Lol....sure does make it easier masking it off.......

great progress paint looks awesome

wow, it looks good!

Your LE is looking beautiful man! Great job!

Not too much to report over the last couple of weeks. All the body components are painted now, so pretty much all I have been doing is wetsanding, which if you have ever done this, you know its a long boring process, but the end result is worth it. So far I have been around the shell sanding first with 800 grit, then back around with 1000 grit, then 1500 grit. Bolted the hood back on today and got 2/3's of it sanded this eveining with 800. Will get the rest of it done tomorrow and then follow with 1000 and 1500. Then I will go back around the car again with 2000 grit and then I will be ready to machine polish. Thats when all the work pays off. You end up with a bright slick paint job... After i get the body done i will move on to the pieces that arent on the car yet (nose, bumpers, spoiler, headlight lids, gas door) and get them sanded and buffed. Then the process of putting the car back together will start for real. 98% of the paint work is done, only have a little bit of black to spray (louvers and body side moulding). Will also have to strip and refinish 3 more wheels to get her ready for the road sometime this summer....

I'll second your comments on wetsanding. Takes forever but makes all the difference!

Got finished wetsanding the car tonight, and brought out the buffer just so I could see how it was going to turn out. Only parts i did tonight were the top of the drivers fender, the drivers side of the hood to the first body crease, and the driver fender nose. The picture following is just after machine compounding, it has not been machine polished or hand polished yet. Gloss and depth so far are great. Hard to get a good pic at night with flourescent lighting, but heres what it looks like so far....more to follow soon as i go along....

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...5323733933.jpg

Hey man

Just read your thread, looks like you are doing a great job, As a fellow LONG time LE owner It makes me miss my 7, but proud to see someone care so much.

Been busy the last few days.

Thursday I decided to go ahead and put my dash cap in and see how it turned out. Took a bit of massaging and heating to get it to fit liek I wanted, but overall for what it is it looks way better than a cracked and suncooked dashpad. Then on Friday I called my windshield guy to go ahead and order me a new windshield. 2 hours later he had already gotten the new windshield and was putting it in the car. This would be the official start of "putting back together" the car. After he got done I went ahead and put the lower and side windshield trim in. I cant put the top pieces on yet, as I neglected to order the little plastic protector strips that run between the moulding and the body. Got them coming now from Black Dragon, so should have all the windshield trim (and drip rails...what a pain to install) put back on within the week.

The body is completely wetsanded now with 2000 grit and machine compounded. The hood has been finish polished, and turned out pretty good. Can still see a few sanding scratches in it, but they will be easy to get out and i will come back later and work on that. Also put the nose on tonight as well as the headlight lids. They are all aligned and ready to go. Will sand them and buff/polish them in place.


http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...5669725073.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...5669836414.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...5669781329.jpg

silver exterior and red interior is a match made in heaven. good work sir

Great lookin car man :nod:

Looking great!

Sunday afternoon i put the front bumper, lower valance and grille back on the car....starting to look like something now.

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...5809301724.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...5809358727.jpg

Barron, been following your progress and wow, you make me want to do
the body work and paint my 7 later this summer (time and funds permitting)
but, your car is looking great and the fact it was your first makes it even more
awesome. Keep up the good work sir.

As someone said earlier, most/all the 83 LE's I've ever seen have faded/peeling/crappy paint, it's really awesome to see what one would have looked like new!

Been busy the last week or so. Since the last update I have finished buffing the car, mounted all the bodyside mouldings,applied the pinstripe (except on the drivers door top edge where i have to fix a slight boo boo from buffing and respray, using the pinstripe area as my blend line) put the new hatch struts and hatch glass back in, put the passenger door glass and lock back in, along with new weatherstripping. Its starting to look like an RX-7 now...except the interior, of course, which is still gutted.

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6530724805.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6530773551.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6530839892.jpg

She's looking sweet.

Backed the car out of the shop today to respray my buffing "oops" on the top of the drivers side door (turned out great, repair will not be detectable at all). I decided to take a few pics of it outside, not the best, but the best i could manage for the lighting conditions where it was sitting. Been working on getting the interior back in as well....wont be long now....she will be on the road in less than a month it seems....probably wont have all the wheels painted by then, but will have her on my "extra" wheels and tires for a few shakedown runs to adjust carb/etc....

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6778085973.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6778172606.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6778369313.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...6778257866.jpg

Great job on the car! 83 LEs are the best! I kind of wish mine had a spoiler, I like how it looks on you car

wow it really looks great!

Been busy the last week or so....have the interior about 95% in. Wont be long now before I am able to at least get her on the road to get the carb adjusted. Have to get tires first and finish painting the wheels, but she is coming along nicely....

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...7181619602.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...7181684783.jpg

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...7181745025.jpg

nice story and nice car

Looks great!

Wow looks like it did back in the day......

Yeah that car is looking great, more pics!