Strut Tower Brace Redux

Saturday, 28 January 2006 | Comments (0) | Categories: Paint, Suspension

So I had these Cusco OS Type Strut Tower braces for the front and rear of the Silvia which just weren't going to match the rest of the car. With Blue painted end plates and polished allow bars, they're Cusco's standard fare. So, I figured I would refinish them to a more OEM look, which is where I'm going with the car - factory special. So to start out with I've sandblasted the end plates (along with a Cusco Brake Stopper - yet to be completed) and sanded back the bars nice and smooth. The plan was for the end plates in Satin Black and the cross bars to be in black wrinkle paint. Hanging all this from a rafter in my carport using old wire clothes hangers, I went about spraying them. The wrinkle paint is pretty special stuff...it goes on smooth, and after 20 minutes to 2 hours, it starts to wrinkle evenly. The more coats you put on, the more intense the wrinkles. In all I applied 4 coats to get the finish you see below. Check out the pics for the stages and end product.

Step-by-step, sorta:
- Original End Plates
- Sandblasted End Plates
- Painted End Plates
- Original Strut Bars
- Original Strut Bars (Detail)
- Sanded Strut Bars
- Completed Front and Rear Strut Tower Bars
- Completed Front Strut Tower Bars
- Completed Rear Strut Tower Bars
- Detail of Wrinkle Finish

In other news, the trayback went to pick up the car on Friday to bring back to the workshop only to final that Assure was closed (being between Australia Day and the weekend). So we should have it back early next week.

Cheers
Brendan