My roller paint job so far....

[Garageaholic]

When it arrives and i test fit it, I will post a thread all about it. probably after the new year. I was told by Todd that it should fit without a problem. It's actually not the manifold that I was worried about, it was the turbo, but todd said that the E30 engine bay is actually a little bit wider than the E30 engine bay, so he said fitment shouldn't be a problem. The only thing was that he said I would have to get my Pass. motor mount bracket modified and they did that for me at no extra charge.

[Jand3rson]

Damn, that looks really good so far, Frank! Nice work, I can't wait to see more.

[xLibelle]

from the looks of your hood, you need to thin the paint mixture more!

[Garageaholic]

Thanx guys, here are a few more pics (with a real camera this time)

Took some more pics of the hood (this is with 4 out of 6 coats done). Remember, It is dry paint, NOT wet.


Trunk lid (5 out of 6 coats completed)


It looks better in person than in the pictures.

Could I spend another 4k on this car witha paintjob? Yes, it would take me a while to save up for the money, and i want my car done by the spring. I also thought that if I tackled the paint myself and it really came out great, then people can ask me how much the paint was. Lol.."buddy, it was $100", unfortunately, it took me 150 hours to complete!

[Garageaholic]

Ok here are a couple more shots, then i gotta do fenders and bumpers. I need an opinion though, I will be shaving my door side molding. As far as the front/rear bumper trim. Keep it black ? or paint it white too?




I figured, I'd rather spend the 4K on a turbo system right now anyway :-o

[StereoInstaller1]

dAMN, MAN...(fuck I hate capslock) that is looking teriffic.

Keep on rockin' the roller!

Flat black or satin black on the engine compartment? Satin, I hope. Polished bits and satin is a hot look, IMHO.

Now I am even more excited to get cracking on Nigels paint.

Damn that looks good. What kind of temps are you working in?

Luke

[kommissar]

Wow that does look quite good. Next time, post a picture of a body piece after you wet-sand it so that we can see how it smooths out.

[Garageaholic]

Well, I have been working in temps around 45-55 F, so after I do a coat, i wait overnight for it to dry (compared to 2-3 hours). Just to make sure it is completely dried.

I can show you some wetsanded shots and it will be really smooth, but it will be very dull too. I'm not going to polish the pieces until the whole car is complete and I will polish the whole car at one time. I think it will come out much more uniform that way. Sometimes I can wetsand a piece for like 10 minutes, but i can't see the imperfections until i dry it off. So the trick im going to use today is as I wetsand, I will use a squeegee and wipe off the water to see where I need to wetsand more. I think that will help. I will try to get you some pictures by the end of the week of my trunk completed and wetsanded (probably with 800 to get the orange peel out, then finish it off with 1000, 1500, then finally 2000 for final touchups. Like I said, it will be dull.

[ldsbeaker]

Do you use a special solution to wetsand, or just a sprayer with water in it?

p.s. Dude, it looks super awesome. I guess you're probably going to spraypaint the door panels and not so visible stuff? (besides the engine bay)
My wife said the same thing about it being $100.... but it will take FOREVER.
I tend to think that you will appreciate it that much more.

[Garageaholic]

Do you use a special solution to wetsand, or just a sprayer with water in it?

p.s. Dude, it looks super awesome. I guess you're probably going to spraypaint the door panels and not so visible stuff? (besides the engine bay)
My wife said the same thing about it being $100.... but it will take FOREVER.
I tend to think that you will appreciate it that much more.

Yes, I appreciate it much more. And if i get a scratch or dent on a panel, Yes, i'll be pissed but I know I can fix it myself. So far, i have invested around $150 total and 15 hours of wetsanding/painting/bodywork. I have already spraypainted the doorjambs. I taped everything off really good and i've put about 3 coats on so far. I am not going to be too crazy about the jambs, but i want it to look nice still.
When I wetsand, i use a solution of water and a tiny bit of dishsoap (it's the grease-fighting soap, which is great because it also cleans the paint of any oil residue/grease AND lubricates when I wetsand). I wetsand with my right hand and have the spray bottle in my left hand keeping it constantly lubricated.

I've also been thinking of incorporating either the ///M or the german flag stripes that hit the corner of my hood and run down to my fender. Any thoughts?

[PiercedE30]

or you could pinstripe the german flag onto the side of the car....that would be hot.

[ldsbeaker]

How about the LTW flag thingy on the corner? It would look so hot on a white car, I think. (not the three colors, just black, so it looked like a checkered flag)






or not. Just an idea.

[featuring france]

damn good shit man. i am definetly gonna do this now. hahah. i just need to find the time to do it. hahah i already borrowed my friend's sanders. cant wait to start. your project is turning out nice.

[Garageaholic]

Thank you. I will keep you all updated. This is where I'm at right now. I'm making faster progress than I thought.

I finished the trunk and hood completely except polishing. I did bodywork on the fenders and plastic bumpers and I will start painting on wednesday. It's getting cold out, so the paint is going to take much longer to dry. So far I have invested a total of about 25 hours.

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

Frank,

If you would like, I can do a reverse-cut of the flag for you to use as a stencil.

I make the LTW flags as seen on MR 325's old turbo e30