ADVANCED RESTORATION
Some of these techiniques are very simple and could be done by most people. Some are very complex or difficult and should be attempted first on a junk car or only by those who feel comfortable doing that type of repair. Some of these techniques require cleaners/chemicals, always be sure to take the proper safety pre-cautions when using these.
ROOF/A-PILLAR REPLACEMENT VERSION 1
THANKS TO ROY KRALLE AKA HEISSE-RADER FOR THE INFORMATION AND PHOTOS.
Your car needs to be disassembled before doing this type of repair.
1. Completly remove the damaged or broken pillar.
1a. Straighten roof if necessary.
2. Scratchbuild a very thin "secondary" pillar and glue it in place first from the inside. This way you get a much larger contact patch for the glue to stick to, and the whole replacement becomes a lot more stable.
3. Then add the scratchbuilt or donor replacement pillar.
4. I used liquid metal (A filler mixed with aluminum powder) to fill the tiny scars left.
Before & After Photos of Roy's Olds 442:
REPLACING YOUR CASTING'S A-PILLARS VERSION 2
THANKS TO ROBERT aka REDLINEBOSS FOR THIS INFORMATION
Here's a step-by-step process for replacing a-pillars. Roy (HeisseRader) provided the information about the "secondary pillar" and using Liquid Metal for the repairs.
Now, here's the car I started with for this project- just your everyday crushed 442 taxi:
1. First thing you will need is intact glass. Doesn't matter if it's cracked, it just needs to be 100% there and not warped. This will help you reshape the roof (if necessary). It also helps if you have an intact car on hand, I'll explain later.
2. Now, disassemble the car. I'd recommend stripping the car to bare metal, as it will help you find damage, and will minimize any risk to the repair. You'll need to inspect the body for damage (other than the obvious) . The roof will most likely be warped or streched. Get the casting at eye level, look at the car at all angles, but focus especially on the back of the car, as you will have to make sure that the window remains square throughout the repair.
3. Now that you have done a visual survey of the car, test-fit the glass. Go ahead and carefully bend the roof up or down (using your fingers or a flathead screwdriver, the screwdriver works real well for me), using your intact car (or pic of intact car) and glass as a guide. Do this until the glass fits nicely. If the car was severely smashed, you may find that the glass appears to be "frenched", ie, inset. If you have this problem, go to 3b. Otherwise, proceed to 4.
3b. * For this kind of damage, I highly recommend having an intact car on hand, it will help you in reshaping the roof.* You have some major work ahead of you. The roof has been flattened and streched, making the work a bit of a problem. You'll have to take a wooden dowel and "beat" the roof into the proper shape. You will have to recreate the curve which the roof once had. When I do this, I use a soft but firm surface for this procedure- carpeting. It helps form the roof and restore the proper curvatures in the cast. If your roof has cracks in the b-pillars, you may break off the entire roof. 442's and Mav's are succptable to that happening, even without noticable cracks. Thoroughly examine the car first! It can help to heat the car with a blow dryer, as the metal becomes softer and therefore more pliable. Just wear gloves when doing this, as the car heats up fast!
4. Now, you have a decent roof. If it is bent off to the side, take a hammer/ mallet of some sort, and tap the rear pillar, until the window is square. This will most likely cause the front part of the roof to bend also- just adjust this with your hands, slowly. Test fit the glass (by assembling the whole car), check your reference car/pic, and if it all matches up, go on to the next step.
5. Now you'll need to locate a suitable a-pillar donor (if you don't have the originals). Look for a casting with similar or very long a pillars. Snip off the pillars, and file it to the proper size. Set them aside in some sort of container, as they are easy to lose.
6. Now you are finally getting into the actual repair. Go to a hobby shop, and purchase a small sheet of thin metal or you can use the metal from an aluminum drink can. Using your snips, cut a sliver of metal which is 25% longer than your apillar, but not as wide as the replacement pillar. You will have to bend it so that it goes onto the underside of the roof at an angle, but comes down at the proper angle. Here's a pic of my pillar in place (dots mark the secondary pillar):
With a bit of trial and error, you'll be able to shape it properly. Now, take the pillar, bend it into the desired position, and put a drop of superglue to attach the new "secondary pillar." Do the same for the other pillar, if necessary. These are fragile at this point, so don't bend the roof.
7. Here's where you have some options. If you are doing an enamel resto, break out the JB weld, if you are doing the car in spectraflame, find some liquid filler w/ aluminum powder mixed in, referred to as "liquid metal," I believe.
Take replacement pillar #1- put a drop of super glue on the secondary pillar, and then set the new pillar on top of it. Quickly get it into the right position (don't get it on your fingers!!!), and let it set for a couple of minutes. Do the same for #2. Take your JB Weld or Liquid metal and fill in the scars. I also put some JB where the secondary pillar meets the roof and fenderwell. I also slip some in behind the pillar, since the secondary pillar is thinner, you should be able to get it in there without it being noticed. Now you can either wait 24 hrs. for the JB to cure, or you can quicken the process by placing the casting in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes. I'd recommend letting it dry for a few hours first, though I've put it into the oven right away.
8. Now, all you have to do is clean up your repair. Smooth out the visible filler, and clean up the JB used to strengthen the secondary pillar. Now, some castings are made in such a way that the secondary pillar becomes invasive, to where the glass won't fit properly. You may be able to file it down, but in some cases, such as the Mighty Maverick, you may have to trim the glass so it doesn't touch the repair. Here's the 442, ready for a staff car conversion:
9. Test fit, adjust, clean, prime/polish, and Paint! Your Car, once considered unrepairable, is now done!
REMOVING TONING & CHOROSION
Cars in need of restoration often have bad toning & sometimes chorosion. The following process is the best way I have found to remove toning and chorosion from a casting. The car needs to be disassembled and all paint stripped prior to doing this. This will work for bodies, chassis, or any metal parts.
1. Get a small container.
2. Use a product called CLR from Wal-Mart. CLR is not damaging to plastic, so it won't hurt the wheel bearing or hubs that are fixed onto some chassis.
3. Let the car or part soak for about 1- 2 minutes, how long you let it soak depends on how the body reacts to the cleaner and how badly toned/choroded it is. Better to leave it for less time and be safe, you can always soak it again if it needs more cleaning. The cleaner is a very mild acid based cleaner so leaving anything to soak for too long can be damaging.
4. Rinse thoroughly in cool water. The body should have a light greyish look, some bodies may look no different at this point, but it will polish out very easily. If its black or darkened then it was left in the cleaner too long and may require a extensive polishing.
5. After you have dried the body use a small cleaning brush, a medium bristle toothbrush is best, thoroughly go over the car with the brush using Brasso. Wash/Rinse the car off. Once you have a fairly even, clean looking, semi-shiny finish you are done. If you still have any real noticeable toning or chorosion at this point then do the process over again starting with step 3. You may see some minor or faint toning/spots but polishing as described in step 6 will usually remove these places.
6. Finally, to get a good reflective finish you can go over the body with Wenol Metal Polish on a soft rag and then buff with a clean rag. Or you can use a brass wire brush in a Dremel, but these brushes are expensive and don't last long. Thanks to Rooster for the Brass Wire Brush suggestion.
REMOVING PAINT FROM PLASTIC
Ever find a beater car that child artist has covered in model paint - paint on the glass & in the interior? Heres how to safely remove this paint.
1 - Get a spray can of regular strength Easy-Off Oven Cleaner in the blue can, don't use the extra strength or yellow can.
2 - Place your painted plastic parts in a plastic container and spray them with oven cleaner. Do not get oven cleaner on bare metal parts, as it is caustic and can chorode metal.
3 - Let the parts soak for 10-15 minutes then scrub with a soft toothbrush. This will usually remove most or all the paint. Heavily painted parts or parts with old or clear coated paint may need to be soaked in oven cleaner multiple times.
4- Once all paint is removed, then wash the parts with standard dish detergent, rinse, & dry. Your interior should be done, if your windows need polishing to remove scratches from all those years of playwear just use Novus #2 plastic polish.
Special Note: I have heard some people say that oven cleaner has turned their windows yellow tinted, I don't know what strength or brand they were using. I have used regular strength blue spray can lemon scented Easy-Off Oven Cleaner for years on Hot Wheels Parts, Slot Cars, Model Cars, GI Joe items, and numerous other plastic parts with no problem or yellowing of any kind.
REPAIRING A BENT/CRACKED COWL
If the cowl area of your car is bent downward and with only tiny or very slight cracks on the sides then it should be easily repairable. If the cowl is badly bent with large cracks, or breaks, or if the cowl is missing completely then it will need to be replaced. This type of problem is common with Custom Camaros.
1 - Disassemble your car and strip all paint from the body, this makes it easier to see the area.
2 - Hold the body upside down a small board with just the hood & cowl area on the board.
3 - Take a small flat end punch and using a small hammer lightly tap the cowl back straight from the inside of the body. Be very careful, tap lightly, and work slowly. You don't want to make things worse. Make sure you get it back to the correct straightness and alignment with the hood, then any small cracks should fit nicely back together.
4 - Now you can polish the car and paint it and if the small crackson each side lined back up properly and tightly they should be minimally visible. If you wanted to repair these cracks completely then you could use liquid metal to fill them in and then polish & paint.
REPLACING/REPAIRING A BROKEN OR MISSING COWL
CREDIT GOES TO ROY KRALLE FOR THIS INFORMATION
This techinique may be used to repair a cracked cowl or to replace a broken/missing cowl.
1. Usually the cowl breaks at the weakest point where it meets the top of the fender because it was bent too much. After carefully straightening it, we need to add a support.
2. A small box shaped piece of plastic or metal acts as a support and adds strength to the repair. (Red) It should be large enough so that the cowl can rest on it, but small enough to not interfere with the hood hinge or the interior.
3. Use epoxy to glue it in place. If you used plastic or soft metal (for example a piece cut from a leftover baseplate), you can trim it a bit with your Dremel after the glue has dried. Sand the outside of the cowl/fender area with 1500 grit sandpaper to smooth the repair. If you want to do a Spectra-paint job, hide the repair with Baremetal foil.
You can even repair a cowl that´s completely gone this way. Use the cowl of a "lesser" casting or part of a base, trim to fit, then add supports at each inner fender. Glue the new cowl in place AFTER the supports have dried completely, but check that the supports are in the correct height while the glue is still soft.
REPLACING BROKEN HOOD PIN(S)
THANKS TO ROY KRALLE AKA HEISSE-RADER FOR THIS INFORMATION AND THE 3-D IMAGERY
1.THE PROBLEM : What to do with a perfectly good hood that´s just missing a pin ?
2.If we have a closer look, we´ll see that almost always only the very tip of the pin is broken off, while the boxy shaped "stopper" is still intact.
3.Carefully remove what´s left of the pin (Red), but leave the stopper alone.
4. It should now look like this.
5.Now drill a hole through it the same size as the pin was.
6. Now make a small rod (Plastic, wire, or even turned down zinc rod) of the same length as the other pin PLUS the thickness of the stopper. (You can taper it a bit to make it easier to feed through the hole) INSTALL the hood on your car with the new pin halfway pushed through the hole in the stopper.
7.Finally push it through the hole until the other end sits flush with the stopper.A TINY drop of superglue or epoxy will help keeping the pin in place.
REPAIRING BROKEN HOOD HINGES (2 METHODS)
METHOD 1 - CREDIT GOES TO REDLINE ROOSTER FOR THIS INFORMATION
1 - Wax the hood pins on the hood (with your same wax you use when shinning the casting) than set the hood into place in the hinges.
2 - Tape the hood in place across the body (so it doesn't move on you while working from the under side)
3 - With it turned upside down, use a quick dry epoxy to fasten it
4 - You can actually let the glue start kicking off, than remove your tape CAREFULLY and slowly work you hood back and forth until you feel less resistance while working the hood
5 - Let the glue kick totally off with you coming back every couple of minutes and working it back and forth again By doing this method the hood will function properly and hold down securely.
Now I just use a VERY LITTLE bit of Epoxy in the hinge area. In fact I use just enough to string it in a bridge fashion across the tops of the hood hinges and onto the hinge housings. You can see glue if you load it on there too much from the rear of the front fenders so be careful.
METHOD 2 - CREDIT DARWIN FOR THIS INFORMATION
When the hood anchors are broken off or missing I carefully bend small diameter music wire with a pair of needle pliers to form "hooks". These hooks are then epoxied into place (on the inside) in such a way to retain the hood and allow it to function normally. The shape of the hook will vary depending upon the casting. Some castings are a little trickier to do such as a Cord. The Cord hood has to be opened fully to insert the engine and this can be tough to do if you weren't careful in applying the "hooks". Additionally, if insufficient clearance is not built in, a thin layer of paint will interfere with the hood operation and scraped paint results. If you are careful with the hook / epoxy placement, it is difficult if not impossible to see after reassembly.
Note, if the paint job is a failure, a soak in lacquer thinner not only strip the paint but will soften and dissolve the epoxy as well. And there go the hood hooks.
ADDING/REPLACING DOORLINES (2 METHODS)
METHOD 1 - THANKS TO GARY FOR THIS INFORMATION
It can be done. Just takes patience. This LMF was so pitted on one side there was no choice but to sand smooth & remove the doorlines.
The doorlines are made from bare metal foil. I used about 5 or 6 layers of the stuff, cut into the thinnest strips I could manage, and that would approximate the doorline look. As I said, it was tedious, but worked. The paint and clear coats ensured adhesion. They're not perfect, but better than tossing out the casting:
METHOD 2 - THANKS TO ROY KRALLE FOR THIS INFORMATION
1 - To get doorlines, first make a plastic template from the side that´s still intact.
2 - Glue this to the body, and start to engrave the doorline with a needle.
3 - Once you have a nice clean line, remove the template.
4 - Then use silver (or similar) wire and bend it carefully so that it fits into the engraved line. Fix iN PLACE with crazy glue or epoxy.
5 - Next flatten and roughen the wire a bit with your Dremel, so it looks more like a cast line.
6 - This will give you a nice semi-raised line that also sticks very well to the body.
POLISHING WITH PUMICE POWDER
THANKS TO PRESTON FOR THIS INFORMATION
Pumice powder is essentially an extremely fine volcanic ash and is used widely in the printing industry for cleaning press ink rollers without damaging them and increasing the ink management of them.
I use it to polish my cars once I've taken them down with wet sanding. This powder takes the car to a near mirror shine while safely removing light toning. The technique I use is mixing a little with dish soap in the palm of my hand , I then polish the cars using my thumbs. Once the compound is used up I then polish futher using my palm while holding the car in the other hand and rubbing it on my palm and then finish up with the thumbs again, your hands will get quite black from the process but by using the soap it comes of cleanly and comes out of your nails easily too. Once this stage is complete I then hit my cars with a metal polish like brasso to finish it. The car is then ready for paint.
Pumice can be found at printing industry supply companies, you may also be able to buy some from a printing company directly as well.
ADDING A WRINKLE/KRINKLE BLACK ROOF
THANKS TO RANDY FOR THIS INFORMATION
This is the look you want, as it was on many Woodies and a few Vickies:
You can get this look by properly masking the roof & spraying Krylon wrinkle finish paint. You can get it at most automotive supply stores, its in with the engine block paint. Here's what the can looks like:
