(Post Crash Chassis Swap) Project Reincarnation / Project Beat Jason

[max.rodriguezzz]

Heres a no progress progress update

yes... no process since last update :( I started school back in August and have pretty much been consumed since. As the semester is speeding up, so is my free time to work on the whip. The activation energy needed to plan out when/what to work on is the hardest part. Anyways, don't lose hope on me, just gotta take my timmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[max.rodriguezzz]

Max, the swap thread is a hell of a read. Respect for doing the bodywork on the street, that takes some nerve.
On the gritty clear: rough-to-the-touch and hazy are two different failure modes, and telling them apart tells you whether to blame the wind or the cans.
- Feels like sandpaper, all over? That is dry spray. The clear half-dried before it landed, and wind flashes the solvent off mid-air. Closer passes, slower, on a still day.
- Smooth but dull, or gritty in patches with flat spots? That is the clear solvent chewing on the enamel under it. Rust-Oleum rattle cans are slow-cure enamel; most parts-store clears are acrylic. Acrylic over enamel that has not gassed out will haze every time. Chemistry, not skill.
Your sunroof-panel test is smart, but keep the paint the same as the roof. Same enamel, same clear, same wait. Change only the environment, or you will not know which variable fixed it. Give the color a full 72 hours to gas out before you clear it, warm the can, spray closer.
And the roof is not dead: after a week of cure, wet sand 1500 then 2000 and buff. Texture sands out. Dullness that will not buff back is the chemistry one.

Thanks so much for the insight, very valuable info :)

[GasolineJess]

Max, the swap thread is a hell of a read. Respect for doing the bodywork on the street, that takes some nerve.
On the gritty clear: rough-to-the-touch and hazy are two different failure modes, and telling them apart tells you whether to blame the wind or the cans.
- Feels like sandpaper, all over? That is dry spray. The clear half-dried before it landed, and wind flashes the solvent off mid-air. Closer passes, slower, on a still day.
- Smooth but dull, or gritty in patches with flat spots? That is the clear solvent chewing on the enamel under it. Rust-Oleum rattle cans are slow-cure enamel; most parts-store clears are acrylic. Acrylic over enamel that has not gassed out will haze every time. Chemistry, not skill.
Your sunroof-panel test is smart, but keep the paint the same as the roof. Same enamel, same clear, same wait. Change only the environment, or you will not know which variable fixed it. Give the color a full 72 hours to gas out before you clear it, warm the can, spray closer.
And the roof is not dead: after a week of cure, wet sand 1500 then 2000 and buff. Texture sands out. Dullness that will not buff back is the chemistry one.

[max.rodriguezzz]

Love the bodywork in the street!
It's a bit of an art, don't beat yourself up too bad for a first attempt.

I am also a bodywork newbie, but is it possible you didn't get enough colour laid down evenly? And we are seeing the primer through the paint?

Or perhaps a chemical incompatibility between types of primer/paint/clear. I've heard that can cause haze.

Thanks man, so many neighbors asked me if I do bodywork as my job/paint cars/could paint their car haha. I told them all no lol

There most certainly is no primer peaking through, I definitely got all the color laid down, the challenging part was getting it down evenly with the same wetness cuz of the wind. In the photos you can see the spots where it was sprayed a little wetter than the rest.

I think chemical incompatibility possibly could be a factor, its just generic black Rust-Oleum rattle can paint, then some clear coat from OReilly's. The fact that the clear dried kinda gritty is what confuses me. Like I said, in the far future when I have a better set up I'll definetly respray the roof and hopefully the whole car. Anyways, I gotta paint match the sunroof panel, which should be a much easier job. I'm gunna find a better environment without the challenge of wind to paint that one in, we'll see if that one comes out hazy or not. If it does probably the paints, if not than it was probably just my abilities

[max.rodriguezzz]

The man is doing body and paint work in the street. I live for this shit. You are one crazy son of a gun.

I’m impressed by how many pictures you take throughout the process. I don’t take nearly enough progress photos as I’m getting stuff done. I’m usually just in the groove, and totally forget about it. On top of I’m usually covered in some kind of grease/oil/fluid/etc. so I have to wipe my hands real good before I pick up my phone each time.

anyway, you are gaining some invaluable skills with this E30. Be cautious of getting too good. Soon you’ll have all your friends coming to ask you to help them with their project cars.

keep fighting the good fight

Thanks man I appreciate it ! haha its not out of the ordinary for friends to call me up to help with some stuff, I live for that shit too

Its definitely a chore to take photos throughout the process and I'd much rather stay in the groove too, But honestly starting this thread has inspired me so much to document everything I can of this project. I think the effort will be worth it to look back on in the future :)

I certainly will keep fighting the good fight, this e30 needs me and I need this e30 haha

[Panici]

Love the bodywork in the street!
It's a bit of an art, don't beat yourself up too bad for a first attempt.

I am also a bodywork newbie, but is it possible you didn't get enough colour laid down evenly? And we are seeing the primer through the paint?

Or perhaps a chemical incompatibility between types of primer/paint/clear. I've heard that can cause haze.

[2mAn]

Love it!

[JasonWilson48]

The man is doing body and paint work in the street. I live for this shit. You are one crazy son of a gun.

I’m impressed by how many pictures you take throughout the process. I don’t take nearly enough progress photos as I’m getting stuff done. I’m usually just in the groove, and totally forget about it. On top of I’m usually covered in some kind of grease/oil/fluid/etc. so I have to wipe my hands real good before I pick up my phone each time.

anyway, you are gaining some invaluable skills with this E30. Be cautious of getting too good. Soon you’ll have all your friends coming to ask you to help them with their project cars.

keep fighting the good fight

[e30m3s54turbo]

Keep the good work. I had to remove some rust off the roof next to sun roof. I’m going to paint it when all primer and dent are gone.

[max.rodriguezzz]

ALSO HERE

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

I will do everything I can iin my power to make sure this sticker stays on here forever

[max.rodriguezzz]

Alright, new chapter begins, body work...

Never have I never done anything body work related, let alone even know the process of compounding and polishing a car. So I feel like I'm truly starting from step zero. So I spent about 2 weeks extensively researching and learning all that I could, acquired a boat load of all the supplies I Needed, then finally got started.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

This was my starting point^, also notice those several other pinholes to the right.

My first step was to grind down the beads of the welds and inspect how severe the porosity of the patch is. Keep in mind, welding it properly isn't really and option, due to what equipment my friend has and his skills level. So this the best we're gunna get.

I started with a 40 grit flap disc on my angle grinder

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

and this is what I was left with. The patch is most certainly secured and not in need of a reweld, however I should not turn a blind eye to the little holes and cover them with bondo, as bondo is ever so porous and eventually moisture can make its way through. Apparently.

So I used some budget brand (Harbor Freight) metal epoxy to cover up those weld holes, and the pin holes. I gave it a full 24 hours to dry and then sanded it flush.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

I cannot remember what grit sandpaper I used but definitely something rough like < 300 grit

Next step, I used a long straight edge to measure/visualize how much filler I would actually need to match the roof line. I didn't get a photo of this, rip :/
Now came time to lay down the first layer of bondo. I laid it down on top of the bare metal, but like A day or so after I realized i should of sprayed a coat of epoxy primer first, but oh well This is kinda like completely contradictory as to why I used that metal epoxy, but by the time I realized it was way too late to do anything about it.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

First attempt I used too much hardener and that shit dried before I could apply it lol. I tried agian, I let it dry, then I used my long sanding block to sand it and inspect where the highs and lows were-

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

I mixed up another batch of body filler, reapplied, let dry, sanded, inspected - rinse and repeat. I did this about 3 or 4 times. After each sanding session, I used an electric blower to blow away the sanding dust (no compressed air or outlets while working on the street, literally blocks away from my apartment, shitty parking) And then I would use glass cleaner and a micro fiber to fully clean the surface before the next layer

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Between each layer, I used my straight edge to compare the factory side to this side in order to study and properly match the contour and roof shape. I don't really have a sophisticated way of explaining it, it was just constant comparisons pretty much.

As you can see by this point its beginning to take shape of the roof nicely -



Now that the filler is leveled, taken shape of the roof, and sanded flush with the rest of the roof line, I used some glaze to fill in the tiny imperfections that are too small for another layer of body filler

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Here's a video showing off the glaze, and the finished shape of the roof, I am very happy with and proud of this result-



This was my stopping point for the night as I was loosing sunlight. I sprayed one layer of epoxy primer to help seal the exposed bare metal from the elements as I wasn't going to be able to store it not outside. The next morning there was some slight flash rust coming through the epoxy primer. So I sanded that down and resprayed. I followed the Instructions on the can for flash time and did about 3 layers I believe.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

I think I wet sanded the last layer of epoxy primer, honestly I cannot remember, but I know I followed the manufactures instructions on the can.

Here is a comparison of the factory side and the repaired side-

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Ever since I got the car the roof had hard masking lines where the paint went from factory to dull, pretty sure its from the shitty repair jobs one of the last owners did, no attempt at blending at all. My next step was to spray some filler primer. The epoxy primer protects and seals the bare metal, the filler primer helps fill in small sanding scratches. So I just followed the harsh masking line to mask off for the filler primer.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

I did I think about 3 layers of filler primer, and sanded each in between with maybe like 600 or 800 grit, whatever the can recommended.

After this I went back at all the possible imperfections with the glaze, sand again, inspect, spray, sand, glaze, sand, inspect - rinse and repeat

by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

After this, one final layer of filler primer, then a full tedious wet sand.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

this was done with I think 1000 and 1200 grit. I made sure to wet sand into the factory clear so that when I blend the paint/clear it'll adhear.

IT WAS REALLY FUCKING HARD TO PAINT IN THE WIND. It'll be dead still then the MOMENT you finish shaking the can the wind starts blowing. Because of that I got kind of a shitty lay down with the color. Also the spray pattern of the black paint was not wide, so that was very very challenging to give it an EVEN lay down and 50% overlap wet edge. I'm pretty upset about that, but this is real life, and these are my imperfect working condition circumstances. I feel that I did the best that I could with my cards at hand.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Same ordeal with the clear - eye roll. Luckily there was very little orange peel with the black, except for in the low spot in the roof skin near the edge of the sunroof. However, the clear had a wide spray pattern so that helped tremendously.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

For some reason idky but the clear dried hazy (which is kinda expected) but it also dried kinda gritty. Which I think is weird, yes it was windy, but there's no sand or dirt or construction nearby so IDK. I was just trying to be hopeful that it would wet sand out. I wet sanded it with 2000 and 3000 grit, I used a sponge as the sanding block so it could conform to all the imperfections, I did that for all of the wet sanding. I tried very very carefully with the wet sanding to be gentle enough to not blow through the clear. I don't think I did go through, but

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

the haze and grit kind of cleared, but like, just not really :/

After this I was going to compound and polish it, hoping it would finally clean up to be shiny smooth. But first the car so desperately needed a wash. Its been covered in dirt and all the sanding dust

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

post car wash pic -

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Heres what the wet sanded clear looked like after the wash -

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

I picked up a polisher, and the necessary equipment to compound an polish it. Then I made the trip over to my dads place to use the outlet in his garage.

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

(that spot on the C-pillar and near the wheel arch are the next body work spots I want to take on)

I had never used a polisher before so this was all learning for me too. I was very careful to try to not compound through the clear. Im not sure if I did or didn't, the pad wasnt really black so I dont think so. Anyways, It was a lot of compound one spot, microfiber, polish it, micro fiber, reevaluate, repeat. I ended up doing more compounding than I though I would for the roof, soooo uuuh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After that I polished the whole thing and it literally helped transform the car. It looks way less shitty now. I compounded the roof and polished the whole car.

However the roof... I mean, it didn't come out super shitty, but its no where near as good as I had hoped. Its still kinda hazy and not exactly that smooth. Obviously this was my first time EVER doing anything like this so it wont be perfect, but like what else am I gunna do ya know. The whole goal of this was never for it to be perfect, it was to fix the patch work, and get the roof all one color, and look good from a few feet away. At the very least I truly tried my best. Worst case I redo the clear coat, or redo the paint job entirely, or maybe I need to get better at detailing. Whenever I get the chance I'm going to have some friends who know more than me take a look at it and get their thoughts. But regardless, I plan that years down the line when I have a better set up and job that brings in career money I can repaint the whole car myself, or get it repainted. But that's long term.

Anyways, here's the results -

(its got some dried water spots on it from the dew overnight)

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr



Next up I want to do some paint work to the bumpers and the sunroof panel

If youre wondering why my front lip is gone, heres why lol

[calvino]

Excellent updates Max, always a pleasure to read. You are insane for taking on the sunroof cassette swap. The lagbolts in bondo is some unbelievable hack work. The legpressing of the sunroof casette during welding had me dying. Before you rip all the shit apart did you make sure the sunroof cables were correctly synchronized? If you’re 1 tooth off on one of the cables you will get 1 corner sitting slightly uneven when you try to close.
if you end up determining you actually need to redo it, if I may make a recommendation, it would be to measure, match drill and cleco the sunroof cartridge in place for welding. You should be able to pick some up for fairly cheap online and a set of cleco pliers as well. Hope to see you at Midtown crossing tomorrow.

[2mAn]

Driver. 100%

[max.rodriguezzz]

Need a pick of the bumper sticker on the car chief

As rightfully promised...

Group Vote:
Which side?

Drivers- Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

Passengers- Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

[2mAn]

Untitled by Max Max Rodriguez, on Flickr

also going to need to see more pics of this tow truck