Coming soon: You've heard of the 70's Brit Band Spandeau Ballet. Well my next post deals with the use of BONDO in a terrible restoration night mare that I purchased on Ebay, so thus the title of this post. For our European friends, "BONDO" is our slang term for AUTO BODY FILLER!! Pics and text to follow.
I bought this piece off Ebay a month ago. It was to be a fix it and flip sort of project. However, you get what you pay for and sometimes things are not as they seem to be. Some pictures:
The rear visor did come with the helmet but as you can see, it had been glued on to the shell at some point. Upon closer examination, it turns out that the sweat band is also glued on which means that the front visor is as well. The cloth liner has been restitched on improperly also. The biggest surprise however, was yet to come......when the kugel was removed, a piece of finish broke off as it was stuck to the base of the fitting:
That thick grey substance is "BONDO!" which is used as body filler on cars. In all my years of collecting I have encountered glue several times, but never BONDO. This is a first.
The chunk that came off.
What had to be filled? There is a hole in the top of the shell which can be seen here from the inside. One additional problem, the rear spine had broken while the seller was packing it up. He did discount the price. However, when I got a chance to look at the spine, it turns out that it was cast pot metal (zinc) which had been re plated in brass. This is why it broke so easily.
So.....a $400 Bondo Ballet lesson however, I can and will make money on this by selling off the fittings.
I bought this piece off Ebay a month ago. It was to be a fix it and flip sort of project. However, you get what you pay for and sometimes things are not as they seem to be. Some pictures:
The rear visor did come with the helmet but as you can see, it had been glued on to the shell at some point. Upon closer examination, it turns out that the sweat band is also glued on which means that the front visor is as well. The cloth liner has been restitched on improperly also. The biggest surprise however, was yet to come......when the kugel was removed, a piece of finish broke off as it was stuck to the base of the fitting:
That thick grey substance is "BONDO!" which is used as body filler on cars. In all my years of collecting I have encountered glue several times, but never BONDO. This is a first.
The chunk that came off.
What had to be filled? There is a hole in the top of the shell which can be seen here from the inside. One additional problem, the rear spine had broken while the seller was packing it up. He did discount the price. However, when I got a chance to look at the spine, it turns out that it was cast pot metal (zinc) which had been re plated in brass. This is why it broke so easily.
So.....a $400 Bondo Ballet lesson however, I can and will make money on this by selling off the fittings.
