LocostUSA.com

Early July, 2023

July saw a lot of sanding, fiberglass repair, and minor bodywork. The time-consuming part has proven to be chasing stress cracks throughout the body, digging/ grinding them out, and properly repairing them. I have a touch of OCD, and it's proving to be very hard to determine how much of this body to grind out, and how much of it is actually just fine the way it is. What I do not want, is to put it in paint, then find that cracks have come back through later because I cut corners or was lazy during these early steps. In general, I'm erring to the side of caution, and if in doubt, I dig it out. This mentality makes for slow progress, but I'm hoping the result is a crack-free body

--ccrunner

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1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

July 3, 2023

More fiberglass fun...

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

July 4, 2023

The fiberglass that makes this 64 year old body is actually in pretty good shape. I have another Berk body that lived in the Phoenix, AZ sun for 30 years, and that body is bone-dry brittle; virtually unusable.. This one, however, will be fine once I do a bit of work where she's been bumped and bruised.

It's hard to see most of the cracks in these photos, but they're there. My big fear is that I'm missing some of them, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting them all..

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

Crikey,,, that's one heck of a job you've had... I'm greatly looking fore=ward to seeing the pristine results but... I'll be a little sad to miss the previous/current blotchy colour "scheme"...
This continues to be an amazing build. Thanks for bringing us along.
MangPong...

See, you had to use those words. I done got all excited, and there's picures of a car.....

Seriously, keep up the amazing work.

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"If it's broke, fix it. You can't make it more broke"

BMW 2002 donor, M10 motor, 4 spd trans, IRS, tube chassis.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20787

A question from the peanut gallery....@ccrunner , what are you daily driving while the Berk is under the knife...or sanding pad?

I swung by the PB Cars and Coffee last week but was too late to see anything....saturdays are kids soccer....siiiigh.

Thanks for checking in guys

JackFrost- I've always wondered if my occasional cheeky title lands or not.. sorry expectations fell short on this one

MangPong and AGLurker- I was at Pismo C&C last week in the Berk until around 8:30.. must have just missed you Tony.. As for this body (red/primer), I'm still driving it during this phase of the bodywork, but I've been tempted recently to put the "Blotchy Body"* back on it for the next year or so (I have 2 Berk bodies for this chassis), so that I can keep it in service, while performing the needed bodywork on this (red) body all the while..

In short, I could still drive it, albeit looking like a total POS, and prep the 'good' body off the car; then just swap the good, painted body back onto the chassis late summer 2024.. Not sure if I'll go through the effort, but it would make doing the bodywork easier..

--ccrunner

*the pic below is of the car as I got it years ago- this is the "Blotchy Body" that MangPong refers to...

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

In the Land of the Lotus several of us have concluded that the answer to not having gel-coat cracks return is to apply a layer of synthetic veil. It is very effective!
Works with polyester or epoxy resins.
Use a squeegee to apply the resin for almost zero air bubbles.
A brush will be disappointing.
Cover with Duratec 707-002 sanding sealer then your normal sealer matching the brand of your chosen paint.
Some owners began doing this ten years ago and their paint is still excellent.

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If I must be a one-man PC free zone, so be it!

That is super interesting RichardSIA! I get the concept of using the veil material, but I struggle with the depth of the cracks I'm trying to repair.. I sanded the paint off of this car by hand, and I never really found a true gelcoat(???) What I did find was a 'layer'/ depth of resin on the top of the raw fiberglass surface (and under the first layer of paint).. Maybe back in the 1950's they used resin as the fiberglass topcoat/gelcoat (before applying the finish paint surface)??..

When I would discover a 'star' crack or just any old stress crack, I had a hard time figuring out how deep the crack went.. with many of them, I would grind down down down and sure enough, the crack went all the way through the material, but on other cracks, this veil material would have been a wonderful 'shallow' fix..

I'll need to get some of the veil material for the next section of the car where I find shallow/ surface cracks..

Thanks for sharing

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

Cracks still have to be repaired but the veil prevents repairs print through and their return.
It will cover the small gel-coat cracks you did not see.
Berkley probably used the same clear gel-coat as Lotus.
Seems colored gel-coat became common later, or maybe just cost a few cents more?
Lotus engine covers are notorious for cracks, thin, flat, stressed by hinges, subject to heat from above and below, so over time they look like broken window glass.
I used veil as a final layer on one that had been broken nearly in two.
All evidence of repairs are gone, it is better than new.

_________________
If I must be a one-man PC free zone, so be it!

July 7, 2023

More crack repair.. rear section and doors..

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

July 11, 2023

Lake Tahoe, CA

We like to make our way up to Tahoe every few years.. so pretty, and this July, it seemed particularly crowded.. Seems the secret is out, and everyone wants in on the Tahoe Blue vacation action.

This time we went up the gondola from state line (Heavenly ski resort) to overlook the lake.. perfect weather.. a nice day out with my wife

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

July 20, 2023

Back from Tahoe, and back at the tedious tasks of fiberglass repair and paint removal.. wee!

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

I ran out of sandpaper, and in a fit of desperation, I opened a paint/bodywork supplies box that I haven't been into for a few years..

I found some much needed sandpaper to get me through the day, but I also found this little dude.

A pretty crappy way to die, all alone in a box of painting supplies ..RIP little lizard


ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 Restomod (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

Do you want a stainless steel version like I did for Hamdip? Loving the progress, it is really coming apart/together.