Straight Lines and Curves: The finishing

Chris Juma
Mar 25, 2018
5 min read

Updated: Oct 17, 2021

2018 Q1 is over and tarmac dreams are beckoning. Let's just say the writer's block was strong, coupled with a rather busy schedule at work and that ended up delaying this blog post. Well, the good news is that plenty of progress has happened in that time and the GC is getting closer to being road ready. The dream? It will end up looking something like this:

Meanwhile, here is the full report on what has been achieved so far.

Rivals?

In the last blog post, the GC had just rolled out of the paint booth and was looking ultimate in white. So extra. At that point in time, things seemed very clearcut; definite even. We were on a sprint delivery to have the car out by March. In my mind, it was as simple as;

1. Fit bumpers

2. Finish underside and wheel wells

3. Fit interior bits and bobs

4. Fit exhaust

5. High tail it out of the shop hitting rev limiter on every gear. Not. it would be taken back home on a flatbed.

We are not quite at step 5 yet, but pretty close. Here is the long version of that story.

Our turn in the booth: Finishings

While the GC sat outside and we set about the extremely nerve-racking process of watching paint dry, the team over at Diastar had completed the prep work on the smaller fittings. It was now their turn in the spa.

FF and RR bumper: so white

The bumpers, spats and other trims got a couple of coats of the ultimate white. These were finished off with some layers of clear to ensure that the white stays white.

Door handles: Curing

You can hear that voice in your head, "Ain't no piece too small for the special treatment.". I know I did.

Bumper Spats and rear light cowls.

Everything was starting to look ready.

There were a number of bits which needed to be completed in glossy black. The custom crash bar up front was looking very sleek in a glossy black. Quite a contrast to when it was raw and had some surface rust forming. Dhiren over at Diastar got the design right and the execution even better. Next up was the oil cooler support. The detail on it was amazing to say the least.

Click on gallery to enlarge pictures.

Some weeks later, when the paint had cured to an acceptable extent, test fitting started.

First in were the clear repeaters for the front fenders. These were looking mint! would need some fasteners on the inside though. The door handles and trims had a perfect fit. The GC was starting to look like a car once again.

Click on gallery to enlarge pictures.

The bumpers were also test fitted to get the alignment of the support brackets right, among other small finishing touches.

The RHS was missing one of the brackets that sit between the fender and the body frame. A custom one was made to bridge that gap.

Left hand side had all pieces intact and the lines were coming together in spectacular fashion. When you reflect on car design principles and go back to the basics, where every surface is a curve and the lines; horizontal, back to front, parallel to the ground... all these work together to deliver a strong posture and sense of movement. Poise. It is great to work with a bodyshop that understands these little things and work to ensure that the outcomes mirror the design as originally penned down at the base of mount Fuji.

An overhead view of the bay with the dry carbon strut brace test fitted on one end. It's gathered a lot of dust in this process, but there's still a lot of bite in there.

A few small details remain, like the support bracket for the PS reservoir and a few bits and bobs here and there.

About a week and a lot of measuring, fitting and refitting later, this was the situation: Front bumper was fully mounted on both sides. All lines and body contours now in harmony. The bottom skirts were in place and enhanced that low-slung look, even on stilts it was looking the part.

Click on gallery to enlarge pictures.

The GC was now ready to have the wheels slapped back on and transition to interior finishing. It was rolled to the frontal area of the workshop. Whenever I see any car in this section, it is usually in the final stages of delivery, so this definitely put me in high spirits!

Front of shop: Finishing touches

The first marching orders of the day were to get the hydraulic lines cleared up. The brake system and clutch system were bled with DOT 4 brake fluid. With a 180 degree celsius boiling point, this should suffice for street use with the occasional thrashing on the TT course. Flush intervals will be much closer though as these fluids are hygroscopic and will absorb moisture from the air.

Peek a boo: Oil cooler

With the car up on jack stands and panels in place, I took this opportunity to get a shot of the oil cooler and the crash bar looking all stealthy.

Cleaning in progress:

Cleaning of the wheel wells and underside components commenced in earnest. The silvery hue of the aluminium control arms could be seen after layers of dirt and grime were cleaned off.

RHS hub and brake. These will be done up in a more interesting color. Reveal soon.

LHS hub and brake.

Rear LHS brake and hub setup.

Steel braids.

A peek behind the veil. These are the braided brake lines.

Up on airs:

When white is white.

I got a chance to inspect the door cards. These will need to be reupholstered. I will schedule to get this done once the GC is up and running on its own power.

Click on gallery to enlarge pictures.

I wanted to redo all the small metal brackets inside the car which would usually sit under a plastic piece, rubber piece or carpeting. These got anti-rust treatment and were finished in black gloss.

Left hand side B-pillar trim

Right hand side B-pillar trim

The top side trim that holds the weather strip was quite hard to find. Eventually, my buddy Mike over at MotorMania was able to come through with a connect who delivered the pieces.

Pieces number 1 and 2 were hell to find! But I think we managed pretty well given the circumstances. Here is the finished product.

Up on the hydraulic lift. A bit of detailing on the underside about to take place.

Here are a couple more shots up on the lift.

Click on gallery to enlarge pictures.

The following was the task list in the finishing list;

1. Mount battery box in the trunk

2. Mount IC spray reservoir

3. Skirtings finishings

4. Underside finishing

Click on gallery to enlarge pictures.

A lot more has gone in over the last three moons. However, I could not squeeze it all in as I didn't have all the pics. Hopefully next update will include a couple of pulls! Cheers.

Here are a few shots of my mates (Team LOS. check out the home page) at the last TT event.