kev's restoration - viper blue tsi

[helrazr70]

That project makes me really appreciate the rust free cars down here. I now see that I have really taken them for granted!

 

Great job!

[yoshi]

THAT'S AWESOME WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! THAT JUST AMAZES ME! YOU GONNA REMEMBER HOW TO PUT THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER AGAIN? LOL

 

WISH I COULD GET YOU TO FIX MY FRONT RIGHT FENDER!

 

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE PICS

 

YOSHI

[kev]

Thanks!

 

Some more current pictures: Undercarraige, door jams, engine compartment, back of doors/fenders/hood, etc are painted. The viewable body on the chassis is about 8 hours of work away from being painted (waiting for nice weather in May). All the plastic parts and small parts have been painted and all orange peel wetsanded down to 3000 grit and waiting to be buffed. This paint once buffed looks like a mile deep! There are 6 coats of high solids clear on these parts!!

 

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DigCam_377.jpg

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DigCam_367.jpg

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DigCam_351.jpg

 

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC00384.JPG

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC00380.JPG

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC003791.JPG

 

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC00390.JPG

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC00386.JPG

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[Highly Boosted]

WOW that thing is coming along good. Keep up all the good work

[Crazy larry]

SWEET 8)

[speed racer]

Seeing all that great work makes me wanna go back and totally strip my car to redo it all.Really inspiring and motivating.

Since I gota welder I am going back and welding in metal where I FG'd it up.A lot of "aircraft remover" and epoxy primer.Not o mention a LOT of photo documentation of how it goes back together.

 

Keep the pics coming. speed racer

[attack vector]

Just amazing. I don't have any of the skills to do this stuff, so I'm always in awe of those who possess all of the metal fabrication, and bodywork skills. It truly is an art form.

 

Amazing work! I can't wait to see this car finished.

[BudweiserJason8]

Want to do my car?

[kev]

Hopefully going to start the painting process this week!

 

I found a couple dings on the roof that I missed the other day. How they got there, I have no clue because they weren't there when I had this car on the road! Very frustrating considering how many hours I put into blocking this car!!!!! Maybe they happened after blocking but I don't recall anything hitting the roof??? I also found one slight crease in the hood near the passenger side vent scoop (83 hood). This will be fixed today.

 

I also re-wet sanded the entire car with 600 grit last week because it has been six months since I did it last. It's important to paint as close in time as possible from your last sanding because the primer actually oxidizes and will cause lack of adhesion with your paint. They say to not paint if it has been over 2 days since you sanding - this is hard to hit though when its a hobby project that you work on in your spare time though. My own rule of thumb is 2 weeks after sanding. However, wet sanding the car over again after all this work was done is not a very time consuming thing - its pretty quick - took me about 2-3 hours to do this.

 

I used finishing putty to fix the dings in the roof with a thin coat of self etching primer (rattle can) over the putty. I don't like using rattle can primers at all but because this is just to dress up a small confined spot, I'm going to use it. I may regret this when I shoot the base! I hope not though.

 

 

If anyone is curious, here are the steps I took for paint prep:

 

1. Sanded all surfaces to bare metal (used a combination of sandblasting, aircraft stripper, hand sanding, and a 7" scotchbrite pad on my angle grinder) btw this was over a two year process for me!!!!.

2. Layed two coats of epoxy primer - I used grey Southern Polyurethanes epoxy.

3. Performed all putty work OVER the epoxy. That's correct, over the epoxy. This is actually the epoxy manufacturer's preference. It eliminates rust from forming between the putty and base metal which is the cause of bondo lifting.

4. Re-epoxied over the bondo.

5. Applied three thick coats of 2K regular build primer.

6. Applied guide coats using 3M rattle can guide coat - works wonders!

7. Spent countless hours blocking every panel. Some areas I had to apply more bondo - in this case, the 2K was sanded away until epoxy was shown prior to applying bondo). If bondo work was performed, I re-applied the 2K to the subject panel. I started with 320 grit wet - blocked - and reapplied one coat of 2K, then did the same with 400 grit wet(note that if putty work was needed, the process was repeated from the start!, you can now start to understand why this has been a multi-year undertaking). Some people actuall start their initial blocking with 120 dry. I did try this as well as 220 dry on a few pieces - I'd recommend 220 over the 120 because its very easy to break through the 2K quickly.

8. Once everything was wet sanded down to 400 grit and I was confortable with the blocking, I layed a sealer coat. The sealer coat was just SPI grey epoxy reduced 30% (using slow epoxy SPI reducer - always use the correct reducer for the paint you are using - ie don't use PPG reducer and SPI epoxy! - I did this with the one door and it was not a good thing - had to sand it all down and redo).

9. Then I wet sanded the sealer coat with 600 grit - and I still found a few dings!!!!!! Very frustrating! Dings were fixed with finishing putty and spot primed with self-etching primer and wet sanded with 600 grit.

 

 

Application of the paint (this was performed on all my small parts; bumpers, spoilers, etc, and will be performed on the body in the very near future).

 

1. Lay two to three coats of base over the sealer. Leave 45 minutes between coats for proper flashing - NOTE: spraying the second coat prior to flashing will give your problems (I know from experience). Letting each coat properly flash will reduce orange-peal, have a better paint finish, and will most importantly reduce the paint you need for full-coverage! This helps when the cost of base is $175 a gallon minus reducer (I have used 3 and a half gallons of base for this project!!!!!!!!!!!)

2. Let the car sit overnight and wet sand with 1200 grit.

3. Clean off and respray with two more coats of base.

4. Let sit overnight and spray with three heavy coats of clear - I'm using SPI HS clear (high solids).

5. Let sit overnight and dry sand with 400 grit - yes you heard that right, dry sand with 400 grit! SPI did extensive testing with wet sanding and dry sanding their clears with all different grits and it was determined that the best depth was from the coarse grit papers!! This still baffles me but I tried it on the small parts and it works excellent!!! Plus it takes a fraction of the time than wet sanding with a fine grit paper! I know I will probably get flamed for doing this but I'm telling you - it works!

6. Clean car off and spray three more heavy coats of clear - SPI HS

7. Let dry and start the wet sanding/buffing process in a few days.

 

Wet sanding/buffing:

1. Wet sand with 1500 grit - wash car off

2. Wet sand with 2000 grit - wash car off

3. Wet sand with 2500 grit - wash car off

4. Buff with wool pad using Presta Ultra Cutting Creme

5. Buff with wool pad using Presta 1500 Polish - new pad

6. Buff with foam pad using Presta 1500 Polish - new pad

7. Buff with foam pad using Presta Spray & Shine - using same pad as the 1500 polish - the spray and shine thins out the polish.

8. The result - totally scratch and swirl free deep deep deep paint!!!

 

 

 

kev

[Highly Boosted]

wow can wait to see the finished pics

[livesTSI]

:shock: wow.....thats amazing man!

[emagdnim]

I'm destined to get my car on a rotisserie for paint.

 

I'm in love.

[soulja620]

Goodness, you are talented... Or did you just go to school for this?

 

Great job man, more pics?

[emagdnim]

Also... I wanted to ask... have you any experience with soda blasting?

 

Just wondering if i can use my sand blaster to do it.

 

Thanks man.

[MontyTSI]

KEVS the man....

 

 

 

nuff said

 

Monty

[kev]

Oh no, I had very little experience prior to starting this restoration. I'm totally learning as I go. I've met with many experienced body workers, I frequent the restoration boards such as hotrodders.com, autobody101, etc, and I just research every step before I try it.

 

This car has been a perfect tool to learn with. It's my fav car ever made but it is also not worth too much money (hate to say it but we all know that this is true). So if something doesn't go to planned, it isn't like I'm ruining the cars value. So this project mixed a bit of custom fabrication (shaved door handles, modified engine compartment and frame rails, etc. with a bit of restoration back to original (note that the viewable body of this car is 100% stock with exception to the shaved handles....and I guess the 83 hood but because that is a factory Mitsu part, I consider it stock).

 

 

That said, I took 4 classes on autobody repair at the local vo-tech school (they have evening adult classes twice a year). But this class was the type where you pay your $150 and just come twice a week to work on your own projects rather than a class where you get detailed instruction. There is a teacher there to help you as needed but I found that my way deviates from 95% of his so I mainly kept to myself and did my own thing. But that teacher has a good eye and feel to bondo jobs. I had him run his hands over every panel I did to get his blessing on its completeness, he found many little low areas that I couldn't find. Unfortunately most classes prepare you for a career in general autobody and collision work and not for car restoration. So the classes teach you how to repair a vehicle as quickly and economically as possible in order to prepare you for a career in the industry (ie. to make money). Well restorations are treated differently. I'm willing to put the time and money into this car to make it as good as it possibly can be (or as far as my ability allows). So its a totally different experience.

 

 

 

As to soda blasting, I know very little about this. I know that the paint I use, SPI, does not recommend soda blasting. It leaves a residue on the metal that is really hard to clean off and the primer doesn't stick to it well. SPI voids all warranties, etc. if you soda blasted. So just with that info alone, I stayed the hell away from it. Now I have talked with people who soda blasted their car and then went back over it with sandblasting. Thus the soda did the work of ridding the car of its paint and gunk and the sandblasting was just a once over to ruff up the surface and strip away the remaining soda. Still I'm too afraid to try this.

 

 

 

Ok, update on progress....I didn't get as far as I wanted last week but I did get three coats of base on the car and later wet sanded it down with 1200 grit. I'm ready to put the final two coats of base on and then three coats of clear. This will possibly happen later in the week. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures yet.

 

The first three coats of clear went on great! I had no fisheyes, no runs, etc. But I did have a few fuckups; When laying the first coat on the hood I ran out of paint in the cup and the gun spattered putting a couple drops of reducer on the panel and also I bumped the rear quarter with my shirt when spraying on the roof. But that's the good thing about laying the three coats and then wet-sanding, it rids these imperfections. Now I need to correct these things prior to the next two coats because I don't wet sand them. I'm just happy now that the car is blue. From here on out it is pretty easy. I have plenty of paint to finish the project too which was a scare for me.

 

 

 

 

Kevin

[bld127]

I can't wait to see what it looks like. Hopefully we will be able to come out soon so I can give you a hand with some of the re-assembly.

 

The posted pictures do not do this car any justice, the paint on this car looks so much better in person.

 

Brett

[Truth]

high def pics!!!

high def pics!!!

 

now!

 

 

extremely nice work, kev. can't wait to see the entirely completed project.

[Richie_Rich]

Where are you spraying the car?

 

Did you rent a booth?

 

This is a great thread.

[soulja620]

any updates on this ???

[kev]

No, all work stopped due to too many projects around the home and too many hours spent at work. I'm currently working nightshift which really cucks up my system.

 

 

I'll keep you guys informed.

 

It's been so long since I wet sanded the first couple coats of base that I have to lightly redo it again.

 

 

 

I used a booth at the autobody class I was taking to spray all the pieces and parts but the shell was/is being sprayed in a makeshift booth in my driveway.....10'x20' carport wrapped in 4mil plastic with two big box fans on one end and furnace filters on the other.

 

My makeshift booth actually produces a better finish than the real booth...probably because that booth at the vo-tech needs a major cleaning. But the dust is easy to clean up being that I'm wetsanding/buffing this car.

 

 

kev

[Highly Boosted]

You get any further yet on that sweet ride?

[kev]

Yeah all the painting is done....still need to color sand and buff. Haven't even bought the new buffer yet!!

 

It's a slow project.

 

 

The paint layed down nice and looks really good. After the buffing, it will look like a sheet of glass. Only one problem: the first gallon of viper blue I bought was about 2 shades lighter than the other two gallons. The first gallon was used to spray the undercarraige, engine compartment, and door jambs. Thus when I open the doors or hood, it's a different color than the body!!!! This majorly pisses me off!!!! To the point where I almost lost total ambition to continue on!!!!

 

I'll eventually get back to it though, I just need to take a break. It is a frustrating hobby when you put all that time into it and it doesn't come out as good as you expected. Oh well, this is my first restoration and I'm learning as I go. The second two gallons that I used to spray the exterior were mixed together to create 2 gallons of consistant color....but I didn't do this to the first gallon because I sprayed those components practically a year before doing the body. Lessons learned for my next project............its way too much work to respray the undercarraige, engine compartment and such now. So I'll buff the body out this winter and hopefully start to assembly the car as well.

 

I started getting the suspension components ready for sandblasting and powdercoating. I burned out all the original rubber suspension bushings and pressure-washed the components. Not sure if I am going to pay someone to blast everything or just do it myself. I'd like to just pay someone at this point but the quote will dictate that. I hate sandblasting!!!

 

 

 

kev

[emagdnim]

Dude, don't be so hard on yourself with the compartments and jams almost no one else will see.

 

Your car has inspired me to do mine like that and I really really don't want you to give up, as your helping not only me, but a slew of other members who are restoring there cars.

 

Don't give up man, the car is just too bad a**.

 

Oh, and sand blasting does suck.

[kev]

Damn this thread fell back far in the forum...almost too the last page, hehe.

 

I know I know, I'm slow as hell on building this car. Time is too valuable being a father of two under the age of two, hehe.

 

Anyways its been awhile since I made progress because I recently performed a ton of rework!

 

I tore the doors, fenders, hood, etc back off the car and painstakenly scuffed every square inch of the engine compartment, door jams, and undercarraige because the color difference just pissed me off to no end (see my last posting).

 

Of course after I scuffed everthing and cleaned up the car in preparation for repaint, I go to order another gallon of paint from the vendor I was using....they no longer carry the color!!!! I called the president of the company and asked what was up. He said he stopped carrying his line of viper blue because of problems with consistancy in his vendor's blue dye. Hence the whole reason why my first gallon was so light!!! So that was a reassurance that it wasn't me who f'd up by not stirring good enough or improper storage, etc. But now I was SOL in paint.

 

So I took a piece of the painted body down to my local paint shop. They took a picture of the part and ran it through their computer. It came up the same color as a late model BMW. So they mixed me up a gallon of PPG. It was much pricier than the SPI paint but I payed it.

 

I sprayed all of the areas two weaks ago. Turns out the PPG color is actually a hair darker than the SPI viper blue!!! I can't win, either light or dark!! But I'm happier now though. I hair darker is better for the engine compartment, etc. It doesn't stick out anywhere near as much as the lighter color. Plus I did a much better job this time ensuring I had 100% coverage on all of the underbody and engine compartment.

 

So I'm pretty happy with it and started to reassemble the car again. I got the drivers door back on last night but when I was making adjustments, my allen key socket sheared and the ratched hit the door hard chipping the paint on the viewable body!!! I almost cried! Damn POS craftsman sockets! Anyways, I scuffed and cleaned the chip and used a small paintbrush and layed two coats of base on the chip. Tonight I'll wet sand it smooth and put several layers of clear overtop using the paintbrush. Basically I wan't to build up the clear so that it's higher than the rest of the panel. Then I'll re-wetsand it smooth. I did this to a few other areas that I f'd up in a similar manner, and they came out perfect..never could tell that it was a repair. Also the spot is very low on the door and won't be noticable anyways.

 

I'll get some pictures, I always forget to take them!

 

kev