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Then it was onto the final primer. Super stoked how the panels turned out. It will be back out for another leveling sand of the final primer then over the next few weeks is final colour (Polaris-Metallic) then final finishing and re-assembly.

Slow progress still, but progress none the less !! Got 4 additional coats of clear on the roof last weekend which was great, less orange peel than last time and no new fish eyes thanks to triple cleaning with wax n grease remover. However did manage to get a lot more dust and crap in it 😂 So back onto the sanding (hence the 4 coats) ... this time have gone for 800 hand then 1200, 3000 (pictured) and then 8000 machine before polish. Biggest issue at the moment is getting a hold of a dual cartridge caulking gun that can take the BMW (SikaForce 7888) adhesive ... the one I got from RA Johnston can't deal with the girth of the thing. Short of getting a gun from over seas at great expense for a one off job I will have to make something ... that's the weekend project, so I can bond the thing on finally !!

Thought I'd ask here first - does anyone have overalls, gloves, HANS device, helmet for sale? My son is looking to get a taste of the track. Large (1.90m-ish, slender)... Cheers!

@C-130 Hercules Chicane in NZ used to do a package, with overalls, boots, gloves, etc. Decent quality (I’ve still got most of mine all these years later) for the price. They sell through the V8 performance / Stockcars type places, Silvesters might be one?

Take a look at Gforce racing gear out of the US. It's the cheap end but good enough quality for track days. A speed shop I purchased a bit of gear through while I was there is OG racing in Virginia. The do ship to NZ.

For the '86 Tech 1 Motorsport / s50b32, a lot of work has been blocking the panels down to get them perfect.

Based on my experience, good luck.

Things are getting exciting again. Plan is to reverse some of the things I did when it was a dedicated track car and to get it back on the road. 1. Found all the old pics on an old HDD so I can fix the thread of broken images and tidy it up. 2. Lots of changes havent really kept up to date with. 3. New engine almost ready.

Just fabricate or buy one of these: https://southernbm.com.au/products/kap-industries-fire-extinguisher-bracket-e-series-f-series-g-series-q5gjn I suspect it will be cheaper to buy one by the time you've cut and powder coated your own.

Still in a bit of a holding pattern ... should be doing the clear on Thursday fingers crossed then maybe installing it on the weekend if i bake it shut in the bathroom for a half day with two heaters going 😂

Time to resto the outside. The clearcoat gave up last year and didn't take to fondly to the amount of rain we have over summer and started to craze and peel. Not bad for 37 years. First round is a massive cut back of all sections to a good base removing all the old shmoo. The front Tech1 bumper was particularly difficult because of the hard-shell hammarite style paint, great for stone chips but not so great for removing. The shop took it back to raw surface which I was quite happy about. As a car person, it is always a fun time taking paint off a car, you never know what you're going to get. I guess I have been extremely fortunate in that the a lot of credit goes to the previous owners of this car where there is no accident damage or bodge-ups to be found. I have always kept the car in a garage, away from sunlight when garage and pretty diligent with cleaning and maintaining the car with the right products. Just few small bits of under paint surface rust on the top metal caps on the bumpers where water was now starting to soak through the clearcoat. But all in all the car is as straight as an arrow. Great base to start the resto from.

Got to confirm its for the right model car at last 😃 Hopefully the window moldings come up onto the roof slightly to hide the most noticeable pieces of deep resin, else might run a small strip of black vinyl perhaps ... will see when we get there but safe to say its going to look pretty sweet !! I can see why people might go with a plain 1x1 weave as the twill is fairly intense ... then again so is all the sh*t in the garage at the moment !! All back together with some light window tinting and it should look mean.

I have successfully removed the lid form the tin can Like anything new, the second side was a lot faster based on changing up the approach: Prepped all spot welds at once Started from the front and worked backward prying gently with a nail puller Using the heavier skin thats attached to the roof itself (adds strength around sunroof), pry up and over rolling towards the middle of the car Used a hardwood wedge to split a few problematic welds and lift the skin enough to grab with the vice grips. These are super useful, doing it again I'd probably make a half dozen longer ones (maybe 200mm) to use since they don't scratch and add a lot of splitting power. Waiting on my Aliexpress belts to use with the finger sander to clean everything up nicely. Can't wait to get the drop cloth out and ensure there are no filings anywhere near the car !! Picture of the tools used included for reference.

Snow foam pre wash and 2 bucket method is the safest way to maintain ceramics (even the spray ceramic coatings). Duration of these will vary, and you can often layer the products so continue topping up as necessary. With the maintenance side of things, it's super important to wash an area twice carefully than once with pressure on your mitt; and make sure all your wash and drying equipment is clean or you're in for some disappointment. Regarding brands; you're never tied to a certain brand. Even professionally applied ceramic coating lifespan can be extended with regular wax or sealant top ups. The boffins often say don't wax coatings as it can reduce their effectiveness (by covering them with another product) and whilst they're correct there's a factor we endure quite severely here in NZ that reduces coating lifespan; UV. Regular top ups with ceramic spray sealant will fill the low spots and increase lifespan. In terms of drying; as ceramics are super hydrophobic you can often dry a high percentage of the vehicle with low pressure water (top to bottom, straight from the hose), then dab the remainder with a drying towel or even better yet air dry with a master blaster or similar. Side note on ceramic sprays. Ceramics crystallise and form a hard layer (which is how they work; professional ranges cure with heat, time, IR or a combination depending on the product). Albeit heavily watered-down, spray ceramics use silica dioxide (Sio2) and as such still harden. There aren't many studies released here on the effects yet, but I'd recommend not inhaling the residue while you're applying. From what I have read the retail range risks are low, but still present. See here for more info: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/silicosis/#:~:text=Silicosis is a long-term,that can be easily inhaled.