Carving a Car (or Van)

 

Last month my blood pressure was reaching the danger zone, so I scheduled a week away from work, and decided to do some work on the van with Aaron. Thus I spent the last few days sanding.  In addition to avoiding all the stress of my office, it allowed me to get some much needed exercise. Missions accomplished! When you sand for 6 hours a day you sure sleep better!

Right now the van is having filler applied, and then it’s mostly being sanded off. You cannot tell from the photos, but it’s perfectly smooth – baby’s ass smooth (which according to ISO2001, is the highest condition of smoothness). It’s on very thin – maybe width of a credit card at its thickest in places, and zero elsewhere. Once it’s been all applied and sanded, it’ll be hit with high-built primer. That will be sanded back, and then wet-sanded, making it ready for paint.

The filler actually consists of three kinds, which are applied in succession – the first is high-density, and it is used in places where its structure could be tested, also on welds. The next is what we commonly think of as filler (it’s the green stuff you see being added in the last photo above). The final variant is called “putty", and it’s a two-part filler that’s really watery – see the grille shot above. The doors need to be done yet, and when they are, we should be ready for the high-build.That will be a major milestone.