Projects Final Assembly - any tips or tricks?

It seems like the RR stuff is starting to go away and these days most people are building, or want to build, top-notch rides. After the GNRS, I really want to make my own project as nice as it can be. I did a search and didn't see any threads like this.

If you can add any lessons you've learned about paint polishing, glass installation, or even just installing finished bolts without messing up the paint, let's hear them! And yes, I understand that many people here make a living out of protecting these secrets. I won't tell anybody.

 

Blue tape and lots of it. Protect every area where you are installing something with a good layer of blue 3M tape and keep it on there until everything is bolted onto the car. We tape rags around stuff for even more protection. No matter how careful you are, something with touch something else or you will drop a wrench, so the more padding the better. Oh, and antiseize on every fastener and nut, especially when you are using stainless fasteners.

We cover everything as well as we can with anything we can use.





Don

 

Cool thread.....take a grade eight bolt or anything that has the bright gold electroplating and stick it in a polishing wheel....it will look shiney chrome. I polishished my new gold button dimmer switch in the Victoria and you would think I had chromed it.

 

Go slow and run a tap through the threads before assembly. Make a list of things to do and mark them off as they get done. Take pictures of everything, makes reassembling easier.

 

I think most importantly plan out your steps and take your time. It is really easy to get excited and get in a hurry and that's when bad things happen.

 

Don't wear a belt or key chains. Oh yeah and dont drop the camera on the car like I did....felt retarded.

 

I lay out fasteners, nuts bolts, small parts on towels a bench or table. Bigger the better.

 

I have a friend I have not seen for a while, he deals with 1st gen Camaros. Rubber gloves, ace bandage wraps his wrench handles and wraps the areas around where he's working. LOTS of bluetape.....everywhere. Tooth brushes to get wax and polish out of hard to reach areas.

I love to look at show cars, but I'd hate owning one.

 

buttloads of blue tape, rags and blankets! take your time! I put tape under every nut/bolt/screw so that they dont scratch or buckle the paint when turning.

Lots of good advice allready given, just take time and think it all out first.

 

Masking tape on chrome bold heads when using a socket...Let me rephrase the tape goes in the socket.

 

If you tape the paint to keep from scratching it when tightening bolts, how do you keep from ending up with tape hanging out from under the bolt head?

 

Don't be a hero call a relative or a friend for a 2nd set of eyes and hands for the large pcs. Oh yes, lots of tape, blankets, and patience. Most of all if your feeling tired wait until tomorrow, cause that's when shit happens. This is all from my own experince. Also, try youtube/internet you might get lucky and find some similar projects. Last, Barnes and Noble has how to books. my .02
Good luck

 

One of the keys for me is if its your own car (no deadline) let the paint cure a couple weeks before assembling. Do your cut n buff while its still soft but, don't start bolting stuff together until the paint gets hard. Easier said than done.


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I wrapped my hand tools (socket wrench, wrenches, Brake-line wrench, etc..) in masking tape. If you do slip off of something in a weird spot, then you're not hitting whatever you're going to hit with hard steel.

 

I doubt any of my builds are nice enough to be considered "top notch". One of the reasons that is, is because I will sometimes do things "for now" with the intent of going back and re-doing it later the way I want, and "for now" always becomes permanent.

 

Cracking paint under bolts is the worst !!!

 

Great Tec guy's !!!

 

i'm by far a pro, or ever assembled anything "nice". however i have found that you can put clear hose over the nipple on the brake line bleed screw fitting when bleeding the brakes. this way you can see when all the air bubbles are out of the fluid, and you can direct the fluid away from other painted parts. i have a hose and plastic bottle just for this. the bottle has a coathanger hook on it. you can hang it somewhere near the bleeder an stick the other end of the hose in it. makes bleeding brakes way less messy.

 

Loctite: RED, BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE.

Anti-sieze.

Bungy cords- to keep things out of the way, like a extra set of hands.

Saftey Wire.

Patience.

The least amount of people/distractions as possible other than the guy's truly lending a hand.

Torque wrenches, 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2" drive.

 

Dead blow hammers.

Rubber hammers.

Leather mallet.

Alignment punches or drifts.

Some pices of HARD WOOD.

Brass or Teflon rods or dowels.

 

A small tub of grease, I like the Mobil 1 or the Valvoline Synthetics.

 

Final assembly should be in you head when you start the build.
If it is gonna be on the car, put it on the car when you are building it. You should have a complete car before you tear it down for paint and then final assembly will be a little less stressful.

Do all your wiring before body work. It is less stress to work around a bare car so the wiring job goes faster. You can pull it out in a few minutes and put it back in just as fast.



After you have a great panel fit on some cars you can drill 1/8" holes in each door hinge into the body where they cannot be seen when the car is together. Then when you are hanging a painted and buffed door stick the drill bits in to align the holes...it will be exactly where it was...all adjusted in one minute. Fill the holes with a touch of clear silicon.

 

Good info here. I'll add:

Perfect your touch-up skills - it will be needed.

"Pull down" bolts from the blind side where possible to avoid turning the bolt heads on the "good side".

Clearance gaps to allow for final paint thickness BEFORE painting.

You did trial-fit, gap and mark all doors, hood, trunk etc while in primer, right?

Never leave masking on new paint any longer than possible, even if you have to re-tape later.

Final assembly means torqued, timed, sealed, and "final" - if you do leave something loose "for now" note it or you'll see it fall off on your first ride.

 

I've had good luck with vaseline under bolt heads and washers to keep from cracking paint.

 

I had an old guy teach me a good tip-use a Q-tip and a little vaseline under bolt heads to keep the paint from wrinkling up-also works if you are fitting freshly painted body parts like fender extensions together.

Damn-I should read the whole thread before responding!

 

After getting my door fit perfect I drilled a couple small holes thru the door/hinge strap and when assembling after painting no adjustment was necessary.

 

when I do the metalwork and set up particularly doors...i use a good zinc type primer and usually some rattle can top coat and bolt the hinges on to the pillars to stay whenever possible. Then when I refit the doors (or whatever) I have way less adjustment to be done .

 

oh and I also almost always set up doors, hood, trunk etc with the new rubbers in place. Sometimes you need to use small sections of masking tape to hold them in place , and you've got to be careful not to damage the rubbers...but doing this helps to eliminate binding panels, water leaks and wind drafts. To make sure a rubber is sealing I use a 3in wide strip of newspaper and trap it between the rubber and whatever it seals against. If the newspaper can slide around then the rubber probably isn't grabbing/sealing tight enough.