Short update:
I went to one of the local pick-n-pulls that had what was once a really nice E28, MTech spoiler and all. It had been listed that day and I jumped off the couch to head over to it but the spoiler got snagged before I got there. I was also hoping to find a nice large tool kit, but it was also warped and rotted out. I did however find a cassette cleaner in the glovebox, thought it was kinda '80s cool so I grabbed it:
And also found this relic:
I didn't take it but you could tell this car was once top of the line, had all the bells and whistles. It was oddly sad to see it sitting there. Ended up grabbing some switches and things that I could use along with some of the easier to grab interior bits and left the rest for someone else.
I also visited a local paint supply shop, the road it was on was appropriately named, I took it as a sign that I came to the right place:
I spoke for almost a half hour with the owner, he's been painting cars for over 30 years. He came out and looked over the car and loved it, and agreed it didn't need all that much body work. He did however strongly advise me to go with single stage paint. I had my heart set on a 2K system, but after a lot of reading on the subject I agree with the expert for a few reasons:
Last, I found out that the headlight covers in the engine bay for my car no longer fit with the ellipsoids as the new lights are way bulkier than the sealed beams:
Ended up ordering the later model ones, notice they have a little bit of an indent where the headlights sit:
Had to trim the passenger side one a bit to fit over the a/c drier and put my Pukar Designs a/c charge sticker on, not a bad match to the original:
It was kindof a bitch to get the drivers side in as there was only like 2mm or space between the ABS pump and the light:
Not the sexiest post but sometimes the little details make a big difference
I went to one of the local pick-n-pulls that had what was once a really nice E28, MTech spoiler and all. It had been listed that day and I jumped off the couch to head over to it but the spoiler got snagged before I got there. I was also hoping to find a nice large tool kit, but it was also warped and rotted out. I did however find a cassette cleaner in the glovebox, thought it was kinda '80s cool so I grabbed it:
And also found this relic:
I didn't take it but you could tell this car was once top of the line, had all the bells and whistles. It was oddly sad to see it sitting there. Ended up grabbing some switches and things that I could use along with some of the easier to grab interior bits and left the rest for someone else.
I also visited a local paint supply shop, the road it was on was appropriately named, I took it as a sign that I came to the right place:
I spoke for almost a half hour with the owner, he's been painting cars for over 30 years. He came out and looked over the car and loved it, and agreed it didn't need all that much body work. He did however strongly advise me to go with single stage paint. I had my heart set on a 2K system, but after a lot of reading on the subject I agree with the expert for a few reasons:
- It will give me the best possible chance to achieve a really nice finish with my limited experience, especially after color sanding/buffing
- The car originally came with single stage, so would be more period correct
- Over time, I think the paint would be easier to care for and won't have to worry about clear coat failure/spider webbing
- The car is going to be garaged about 90% of the time when not driving it anyway, so the supposed diminished durability often attributed to single stage vs clear coat will be negligible
- I will probably end up spending less than half as much for a premium quality single stage vs a comparable 2K system
Last, I found out that the headlight covers in the engine bay for my car no longer fit with the ellipsoids as the new lights are way bulkier than the sealed beams:
Ended up ordering the later model ones, notice they have a little bit of an indent where the headlights sit:
Had to trim the passenger side one a bit to fit over the a/c drier and put my Pukar Designs a/c charge sticker on, not a bad match to the original:
It was kindof a bitch to get the drivers side in as there was only like 2mm or space between the ABS pump and the light:
Not the sexiest post but sometimes the little details make a big difference
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