Last remaining NOS trim search is now complete. With the exception of the front and back window trim, complete set of NOS trim now upper door and lower door:
Will be doing some Spring cleaning of the garage and working on the blast cabinet is next on my to-do list.
Received another diecast car. This one is Yellow which looks the most (out of all my diecast cars) like mine will when complete – My display cabinet is now full:
So if you recall last year I messed up and painted the bottom half of the firewall satin black when I should have used gloss black. The weather was warm enough yesterday I sprayed 3 coats of gloss black after scuffing\cleaning…
Before:
After:
It is better, but still not as good as I would like. Not entirely happy and may spray a few more coats this summer of strip and re-do. Not sure that it will even be visible with the 427 BigBlock and A/C in the engine compartment.
Need to tackle the block sanding and undercoat the bottom this summer – if I can fit this in or time this fall, I will re-visit it then as I decide what I will do with it.
I have two NOS trim pieces coming in the mail. I’ll post pics when they arrive – they will complete my NOS trim search and I will have a complete set of NOS trim to put on the Camaro.
Another NOS component for when I have the A/C restored:
So after learning how to decode the age of the Raptor bedliner, I realized what I had was expired, so I ordered another kit to be safe. I already had a couple of bottles to use on my test section. The kit and guns arrived today – the guns were cheap enough that I will use them and move on to the next without cleaning between bottles. The price was right and cheaper than the recommended cleaner. Tomorrow my paint should arrive to touch-up the firewall from last year and to use on the hidden windshield wiper components. I am sure I will need to order more, but at least I can get started as soon as the conditions are right to paint again…
So here is what I learned for decoding the raptor bedliner age: First, the hardener deteriorates faster than the base. As a sense check for any hardener already opened see if the contents of the hardener are really liquid (reducer like consistency) if it “sounds” thicker- i.e. syrupy then it has gone passed its useful life.
Typically the batch numbers for the Raptor base is on a paper ticket on the cardboard box. The hardener is batch labelled with a paper ticket on the base. The batch labels use the same 5 digit format where the first digit represents the year so for 2018 this will be 8, 2019 will be 9 and so forth. The next two digits represent the week number when they were produced. The final two digits represent the run sequence through the factory.