Wednesday 9 January 2013

Eastwood Soda Blaster - just what you need for a new look!

Frost thank all our customers and friends for your support throughout 2012 and wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!! 
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If you are fan of TV car shows (especially Fifth Gear), you must know Jonny - an automotive journalist and TV presenter!
Few month ago, Jonny contacted us and got our attention with his fantasic new project: Enfield 8000 - A Great British Electric City Car! Shorter than a Mini but they cost a lot more in 1975 - The Enfield also was known as a lightweight, green, very rare car (only about 108 or 120 were made). Therefore, after Jonny told us about his idea, we was so excited to see the return of history!

ORIGINAL ENFIELD 8000 TECH SPEC

BODYSHELL: Handbuilt aluminium two-seater
CHASSIS: Square-section tubular steel space frame
SUSPENSION: Coil-over McPherson strut front, four-link rear axle
MOTOR: 8hp / 6kw / 150amps
BATTERIES: 8 x 12v 55-amp hour lead acid batteries
TOP SPEED: 40mph
PERFORMANCE: Erm. Well, 0-30mph in 12.5 seconds
RANGE: 35-55 miles, depending on climate and quantity of hills
WEIGHT: 975kg (a lot for such a midget - over 300kg is batteries)
LENGTH: A mere 2.84m / 112" (a Mini was 3.05m / 120")
WHEELBASE: Just 1.725m / 68" (a Mini was 2.04m / 80.3")
FUEL: 240v mains Economy Seven

Want to know more about the Enfield? Click here...
Want to know more about Jonny's car? Click here...  


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(Smith, J., 2011, Jonny's Flux Capacitor Blog, Internet source: http://www.flux-capacitor.co.uk/blog.php  

I Hate That Blue Paint

It was time to collect the Enfield from Webster Race Engineering and begin stripping the bodyshell of 30-odd years of paint, filler and primer. Webster had finished everything bar the front brakes.
They’d fitted new hard brake lines, fabricated a new master cylinder reservoir and plumbed in a Moroso line-lock. The latter is for gripping the front wheels when you want to warm the rear rubber. A big naughty smoky poetic burnout.
The paint and bodywork was going to be taken care of Tim at Roadhouse Retro (www.roadhouseretro.com) in Stamford. He’s a good mate and is not only immensely talented, but also has such an infectious passion for the history behind each old car that passes through his workshop. The craftsmanship he did on my ’73 Ford Taunus coupe and ’68 Charger were second to none.
The Flux Cap was put on a dolly, as the back axle still hadn’t returned from the powdercoaters. This was a blessing, as it’ll be easier to paint the newly fabricated rear suspension and chassis mods.
With the weather baking hot, we decided to crack on with paint removal. As opposed to using solvent based chemicals, I decided to try stripping using a soda blaster. Borrowed from FROST  (www.frost.co.uk) the blaster connects to a compressor and basically fires out bicarbonate of soda powder from a nozzle.
It’s no harm to lungs or the environment, which is why I was happy to blast away outdoors. Although breathing apparatus and a cap for your head is recommended. Once I got in the zone, the soda blaster seemed perfect at bringing back the bodyshell to its pure bare aluminium skin, especially in the creases where a conventional sander couldn’t reach.

You can see from the pics that I’m doing the gutters and panel creases first. Because the whole bodyshell was hand made from aluminium we’re finding where all the joins and rivets are. There’s a fair wad of filler in places, and I’ve unearthed some holes in the sill but we’re hoping that the big strip goes smoothly. The sooner that NHS blue paint disappears the better!
Hell, even that (totally obsolete and totally priceless. Probably) windscreen came out without drama.
(Jonny Smith - To read full blog, click here  

2 comments:

  1. Chavving up something as rare as that seems criminal to me, and seems to bring the sanity of the person doing it into question! As for soda blasting, with a piffling DIY compressor, I would guess it would certainly take about 100 hours, to get a job that was far from perfect!

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  2. Looks like you're doing a great job, but it does seem like it's going to be a heck of a project!

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