layer all the way around the edges to help create the tightly defined shapes from the steel lid's front edge roll, the side rain-gutters and the joggled-step across the back edge. Again it didn't go on particularly well but it'll have to do. That was left to cure before the next layer of glass-fibre was applied. Note the jury rigged sun shades ! and so onto today. . . ^ with the first, surfacing tissue laminate, mostly cured - the chopped-strand-mat (glass fibres) was layed out and roughly trimmed to shape. Again this glass mat is starched flat, and to fit it to the concave shape I hand tear down from the edges (like a seamstress would cut darts in a fabric which is to fit neatly around a body or limb). Those loose fibre edges can just be seen overlaying others. When wetted-out with resin these hand-torn edges will hardly be seen, whereas scissor cut edges would have shown pronounced edges. All the glassfibre to be applied (..one layer overall, plus two additional layers around each edge, and also a centre strip) were prepared ready to pick up and bond in place. Around the edge, I prefer a scissor cut edge outside and a hand torn (feathered) edge to the inside. ^ job done for today. The top skin of this lid moulding is mostly there, presently it's very lightweight but with edges reinforced. Down the centre you'll see that the additional layer was both scissor cut and hand torn. The scissor cut edges were overlapped and, even when laminated, are more clearly defined than the hand torn (feathered) edges to either side. The surfacing tissue is of course under all of this and was used where there's detail definition and to cling to the the mould's edges ..whereas as you can see in the top RH corner of the inset photo, the heavier chopped-strand mat tends to stick out rather than cling to a tight radius. I've used blocks and packing to try and hold those edges in tighter to the rain-gutter, but I expect to have to do some reworking of those. That's it for today, now I need to go grocery shopping. (I'll re-read and check / correct my typos / grammar tomorrow) I bid you a pleasant evening and a good weekend. Pete

Not a lot happening on the Eastern front. The Surrey-lid's mould is still curing as i await fresh gelcoat to come in ..and, as planned, I've diverted my attentions to working on the boat. . . ^ the 30ft catamaran is mine, and she was first commissioned in 1972. I bought her knowing structural work was required, and I've done 99% of that now, so it's 'just' a case of replacing the systems, putting together the new rudders I've made, adding safety lines, refurbishing or replacing the rig and most likely all the sails, and recommissioning or replacing the outboard motor. Well that's not all but they're the things that spring to mind. A few years back, the boatyard's 'dry-storage' park flooded (5ft deep) in salt-water, whereby things that should have been kept dry got wet & very muddy. A lot of stuff and tools of some value were destroyed. Nevertheless, I had planned on getting back to work on the boat in April ..two years ago. But just then strict Covid restrictions were introduced and I wasn't allowed (..even though I would have been working on my own, access to the boatyard was closed). And then just for fun I was also told to move out my home. Moving out of a house and into an apartment didn't help because much of 'the stuff' off the boat had been stored at home, and so it had to come back. Because that was done in haste, and again around Covid restriction, those things were never sorted. I then bought Katie.., a tidy and driveable car. Well as you know "there's always a few jobs to do" ...now, a couple of years later - it's time to move on. You'll be glad to hear that I'll not be boring you with the tasks I'm doing on the boat, save to say that it will occupy the rest of this year (..at least ! ). I've come around to the boatyard in the TR a couple of times, but usually I'm in the old Chrysler Voyager workhorse that I drive as a (20 y.old) modern. The boatyard is either dusty or wet. On our Katie's first visit it was the former, and on Sunday afternoon, when I came down to do just a few hours work it was mostly dry ..but with heavy rain showers. . . ^ although the Surrey back-light is still on, without having a workable infill panel - we managed just fine. Still, the drive back home was very pleasant in the freshly cleansed air, and when I got home it was still a glorious evening. . . Pete

The gelcoat being finger tacky until air is excluded or it's given time to fully cure is not a problem, that just aids the chemical bond between it and the laminating resin. I'm only having issues with this laminating resin being tacky for so long. I've not had this with the resins I've used before and so I wonder if they've sold me casting resin ? ie., what's used for things casting like chess pieces. In any case I'll not be buying it via e-bay again, I'll buy it directly from the workshop store at the marina. One of the most important things with gelcoat is to add the catalyst and to mix it with thoroughly ..And then to transfer the catalysed gelcoat to another (clean) pot and give it another good stir. Never do the mixing with the paintbrush, and don't even brush the surplus off the mixing stick. The reason for this is that the gelcoat at the very bottom, around the sides of the pot, and that on the mixing stick, &/or within the bristles of the brush (if you've used that for mixing) is likely to have less catalyst. It will go off eventually ..but in the meantime - if you laminate over uncured gelcoat, it will wrinkle-like craze. Pete

Thanks, Good question, and the bottom line answer is that I don't know ..with the resin I presently have. Usually in this sort of weather I'd be thinking about a week. But for whatever reason this particular 25kg barrel of 'general purpose polyester resin' seems to rather like gelcoat insomuch as it appears to have set with the catalyst in normal times, but it does not really cure for ages ..insomuch as the surface remains tacky for a long while. I used it on the lid of my trailer box and after many months that's now fully cured and turned cardboard brown colour. This mould is very much thinner and now that I've opened the inside surface it can can dissipate its styrene from both faces, but I don't know how long it'll be before I'll feel it's fully cured. Its cyan blue colour has turned to be more of a sage green, and the outside surface is far less tacky, but still I'm not confident that it's ready to be used as a mould - without fear of the moulding not being able to be released. Hopefully another week's patience will be rewarded by things then going well. As a general purpose resin it may be a good thing.. to remain tacky for longer, so that subsequent laminates (perhaps over several days, can be applied and be assured of a good chemical bond. On the other hand, it remaining sticky is a real pain when the laminating is done and you just want to get on and finish the job. As I found with the trailer's lid as soon as you try to sand it, the paper clogs up. I'll let you know, Pete p.s. as an aside epoxy resin doesn't cure to full strength until cooked in an autoclave (sailing boat masts and wind vanes are cooked to ensure maximum strength is achieved). Boat hulls are cooked under a tent, or with electrical elements built into the mould, but they rarely achieve absolute maximum. But then, even its less cured state, it's generally regarded as being stronger than any polyester resin. The strength of the glass within the laminate is of course the same, save that epoxy laminates are usually of woven-glass-fibres, or stitched together uni/ bi / tri-directional glass strands ..rather than chopped-strand-mat. But then woven glass and uni-directionals can also be used in polyester laminates.

^ Likewise keep it going ..you are inspiring others This afternoon I cleaned out the residue PVA and wax that had transferred from the pattern . . . ^ surprisingly to me, a little of the red paint from the pattern transferred. No worries, it was soon washed away with a little soapy water and a light rubbing over with 320 grit wet n' dry. I then spent some time refinishing the mould edges, which is to serve as an extra 1/4" of flange all around the edge. This will make it a little easier to laminate / fibreglass the moulding. At the same time I trued up the rain gutters and the front n' rear edge detailing of the steel pressing ..mostly working by hand (files, wet n, dry and a rubber sanding block) rather than with power tools, after all we're mostly only cutting plastic (albeit with nasty glass filaments). ^ flatted with 320 grit wet n' dry, mostly on the curved back of the rubber sanding block. Although overall fairing (true curvatures) of the pattern is the same as finishing bodywork, the smoothing process is simpler with fibreglass mouldings.. Firstly sand off the high points off the pattern. Take a mould off that ..and what were pits, pinholes, open blister pock-marks or chips in the paint, &/or sanding-down scratches in the pattern become high spots and fine ridges in the surface of the mould. Carefully sand (wet n' dry) those off.. and the remaining surface is mid-level and now smooth. Any indents or scratches in the mould will likewise reverse to be high spots and fine ridges in any moulding ..and they can likewise be easily cut back to the smooth mid-level. And just because I could, I did have a quick looksee . . . ^ despite the flanges being a little longer all around it looks a pretty good fit. I could of course refinish (smooth &/or vinyl cover) the outside face and be done with it. I'd retaining the smooth finish inside, but loose the definition of the steel panel I wanted externally. With the inside surface exposed, the mould presently sits in the sun to cure some more. Pete

I'd fibreglassed just two more layers of 450g/m2 csm (chopped strand mat) on the surface, before I went out for lunch on Thursday, and then trimmed off the sharp fibreglass bards around the edges a couple of days later. And then today, I was moving it around.. into the sunshine, and noted it coming loose from the steel panel. ^ it didn't take much finger and thumb to open up the gap you see above, so I thought it best to now gently pull the mould off. . . ^ I wasn't planning on releasing the mould just yet, but it being partly on / off wouldn't be good ..because the heat, or cooling, from the steel panel would no longer be even (with some places touching and others not) so it's better to let it be free. I figure its final curing might also be better achieved with both faces open to the air, but it does now need to be carefully placed ..as such a lightweight mould will be prone to twist &/or flattening out. Can hardly say 'Job done' because I just gently peeled the two apart ..tbh I'd have more of a struggle opening a packet of peanuts.! . . . but still I'll give myself a little for the mould not having stuck to the filler I'd used to fair the pattern. Bidding you a good evening, Pete oh yeah . . . ^ this apartment's bedroom has 'period' wallpaper befitting a 1970's semi-detached-suburbia home's lounge (..1970's may well be the last time this place had a make-over) ..so this 60 year old lid is now an exclusive wall-sculpture worth tens-of-thousands.! Yeah I know., abstract art is not to everyone's taste - but then it may be celebrated ..simply as something that mostly only us bachelors are free to do

If it's of any help.. I removed all the shims and rubbers between the body and chassis on my TR and started again ..from what supposedly reassembled as standard. I set off by using 2mm thick self-adhesive neoprene on the underside of the floor panels, wherever the floor pressed-ribs crossed the chassis. This prevents any panel from vibrating against the chassis as I drive. In practice they act like sound deadening pads to absorb 'normal' vibrations. < here > I quickly checked / measured (from above) using the end-depth-pin of a vernier gauge, the gap between the top of the chassis mounts and the underside of the floor mounts. I found the body was resting on the chassis in just a few places (but not on the body mounts). In those places - I temporarily fitted 1/8" thick packer pieces of hardboard. I then measured all the body mount gaps, to see what rubber thickness and spacers were required. It didn't actually take very long (..despite my having added 8 more body to chassis mounts to this car). In each case I ended up with just one or two rubber pads inbetween the body mount and the chassis. Any additional packing was done by metal spacer (suitably plated &/or painted of course). I used 1/8" flat plate ..mostly 1-1/2" square (aside from the grouped body-mounting-plates for two, three or four screws). These thinner plates are more accurate (than the original 1/4" packer pieces) and they have a greater surface / load bearing area than the original type. The newly-fitted / aftermarket rubber pads (fitted by the Triumph specialist who replaced the chassis) were not reinforced rubber. Because of this - when bolted up / compressed the rubber squidges out. Flipping useless.., so I scrapped most of those and reused the original (reinforced with cotton webbing) ones. My objective was ; to allow the body to sit (..and then be clamped) unstressed on the chassis (with the doors opening and closing correctly). As a bonus, this also meant that the body sat a little lower / closer fitting to the chassis (albeit perhaps only by 1/8 - 1/4"). ^ I also used rubber pads inside the car, on the body mounts, so the body mount holes are sealed from below by the rubber mounts and also from above by similar rubber pads. I didn't use most of the supplied body washers. Instead I again cut n' drilled 1/8" thick plates to cover the groups of bolt holes ..so again their load / any stress was wider spread (better distributed towards the sill, the bulkhead, and the folded floor edges). These might not be felt in everyday driving ..but in the event of an accident (even if rolled) these body fastenings are not going to rip through the floor.! I felt lock washers were not required when bolting through rubber, but I did use stainless-steel plain-washers on the load-distribution plates I'd fitted ..to prevent those from being scratched as I tightened the screws up (..I just don't like having rusty body mounts ! ). Despite my not having refitted the dashboard support (H-frame) - this car feels very much more 'held together' and quieter than before. Perhaps that provides you food for thought. Pete

That's why the cyber gods invented page bookmarks And although posted on Badwolf's topic .. I'll copy it here, for sake of completeness in this 'tutorial' . . . possibly boring but conversely.. perhaps very-worthwhile reading .. Some of us are pretty sensitive to the raw glassfibre mat, just in handling the stuff. Basically that comes down to the dust of broken glass filaments (strands) getting into our skin. I find that wearing mechanic's grade (thickness and durability) of nitrile rubber gloves* works well to keep that dust from the soft creases of skin between fingers, and a well fitting disposable face mask will help protect you inhaling those fine filaments, but of course even they can be pretty uncomfortable in the heat of the summer. Fibreglassing during the coolness of early morning can help with your own body heat and sweat, as of course can be working in the cool shade of a tree or under a temporary cover / gazebo. Working under the blazing sun is a frustrating battle to get the chemical mix of fibreglass right anyway - best to avoid.! Fibreglassing in a breezy place can also work against you as the styrene blows away too quickly and can lead to a very slow, or possibly incomplete curing. However you can do the fibreglassing, in the fresh breeze, and then cover the job over to allow it to properly cure. When fibreglassing on the boat I usually wear a disposable protective overalls (the white ones with built in hood). They are surprisingly robust for what appears to be paper, and tears can be patched with gaffer tape. Because they are reusable many times over, they are not expensive. Naturally when removing them, take care not to shake the dust off in your or anyone else's air space., nor to turn the things inside out, whereby that dust gets inside the suit ready for the next time you put it on. Wearing just underwear in them, means they are not overly-hot in the summer. Obviously it's best to handle the raw materials carefully (deliberately / slowly) to minimise shaking the dust into the air and over your skin, and this included subsequently shaking your work clothes of the dust.! Do that outside, away from others and in a breeze ..with the clothes downwind. In short be conscious of the fact that it's glass filaments you are handling. Nothing to worry about if you treat it with respect ..but it's not something for small children or pets to be playing in or sniffing at. Cutting, drilling, grinding, or sanding cured fibreglass gets that glass filament dust in to the air, onto our skin (inc. face n' neck) into our hair and over / into clothes. It also goes over everything else in the garage / work space. Same precautions are necessary ..starting off with slow speed cutting to lessen its dust and an old but well-filtered vacuum cleaner (with its out-blowing-air pointing away from the job. Wear a face mask as you dust nearby surfaces and sweep up after the job, and please bag the rubbish. * Sainsbury's sell blue rubber kitchen gloves, which cover your wrists too, and come in a good range of sizes ..even up to BFG. They are very good and can even withstand a quick wash in acetone (then quickly rub dry on a cotton cloth).. so are reusable many times over. Tip.. glass filaments (rather than actual splinters) in sensitive skin feels like a prickly rash. Do not scratch. They are very easily removed from the skin (such as your face and neck, the back of your hands and forearms) with a damp sponge and no soap. Simply draw the damp sponge (a washing-up sponge works great) over the surface ..and the friction in the sponge does the rest. Wash / rinse the sponge out under running water and repeat. Some folk suffer from skin reactions and respiratory discomfort from the chemicals. Polyester resin is not so aggressive but its catalyst is acid., so when mixed with the resin it can be uncomfortable for some. Most of us won't have much of a problem with a little splatter here n' there, or when our gloves tear. But don't leave it on your skin for too long. Have a roll of clean tissue (kitchen roll or mechanics paper roll) close by for when you need it. Clean acetone is most effective in its removal and although the skin can deal with being quickly washed in the stuff - DO NOT get it in your eyes - it stings like anything.! Dosing with lots of clean water is the quickest way to alleviate that. Lungs don't cope very well with the chemical vapours, but I've always been fine in a suitably ventilated / large enough space. However, within the confines of a boat, I've often needed an electric fan blowing towards my face. Turn the fan off once you are done, so the fibreglass can properly cure in the heat and in its own vapours. Btw. Those vapours also permeate clothes, so others can smell it on you, and like a good curry it will be on your breath and come out of your skin ..perhaps for a day or three ! ..if you've been doing a lot within closed confines. Epoxy resins are generally worse. They also wash off (while still wet / uncured) with acetone, and for me is no worse on the skin than polyester ....but others have been known to suffer a serious reaction and been rushed off to hospital ..so it's best to avoid skin contact altogether. Personally my respiratory system doesn't cope well with its vapours. When painting-to-seal the water tanks within my boat with epoxy products - I needed to wear a professional full face mask, with spirit-vapour / virus-quality filtration. Once fully cured, the epoxy-sealed water tanks are used for potable (drinking) water. Body filler / bondo - is usually a fast-curing polyester resin mixed with a bulk-filler powder. So treat that the same as above polyester-resin. NB. the bead of catalyst you add to that filler (from the tube) is likewise acid. Sanding that filler creates a lot of dust, which is not good in your lungs or eyes, but rarely triggers a medical reaction. Bridging filler - is usually a fast-curing polyester resin mixed with chopped filaments of glass. So treat that the same (and its sanding) as above polyester-resin fibreglass. Again, the bead of catalyst you add to that filler (from the tube) is likewise acid. Epoxy Body filler and water-proofing / barrier paints - is more commonly used on boats. I like them because unlike polyester - they are an effective water-proof barrier (polyester is, but epoxy is not hydroscopic). The filler also has noticeably less shrinkage as it cures.. so usually one-fill is enough (and the job was much quicker than going around again). I used epoxy filler to repair crazing on the deck of the boat for these reasons. And epoxy based paints in the water tanks, bilges and under-the-water-line places of the hull, rudders and keels. I also used epoxy body filler on the 1970's Citroen I restored. Again similar health precautions are necessary as for epoxy resins, although once cured a person having a reaction to the chemical is probably unlikely. Likewise., Araldite and other Epoxy based glues adhesives ..although generally they are used in such small quantities as to not cause a problem, someone who is specifically allergic to epoxy resin may similarly suffer discomfort if they get too close. Nail-varnish-remover used to be a weak mix of Acetone. I don't know if it still is, but if so then it's useful to have a bottle kicking around, just to wipe finger tips and to clean small tools used in the application of such resins, fillers, glues. Live long and prosper Pete

^ oops n' ouch ..but then who's not learnt by similar experience ! ? Btw., possibly boring but perhaps very-worthwhile reading .. Some of us are pretty sensitive to the raw glassfibre mat, just in handling the stuff. Basically that comes down to the dust of broken glass filaments (strands) getting into our skin. I find that wearing mechanic's grade (thickness and durability) of nitrile rubber gloves * works well to keep that dust from the soft creases of skin between fingers, and a well fitting disposable face mask will help protect you inhaling those fine filaments, but of course even they can be pretty uncomfortable in the heat of the summer. Fibreglassing during the coolness of early morning can help with your own body heat and sweat, as of course can be working in the cool shade of a tree or under a temporary cover / gazebo. When fibreglassing on the boat I usually wear a disposable protective overalls (the white ones with built in hood). They are surprisingly robust for what appears to be paper, and tears can be closed over with gaffer tape. Because they are reusable many times over, they are not expensive. Naturally when removing them, take care not to shake the dust off in your or anyone else's air space., nor to turn the things inside out, whereby that dust gets inside the suit ready for the next time you put it one. Wearing just underwear in them, means they are not overly-hot in the summer. Obviously it's best to handle the raw materials carefully (deliberately slowly) to minimise shaking the dust into the air and over your skin, and this included subsequently shaking your work clothes of the dust.! Do that outside, away from others and in a breeze ..with the clothes downwind. In short be conscious of the fact that it's glass filaments you are handling. Nothing to worry about if you treat it with respect ..but it's not something for small children or pets to be playing in or sniffing at. Cutting, drilling, grinding, or sanding cured fibreglass gets that glass filament dust in to the air, onto our skin (inc. face n' neck) into our hair and over / into clothes. It also goes over everything else in the garage / work space. Same precautions are necessary ..starting off with slow speed cutting to lessen its dust and an old but well-filtered vacuum cleaner (with its out-blowing-air pointing away from the job. Wear a face mask as you dust nearby surfaces and sweep up after the job, and please bag the rubbish. * Sainsbury's sell blue rubber kitchen gloves, which cover your wrists too, and come in a good range of sizes ..even up to BFG. They are very good and can even withstand a quick wash in acetone (then quickly rub dry on a cotton cloth).. so are reusable many times over. Tip.. glass filaments (rather than actual splinters) in sensitive skin feels like a prickly rash. Do not scratch. They are very easily removed from the skin (such as your face and neck, the back of your hands and forearms) with a damp sponge and no soap. Simply draw the damp sponge (a washing-up sponge works great) over the surface ..and the friction in the sponge does the rest. Wash / rinse the sponge out under running water and repeat. Some folk suffer from skin reactions and respiratory discomfort from the chemicals. Polyester resin is not so aggressive but its catalyst is acid., so when mixed with the resin it can be uncomfortable for some. Most of us won't have much of a problem with a little splatter here n' there, or when our gloves tear. But don't leave it on your skin for too long. Have a roll of clean tissue (kitchen roll or mechanics paper roll) close by for when you need it. Clean acetone is most effective in its removal and although the skin can deal with being quickly washed in the stuff - DO NOT get it in your eyes - it stings like anything.! Dosing with lots of clean water is the quickest way to alleviate that. Lungs don't cope very well with the chemical vapours, but I've always been fine in a suitably ventilated / large enough space. However, within the confines of a boat, I've often needed an electric fan blowing towards my face. The vapours also permeate clothes, so others can smell it on you, and like a good curry it will be on your breath and come out of your skin. Epoxy resins are much worse for me, they also wash off (while still wet / uncured) with acetone, and for me is no worse on the skin than polyester ....but others have been known to suffer a serious reaction and been rushed off to hospital ..so it's best to avoid skin contact altogether. Personally my respiratory system doesn't cope well with its vapours. When painting to seal the water tanks within my boat, with epoxy products - I needed to wear a professional full face mask, with spirit-vapour / virus-quality filtration. Once fully cured, the epoxy-sealed water tanks are used for potable (drinking) water. Hope that helps, Pete

For a flash mould where just the top skin is required ..and the moulding's exact width, length or curvature is not essential - that'll not be necessary. I'm about to give the mould just two more layers of the lightweight (450g/m csm) glass mat and that'll do. This mould will probably be no thicker than the final moulding taken out of it. I'll most likely keep it 'in the loft' ..just in case I loose or damage part of the lid I make, so it remaining compact will be an advantage. If I were to bond-on a base structure, then the mould's skin would have to be thicker and allowed to cure for a good while before any timber was added ..so as to prevent localised sinkage under the timber (caused by its attaching grp also shrinking by 1 - 2%). An alternative would be a deep perimeter flange, ie., four sides of a box around (under) the mould, which would only require local to the perimeter extra mould thickness, but still the additional time to cure. And although a base / cradle for the mould to sit and be worked upon would be convenient - for the just a one-off moulding - it's more work and time than reward. If I were making a mould for production, then it would be three or four times as thick, and allowed to cure for a month or two, and then I'd build an egg box type plywood base box to keep it in shape and as a table base. Someone else can do that if they want to take over from where I leave off. Pete

And then.. for just a couple of hours today . . . ^ 'Surfacing tissue' .. is glassfibre on a very fine level. It is particularly useful for working into tight corners as well as for preventing print-through of coarser glass fibres showing through on the finished (generally outside) surface. As you can see it literally has the thickness of a single thin layer of tissue, but as I say those are glass fibres rather than paper or cotton. Do NOT use as toilet paper !!! ^ I've only a small amount of this tissue left over from previous jobs, so I'm using it as a first layer in the rain gutters and all around the edge. It's fineness helps avoid air bubbles in such awkwardly tight corners. I used a mix of catalyst in the resin which, within the warmth of the polytunnel, cured quickly. This in turn meant I could get on with the next layer without that being disturbed . . . ^ Like the surfacing-tissue, chopped-strand-mat is also made up of fine filaments (drawn fibres) of glass. And likewise they are each held together (for ease of handling as a sheet) by starch. This goes soft and washes away in the resin - so the glass filaments laid on the job can take to the required shape even if like this Surrey top lid the shape is a compound surface (it doesn't matter whether that is convex or concave, conical or a tube). For ease of handling I chose to fibreglass the mould in three strips, with a hard cut straight edge first aligned into the rain gutter, but with it not long enough to come up the other side yet. ^ The surfacing tissue, because it's so thin, can easily be wetted out with the resin from the outside. However as thicker glassfibre is used.. then it's usually quicker and easier to paint the wet resin onto the surface first, and then lay the glassfibre mat onto that, and then to apply more resin on top. Once laid - the important task is to squeeze the air out from inbetween all those glass fibres. The brush action is one of stippling ..so as to not drag and displace the fibres. On flatter surfaces I apply the resin with a brush, but then prefer to use a paddle wheel ..which rolls across the wetted surface. This pushes the resin into the glass mat.. which at the same time displaces the air. The action is light ..rather than a lot of pressure. Many amateurs try too hard, but if you watch someone with experience they'll wet the surface out and then move on to the next patch, and then return to the first area of work ..when the resin has by itself mostly soaked in. The thoroughly wetted-out glassfibre becomes more translucent and takes on the hue of the catalyzed but uncured polyester resin. In this case the resin is tinted blue, so it's easier to see what your doing. I have in the past used (and generally prefer) green tinted resin, and even pinkish coloured resin which was specifically intended for mould making. As it cures, the colour will change to a sort of cardboard colour. Opaque pigment can be added to the resin but that just makes seeing what you are doing all the more difficult. ^ a strip of glassfibre to run up the outside flange of the gutters ..and the job for today is done. Yes., just a single layer for today. I don't want the mould to pre-release from the pattern which can happen if too much fibreglassing is done too soon. This type of fibreglass resin will want to shrink by 1 - 2% as it cures, and so letting this thin layer cure first means that it internal stresses are too small to pull it away. Too thick a layer of fibreglass will cause the panel to misshape, as its exotherm (byproduct of the curing process) warms everything up too much. No, I'll let it cure overnight and then apply some more when this polyester resin well set and more stable. Pete

After a couple of hours the gel coat was still wet ! ..and the day (not particularly warm anyway) was fast turning to dusk, and so the temperature was likely to drop more. Panic ? ..or go to the pub ! ?? .. quickly build a tent under the lid / around the two 'Workmates' it is sitting on, with an electric oil-filled radiator inside.. and then go to the pub. . . TSSC club meeting at The Sorrel Horse Inn, with Katie parked in alongside Russel's wonderful 2ltr estate. Pete p.s. when I got home.. the steady low warmth from the radiator had done its deed, and the gel coat was setting and tacky. Not quite enough but its 'kicking off' was underway., so I left the radiator on low until the early hours of this morning. That worked, and now within the sun-warmed polytunnel, the gelcoat is reassuringly set but still surface tacky. Phew .. I really didn't want to clean all that off and start again !

Just a few hours on the job this afternoon, but hopefully (if things go well !) then useful progress made. . . ^ Three polishing coats of Mirrorglaze bee's wax, which I've long used as a release agent when making moulds and with mouldings. There's no additives and nothing to chemically react with, just bee's wax, which together with elbow grease to really rub the wax into the surface, all the corners, and of course any scratchmarks, pin holes, etc. The wax is equally vigorously rubbed off again, inbetween coats, so as to minimise surface build up. ^ next up I applied two coats of PVA release agent, using a small pad of soft cloth. The PVA is applied as thinly and smoothly as can practically be done (so as to avoid brush and dab marks. I focused on making sure the PVA really brushed into the crease of the folded-double front edge, as well as onto the vertical sides of the rain gutters. Once the first coat has air dried then I similarly applied a second coat at 90 degrees to the first. This helps build an even thickness film of PVA (micron when dry) and of course to ensure that nowhere gets missed. You'll note that the pattern's surface reflections have gone from matt (320 grit wet n' dry) to a waxed sheen, to a PVA'ed satin . After that had also dried then I moved on to gel coating the surface. . . Gel coat being hand-painted on is thickened polyester resin (setting when catalyst is mixed in with it), often with a colour pigment (in this case white as it's left over materials from my making new cockpit hatches for the boat). The second photo simply shows that I started painting along the edges and worked my way in as a spiral so as to maintain a 'wet-edge' to the coating. The gel-coat is the surface / skin layer of a mould or moulding (panel) which ought to be mostly devoid of visible air bubbles / pin-holes. Its thickness is necessary to help prevent 'print-through' of glass fibres showing ..and to a large extent because it may be considered a sacrificial that may be sanded and polished smooth. It has next to no strength, so its thickness needs to just thick enough to cover the surface. Too thick and the edges will easily chip and stressed surface areas will show cracks / craze. Neither the gelcoat, nor fibrglass laminates, are absolutely water-proof. They are in fact hydroscopic, insomuch as they will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and similarly it will allow moisture within the fibreglass to (very slowly) pass through it so to dry out. This is common practice with racing grp sailing boats which are removed from the water to dry out, and therefore be lighter. Wax and other surface finishes (including some paints and most epoxy coatings) will seal the surface. Epoxy is pretty close to being water-tight. My need, for this flash mould, is a gel-coated surface that can be lightly sanded (..on its presently unseen underside surface) to get rid of, or at least lessen, surface blemishes that were in the pattern. Any scratches, pin-holes, and even the hollows of paint blisters on the panel will be raised ridges, blips, etc in the mould and so are easy to sand back to the mean-surface. ^ The visibly hand-painted finish will be covered with fibreglass impregnated with polyester resin, so it's not super critical. I simply sought an even-thickness and unbroken covering. Job done. It's old stock materials so I just have to trust that it still goes off (and also that I guessed the right amount of catalyst to add). Although gel-coat sets, its surface remains tacky until the air is excluded. On the inside the original steel panel is doing that. On it's outside I'll be covering it (..within a day or two) with fibreglass impregnated with polyester resin. That then cures the gel-coat's surface and its own outside surface dries tack-free. In a few days time we'll see. In the meantime, have a good evening. I'm off to supper and the TSSC club meet at the Sorrel Horse, Barham. Pete.

Cars on the Green is a daytime event (on a Thursday). I've just looked but their webpage is devoid of times, and their booking for exhibitors is closed. http://www.carsonthegreen.org.uk/index.html I've been along at 10am and things fizzle out either according to the weather or in the late afternoon. Ten years in and the event seems to have grown in popularity. Pete

Tonight - Suffolk TSSC group meeting at the Sorrel Horse Inn & Public House, Norwich Road, Barham, nr. Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 0PG The group is a friendly and very informal bunch of lads, conversation is usually good, Triumphs attending are pretty diverse, the pub serves good food at a sensible price, and the weather forecast is good for the evening. You are invited. Pete p.s. I hope to be there 6:45ish to have a meal before standing in the grass car-park chatting the evening away. ^ Katie ~ TR4A, parked up with Rich's white TR4, Bob's TR2 and Tim's black TR6. Chris turned up in his thirsty Covette Stingray a little later. Good conversation, perfectly acceptable weather for having the top off, and good food and beverages served by our hosts, what more could you ask for.? and a reminder for those not at work. . . June 9th (Thurs) Suffolk - IP31 1AW - Bardwell Village Green - Cars on the Green. I've bee several times and it's a small and very informal event, where previously I've just pulled up (sometime) in the morning, parked the car on the green and had a pleasant wander around talking with others showing their often interesting family owned classic (..all sorts of classic marque).