Spyder Modifications
04-12-2017, 03:14 AM
#707
Race Director
Thread Starter
So speaking of going to far.. I just jumped the shark with my mods, and will be going back one step. I finally tackled the red wheels I'd been wanting to try since day one (as evidenced by my avatar pic), and while I'm glad I tried, the result is not a good one.
A few reasons:
1. The red wheels don't look good on a classy sports car like the spyder. They fit a car with a wing better, the spyder is a road car.. I wanted to see the gt silver/red wheel combo, and now that I have.. I'm realizing the look is VERY model-specific.
2. The "Maranello red" autodip, is of a different shade than the darker more muted red on the brake calipers. Up close, it's a different color.. and where an RS or GT3 with matching wheels and calipers is beautiful, being a shade off looks terrible.
3. While I took every possible precaution to get the work right, something went wrong. I'll detail the process below for anyone else who wants to tackle this, as I've applied autodip various times now each time learning a new lesson. Here goes:
PAINT PREP STEPS:
1. Remove wheels from car and clean thoroughly. This is a good time to clean the normally hard to reach barrels which become dark with brake dust. I hate brake dust with a passion and am seriously considering Pccb on GT3 just to be able to keep pristine wheels and calipers.
2. Prep wheels with diluted denatured alcohol.. get into every nook and cranny.. surface must be perfect for the autodip to stick properly.
3. Apply one continuous and perfect straight roll of thin (1 inch max) masking tape along the inside of the barrel right along the backside of the spokes. You don't want to paint the barrels, just the spokes, so the barrels need masking. It's critical for this masking to be perfect.. painting is 95% prep work.
4. After the first loop of tape is applied, take some blue shop towels, and rip off 2 sheets at a time, and add masking tape to these. Then carefully place these on the wheel and tape just below the previous masking tape line. This should create a perfect mask, leaving only the spokes exposed. There will be some towel poking out the back of the wheel, tape that back so the towel doesn't bunch up and stays nice and flush to the barrel.
5. Pop off the center hub-caps and place wheels flat on the ground over some drop cloths or newspapers or whatever floor protection you're using.
6. Insert playing cars slightly overlapping each other between rim and tire, and mask the valve stem.
PAINTING with Autodip.
1. Do a first pass very lightly with no overlap, it will barely change color, but this first coat is what everything else will build on. Let it dry for 30 minutes.
2. Apply progressively more overlapping coats, leaving about 15 minutes in between each one. You can do 8-10 coats, the more you do the better it looks and the easier the whole thing is to peel off when you're tired of it and want a change. I used 6 cans in total.
3. Let it cure overnight for 8 hours or so, then rip off the masking tape and you should have a really nice result.
WHAT I DID WRONG: I don't ducking know what I did wrong to be honest. But as this was my 3rd time autodipping my wheels on various cars, and having had paint-like perfect results previously with the bronze.. I wasn't prepared for this, as my process followed the autodip instructions exactly, and the spraypaint has always gone on ultra-smoothly. This time however. Somehow, after 2-3 coats i started getting bubbles and pin-holes. I've never had this happen before and can't figure out what happened. The problem was that autodip is tough to remove when it's only 1-3 coats deeps.. so I could only move forward and apply more coats, I couldn't easily stop to remove it. So I persisted hoping that the many coats would somehow hide the bubbles and holes underneath. What I should have done was let the wheels rest for 3-4 hours then come back, as whatever was creating the pinholes and bubbles would hopefully had dried or cured by then. But I was running out of hours in my weekend and damn it.. I wanted to finish the job. So I pressed on and the end result was total ****.. no other way to say it, the result looks like crap and I took up close pictures to prove it. Autodip normally goes on like perfect paint.. its absolutely indistinguishable, it normally looks fantastic, and has become a great solution even for car body panels. My frustration and impatience got the better of me, and I ended up with work which I'm not proud of. It's coming off on Friday, just haven't had time yet.
Luckily, except for a "wasted" weekend, and $130 in supplies, I can rip off the autodip in 10 minutes and start over or leave the wheels in their original silver.. that's the beauty of the stuff. I will probably paint them some muted color like platinum etc as the autodip protects the original underlying finish of the wheels from rocks and brake dust.. it's always fun to take the stuff off and find a perfectly clean wheel underneath. And, I I guess I still had fun in my garage... watched motogp while chatting with all the throngs of passing foreign tourists who get off the cruise ships daily and walk up my street huffing and puffing and complaining about how steep my street is etc. good experience, bad result.. experimenting is fun, I love my spyder.
Here are some progress shots. If I can answer any questions, lemme know.
A few reasons:
1. The red wheels don't look good on a classy sports car like the spyder. They fit a car with a wing better, the spyder is a road car.. I wanted to see the gt silver/red wheel combo, and now that I have.. I'm realizing the look is VERY model-specific.
2. The "Maranello red" autodip, is of a different shade than the darker more muted red on the brake calipers. Up close, it's a different color.. and where an RS or GT3 with matching wheels and calipers is beautiful, being a shade off looks terrible.
3. While I took every possible precaution to get the work right, something went wrong. I'll detail the process below for anyone else who wants to tackle this, as I've applied autodip various times now each time learning a new lesson. Here goes:
PAINT PREP STEPS:
1. Remove wheels from car and clean thoroughly. This is a good time to clean the normally hard to reach barrels which become dark with brake dust. I hate brake dust with a passion and am seriously considering Pccb on GT3 just to be able to keep pristine wheels and calipers.
2. Prep wheels with diluted denatured alcohol.. get into every nook and cranny.. surface must be perfect for the autodip to stick properly.
3. Apply one continuous and perfect straight roll of thin (1 inch max) masking tape along the inside of the barrel right along the backside of the spokes. You don't want to paint the barrels, just the spokes, so the barrels need masking. It's critical for this masking to be perfect.. painting is 95% prep work.
4. After the first loop of tape is applied, take some blue shop towels, and rip off 2 sheets at a time, and add masking tape to these. Then carefully place these on the wheel and tape just below the previous masking tape line. This should create a perfect mask, leaving only the spokes exposed. There will be some towel poking out the back of the wheel, tape that back so the towel doesn't bunch up and stays nice and flush to the barrel.
5. Pop off the center hub-caps and place wheels flat on the ground over some drop cloths or newspapers or whatever floor protection you're using.
6. Insert playing cars slightly overlapping each other between rim and tire, and mask the valve stem.
PAINTING with Autodip.
1. Do a first pass very lightly with no overlap, it will barely change color, but this first coat is what everything else will build on. Let it dry for 30 minutes.
2. Apply progressively more overlapping coats, leaving about 15 minutes in between each one. You can do 8-10 coats, the more you do the better it looks and the easier the whole thing is to peel off when you're tired of it and want a change. I used 6 cans in total.
3. Let it cure overnight for 8 hours or so, then rip off the masking tape and you should have a really nice result.
WHAT I DID WRONG: I don't ducking know what I did wrong to be honest. But as this was my 3rd time autodipping my wheels on various cars, and having had paint-like perfect results previously with the bronze.. I wasn't prepared for this, as my process followed the autodip instructions exactly, and the spraypaint has always gone on ultra-smoothly. This time however. Somehow, after 2-3 coats i started getting bubbles and pin-holes. I've never had this happen before and can't figure out what happened. The problem was that autodip is tough to remove when it's only 1-3 coats deeps.. so I could only move forward and apply more coats, I couldn't easily stop to remove it. So I persisted hoping that the many coats would somehow hide the bubbles and holes underneath. What I should have done was let the wheels rest for 3-4 hours then come back, as whatever was creating the pinholes and bubbles would hopefully had dried or cured by then. But I was running out of hours in my weekend and damn it.. I wanted to finish the job. So I pressed on and the end result was total ****.. no other way to say it, the result looks like crap and I took up close pictures to prove it. Autodip normally goes on like perfect paint.. its absolutely indistinguishable, it normally looks fantastic, and has become a great solution even for car body panels. My frustration and impatience got the better of me, and I ended up with work which I'm not proud of. It's coming off on Friday, just haven't had time yet.
Luckily, except for a "wasted" weekend, and $130 in supplies, I can rip off the autodip in 10 minutes and start over or leave the wheels in their original silver.. that's the beauty of the stuff. I will probably paint them some muted color like platinum etc as the autodip protects the original underlying finish of the wheels from rocks and brake dust.. it's always fun to take the stuff off and find a perfectly clean wheel underneath. And, I I guess I still had fun in my garage... watched motogp while chatting with all the throngs of passing foreign tourists who get off the cruise ships daily and walk up my street huffing and puffing and complaining about how steep my street is etc. good experience, bad result.. experimenting is fun, I love my spyder.
Here are some progress shots. If I can answer any questions, lemme know.
04-12-2017, 05:29 AM
#708
I feel your pain !!
This experience sums up my dealings with anything DIY.... major league frustration
Big respect to you though for having a crack at this.
I've really enjoyed following your modding journey, always cool to see what you're going to do next
Do you think you would have liked the red wheels if the colour had of match the calipers ?? Or just too much for a de winged beauty like the Spyder......
This experience sums up my dealings with anything DIY.... major league frustration
Big respect to you though for having a crack at this.
I've really enjoyed following your modding journey, always cool to see what you're going to do next
Do you think you would have liked the red wheels if the colour had of match the calipers ?? Or just too much for a de winged beauty like the Spyder......
04-12-2017, 12:28 PM
#709
Race Director
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Boxster7
I feel your pain !!
This experience sums up my dealings with anything DIY.... major league frustration
Big respect to you though for having a crack at this.
I've really enjoyed following your modding journey, always cool to see what you're going to do next
Do you think you would have liked the red wheels if the colour had of match the calipers ?? Or just too much for a de winged beauty like the Spyder......
This experience sums up my dealings with anything DIY.... major league frustration
Big respect to you though for having a crack at this.
I've really enjoyed following your modding journey, always cool to see what you're going to do next
Do you think you would have liked the red wheels if the colour had of match the calipers ?? Or just too much for a de winged beauty like the Spyder......
04-15-2017, 12:01 AM
#712
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Join Date: Oct 2015
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04-15-2017, 12:22 PM
#714
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Join Date: Oct 2015
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You are THE MAN IN THE GARAGE
It can't be. Say it ain't so.
Pepita inserts, center stripes, exhaust, tire stickers, side stripes, tune, shift ****, wheel color, etc., etc. - - we've been there with you through it all, pulling for you every step of the way. Your list of mods is extensive (if not expensive!). You can't stop now.
I detect frustration, despondency, and depression over this latest wheel mod setback, but despair not for you are The Man in the Garage, the one hell bent on automotive improvement, the one about whom Theodore Roosevelt so elequantly stated:
Pepita inserts, center stripes, exhaust, tire stickers, side stripes, tune, shift ****, wheel color, etc., etc. - - we've been there with you through it all, pulling for you every step of the way. Your list of mods is extensive (if not expensive!). You can't stop now.
I detect frustration, despondency, and depression over this latest wheel mod setback, but despair not for you are The Man in the Garage, the one hell bent on automotive improvement, the one about whom Theodore Roosevelt so elequantly stated:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man performing the mod stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done the mod better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the garage, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, whose mods come up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the mods; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy mod; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of a successful mod, and who at the worst, if the mod fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
There is always ONE. MORE. MOD.
04-15-2017, 03:31 PM
#715
It can't be. Say it ain't so.
Pepita inserts, center stripes, exhaust, tire stickers, side stripes, tune, shift ****, wheel color, etc., etc. - - we've been there with you through it all, pulling for you every step of the way. Your list of mods is extensive (if not expensive!). You can't stop now.
I detect frustration, despondency, and depression over this latest wheel mod setback, but despair not for you are The Man in the Garage, the one hell bent on automotive improvement, the one about whom Theodore Roosevelt so elequantly stated:
Pepita inserts, center stripes, exhaust, tire stickers, side stripes, tune, shift ****, wheel color, etc., etc. - - we've been there with you through it all, pulling for you every step of the way. Your list of mods is extensive (if not expensive!). You can't stop now.
I detect frustration, despondency, and depression over this latest wheel mod setback, but despair not for you are The Man in the Garage, the one hell bent on automotive improvement, the one about whom Theodore Roosevelt so elequantly stated:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man performing the mod stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done the mod better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the garage, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, whose mods come up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the mods; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy mod; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of a successful mod, and who at the worst, if the mod fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
There is always ONE. MORE. MOD. Suicide I'm with you 100%, surely this is just an off day in our hero's journey to modding greatness.
If those stirring words from your Theodore Roosevelt don't do the trick, let me come in with some words from our great hero this side of the pond Sir Winston Churchill.....
“To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to change often."
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."
"Never, never, never give up"
CAlexio... in you we trust !!
04-16-2017, 12:26 AM
#717
Race Director
Thread Starter
I think I just had a tear come down my eye.. that was.. simply exquisite. How can I express my gratitude to my fans? .. only one way, by demonstrating my renewed vigor, enthusiasm and passion to them.
And so I announce my latest mod project.. starting tomorrow, I will tackle...
lambo doors and feather of vulture finish!
And so I announce my latest mod project.. starting tomorrow, I will tackle...
lambo doors and feather of vulture finish!
