88 ix Out for a Bath (pics)

[330i ZHP]

although the suggestion of screws from home depot et al - make certain stainless or coated so they dont just rust again

[WUGcatsvt]

WOW. You clean it like that every month? That is a good day out of each month. Props to you. You really take care of that thing. I only wax once every 3 months.

BTW. Just shampoo the carpets. Febreze doesnt do anything but emit a chemical that smells good. Shampoo the carpets and you will get the stuff out instead of covering it up.
But anyways my cars envy your car.

[Isostar13]

WOW. You clean it like that every month? That is a good day out of each month. Props to you. You really take care of that thing. I only wax once every 3 months.

BTW. Just shampoo the carpets. Febreze doesnt do anything but emit a chemical that smells good. Shampoo the carpets and you will get the stuff out instead of covering it up.
But anyways my cars envy your car.

Well I don't necessary get a chance every month, but if there's a warm enough day (above freezing), and its sunny out, I'll take the opportunity to wash/wax.

Yesterday I just vacuumed the carpets and hit it with a little febreeze. They're pretty clean overall (no stains), but maybe when spring rolls around I'll take the time to shampoo.

[Isostar13]

Oh and about the rock chips--unfortunately they are in a very tough and tight place to polish. The ideal solution would be to clean it out with like alcohol and sand out any rust (1000ish grit, but make sure that doesn't touch your paint), then put in some touch up paint, let it mostly dry, and then sand it with about 2000 grit then 3000 until it's level, and polish it all when it's fully dry. It will be fully flush and almost perfect this way. In this situation, however, if it's too hard to polish that area, just sand out the rust and carefully apply thin layers of touch up paint until it's about level and let it dry.

That's some good advice. Thanks. Those spots are kind of tough because they're so tiny and slightly indented. How do you sand that without even touching the surrounding paint? They're like little craters. I'm thinking of using a small wooden dowel and gluing a tiny piece of sand paper to the end, then just spinning it in the crater like I'm trying to start a camp fire. Thoughts?

[ohthejosh]

You might have a slight case of OCD LOL jk. You have a beautiful car and the attention and care to detail is incredible. Kudos to you for loving your car and treating it the way it deserves. You are a true owner sir a true owner.

My advice on the deer thing is to use a razor and try prying it off slowly. I am almost 100% certain that thing is not gonna come off with out taken some paint with it. Worst case scenario is that brake duct would need to be resprayed which if I am not wrong should not cost a bundle. Hope you get your car to super pristine form.

[TrentW]

Don't use a razor blade! If anything, use a nylon pry tool (they're like $8 a set at Harbor Freight) while using low heat on the area and slowly and gently get underneath it. Patience is key.

[AT-JeffT]

http://www.amazon.com/Prep-Pen-PrepPen-Adjustable-Sanding/dp/B000J18RT6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326047888&sr=8-1

Got napa to order me one. Was listed under "fiber pen" in their catalog. Works great.

[Vivek]

That's some good advice. Thanks. Those spots are kind of tough because they're so tiny and slightly indented. How do you sand that without even touching the surrounding paint? They're like little craters. I'm thinking of using a small wooden dowel and gluing a tiny piece of sand paper to the end, then just spinning it in the crater like I'm trying to start a camp fire. Thoughts?

That sounds about right. Any way that you can get that rust out without messing up the surrounding paint will work. A little dowel with sandpaper glued to the end is the best idea, just remember to be careful and patient. If you trust yourself enough, something less than 1000 grit will work faster and be fine to paint on (I'd say no lower than 400 though), but that poses a higher risk of scratching the surrounding paint.

[TrentW]

http://www.amazon.com/Prep-Pen-PrepP...6047888&sr=8-1

Got napa to order me one. Was listed under "fiber pen" in their catalog. Works great.

This.

[irish44j]

Can you post some less edited-the-shit-out-of them photos?

this....the car might look great, but it's hard to tell with all the wierd photo effects!

[Isostar13]

http://www.amazon.com/Prep-Pen-PrepP...6047888&sr=8-1

Got napa to order me one. Was listed under "fiber pen" in their catalog. Works great.

Hmmm... not prime eligible. Have to think twice about this one.

j/k that's a great tool for the job. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Isostar13]

this....the car might look great, but it's hard to tell with all the wierd photo effects!

I wouldn't call increased clarity/contrast and a slight vignette weird, but to each his own.

Here's from before:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=230083&highlight=1988+325ix

No "weird" effects, I promise.

[gr8skyr]

another idea for rusty paint chips

My 229,000 '88 ix had quite a few door dings and little rock chips that were starting to get some rust. ( Oregon car). Rather than using the little manual sanding sticks you mentioned, at Harbor Freight Tools I found this AA battery powered, engraving tool with a micro- dremel type head on it for about $8.00.

It did a perfect job of cleaning rust out of really small paint chips. After a good cleaning, primer, touch up paint coats, and clear coat ( lots of sanding in between), I was pretty happy with my first attempt at paint repair results.

Kind of sounded like a dentist drill working on a mouth, so if you can get past that, it was just the ticket for those rusty paint chips.

[gr8skyr]

And use a very light touch. You can go right through the sheetmetal with that high rmp/ diamond hard little head. Wear eye protection always.

[Isostar13]

Thanks for the tip. That's a great idea and I'll consider it for future issues.

I ended up taking care of the chips using a wooden kabob skewer with a piece of sand paper super glued to the tip. It went right in the chip and didn't touch the surrounding paint. Almost a perfect fit.

I followed that up with an alcohol cleaning and treatment with a Dr. Colorchip kit.