"Help: My 944 looks like crap" thread
04-23-2010, 12:25 PM
#31
Racer
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Norway, Hordaland, Bergen
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This is a pretty neat thread. Maybe we could get links to all the "How to do xxxxx" on the first post when they come in. Under different catagoris, like paint, dents, fenders, interior, steeringwheel, engine and so on.
I have currently stated on my fiberglass bumper and gonna start with the interior pretty soon. Will fit a 2 DIN cdplayer in the dash also, no IDE on how to do it but will cut and fiberglass til I get it right :P
Interior looks pretty bad today ........
I have currently stated on my fiberglass bumper and gonna start with the interior pretty soon. Will fit a 2 DIN cdplayer in the dash also, no IDE on how to do it but will cut and fiberglass til I get it right :P
Interior looks pretty bad today ........
04-23-2010, 12:48 PM
#32
A lot of this stuff just takes some time and creativity.
Here is my 951 when I picked it up.
Here are some more recent pictures.
I have done nothing to the paint but polish it a bit. It looks bad close, but from a distance okay.
Interior after about $500. (most of that was the seats)
Here is my 951 when I picked it up.
Here are some more recent pictures.
I have done nothing to the paint but polish it a bit. It looks bad close, but from a distance okay.
Interior after about $500. (most of that was the seats)
04-23-2010, 01:11 PM
#34
Team Owner
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: one thousand, five hundred miles north of Ft. Lauderdale for the summer.
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i was just thinking of my yellow coolant resevoir last night and couldn't get to sleep after seeing Raj's engine bay on his blue convertable and sparking clean engine.......
even if the rest of my car is ok.
even if the rest of my car is ok.
04-23-2010, 02:11 PM
#35
Racer
You can try upholstery paint. The door panels come off pretty easily. Make sure you follow the prep exactly and use quality products. Judging by the photos, your panels might clean up okay. Try Simple Green with a terry cloth rag. The worst case scenario is you have to prep it for paint. Good luck.
By the way, what color did you paint your car? Is it off-white?
By the way, what color did you paint your car? Is it off-white?
Will give the SG a try. I didn't have it painted but it is a white that has a green and purple metalic tint to it, depending on the viewing angle. Original color was Alpine White. Kind of wished they had kept the original color as they just did a respray over the original paint and it has chipped off in a few spots.
04-23-2010, 03:52 PM
#36
Instructor
Join Date: Jul 2009
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That's a great idea. I need paint correction badly- big paint gouging.
So let's get the laundry list going- this is how I received my car. Seats are a little torn- they cleaned up but still have tears.
Steering wheel leather is falling off. Solution is the AGLA cover kit FTW!!! It is great. Or you can get a momo or something, but for the money, alan gun is the way. Ditto on the shift boot, AGLA.
Also in the first picture- wooden rod to hold up hood. Classy. Buy new hood struts. They are well worth it.
The hinge for the armrest- fortunately it came with the armrest but the hinge was shot. Someone sells them on ebay, and that someone is a rennlist member too from what I remember. Definitely worth the cash.
Dash is destroyed. I just live with it- this is pricey to fix.
So let's get the laundry list going- this is how I received my car. Seats are a little torn- they cleaned up but still have tears.
Steering wheel leather is falling off. Solution is the AGLA cover kit FTW!!! It is great. Or you can get a momo or something, but for the money, alan gun is the way. Ditto on the shift boot, AGLA.
Also in the first picture- wooden rod to hold up hood. Classy. Buy new hood struts. They are well worth it.
The hinge for the armrest- fortunately it came with the armrest but the hinge was shot. Someone sells them on ebay, and that someone is a rennlist member too from what I remember. Definitely worth the cash.
Dash is destroyed. I just live with it- this is pricey to fix.
04-23-2010, 06:23 PM
#37
Instructor
oh boy this one is perfect for me =)
My interior is acutally in really great shape minus a crack on my dash which i dont plan on fixing. But my exterior....eeek.
Three things i need to get some advice on.
1) my front valance. One of the POs ran into something, looks like a curb maybe. Does this look like it can be saved? Or should i start saving/searching for a replacement?
2) This car spent most of it's life in Michigan then somehow ended up down south. It has some rust spots on the bottom on the car like below the doors. What can be done about the rust spots? clean out the rust and fill it with something? Also in the meantime, a PO used what looks to be spray can paint to try and cover up the rust spots, but they didnt use the right color. Is there some how to find the shade/color code for my car's paint and get some touch up paint in that color to correct these until i can get the rust spots fixed?
3) The car's overall paint is pretty poor shape. Flaking in some spots, faded, also these weird shirwly kinda scratch marks where it looked like someone was buffing or waxing and did something wrong. Any ideas here other than just re-paint it?
My interior is acutally in really great shape minus a crack on my dash which i dont plan on fixing. But my exterior....eeek.
Three things i need to get some advice on.
1) my front valance. One of the POs ran into something, looks like a curb maybe. Does this look like it can be saved? Or should i start saving/searching for a replacement?
2) This car spent most of it's life in Michigan then somehow ended up down south. It has some rust spots on the bottom on the car like below the doors. What can be done about the rust spots? clean out the rust and fill it with something? Also in the meantime, a PO used what looks to be spray can paint to try and cover up the rust spots, but they didnt use the right color. Is there some how to find the shade/color code for my car's paint and get some touch up paint in that color to correct these until i can get the rust spots fixed?
3) The car's overall paint is pretty poor shape. Flaking in some spots, faded, also these weird shirwly kinda scratch marks where it looked like someone was buffing or waxing and did something wrong. Any ideas here other than just re-paint it?
04-23-2010, 07:14 PM
#39
Racer
Join Date: Jun 2008
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oh boy this one is perfect for me =)
My interior is acutally in really great shape minus a crack on my dash which i dont plan on fixing. But my exterior....eeek.
Three things i need to get some advice on.
1) my front valance. One of the POs ran into something, looks like a curb maybe. Does this look like it can be saved? Or should i start saving/searching for a replacement?
2) This car spent most of it's life in Michigan then somehow ended up down south. It has some rust spots on the bottom on the car like below the doors. What can be done about the rust spots? clean out the rust and fill it with something? Also in the meantime, a PO used what looks to be spray can paint to try and cover up the rust spots, but they didnt use the right color. Is there some how to find the shade/color code for my car's paint and get some touch up paint in that color to correct these until i can get the rust spots fixed?
3) The car's overall paint is pretty poor shape. Flaking in some spots, faded, also these weird shirwly kinda scratch marks where it looked like someone was buffing or waxing and did something wrong. Any ideas here other than just re-paint it?
My interior is acutally in really great shape minus a crack on my dash which i dont plan on fixing. But my exterior....eeek.
Three things i need to get some advice on.
1) my front valance. One of the POs ran into something, looks like a curb maybe. Does this look like it can be saved? Or should i start saving/searching for a replacement?
2) This car spent most of it's life in Michigan then somehow ended up down south. It has some rust spots on the bottom on the car like below the doors. What can be done about the rust spots? clean out the rust and fill it with something? Also in the meantime, a PO used what looks to be spray can paint to try and cover up the rust spots, but they didnt use the right color. Is there some how to find the shade/color code for my car's paint and get some touch up paint in that color to correct these until i can get the rust spots fixed?
3) The car's overall paint is pretty poor shape. Flaking in some spots, faded, also these weird shirwly kinda scratch marks where it looked like someone was buffing or waxing and did something wrong. Any ideas here other than just re-paint it?
04-23-2010, 08:03 PM
#41
Instructor
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Denver, CO
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the car is fine, just tackle the rust now, sand, cut, fill, primer. That front valence is in great condition, I've seen them glued, stapled, riveted back together, what you have there is more like a love kiss. Patch up the uglies, get a cheap paint job (hell, even check out the $50 paint job thread) and you'll be gold. That car is in "race car" excellent condition, if you decide that it's too much work to make it look good (its really not though, patch work will take maybe a weekend) then fix the rust and track it!
edit- patch painting on our cars is more work than its worth, only way to make it work is to sand/paint/clear entire panels. At that point you might as well do the whole car.
edit- patch painting on our cars is more work than its worth, only way to make it work is to sand/paint/clear entire panels. At that point you might as well do the whole car.
04-24-2010, 01:47 AM
#42
Race Car
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Glad to see people enjoying my old thread. I ran the car without 3m stoneguards and it looked fine. I would advise everyone to get some paintbrushes, optimum power clean, distiller water, a squirt bottle and a pesticide sprayer. Use the brushes to dust the interior and mix the OPC thin to clean the interior or use 1Z cockpit. Clean the engine bay with the OPC mixed strong, lots of brushing, and rinsing with the pesticide sprayer filled with water. A light buffing with a rotary or orbital buffer using menzerna intensive polish or even power gloss really does a number to clean up the paint. 1Z vinyl dressing will really improve the loom of the spoiler, bumper pads and tires provided you clean them first.
My other best advice is to remove the front seats and clean with Adams carpet cleaner. Vacuum very thoroughly! Also remove the wheel and clean the wheels inside and out with strongly mixed OPC or other wheel cleaner. Get the wheel wells too and all the crud built up on the brakes and suspension arms. Use some sort of plastic conditioner or cleaner in the engine bay too and it really improves the look. Brush all f the aluminum engine parts with a wire brush.
My other best advice is to remove the front seats and clean with Adams carpet cleaner. Vacuum very thoroughly! Also remove the wheel and clean the wheels inside and out with strongly mixed OPC or other wheel cleaner. Get the wheel wells too and all the crud built up on the brakes and suspension arms. Use some sort of plastic conditioner or cleaner in the engine bay too and it really improves the look. Brush all f the aluminum engine parts with a wire brush.
04-25-2010, 06:42 PM
#43
Intermediate
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excellent thread idea!
mine currently sits like this:
it's an '88 base in LY3V. i just threw the 951 front on last weekend.
certainly not perfect but this thread makes me see it's not as bad as i thought.
the exterior is okay. bumper, nose panel and headlight covers are all OE black but i had to spray the fenders with dupli-color gloss black since they came off different cars. looks okay from afar but the difference is noticable up close.
the passenger fender i got for free as it was a poorly-done N/A-to-turbo conversion. the bondo at the leading edge is ripply, the body lines were poorly done and nothing lines up quite right where it meets the bumper/nose cone, but it was only supposed to be temporary and i have already found another fender to remedy this.
the parts of the car that are LY3V, specifically the hood, are noticeably faded and are in dire need of a polish but since my car is currently 2 colors i may put this off and just get a full paint-job when i can afford it. there are also a few small random stone chips around the car.
both of my tail-lights collect water in the brake-light portion. does anyone have any suggestions for remedying this short of buying whole new housings? alot of the used ones i see for sale have the same problem.
my spoiler and door handles could also use some back-2-black soon, and my phone dials need refinishing but im not going to bother with this as new wheels are near the top of my "to buy" list. my passenger bumper cap also got bumped at some point in it's life. it looks a little pushed in and theres a small spider-web in the paint. but as with the wheels i plan on getting a euro rear bumper so i doubt i'll fix this.
as for the interior i "lucked out" by getting a white carpet, so under my black floor-mats there are small stains everywhere; my white leather seats are also far from perfect, mostly age cracks and colour transfer from blue jeans. my driver's seat has a large tear in the outer bolster as well. i had planned on swapping to an all-black interior eventually, or at least black seats, so i may just leave this be as well. i do however need a new shifter ****/boot as a large tear has appeared in my boot. my black dash cover also has a weird melt-mark in the plastic on the top (looks to be where some kind of accesory was mounted; old cell phone holder or GPS cradle or something) so i will have to replace this as well. but thankfully, not a single crack on my dash! (knock on wood). oh and my digital clock is cracked and doesn't work, but considering how expensive these are, even used, i think i can live without it.
last thing is my exhaust tip needing a good polishing but again i am planning on getting a B&B set-up soon so i may also leave this as it is for now.
i dunno, personally i am kind of a fan of the "work in progress" or "daily driver" look on cars, as opposed to the "trailer queen" look. i think small cosmetic flaws give the car character and personality, so alot of the small things "wrong" with my car will probably stay that way.
mine currently sits like this:
it's an '88 base in LY3V. i just threw the 951 front on last weekend.
certainly not perfect but this thread makes me see it's not as bad as i thought.
the exterior is okay. bumper, nose panel and headlight covers are all OE black but i had to spray the fenders with dupli-color gloss black since they came off different cars. looks okay from afar but the difference is noticable up close.
the passenger fender i got for free as it was a poorly-done N/A-to-turbo conversion. the bondo at the leading edge is ripply, the body lines were poorly done and nothing lines up quite right where it meets the bumper/nose cone, but it was only supposed to be temporary and i have already found another fender to remedy this.
the parts of the car that are LY3V, specifically the hood, are noticeably faded and are in dire need of a polish but since my car is currently 2 colors i may put this off and just get a full paint-job when i can afford it. there are also a few small random stone chips around the car.
both of my tail-lights collect water in the brake-light portion. does anyone have any suggestions for remedying this short of buying whole new housings? alot of the used ones i see for sale have the same problem.
my spoiler and door handles could also use some back-2-black soon, and my phone dials need refinishing but im not going to bother with this as new wheels are near the top of my "to buy" list. my passenger bumper cap also got bumped at some point in it's life. it looks a little pushed in and theres a small spider-web in the paint. but as with the wheels i plan on getting a euro rear bumper so i doubt i'll fix this.
as for the interior i "lucked out" by getting a white carpet, so under my black floor-mats there are small stains everywhere; my white leather seats are also far from perfect, mostly age cracks and colour transfer from blue jeans. my driver's seat has a large tear in the outer bolster as well. i had planned on swapping to an all-black interior eventually, or at least black seats, so i may just leave this be as well. i do however need a new shifter ****/boot as a large tear has appeared in my boot. my black dash cover also has a weird melt-mark in the plastic on the top (looks to be where some kind of accesory was mounted; old cell phone holder or GPS cradle or something) so i will have to replace this as well. but thankfully, not a single crack on my dash! (knock on wood). oh and my digital clock is cracked and doesn't work, but considering how expensive these are, even used, i think i can live without it.
last thing is my exhaust tip needing a good polishing but again i am planning on getting a B&B set-up soon so i may also leave this as it is for now.
i dunno, personally i am kind of a fan of the "work in progress" or "daily driver" look on cars, as opposed to the "trailer queen" look. i think small cosmetic flaws give the car character and personality, so alot of the small things "wrong" with my car will probably stay that way.
04-26-2010, 11:34 AM
#44
Instructor
thx for the input folks. love this forum. Once i clean the rust out and repair the spots, is there any kinda of "touch up" paint i can buy or does the panel/section need to be removed and re-painted?
The car runs great and i keep a close eye on everything to ensure it continues to run that way. Since that aspect is in good shape and i want to keep it for a while i would like to get the cosmetics fixed up as well.
The car runs great and i keep a close eye on everything to ensure it continues to run that way. Since that aspect is in good shape and i want to keep it for a while i would like to get the cosmetics fixed up as well.
