A&C kit cars

[Toby]

I am new to this site and recently purchased a used a&c from a guy up north. The car is put together very well, and can be seen on of all things a&c's webpage [under the old owners name] as an example of their work. The gelcoat is on a scale of 1-5 a 3.5 [my opinion]. And polishes up real well. I have read on this site that clearcoat really brings out the color, but all in all I believe they make a fine kit. If you go to their website and see this car [all red dual quad with centerline wheels] it is much shinier when polished than the pics show. Hope this helps someone that is looking.

[TonyMadrid]

Hey Toby we have an A&C forum on this site. Cruise on over there and check out some of the posts from A&C owners.

I have an A&C that I built last Summer and I couldn't be happier with their product.

Tony

[C4 Cross Fire]

Sounds good--I've never seen an A & C.

What's A & C's website URL?

[Jim Werth]

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/foru...s=&forumid=107

[Double Venom]

Toby,
Want to know what your car will look like if you clear coat it? Give it a a nice bath, then rinse her off. What you see when it is wet is "close" to what it will look like with the clear coat, only the clear coat will make it look much better.

The trick is to properly wet sand the car down with 800 grit wet -sand paper, (NO circles) then find some matching paint or even gel from A&C if you know how to use it, and touch up any stone chips.

Now spray two coats of quality 2- part clear.

I think you will be more than pleased!

Ed "DV" Combs...delivering a Cherry Red A&C '34 today !

[TonyMadrid]

The A&C website is:

A&C Cobras

As for the gelcoat finish from A&C, they produce a nice Gelcoat. Some guys just leave the gelcoat as is. Check out Roscoe's ride, he's had it for about three years and the gelcoat finish still has a great lustre.

What I did with mine was the following. I had a local painter scuff up the gelcoat finish and he then taped and shot the stripes. he then clear coated it and buffed it out. The stripes are buried beneath the clear and there is no ridge between the stripe edges and the rest of the body.

There are pics in my gallery.

Tony

[Roscoe]

Check out my A & C build site. Gelcoat, no clear yet. Going on 4 years on the road.

http://www.priveye.com/cobra.htm

Roscoe

[rated x]

800grit sandpaper is too course! sand sratches will show thru clear,ok if you are putting down a base coat first! certain colors you may get a way with but definitely not red! P.s. I was a Glasurit paint rep for 7 years if anyone needs any paint tips feel free to email.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

DV;

Back when I was still working in a body shop we always used 1200 to 1400 to wet sand anything before shooting clear on it,found it did better and left no sand scratches....

Small tip,we always used a soft rubber or foam sanding block,have seen some guys just use their bare hands and sometimes you could actaully see where their fingers were on the sand paper,made "deeper" sand scratches....

David

[Double Venom]

OK,OK, first off, we do use 600 on clear coats prior to second coating and NO sand scratches. "X", we're talking Gel-Coat here, not base coat paint. Again, on a colored gel-coat you wont get sand scratches if done right.

Second point, I think everyone is reading my post wrong. A&C's Gel - Coat finishes are great as is! (Cehck out Roscoe's Gel!) But, if you want it to even look better,.....then opt for the clear coat finish. Even A&C has/had done this to some of their "show-off" cars.

Not a paint Rep., but I've been painting and fiberglassing for over 30 years....and I didn't spend a night at the Holiday Inn!

Ed "DV" Combs .....as David said...always use a wet-sanding pad!

[rated x]

gel coat primer,epoxy,base coat it doesn't matter -600 grit especially 3m will leave sand sratches -No holiday inn,we preferred Marriots.

[Double Venom]

Rated...
Me thinks we're still on different pages. The Gel we are referring to is just like a boats finish. Not a primer, or and epoxy, etc.

If the picture of one of our DV II's comes up (?) it was 600' and clear coated....aint' no sand scratches in it!




DV...Dupont guys can't afford a Marriott!

[rated x]

ok you win! if you have done it then I can not argue that point-are you sure you didn't sneek alittle base coat?? anyway picture is great.. keep it up.

[Double Venom]

rated x,
Not to worry, my Dupont Rep. just about has a heart attack everytime we do it too! But it DOES work. If I told you how we wet sand our cars I'd put you into cardiac arrest! OK...have you ever seen anyone take a single edged razor blade to the final clear coat?

We "plain" the entire top coat down until it is perfectly "gray" then buff, & buff and buff, and......

'99 , or '00, or was it '01? Who knows, a Dupont "Top Gun" winner below.

Rated x..come to the "Fling" this year! We can carry on

Ed "DV" Combs

[DAVID GAGNARD]

DV;

O-K, I was thinking of wet sanding a base coat,actually have never wet sanded a gel coat on fiberglass,so I can't say anythng about the way you do it,since I have never done it,I have painted some fiberglass panels and boats,but always was sanding either primer or base coat.....

As far as the razor blade trick goes,I've seen it done many times,the shop I worked in the owner did it often.... He prefered to lay on a "lot" of clear,more than most do,then razor it and then he would wet sand it,then buff it in two stages,with two different compounds.... Of course this was not done on your every day grocery getter we worked on, but on all "classics/muscle cars/hot rods" we did....

The "trick" is in the buffing and be able to not burn thru the clear and paint on or near the edges,something I was not very good at,I would wet sand and do everything else,but left the buffing to those that were 100 times better than I at it......

David