Brian's Manx 2 Restoration and Build

[surfnc]

With the season, MOTB over and still waiting for a job to come through I have continued to work on projects for other people.

I got a call from a great guy and buggy enthusiast about restoring a Manx for him and his family. He came to the MOTB and got to meet Bruce. He also got a chance to see more buggies in one place here on the East Coast to help give him ideas of what he would like his buggy to look like. (paint, interior, accessories etc) He and his wife then came up later and drove my Manx and were happy enough with that experience to honor me with doing a restoration and build for them.

He did not have a Manx to work with so I am using one that I had for that purpose. Here is what I started with.

It is a 4 digit Manx 2 in pretty good shape. The only major repairs that needed to be done were the front/hood areas. It looks like it had been hit and poorly repaired by a PO.

Unfortunately I did not take pictures of all the repair work as I did it but will do better with that in the future.

I did use this buggy for repair examples in other threads:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579167&highlight=profile

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7005927#7005927

Here is how it sits today after the repairs have been done and all the holes that will not be used have been filled. It is in high build primer waiting for guide coat and sanding in preparation for the "7P Golden Orange" metal flake that Brian chose for the final color.

Here you can see that the holes and cracked fiberglass have been repaired on the hood areas.

Brian wanted to use an IRS chassis, so I am going to use a 77 standard chassis. (not the 60 in the pictures) Since it is a Manx 2 there will be no modifications needed to allow it to fit properly with the body.

I have the base paint (a light orange) and have ordered the 7P metal flake from Meadowbrook Inventions http://www.meadowbrookglitter.com/hiband/. This is where Bruce got his flake back in the day.

I should have the flake next week and weather permitting should be able to shoot it over the next 2 weeks. I will post progress as it goes.

(Hopefully there will be more "action" than "drama".)

Vince
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[Roys_Big_Toys]

Looking good Vince. Hopefully, Brian is following the thread for his build. I am sure he will be as happy with his, as I am with mine. Maybe, he will want to venture to the Big Bear event. I hope you can work out something, to attend.

Every where I go I get people asking about it's history and usually, have a story to tell of their past experience with a buggy. They ARE a magnet for kids.
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Original Meyers Manx
Berrien LKD Warrior Ecotec 2.2 w/ Bus 091 Trans
Original 2 sided Meyers Manx Dealership sign
Meyers Manx Surf Board #1 0f #100
Custom Meyers Manx Cornhole game

[vw7266]

nice I have about 5lbs of this same color but its old stock from back in the day...i plan to use it on my buggy as well...

I may just order some gold though and go all gold

look forward to seein more

[MURZI]

Action and drama.... proceed my friend.
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[surfnc]

Roy
Thanks for the kind words! Brian is following it and I hope he will be as happy as you are.
Hopefully you got time over the holidays to see your family before you go back to CA.

Brad
Very cool! I look forward to seeing it, do a build thread so we can follow it.

Murzi
I am going to try to keep it to more "action" than "drama".

Update 1/6/14

I guide coated the body. Which is to spray a very light coat of contrasting paint on the high build primer. You can use a paint especially made for it or use a flat paint. Do not use glass, it will clog up your paper and defeat the purpose. You only need to "spritz" it not cover it.

Not the best picture but it gives you the idea.

You then start to sand it. I use 400 grit so I do not sand through all the primer. You are just trying to get it flat and fair.

You can see how it takes the "orange peel" out and levels everything out.

Take your time and do not use too much pressure. And always hand sand any edges so you do not sand through all your primer.


You can see where I went through almost all of the primer to make it level. If I were going to top coat it I might hit it with another layer of primer. But I am going to lay down a base color coat layer to go under the Golden Orange metal flake and the flake will cover any tone variations
.

I had some time to do the hood.

I got to paint before the cold front comes through.

This is Awlcraft 2000 Federal Yellow with some Red mixed in to give it a more orange tone. Brian wanted it to be not too dark an orange. By using a lighter base the flake will have a lighter tone when finished.

I do like the Awlcraft 2000 product. It is made to be sprayed in the yard (boat yard). So it is fairly forgiving and lays out well. I will wet sand it to remove the slight "orange peel" before I start the flake process.

Vince
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LOOKING FOR VINTAGE MEYERS MANX STUFF!!!
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[surfnc]

Update 1/10

It warmed up so I flaked the hood today. 7P Golden Orange

This is just the flake coat. (actually 3 layers of flake to completely cover the surface) I still have to lay up 3-4 layers of clear then cut and buff it.

The surface is rough and is not as light and deep as it will be with the clear on it.

It also takes on different shades depending on the light.

Ambient light:

Florescent light:

Flash:

I also shot the body in the base color coat.
(in person it is lighter and more yellow)

Hope to clear the hood tomorrow.

Vince
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[herkster]

wow nice stuff!

[wvbowtieman]

Vince

That looks good....will be trying this in the Spring if all goes well.

[Humdinger]

You should really do a video on your flake process! PLEASE!!!

Is the base color coat metallic or just a basic color?

[vw7266]

looks nice!

So does the golden orange you have there...does it have gold and orange flake mixed? Its hard to tell in the pic.

[herbsflat4]

The color really looks good. The flake is great! Looking forward to more pics.

[Skulptorchaz]

That is very nice looking and thanx for the tutorial!
I'm doing mine in orange as well and yours is a super good lookin color. I don't have you abilities at creating color so I'm just using House of Color.
Keep the pix coming!

[surfnc]

herkster
Thanks for the kind words!

David
Thanks! I am looking forward to your build! Are you going to keep it the Moss Green?

Humdinger
There is a video of the flake demonstration at MOTB 2013. I will have to find it and get it posted. The base color is not metallic, it just needs to be close to the flake color.

Yellermanx did an excellent example of how base color can change flake effect.


Car black base, tag blue base. (same flake)

The way I am doing it the base is completely covered with the flake. (hopefully) I use the base color in case I miss some small area, so it does not catch your eye.

vw7266
Thanks! The flake is a lighter orange. (one color) It catches the light depending on the angle and looks gold, yellow, orange etc. Once the clear is on it will have a deeper lighter look to it.

You can sort of see it here.

Flake with no clear on it.

Flake with clear and polished out.

herbsflat4
Thanks for the kind words.

Skulptorchaz
Thanks and you are welcome. Looking forward to your build!

Vince
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LOOKING FOR VINTAGE MEYERS MANX STUFF!!!
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[RedBaronofRedBud]

Vince,

Your flake process looks outstanding! The difference of base coats under the flake and the results are is amazing! I look forward to the video that was made this year. Thanks for sharing!
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[surfnc]

Tim
Thanks! I will post as soon as I can find it.

Update 1/13

Shot the clear on the hood.

Definitely lightened it up. I will need to wet sand it and then shoot a few more layers of clear before I can cut and buff it.

Also the weather was good enough to shoot the 3 layers of flake on the body.

I hope to start the clear on it tomorrow.

Did find that I used much less flake than I did on my 24E blue Manx. Also used a Tyvec suit and the clean up was much easier.


Vince
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LOOKING FOR VINTAGE MEYERS MANX STUFF!!!
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[vw7266]

How many lbs did it take?

Looks great!

[Skulptorchaz]

Wow......beautiful.

[surfnc]

vw7266
About 4lbs. Thanks for the kind words!

Skulptorchaz
Thanks for the kind words!

Update 1/15

Shot the clear on the body.

It is hard to get a good idea of how it looks in person but this is pretty close.

Now I need to shoot 4-5 more coats of clear and then sand and buff out depending on how much I sand off. I may just sand it and clear a few more layers.

It is nowhere near smooth yet. If you look closely at the fender pictures you can see how bumpy it is.

Vince
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LOOKING FOR VINTAGE MEYERS MANX STUFF!!!
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[Manx Lee]

Is this Gelcoat or paint base ? Looks Awesome

[mstevens]

Every job you post, I am beyond impressed!!

The color of that orange is amazing, it is exactly what I have been wanting to paint one of my Manxes for a long time now.