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'71TS build musings.

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Richard48Y:
Been reading Europa related post here and yon.
There are a lot of them to peruse!

Have found many examples, some nice and others not.
Same for modifications.

Hoping to get my car home soon but until then I've been contemplating the rebuild to fill the time.
I have come to several conclusions and a few questions.

Conclusions.
Repaint in the same Blue that is still there in the protected areas.
NOT going back to the original Orang/Yellow.

Not certain what was original for the inside of the body panels, seems they may have been left bare, or painted black.
My plan is a brushed on blue/grey Zolotone.
Sometimes called spatter paint.
Covers very well and hides flaws or repairs.
Also very chemical resistant and easy to wash.

Since mine has already been a bit modified with TS, Webers, header, wheels, and shocks plus at least a little documented competition history "Back in the day" I do not feel obligated to restore it to perfect originality.
But I do want to keep mods "Period Correct" and visually minimal.

Hope to freshen the engine with minimal new parts, bearings, rings, gaskets and seals.

Questions.
PO says he had been working on spider crack repairs.
No mention of prior accident damage, so crossing my fingers.
I notice that comments here on 'glass repair do not mention the "West System" epoxies.
Surprised, on the Marcos forum the West System is highly regarded.
Should I become the test subject for the West System repairs?

Read some threads on paint stripping.
I think I will be wanting to use chemical as I've had good luck with it in the past and an arthritic arm is not going to play well with manual sanding.
Recommended stripper?

Probably enough for now.

BDA:
Sorry I don’t have any details but I understand that the choice of stripper is important. Some are supposed to wick down the glass fibers resulting in a poor paint job afterward.

dakazman:
  I am passing this on from the advice of a paint shop owner of 43 years told me when I asked.
Do use chemical solvents on porous fiberglass, especially polyester base. The chemical will soften the voids in the glass .
 Spider cracks are a problem that needs to be addressed. A simple search of spider cracks will show an overwhelming results.
 The textured finish sound like a great idea and will help keep contaminants from getting lodged in the glass.
  Dakazman

Richard48Y:
Some of the threads here are a bit scary.

"Unobtanium" thread is making me even more anxious to get my '71 home.
Want to see exactly what I have.
The feeBay listing did not show bumpers or luggage boxes.  :(
I believe my car did have them back in '95 as shown in the video I found and took my avatar screen shot from.
So hoping they are present.

Until fairly recently I had my own CNC mill and lathe, when I moved there was no place/3 Ph. for them so sold.
But I do still have some good contacts, including the guy I sold my machines to.

Good CAD files are the secret ingredient.
With winter here I hope to get back to improving my own CAD/CAM skills.
So may be able to draw up some items from samples.
Sample does not have to be perfect, cracked or even broken will usually work fine.

Nisswa Collision:
 The last time I read the instructions on Zolatone, it pointed out that it was "interior" not "exterior". Which makes sense if you think about how it's made with 3 different kinds of paint. the light color is usually the latex, then laquer and enamel. It was used by the factories for decades inside trunks to hide the sloppy caulk jobs.

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