While the air con project was underway, my time was split between it and the cabin cover. After rough fitting the overhead and wiring it for the lights, I had to start the cosmetic work. My first task was to contour the forward door / windshield supports. Others have left these and just cleaned them up while some have filled it in to make it look just a bit cleaner. A few folks will run conduit in the jog and then fill over it to route wiring to the overhead. I chose the middle option, just wanting to fill them in for a fuller, more finished look. My wiring will be going through the center post so no need for conduit.

I used the closed cell spray foam insulation and piled the stuff on. It’s a messy job and I had to use quite a bit since it’s not exactly sticky and wanted to run off on the more vertical surfaces. After it cured for a day, I used a flexible saw blade to do a rough cut. There were a few low spots and a lot of holes that needed filler. I also floxed on the overhead console after a good pause to make sure I’m not getting ahead of myself. It was a straight forward process and is super solid now.

Now that the overhead is in, it’s time to start making it all look good. Out comes the Super Fill and the mixing board. I really like this stuff, it’s easy to measure (2:1) and easy to mix up. Best of all, it’s simple and easy to apply and pretty forgiving. The sanding is trouble free as well and it’s very light. Really, it’s just the best and I regret not using it before on the fiberglass tips, etc.

I mixed and applied for a good hour the first night and got the overall shape done along with filling in the overhead. I’m not worried about the areas covered by the headliner so that saves a lot of surface area that I can essentially ignore. I cleaned up the aft door supports as those will stay as is. I also installed the switch console and filleted the seam between it and the overhead. This seam won’t be perfect but it just makes it look a little cleaner, albeit not one solid piece.

And so it went for four or five evenings. I start by using my sanding blocks to clean up the now cured filler. After it’s all smoothed out and I can tell where additional filler is needed, I mix it up and apply. Then I moved onto the A/C or whatever other project of the evening is. It really hasn’t been a bad project and it’s rewarding seeing it take shape.

Finally, it was about as good as it is going to get, so I used the SEM high build primer to highlight any pins holes still hanging around. I few touch ups with some glazing compound made it all ready for the first coat of paint.

I sprayed a few coats allowing each one to flash and as always, the Color Coat provided good coverage. I am somewhat concerned that I’ll have some adhesion issues, as a few spots that will be covered by the headliner chipped pretty easily. The carbon has a very hard epoxy and even though I scuffed it, I’m not sure I did it enough. I should have also used an adhesion promoter looking back. I’ll use that for the rest of the carbon and the panels. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and while it is not perfect, it is more than good enough for me.