Body / Glass: Speedster halo

[mmagic]

Is the Speedster halo chrome plate or stainless? If stainless, I want to sand and buff out on the car before removal where it has support, before I paint. If Chrome I don't want to touch it and will just leave the stress lines in the steal as beauty marks. In either case I'm debating masking rather than removal due to the risk of damaging paint during reinstall.

[JoeHall]

I believe the Speedster halo is the same setup as 56J, but with a different type headliner, and it sits slightly more forward on the top. With a 56J, it is fairly easy to remove the rearmost, fiber-board headliner section and access the retainer nuts that hold the halo in place. When re-installing after new paint, it is critical to use two people, one on each side of the car to spread it slightly while setting it back in place without scratching the paint. It is also critical not to tighten the retainer nuts too tight, lest they distort the halo. Also, its best to use sealer on those nuts, to avoid a leaking roof later.

If the headliner wasn't so easy to deal with on a 56J, I'd probably have left them in place on the three or four I have had painted. If it were as much PITA as I am thinking the Speedster's headliner is, I'd probably have just masked them off. However, I have yet to remove one that did not have tons of crud underneath, so there may be a problem with blowing that stuff out and onto the paint, with the paint gun, especially if using the old type, high pressure gun.

The 56J halo is stainless, and I am pretty sure the Speedster's is too, but not positive of that.

[mmagic]

Thanks. The car is shell on frame today. I've sanded and buffed out the larger side stainless in place on the car before removal for paint so they have stability while I'm working them. Otherwise I could see potential disaster as I wrapped them around my stationary buffer... All that shine looks kind of silly on that sun faded paint!

I'm sure if there is a fraction of the AZ sand/dust under the Halo as I'm peeling off the undercarriage your blow out point makes an easy decision. I'm definitely not a neat-nick when I work but I'm wearing out a broom doing the undercarriage.... remove a bolt, sweep or vacuum... remove another bolt,m sweep or vacuum etc.

[JoeHall]

You seem to have a knack for polishing, and that Speedster's stainless is gonna look beautiful! I bought a set of wheel well stainless moldings from our very own NG member "Matt", for the GT I just had painted, and can't wait to see them. The originals were missing on the car, but I am now afraid Matts shiny ones will not match the rest of the car's stainless, and I just don't have the gumption to try to polish the rest of it myself, plus I know it would never come out looking as good as Matt's anyway

[mmagic]

Think I answered my own question..... the halo has many vertical stress lines. Other than those lines, the halo is in great shape. I sanded them out and polished the bottom inch under the chrome pot metal transition piece. That inch came out beautiful and established that it is in fact stainless.