As it has turned out, Cedric’s challenge to “make Ruby as good as it can be” ….it already being a GM prototype being #41….hand made, it has turned me loose to do things I’ve always wanted to try.
While this brings up ideas of motors…..wheels, …dash AC……of course suspension stuff but this is a new idea while it sounds kinda small it’s stopped me 2 weeks from moving forward on my next process on Ruby.
What I’m talking about is repairing and refinishing the cracked, brittle original ABS plastic parts on the dash and interior of the coach. We’ve had an SOP for several years but at some point under critical inspection you have to say “hey, it’s old plastic…what can ya do?” There were many things we’ve tried to “hide” the fragile plastic failures.
Refinishing a panel like this requires first a physical repair of the damaged plastic. We’ve found good repairs for that but it’s always been refinishing the surface trying to make that crack “go away”.
So after several powwows with our local auto finishes distributer we invested in this unique replaceable nozzle, positive pot pressure texture gun designed for professional finishing application Designed for use on an assembly line to lay out a selected textures finish on new products………..in short…Woppppeeeee it works!
This not a dye as everything including original has been made. This is a pigmented, textured coating putting a harder finish than the original ABS plastic finish. That’s your left front side panel there Cedric for Ruby
I think it’s a nicer finish than the obligatory dimpled finish GMC used for decades and really hard to scratch! After it’s 24 hour sure time….TODAY I get to start assembling these panels and then the dash…..Ohhhhh Boyyyyyy! stay tuned. We’re doing this finish on Texas Tix and dash #3 for Davis S.
Oh but wait……..there’s more! After getting interest in the ATC fuse conversion on the dash…had a thought so I called the OE manufacturer of our dash AC unit and had made factory looking, integrated 4 in circuit ATC fuse blocks….Thanks guys, you’re great! So Ruby, you’ve started something here on this too!
I ordered 12 of them to have them help design the unit……..like I said…OhhhhBoyyyyy, they’re making us a special part! stay tuned!
Oops, Jared is here…we have a coach that took out yesterday that something else happened. Shakedowns can be rough…… I’ll be back for page 2 later..lets see what happened…...