The saga continues...
Here's the start of the paint removal process.
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And here is the side panel with all the necessary paint removed.
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So I decided to all this work myself, in my tiny, one car, non-climate controlled, British garage. I started in July and ultimately finished in October. What a peach this was. I lost my licesne for 28 days during this (115 in a 70 = $850 fine), and luckily had an '89 VW GTI beater to drive around while I was applying Bondo (called P38 over here) and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding. My power sander broke and I had to finish the roof by hand. Which is probably why it looks like crap, because that got old in a hurry. With the bondo applied, and the sanding as good as it was going to get, (sorry no in progress pics, it was more trouble than I realized), it needed a little paint. I had originally decided on the $50 roller paint job, but figured if I was going to completely rip the car apart, doors and all, I may as well shoot it with actual paint. So I bought a compressor, HVLP gun, and some etch primer and shot the car with primer. This took a couple weeks because of work, dry time, bugs, weather, and screw-ups since it was my first time painting. All in all it turned out alright - I think anyway - but the weather got too cold to put a finish and clearcoat on it. I guess that's this summer's project. Here are a few shots of it all complete.
The passenger side was the jacked up side. That's my dog too.
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Yes I know. My license plate is crooked. But I love my blacked out stock tails!
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Here is better shot of the major bodywork. Looks good enough to me.
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Yep. The driver's side door is a little darker. That's OK, its still only ricer-grey primer. Finish coat should take care of that.
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Woof.
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So. I will probably be doing more bondo this spring, as its not perfect and I'm a touch on the anal side. But it's a damn sight better than it was before. I'm torn between a dark blue or graphite grey for the finish coat, we'll see this summer.
I just got my D16Y8 intake mani and throttle body. That will be going on in a month or so. They sent me the TB from an automatic, so I have a 5-spd TB on the way now. They're just different enough that I don't want to force the auto TB to work. I paint the intake mani black and silver, and did a general polish on what I could reach with my fingers and sand paper. Should be alright, plus it looks nice. I'll do up the TB when it arrives. I already polished the throttle plate to a mirror, so I'll just swap that out.
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So that's it for now. Like I said, I have lot of upgrades planned. The next one will probably a Stage 1 clutch and lightened flywheel. I'll post a DIY of that when I get to it. Probably won't be for a couple months though. I've started budgeting the $1500 for the AEM EMS for my turbo kit. Plan is to buy it in January of next year. That's just too much cash to drop all at once on top of the turbo dollars.
Anyway, comments and thoughts are appreciated. If they're stupid comments, I'll just ignore them. Thanks folks.
Here's the start of the paint removal process.
And here is the side panel with all the necessary paint removed.
So I decided to all this work myself, in my tiny, one car, non-climate controlled, British garage. I started in July and ultimately finished in October. What a peach this was. I lost my licesne for 28 days during this (115 in a 70 = $850 fine), and luckily had an '89 VW GTI beater to drive around while I was applying Bondo (called P38 over here) and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding. My power sander broke and I had to finish the roof by hand. Which is probably why it looks like crap, because that got old in a hurry. With the bondo applied, and the sanding as good as it was going to get, (sorry no in progress pics, it was more trouble than I realized), it needed a little paint. I had originally decided on the $50 roller paint job, but figured if I was going to completely rip the car apart, doors and all, I may as well shoot it with actual paint. So I bought a compressor, HVLP gun, and some etch primer and shot the car with primer. This took a couple weeks because of work, dry time, bugs, weather, and screw-ups since it was my first time painting. All in all it turned out alright - I think anyway - but the weather got too cold to put a finish and clearcoat on it. I guess that's this summer's project. Here are a few shots of it all complete.
The passenger side was the jacked up side. That's my dog too.
Yes I know. My license plate is crooked. But I love my blacked out stock tails!
Here is better shot of the major bodywork. Looks good enough to me.
Yep. The driver's side door is a little darker. That's OK, its still only ricer-grey primer. Finish coat should take care of that.
Woof.
So. I will probably be doing more bondo this spring, as its not perfect and I'm a touch on the anal side. But it's a damn sight better than it was before. I'm torn between a dark blue or graphite grey for the finish coat, we'll see this summer.
I just got my D16Y8 intake mani and throttle body. That will be going on in a month or so. They sent me the TB from an automatic, so I have a 5-spd TB on the way now. They're just different enough that I don't want to force the auto TB to work. I paint the intake mani black and silver, and did a general polish on what I could reach with my fingers and sand paper. Should be alright, plus it looks nice. I'll do up the TB when it arrives. I already polished the throttle plate to a mirror, so I'll just swap that out.
So that's it for now. Like I said, I have lot of upgrades planned. The next one will probably a Stage 1 clutch and lightened flywheel. I'll post a DIY of that when I get to it. Probably won't be for a couple months though. I've started budgeting the $1500 for the AEM EMS for my turbo kit. Plan is to buy it in January of next year. That's just too much cash to drop all at once on top of the turbo dollars.
Anyway, comments and thoughts are appreciated. If they're stupid comments, I'll just ignore them. Thanks folks.
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