Club Triumph

Been busy prepping and priming the inside for the last couple of days. Took Friday off work as the weather was fine and it's Bank Holiday weekend! Anyhow, most of the inside is now in primer and I started doing a bit of bodywork, mainly the roof. In fact today I managed to try out my topcoat and lacquer. I've only done the roof so far but am well impressed with the finish, especially as I'm only using aerosols! The weather was perfect, warm with no wind! As the roof has turned out so well, I'm going to take it easy and just do one panel at a time. There's no point in rushing now. The colour is Simoniz Post Office Red, topped with Simoniz clear lacquer. Looking at the finish it will need just minimal cutting back in a week or two. This could be the cheapest respray in the history of mankind! Watch this space!

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Only problem is the odd fly seems to like a closer look! Luckily the ones that show interest are flea like! The Simoniz paint is fantastic, but I did prefer the spray pattern of the Upol red oxide I was using, so I fitted the nozzle from these to the Simoniz cans. The Upol nozzle gives a 'flat' fan jet rather than round, which I found gave almost a professional spray, perfect for horizontal backward and forward overlapping strokes.

Most of the red paint applied! Just need to do the front valance and the cills! The bonnet has not been lacquered yet as I need to apply the blue first. I'm not sure whether to use stick in white stripes or paint on yet. To make life easier I'd prefer to stick on, but the widest stripe I can get is 25mm. This should do for the sides but I'll need 75mm or 100mm for the bonnet. I think I'll stop the stripe short of the bonnet vent as it will be a nightmare trying to apply the stripes here whether paint or stick on.
Anyhow, the respray has been a success, considering I used aerosols and out doors. The reason I've done the paint now is because of the weather. The last couple of weeks has been perfect! There is the odd blemish here and there, but nothing too drastic. I'll sort these as localised repairs when the car is up and running.  The boot has not been cut back as yet, I've only painted it today so this will be cut back in week or so.  

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After cutting the lacquer back I couldn't resist fitting the Triumph laurel reef sticker to the front panel!

Impressive for a driveway respray!

Agree!

Cheers, it's getting there. I've painted the arches and now trial fitted the front ones. They all need lacquer yet and for some reason the front passenger arch doesn't quite line up with a couple of the holes! I need to do a bit of modification unfortunately. I've been prepping the sides today ready for the blue paint, and used filler primer. Looks a bit naff! Soon the cills will be red and the lower sides blue.

I can understand the horror people may think when you tell them you are respraying your car on the driveway with aerosols! To be honest it does sound crazy! However, with the right quality paint and the right conditions, it's np different to spraying with a proper compressor and spray gun indoors. My car was going to be sprayed by a pro who also sprayed my Montego Turbo, but he said he'd need it running so he can move it around his workshop. I decided I'd rather get all the painting done first and then fit the parts. I'd used aerosols before and knew that a good finish could be obtained with the right products. My idea was that if my DIY job turned out to be a disaster, I could always get it done properly when up and running. So far, the proper respray is not required! Mind you, I'll reserve judgment until it is fully painted!

Left work early as it was so hot and calm I had to get those cills and front valance glossed and lacquered! Just got the blue to do!

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I managed to do the blue on Thursday night! Unfortunately it was going dark by the time I took these photos. The sides are excellent finish, the bonnet has a couple of runs. I've been cutting these back today but rain arrived and I had to abandon it just as I was getting a mirror finish!

Tried starting on cutting back the blue bits, but we're experiencing some serious rain so gave up for this weekend. Oh well, it's getting there I guess.

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I'm jealous of your pace!! Good work!

Impressed with what you are doing on your drive  

Thanks, I do wish my garage was twice the size and empty though!

Been cutting back the paint all weekend and still needs a bit of attention here and there. The more you look the more you see the odd ripple and dent that from some angles are invisible! Not a problem, I'll just keep cutting and polishing, but then again I think it's turned out better than I was aiming for. I can treat any slight imperfections as running repairs later! Was watching England play Slovakia tonight, but possession with no end result was boring, so I went out and tried my white stripe on the drivers side. The stripe is 25mm and seems a bit thick but has stuck ok. Starting to look like a works TR7!