1980 Liquifire Project

[johnnycyclone]

Nice polish job, what are you using?

DA

First I usually wet sand with different grits of paper, starting out with 220 and working up to 1500. Then I use a wheel and some rubbing compound. I then finish it off with a product called metal restore, and showman's blend. Here is a link to the products I use for polishing. Personally I think they are the best, and the reason is, it takes very little effort to get a nice shine. Browse around their website and you may feel the same. Not only do they sell the product but they use it too. I purchased the autopak-3 which is the metal restorer, showman's blend, and the chrome polish. If you want bring something that needs polished to Toledo, and I will bring the polish so you can give it a try.

http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/u ... otive.html

[johnnycyclone]

Not much has happened the last couple of days. I have been working on the camper getting ready to head out to Niagara Falls for a little vacation. We leave tomorrow, and will be back on Sunday. That means I will have about 4 weeks to finish this up for the show when I get back.I did get the bulkhead back from Rad Coatings tonight and it looks really good, almost like new. Look for more updates mid next week.

[johnnycyclone]

Well, I learned a few things about restorations this week.

1. When attempting to work on more than one sled at a time, nothing really gets done on any of them. At least for me, that seems to be the case.
2. Setting an impossible deadline, means your quality of work will suffer, just so you can meet your deadline.
3. If the goal is to have two sleds ready for a show in less than four weeks, and one is still laying in pieces, neither one will be at the show.

So, I am going to put the brakes on this one for now. I want to have at least one sled ready in time for Toledo, and this one isn't going to make it. I still plan on working on it some, up to the time of the show, but at a much slower pace. Most of my time will be spent on the 77, and yes this one will be there.

Terre

[johnnycyclone]

Well it's been over a month since my last update. We stopped working on the 80 project, so I could concentrate on finishing my 77 Liquifire. I actually started this one about 3 years ago, but kept putting it on the back burner, so I could work other sled projects. First was the 82 Sportfire, and then the 79 Spitfire, and now it was the 80 Liquifire. So I halted work on the 80 in hopes of getting the 77 ready in time for the Toledo show. We would have made it, but we ran into a small issue with the decals, and we didn't quite get there. Mark's supplier sent him the wrong material, and so I wasn't able to get the decals in time. It would have been nice to make the show, but sometimes things just don't work out. We will definitely be ready in plenty of time for next years show though. I have a couple of minor details to finish up, and then it will be ready for the snow. Enjoy the pic...

Anyways, back to the 80 project. I ended up switching back to the 1980 tunnel . This is the last time, not more switching, I promise. The reason for the switch was, the 82 tunnel had a lot of deep scratches around both foot areas, and the left side of the tunnel wasn't very straight, in fact is was pretty wavy. Polishing the tunnel only made the waviness of the side stand out more, and I would never be happy with it, so I decided to go back to the other tunnel. So I brought the 80 tunnel back out, and spent a couple of nights working to straighten the right side foot area. It actually turned out pretty nice, and the sides are nice and straight. The tunnel was put in primer, block sanded, and is now painted with base coat, clear coat. I have just finished wet sanding the clear, and I have started to buff it out. So far it's looking great, a real nice deep shine. Look for more updates as now I will be concentrating on this one until it's finished.

[nick80lf]

Lookin good Terre.

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Very Clean!!! Love it.

DA

[johnnycyclone]

When I get some time I will take some more pics, and highlight the changes I did to it. There are a lot of details you may not see in the picture.

[ChickenRat]

I really like that hood on the '77 Liquifire. It's a combination of the Fire series Liquifire's and the Liquidator hood. Cool stuff.

Robb

[johnnycyclone]

Good eye there Rob. I love the looks of the Liquidator hood, but didn't want to just put one of those on, I guess because it's already been done. I wanted this sled to be unique, but still have the same the same look as the liquidator. Fortunately the hood from a fire series sled, in this case a Traifire, matches up almost perfectly. So grafting it on was pretty easy, and in my opinion it looks really cool. Stay tuned for more pics.

[JDMIKE8100]

Real nice work on the Liquifire.
Read the previous page on removing decals,had all the same problems when I restored
my 77,340 Liquifire.
Two year later I replaced the decals on my 76,440 Liquifire,I unwittingly set the hood
on a table outside in the sun for a few hrs in 80-90 degree temps.When I came back
I lifted the corner up and all the old decals came off in one peice.A tiny bit of automotive
paint thinner removed the remaining bit of glue on the hood. Couldn't believe how easily
they came off.The sun warmed up the whole decal evenly and made it plyable.

[nick80lf]

Fortunately the hood from a fire series sled, in this case a Traifire, matches up almost perfectly. So grafting it on was pretty easy, and in my opinion it looks really cool. Stay tuned for more pics.

OK Terre.....I noticed the Dator-like paint job on the hood but I totally missed the fact that it had a Trailfire hood. Since when did the Trailfire hoods have gill vents.

Nice job!!

Just noticed this. It's hard to tell but what's up with the head light? I think we need to see some more pictures of that hood.

[johnnycyclone]

I just re-read my post on the hood, and even I was confused, so let me clarify the hood. The hood is a 77 hood, with the scoop from a Trailfire hood added. I retained the gill vents on the side, but smoothed out the ones on top. I have a lot of time spent on the hood alone, as I wanted it to look like it was manufactured this way. So it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside, and you can't tell the scoop was added. The hood is just one piece of the build, and there are a lot of small upgrades or changes to the sled, which I will point out, and take pictures of.

By the way the inspiration for the black on the hood is not from the Dator, as it doesn't cover the full width of the hood. The inspiration came from the #54 340/S of John Carlson, with a little tweaking. I couldn't find a pic of the #54, but the #53 of Bob Enns should do.



I will start a new thread tomorrow night on the sled. I had a lot of pictures during the build process, but they were all lost when my hard drive crashed. We can start with the hood and then cover the rest of the sled. Don't get too exited about the power plant though, it still has the Kioritz in it. I wanted the sled to look like it could have sat on the showroom in 77, only with my improvements.

[johnnycyclone]

Sorry, no pics of the hood today. I had to run over to Indiana to pick up something. Ummmmm, I wonder what Terre was picking up, and right in the Bullet's back yard?


Easy Don, it wasn't a sled, but it does have a 2 stroke engine.

[Danzig]

Looking like a job well done....

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Sorry, no pics of the hood today. I had to run over to Indiana to pick up something. Ummmmm, I wonder what Terre was picking up, and right in the Bullet's back yard?


Easy Don, it wasn't a sled, but it does have a 2 stroke engine.

And you didn't call or stop in for a beverage???? At least I meet and greet the guys I snag sleds away from. Why you Michiganders.........................