Schweet, thanks for the answers, it made perfect sense to me btw

I still have >qt left over from the original paint job so matching won't be an issue. The car was only in the sun for 1,207 miles and garage kept the entire time. It was only one the road for 1 year after the paint before the oilseals let loose so fading isn't really a concern of mine either.

Thanks for all the tips though, I appreciate it.

-B

great work! thats a nice lookin vw in there too :P

looking good but the question is when are you gonna do my car?

Really, it only takes 2 things: Your money and my time.

This is about exactly what I did. Took EVERYTHING off the car and painted it all separate. Lots of manual work to make sure everything came out perfect (vs power tools) and spent well into the 200 hours range between taking the car apart, prep, paint, wet sand, and reassembly.

Well I knew it would take your time....but I was hoping to keep my money :)

But very good thread for reference as I get ready to paint my car

Windshield is in. Thursdays are clean the shop days so not much got done, other than painting some parts for a customer of mine (fellow forum member). One of the perks of being a student is the ability to use the booth when I want as long as its not in the way of someone else. You can hate, Im cool with it lol.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...008_091600.jpg

Hey TTT, I also went ahead and asked my instructor and he agreed that reclearing only would be fine. He also said that if it were him he would sand and buff first to see if he could get the orange peel closer to matching and the amount of UV protection should be ok. He didnt think it would make the doors change colors or fade much faster if at all compared to the areas with 3 coats.

Got a decent amount of stuff done this week. I got the hatch primed, along with the hatch jamb painted/cleared. One of the doors are now completely done, just need to put it all back together as far as wiring and the window tracks/window. Also painted the fuel door, door handles, mirrors (twice, had some contamination), sunroof, and headlight covers. On with the pics.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_073802.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_073600.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_073700.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_073800.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_073801.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_140100.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_140101.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_140102.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_140200.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...608_140201.jpg

i still got those fart cans ian let me know

Im good man. I have mufflers. Why arent you with your brother right now?

Cool, thanks man. We'll see how far I get with everything else. It's nice to see a student doing alot of the things that I was doing when I resprayed my car. A little reassurance I did it right if you will.

One question though.... why not strip the engine bay and paint that as well? Makes a hell of a difference.

I know, but that would have taken a really long time and I wasnt sure if I was gonna be able to actually have the time needed for that. I figure I can always yank the engine out and all the other stuff and spray the firewall later. The firewall is black currently as that was the original color so it doesnt look too bad really.

So heres some more pics for all to see.

Mirrors unmasked (hot)

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...108_084600.jpg

Passenger door before:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...108_084700.jpg

Passenger door after:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...108_104600.jpg

Door installed:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...108_120800.jpg

Though it appears that the door is a different color, it is not. The striker is not yet installed so the door is open slightly. Tomorrow the sunroof goes in, pics tomorrow.

when u removed the windows did u need new mouldings?

i'm thinking of getting my FC repainted as well..

but i've got bad rust on the rear hatch..
so most likely front and rear glass will require removal

did u re-use yours? or buy new ones?
if you did buy new ones, where did u purchase them from?

Not 100% sure which windows you are talking about exactly so I will go through all of them.

Windshield: I replaced the top piece with one I bought from Mazda dealer. I think it was ~45 USD. I then replaced the side pieces that wrap around the top corners and connect to the center windshield moulding piece mentioned before from eBay for I think 30 USD shipped. It was a good deal and I really lucked out finding some for that price that were in good condition as brand new ones from Mazda are 295 USD EACH.

Side windows (doors): I reused all parts, will repaint belt moulding and the hard plastic one that goes above the window on the outside and hooks to door. No idea what its called. Upper door window trim???

Hatch: I kept the glass in, although you can pull the moulding out and not remove the glass if you wanted. I want to say that the moulding piece that goes around the hatch glass is ~200 USD. That stupid square piece that is towards the rear and in the center is part of the moulding itself and isnt replaceable by itself (which sucks since most of the time that part is the only thing wrong).


Please note that the prices I put are from the "This is Iowa, so we will gouge you twice and then add a little more because we are a Mazda Dealership."

I hope that answers your question lol.

Here's a neat trick for you to clean those mouldings up real nice (along with tires). Use lacquer thinner. It really cleans all the road grime and tar off of tires and cleans the mouldings and leaves them a nice original looking flat black finish. Please know that lacquer thinner does break down other petroleum products such as rubber so I wouldnt use it every weekend. It is nice though for a good cleaning if you happen to be entering your car at a show (old school trick).

Pic of the sunroof in (mmm sexy).

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...208_093500.jpg

I got some more stuff done today that wasnt really worth taking a pic of such as block sanding the driver door along with installing the headlight assemblies, door strikers, and cleaning misc items. Hopefully will be able to paint the whole door and the rest of the hatch tomorrow.

That is obnoxiosly white. I did not read it, as I am too lazy, but how many coats of clear did you spray?

damn ian angie's car is going to be nicer than your fb... what's up with that dude

Steve - yes, I know. The plan is once Jason and Erics cars are done the FB gets redone the right way (with the sideskirts that Ive had for 3 years installed).

Justin -

3 coats paint on all areas.
3 coats clear on outside areas, 2 on jamb areas.

Ahhh, I see now. What is the color code that you used, and manufacturer? That's a pretty white, and I think would look great on my future RX-5. :)

Nissan Super White available in '90-'93 at least 300ZX and they also have a Super White 2 which is slightly more blue. Not sure of the codes but you can easily look them up in the paint chip books.

I got the outside of the driver door, outside of the hatch, and the taillights sprayed today. Tomorrow the driver door jamb will be sprayed and while that is curing I will be installing the hatch and then headliner, B-pillar interior trim, and whatever else I can. On with the pics.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...308_145000.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...308_145100.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...308_145101.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...308_145102.jpg

For those of you waiting on the body kit to happen - Its gonna happen soon so make sure and check back often.

End of week (only go mon-thurs) update:

I got the driver door assembled but not installed.
The hatch is assembled and installed along with the taillights.

And, of course more pics:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...408_144100.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...408_092900.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...408_144000.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...408_144001.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...408_144002.jpg

So now, the only things left to do are fix and paint the hood, reinforce the body kit in the areas that need it (will have pics of this), paint and install body kit pieces, and lastly install the headlight covers. The plan is to get this all done and installed by Dec 19 which is the last day of school before X-mas break.

Really nice work. That is gonna look good with that body kit.

john ny

man thats some good work keep it up cant wait to see what its going to look like when its finished

Hot Damn!!!

This project is coming along nicely!