Time to get roofless
Dave builds a workshop for his Shadow
Having spent the previous year at the mercy of the elements, only being able to work on my car when it was dry, I bought an 8m x 4m marquee to cover the car and a smaller one for the workshop behind. These types of disposable marquees have tall roofs and plenty of light comes through the white fabric and side windows. I realise they are unlikely to last very long, but I tack-welded the frames together and where possible welded it to the fence and gates, replacing the thin guy ropes.
My target for the year was to have the body painted before the winter set in so I cracked on. In order to complete the body renovation, I needed to remove the engine, gearbox, suspension and final drive so that I could get to the entire underside. With all the major components removed the work went well and soon the underside was welded, rust-treated, painted and covered in over 30 tins of body Schutz that should protect the Rolls for the next 30 years.
Time to paint
In September, my initial plans of having the body fully painted had been scaled back to having the body in primer. In the early Nineties, the company I worked for at the time sent me on a week’s course at Devilbiss to learn how to use the thennew HVLP guns, so it was time to dust down my spray gun, air dryer and air-fed mask and crack on. I had neatly butt-welded and ground down all the body repairs that didn’t require much filler work, but years of experience have taught me that a job that looks good in matt primer can look like a seascape once a shiny top coat has been added so multiple coats of primer filler were hand flatted using a sanding block and 800-grade wet and dry.
I’ve always used two-pack primer filler as it’s more durable than cheaper alternatives – and being 100 per cent solid nothing has to evaporate during the drying process, so it’s more environmentally-friendly, too. This process requires all the safety kit and a professional site to use it on. My air-fed mask made sure the isocyanates stayed away from my lungs – a simple filter mask won’t do. My tent is also on an industrial site, so no neighbours to damage.
On the day I finished spraying the last coat of primer it was almost dark – hardly ideal, but job done. I had completed the priming coats before wrapping the Rolls up for winter. Roll on Spring!