Author Topic: the '55 Ragtop.....are we done yet?  (Read 101021 times)

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Offline Geoff

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #270 on: November 07, 2012, 03:03:41 PM »
Very nice work as always Josh

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #271 on: November 07, 2012, 06:05:42 PM »
Thanks G!!! I go in waves of enthusiasm on this project....this round is gonna see some good progress!!
 Woot_Emoticon Woot_Emoticon Woot_Emoticon Woot_Emoticon Woot_Emoticon

Made up some 2x2" plates for rear seatbelts for the kiddies, contoured to parcel tray curvature. Welded some 7/16" NF lock nuts on and then drilled 4 1/4" holes for some plug welds. Will run a bead of seam sealer around edge to finish up.











Some last minute tweaking on rear fenders and apron.

 






Also did some more work on the rear apron with the "death blade" aka shrinking disk

 




Soooooooo fucking stoked to get this thing blasted and into one single color!!!!
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Offline Mike Scott

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #272 on: November 08, 2012, 01:22:50 PM »
Coming along awesome Josh! Pumped to see it blasted!

Offline 70's Looker

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #273 on: November 08, 2012, 05:49:06 PM »
damn where did you send the family and the people next door and down the street when you were playing with the super wheel???
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #274 on: November 09, 2012, 11:39:26 AM »
Coming along awesome Josh! Pumped to see it blasted!

You and me both mike!! That is going to be the most rewarding part I think after all this time and effort seeing it all in bare fresh metal!! Hey weren't you there at steveo's the day I picked this pile up? Damn that was a little over 5 years ago now!!! Time flies!!

damn where did you send the family and the people next door and down the street when you were playing with the super wheel???

Yeah can't get too much louder than running that death machine!! I think I may be divorced if wife was home while shrinking any metal!! Only complaint I've had so far (apart from the better half) was a neighbour above me on the hill while I was tuning Manx on a Sunday......I told her she was late for church stfu stfu stfu stfu stfu stfu stfu stfu just wait till she hears the 2332 on 51 IDA's come to life again :85: :85: :85:
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Offline silas

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #275 on: November 09, 2012, 11:31:29 PM »
great work as always josh!!

Offline Jeremy

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #276 on: November 09, 2012, 11:31:50 PM »
just wait till she hears the 2332 on 51 IDA's come to life again

 :band1: :band1: :band1:
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Offline Mike Scott

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #277 on: November 13, 2012, 09:12:16 AM »
Quote
You and me both mike!! That is going to be the most rewarding part I think after all this time and effort seeing it all in bare fresh metal!! Hey weren't you there at steveo's the day I picked this pile up? Damn that was a little over 5 years ago now!!! Time flies!!

Yeah, looked to be an easy project at that point!!!!!! You've done an amazing job thus far, and I'm sure the end product will be even better.

How's your father inlaws head?

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #278 on: November 25, 2012, 03:44:45 PM »
Boooooooooofuckingyaaaaaaaaaa!! Shell pan and removables all back from being blasted......shit looks great! Maybe half dozen little pinholes to weld up and a section of carpet tack strip on other side heater channel reared its ugly little head...other than that no surprises yaaaay!

Pics from the other day when it got picked up....was about 8" too tall to fit in trailer on rotisserie....





At his shop....cool shit there, old model A and some Austin sprite convert thing in background



So fresh and so clean!
















Gonna blow this bitch out as soon as I put the kids to bed and start some mud work tonight!

Oh ya treated myself to a new paint slinger yesterday too....ended up with a devilbiss finishline HVLP that came with 3 fluid tips plus I bought a 2.2 for spray poly all for $220. I think it will do me fine for what I need...I couldn't bring myself to investing in a high end gun like a Sata for hobby shit!

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Offline steveo_32

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #279 on: November 25, 2012, 11:36:36 PM »
Amazing dude!!
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Looking for a barn find oval!! something un-screwed with(or split)

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #280 on: November 28, 2012, 09:34:02 AM »
Amazing dude!!

Been a long road dude! Can finally see it coming together :band1:

Been givin'er shit on this every night from kids bedtime till at least 1 am.....seam sealer, fun stuff! I hate doing calking of any kind, not my thing! A guy could really make a mess with this stuff! Got all sealed up, most of the flanges got masked off so it went where I wanted and smoothed out.





Went freehand on the pan seams....turned out titties!






Bit more prep to do and primer will fly with any luck tomorrow night   :08:
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #281 on: December 07, 2012, 12:23:51 AM »

Sooooo still no primer flying but i have been out there almost every single night for 3-4 hours fucking around......my compressor head descided to shit one of its reed valves out and upon tear down found out it was because one of the wrist pin clips popped out and proceeded to leave its mark up the cyl wall....fuck!
  Unit was an old scabbed together jobbie using a speedaire 2 cyl cast pump....great little compressors until you overdrive the little prick up to about 1100 rpm to keep up to demand.  so shit what do I do with a big bare metal investment sitting in the heated shop threatening to start rusting.....no air, no $1000 to spend on a new one, searching local used classifieds and crazy old painter shutting down shop. He has an offshore 18 cfm @120psi 5hp upright.....trying to get him to put a price to it when he says he has he exact little speedaire that he will give me!!! Drag the thing home and fucking around with belts and pulley combos for days I finally have air again!!
Body and pan are finally 100% ready for primer....been beating doorskins and front hood chasing oil can dents....lots of shrinking and hammer dolly work.... Got one door mint other halfway there. Hung doors and tweaked gaps again gots both really nice with a 12 lb weight in bottom of door to simulate guts













Some random shots

















Starting to fuck with the little removable shit... Finger sanding sucks!

 

Took apart semaphores and glass beaded the arms.....the edges curled in and they needed some love (didn't get a before unfortunately) but they good now.





Early big spring w had a little crease under t handle.....wasn't about to drill the inner panel out at this point so started a bit of mud work...gotta get in the groove soon!



Welding the contraption into the tank distorted the bottom and getting in to hammer it out was next to impossible so it got a skim of fibreglass evercoat and starting to rough it out



Still have the fenders and rear apron to grind some pin hole weld ups down ad smack the metal around a bit and then it's on I promise!
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Offline Jeremy

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #282 on: December 07, 2012, 11:42:13 PM »
Nice work Josh. Keep the updates coming.
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Offline Bruce

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #283 on: December 14, 2012, 08:48:24 PM »
Why do the 3 cover plates behind the spare tire look like they're made from copper sheet?

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #284 on: December 14, 2012, 09:48:02 PM »
Because I hand formed them using only a wooden spoon  sign0151


They were from the 57 and Jeff had them chromed....I stripped them but copper plate remained
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #285 on: December 15, 2012, 12:27:28 AM »
Shell is in epoxy finally!!!!! \:D/  \:D/  \:D/ !!!!!!









DuPont DTM grey epoxy looks rather close to anthracite
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Offline Mike Scott

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #286 on: December 17, 2012, 08:30:16 AM »
Looks great Josh!!! You gonna paint this thing yourself?

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #287 on: December 17, 2012, 09:46:01 AM »
Thanks mike, ya that's the plan......might rent a proper booth for the final top coat?
Started mud work last night, got drivers rear quarter all skimmed and feathered out using a long board I made out of a strip of 1/4" lexan about 3' long....keep things nice and flat!
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #288 on: January 20, 2013, 11:34:50 AM »
I've been a busy boy...... (sorry for the  format, copy n pasted from my other thread)










I wanted the wheel wells to look like spotwelds havent been fucked with..... you can see how thin a skim i ended up with after trying a little faux spot treatment, plan on messing with these more using the poly surfacer.
the body line seams where I spliced the rear quarters in were fun to sand...... used a wide flexible putty knife with sand paper on it verrrry gingerly.

I know im slow assed at this shit but 100% has been hand sanding ....DA is too loud after kids are in bed

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I've learned a valuable lesson about body filler........dont get the shit anywhere you dont want to sand your fingertips off !!!

Been consistently 4-5 hour shifts at this shit and am finally seeing some good progress!!!











Most of these areas sucked balls to bodywork for me..... Maybe it's just im a rookie and take forever but this is painful!!
 I am getting better at mixing smaller batches of mud and taking more time on individual areas rather than try and rush before shit kicks off making a sloppy mess on a bunch of really shitty areas to sand filler out of!!!!!!

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I am soooo done with sanding, have been rubbing the entire shell in every nook/cranny and asshole because I long missed the recoat window of the epoxy I had to spray to stop the body from flash rusting.
Finally finished (I think) the mud work on body in/out/under/over with just a small handful of spots that excess mud got pushed in really hard to sand spots left to fuck with \:D/
Booth was spotless before starting the filler and I've been lazy on the cleanup front, gave er a good douche tonight and it looks like I sanded off 90% of the can "rage gold" I went through......im sure I wasted a lot #-o

[/quote]

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Cut myself off late lastnight bout 12...no more filler work on shell, enough is enough! Quick cleanup and a super blowdown and wipe down to prep for next night to paint, said fuck it not time for bed yet and mixed up some epoxy and sealed the bitch up! She's all one color again \:D/  I knew I had some 40 grit scratches and some pinholes in the mud which really came to light but sure those will be handled by the poly and 2K. I meant to take some close ups of se of the couple hundred faux spot welds I did anywhere they were missing.....got a good system going just with a drill bit (was some serious breath holding not to grab and blaze right through ](*,) ) if u look close can see some in the fender wells









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couldn't wait, hit it with a good couple coats of 2K



what spliced on quarters? real happy with the body line crease! Smile  Smile









here's a few of the fake spot welds





they will be filled in quite a bit with poly and if all goes right look kinda factory

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Last night was filled with poly surfacer fun :^o  had the shop nice and toasty with the construction heater, loaded up the new 2.2 tip into my gun and figured I'd be a hot rod and mix up a quart in one batch...... Big mistake! Being the rookie I am I'm sure I don't lay the shit down as fast as a pro and by the time I made it to the second pot my flow rate really started slowing down.....half way through pot shit was slinging out looking like splatter paint! I'm like WTF? Is my gun fucking up? Keep going, gets worse, Take lid off and oh fuck!!!! Shit is setting up in the gun ](*,)  ](*,) panic station!!! 45 mins later and a full gun rebuild I was mixing a 16 oz batch this time....much more my speed!
Loaded the stuff on a little heavy in a couple areas with minor pitting....hope I didn't get too thick :-k couldn't resist dusting with a guide coat before calling it a 2 am night......I love the look of these pics.....screams ALMOST THERE!!!





May have gone a little deep on a couple of my fakey spot welds, a handful may need a little fiddling but we'll see after much blocking.....
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Offline DarrenE

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #289 on: January 20, 2013, 01:18:24 PM »
Nice work!
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Offline silas

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #290 on: January 21, 2013, 10:16:42 PM »
you're killing it! nice work josh, keep it up!! :cool:

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #291 on: January 31, 2013, 03:51:10 PM »
This has to be the best stretch of consistent progress in the past 5 years! I'm in a serious groove :whoo: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: seems I go in spurts, get burned out, pissed off or sick of the thing but Been pulling the 4-5 night shift on er every night for months now!!

Shell is almost ready for the last coat of 2K finally got it all blocked out with 400......MAN this is a pile of work!
Thinking I'm gonna get the shell sprayed again, move it out of the booth to paint some inner fenders, rad support and some other little bits and pcs. for my buddies 66 Pontiac Parisian that I'm helping him turn into a big block 4 spd. car. Then onto bodyworking the doors fenders and hoods
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #292 on: March 17, 2013, 08:34:04 AM »
Catch up time.....

body 2K'd last time and most of it rubbed out to 400 so far....yanked it outta the booth and in went pan, straight to a good scrub and some filling  of some pitting and tool marks....







lookin' fresh in black epoxy!





then straight into some slicksand the next night....layed it in pretty heavy into the pitting I didnt feel like skimming with mud. got lots of product to sand sand sand







My fingers hurt already looking at all those ribs!!!!

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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #293 on: March 19, 2013, 11:03:32 AM »

I love this poly surfacer shit!!! Sands like butta!! Hope to get the rough spots all cut down tonight and fill a couple spots I missed with mud
I end up blocking the majority of this off just leaving it in the lows... Just getting started but in the hour and a half of nap time I got in today 75% is taken down with 180






I couldn't leave the pitting.......lurking deep under the carpet/mats, it would have killed me #-o






Think ill clear the pan like this and call it patina......



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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #294 on: March 19, 2013, 11:16:28 AM »
In my vast search to settle on a colour for this pig I got hooked up big time by Franz at KCW in colorado with a pile of spray outs scanned from original paint cars......quite the goldmine as none of the old Glassirt codes from the factory jive with new voc regulated paint systems! so if anybody is painting a car and is interested in any of these shades.....you know where to come!


Quote from: Franz
Spent some time labeling and boxing these this morning. I need to see if I can find that weirdo 55 vert color in the paint cabinet.

All I ask in exchange for doing these is that they get passed around the VW community for free. So, send them to the next guy who needs them, or send them back to us so that we can.

I call this the earth tones collection Smile




more mud action.....I dont care how good you are at metalwork, shit always needs a skim to be perfect! Not really sure why 99% of build threads hide the fact that any filler was used?



Screwed the doors to the post at a nice height to smack on
(This is after much smacking!)





Getting better at spreading the shmoooo...



Little fluff left on, getting nice n smooth



Worked the shit outta the original pre 55 rear apron...More tool mark remover....



Inside too of course







I really have a hatred for door skins! I can never get a perfect skim of mud the first time, oh well, One door done and one to go





Good times!!!!

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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #295 on: March 19, 2013, 11:20:33 AM »
......finally got those doors blocked straight so they got a good couple coats of the DTM epoxy and the pan received its last coats of 2K











oh and apron...



poof doors and apron into a good couple coats of poly (slicksand) they gonna block out real nice  \:D/



worst pic ever......think i was gettin a little high



-------

Went balls out last night......8pm-4am, 8 hr shift!!! I had promised my buddy I'd paint a bunch of Pontiac parts for him a long time ago....well last night was the night 

He parted a car and kept the entire front end, had all sheet metal and bunch of under hood crap bead blasted and put away. Night started by welding up a couple pinholes and a skim of mud over ground patches on the inner wheel wells. Then a couple hours of scrubbing everything down with wax and grease remover, create some crazy wind chime action hanging all shit. By this time it was after 1...couple more beers and say fuck it, lets spray! Black epoxy first then some off brand "hot rod" satin black (turned out between satin and semigloss, looks good!) by the time cleaned up I was climbing into bed at 4:15 











 Sure was nice havin a buddy there mixing paint as I kept spraying!!

2 hrs sleep....was feelin like a peach this morning for the kid routine !!!!!!

the ride these parts are for....

Here's the boat all those nice clean black bits are for.....




1966 Pontiac Parisian, it was my business partners first car at 15...drove all through high school beating the living piss out of the poor ol' 327....poor girl saw more than one ditch! anyway he sold at 19 and bought it back a few years ago....pretty cool!! Been collecting parts for a while, turning it into a big block (427) 4 spd. Car!! Nothin better than banging gears in a big old boat!!

Should be pretty nice to swap all the tin we painted when the new motor goes in
« Last Edit: March 19, 2013, 11:24:46 AM by josh »
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #296 on: March 19, 2013, 11:23:19 AM »
my rear fender saga continues......managed to find an original pair of ribbed pre 59 german fenders. one is coming from West Virginia... a drivers side, should see it next week I hope.....Passenger arrived on the bus from Blair (baked beetle) in Medicine Hat Alberta. She's a little rough but its from an Original Canadian car (tell from the dealer script holes) Rips and mashed lower lips but pretty rust free

Always fun trying to pack up large items.....as received













spent about an hour on it so far, started by blasting the areas I need to weld with my mini blaster and started smacking shit back into shape...









gonna be lots of work but hey i'll have some original german steel back there

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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #297 on: March 19, 2013, 11:26:17 AM »
fender love











don't mind the weld boogers.....rumour has it the girls are going out tomorrow giving me a couple noisy hours to grind, smash and run the death wheel
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #298 on: March 19, 2013, 11:28:02 AM »
Got some fabric samples from Marcus in Germany, it's pretty sweet stuff!



Tried for like 10 mins to take a good pic but they all sucked...really nice in person, leaning towards the grey ones?

 Been fucking with fenders lots... Really wish I had these done before being in final prime on body.....oh well. That rear pass side took some Todd pulling and smacking to find its happy spot but she's close....100% better than the aftermarkets I had!!



Thought I better do one last check of the fronts too and glad I did cause I the bottom of the drivers side needs a little slice and push in an 1/8" to be bang on with apron ...



Doesn't the car look like an early 356 from this angle??



-------

Got some hours in on this fucked up 4 tab...poor thing was pretty hammered!!!
The centre inserts were really wavy and top flatter sections had my favourite oil canning action going on ](*,) got about 3/4 of it looking pretty nice....





Thought I had better bolt it up and good thing I did because it needed some serious stretching to get a good seal gap....nice now!!







Been fiddling with all the little removable shit.....all strung up ready for some epoxy



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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #299 on: March 19, 2013, 11:29:00 AM »
epoxied





into poly








can someone enlighten me on how to keep little bits like this from swinging madly when blowing paint at?





 the pass door hinges loosened up from working the rust out and were a bit sloppy fro me to leave alone but since I was into primer I wasnt too stoked about drenching in oil, heating and smashing on a door that has mint gaps now.... borrowed this pimpin tool and they slid out with one finger on a 1/2" drive ratchet!!!



Who else do you know that has block sanded the inside of the deck lid hinge panel louvers??? hahaha



Big mouth early tank blocked out nice and straight now..... cant decide if I want to do it gloss or semi gloss black?




tonights efforts, one down 3 to go!



little tool mark remover on the inside too  ](*,)

 

and a pic of my girls... little shorty is almost 6 months and #1 now 6.... hard to think ive been on this build since she was about 9 months old!

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