A little bit of fiddling.

A job I should have done last year, but I don't like playing with paint finishes on bodywork.

Anyway, the TFs achilles heel:







So I bought a couple of these:



and attacked the offending wheel arches.

I have most of it down to bare metal/rust



but unfortunately the nearside has gone a bit further than I would of liked.



I was hoping I wouldn't have to take the paint off past the outer edge of the wheelarch, which would make blending the new paint in a lot easier. However, as you can see, this wasn't the case.

We will just have to wait and see what the finish is like once it is done, but anything has to be better than letting it continue to rust.

I do have a plan anyway, which includes mudflaps which contour around the edge, which should hide most of it.

Tomorrow I will finish off the rest of the nearside arch as both sides were rusted at the lip all the way around.

I completed it on the offside, but need to finish the nearside.







I have some rust treatment and zinc rich primer to go on before priming and finish.

The zinc primer will be primed, topcoated and laquered, so shouldn't absorb any water.

Most primers are hygroscopic without a top coat.

Not a bad colour match





This shows how much evil the mudflaps could hide.

The amount of primer shows how far back I had to go



but the mudflaps cover it well

That's looking great Clive.

Gives me the confidence to have a go at some of my little rusty arches

Well, yesterday I bought myself this





This is the 12V one which is a nice size for jobs like the one I'm doing. I also bought the 240V one which is a big mother, which I am going to do my van with to perk the paintwork up a bit.

So, I added some of the cutting compound



and just went for it.







and I have to say, I am really pleased with how it has blended the paintwork. The surface is a bit rough where the corrosion was, but I never filled it, so that is to be expected. My main priority was to get a good coat of top coat on to protect against the moisture. If I get time I will fill and sand and repaint now that I have a bit more confidence in doing it.

Here's the result.







I never masked up or anything as I was using my airbrush, which I would recommend to anyone doing this sort of work as it is sooooo much more accurate than rattle cans and hardly any overspray.

nice work, done a fair bit myself but with shake rattle and roll cans shoulds have used an airbrush for the bit around the rear soft top

Arch renovation, sanding and painting - Renovating guide.

Tremendous work there Clive. That's made another great, informative guide to help with this common problem. :broon:

When I've finished I'll do a how to on how I did it. :broon:

Good looking job, brave to attempt it.

Would never have thought of the air brush tip.

Thats the worse thing with the spray cans and masking off, you always end up with a line that has to be flattened off.

:beer: :beer: :beer:

Great job Clive :yesnod:

I don't suppose there's any chance your passing by St Albans in the near future - my front wings could do with a little work on them :lol:

Drive up to Watford and then carry on a little bit to a little place we like to call the North East. I'll be around there somewhere.

That is a fab job Clive, I had Madams done earlier this year, I just wish I had the nuts to try and do something like this myself :beer: