TRINITONY

Looks good....

Actually it's not that hard...a 1000 years ago back in the Caribbean when I was in high school, I worked as an apprentice in my older brother's shop. If you can iceing a cake or put mud - finish drywall, then you have the basics down pact.. Painting takes some skill though...

chris walrod

prefect! Good work!!

icelatte

Very nice. I've always thought about repainting my bumpers myself, but re-evaluated that one after my recaro pole position job.

axl911

I love the metal cooling duct. Functional, lightweight, and CHEAP!!!

What material did you use, and how did you bend it?

Gasser

Thanks guys. Yes it was a lot of work. I have never done this before nor used this type of paint gun. From my experience this was not too bad. spend plenty of time on the prep and tape job. Get everything covered and controll dust and bugs.

As far as the painting, that was the easy part. The clear coat was a little more challenging but if you get it thick enough you go through a full sanding and buffing process to remove orange peel and make the paint flat. Its just time.

For the final finish I used 600 grit wet to flatten out the paint. Must be carefull there. then finish with 1500 then 2000 grit. I then used a 4 stage compound/ polish system that I had left over from Griots garage but there are many to choose from. Just be patient. You can burn or ruin the paint real quick with your buffer if your not carefull. You can fix a lot of mistakes with these last steps.

I did get a little red on the floor but Laquer thinner took it right off.

My ducts were made from aluminum gutter gards from home depot. I don't duct these to the brakes. We are working on something else for that. I layed them over the opening and used a sharpe to trace the outline and then began to bend them into shape wtih some pliars. I had an old fiberglass insert one to use as a guide to get all the tabs to fit. They look even better in person.

This is not that hard but is a lot of work. My total expence doing all of this was around 350 bucks. I spend a little more because of a mistake I made but could have done it even cheaper. I plan on painting the rest of my car this winter. I know I can do it with out any problem now.

And yes, I did cover the other car completly with plastic

Gasser

Well, I had a stock bumper I got from a salvage yard and I already had to repair some cracks in it and got a smoking deal on some corner lights and bumperetts to finish it off. If I filled them in I would have had to buy more lights and Im on a tight racing budget...

Did you notice I removed the sprayerss on the hood as well?

Gasser

Good luck. It looks like its comming along nicely. I have been following your car since you built it up. Please take pics of yours as you go along again.
I found doing all this to be thearpy for me. I need to take some better pics with my good camera so I can show how good the paint turned out. The cell phone pics I have are really bad.

I have gotten comfortable enough that I think I am going to paint my enclosed trailer to match my motorhome.

jscott82

Hah.... Great minds think alike (similar at least).... Before I tackle the car Im painting the fenders on the open trailer to match the SUV...

I like the idea of removing the windshield washers, and like the single wiper look as well.... Was considering removing/filling the second wiper, but I gave up on that... too much work for too little return...

cgfen

very nice indeed and very quickly done if this is the damaged car i saw @ FOS in fontana just a few weeks ago!

cheers

Craig

swmic

It looks like you did a nice job. It really helps having the correct tools, like board files and such, plus tons of patients. The thing I'd be worried about is the paint match especially with red. How did that turn out?

curve lover

Gasser got skillz! Thanks for the DIY pix & write-up. Lookin' great!!!

ninjabones

Looks like I'm a few weeks ahead of you guys... 10 months and my car is finally done. Just haven't had a chance to take any decent pics yet. Here's a sneak peek.

My first race is this weekend (but it won't be in this car).... I'll be at Summit Point this weekend with NASA in an SSM miata.

Quadcammer

looks good. The only thing is that the drivers side of the hood looks like it doesn't sit flush with the bumper which it does on the passenger side. Looks like a dip about a quarter of the way from passenger to driver.

Gasser

Under flourescents it does not match perfectly but I plan on painting the rest of the car the next long breat I have. The old paint is somewhat sun faded but in the sun it looks pretty darn close. For a race car I can live with it.

As far as the hood not maiting up with the front clip. It does not look too bad in person and I plan on making a few little adjustments there. There is room to play a little. the bumper needs to be pushed on just about 1/4 inch at most.

ninjabones, your car looks awsome for sure. I need to take some pics of mine with a good camera as the cell phone pics don't do the paint justice. It makes the car look hazy but its not at all.

Anyway, Ill just get better the more I do stuff like this. Id like to see more pics of your car Ninjabones...

Gasser

No, not me. Mine was at TWS about a month and a half ago in the rain. Just did all this at night and a few weekends.