West Coast Cobra Owner Build Chassis # 3299

[kitcarbp]

So The body shop was finished with the car and hardtop in 2015 but the hardtop still needed the black stripes. The underside of the hardtop was still unfinished. One thing lead to another ( life) and in 2016 the hardtop was still sitting at the bodyshop without the stripes but cleared. Then the bodyshop calls and says they are closing up business, come pick up your top! So I was there the next day and bought home the worlds most expensive unfinished hardtop
Fast forward to the New Pandemic World we are living in May 2020 and once I mostly assembled the car and got some miles on it, the goal was to have my hardtop ready for October 2020 for a big Hot Rod event in Ocean City MD. It was the 19th annual pilgrimage to Mid Atlantic Hot Rod Mecca for about 3,000 registered hot hods and another few thousand that just show up and cruise the coastal strip. Its called Endless Summer Cruising OC , every October
Enough Story, here are the hardtop completion photo progress
I had picked out the foam backed headliner 2 years prior. I also wired in a modern LED dome light

[kitcarbp]

May 2020

Here are more hardtop progress pics

[kitcarbp]

September 2020
So now The hardtop is completed and test driven a few hundred miles at all speeds but still needs Black Stripes. Its two weeks before the OC Endless Summer Hot Rod show and I need good looking stripes"......... and fast!

No time to take it to a bodyshop with an unknown completion date!

So.... what does a home builder do? He orders 3M gloss black film wrap material and installs the two black stripes himself! Ive never done this before..... how hard can this be?
Step 0. - Make sure wife is out of the house for a few hours
Step 1- Need a clean mostly dust free work area. (Family Room off the garage)
Step 2 - Need supports to position the hardtop at the right height and angle. The Couch ! Perfect.
Step 3 - use a nice drop cloth........ Asian carpet....? Perfect!!
Step 4 - Measure, Measure, Measure !
Step 4.- Learn the install process, use lots of liquid installing the film.

Not surprisingly the Distinctness of Image (DOI) for the black film can’t compare ( inferior) to the painted stripes on the body. The orange peel is noticeable when using films. But I will circle back and get the stripes painted on someday when it’s the only item that still bugs me. From 5 feet it looks similar to production car orange peel you find out there.

[kitcarbp]

October 2020

Hard top finally finished. Lets cruise!