Ish993

Damn that's gonna be pretty !

bella1

Phil advises against it in my case based on the primer and paint he uses is very flexible and resistant to dings. As I said earlier in this post, his BMW front bumper cover shows no dings with over four years of driving as it was prepared in a similar fashion. Still I may put a clear bra on anyway. But not for a few months.

swesna

That is looking very nice.

Knight

I just got my front end done and I'm doing the clear bra for sure, waiting for paint curing to be on safe side. If your drive lots of highways, attend driving tours and esp track days, the front end will be trashed pretty fast on a black car. If a garage queen with low miles annually that's a diff story.

They've come a long way from the earlier orange peel finish 3M days. All about the installer too!

http://www.xpel.ca/products/xpel_ult...ction_film.asp

bella1

Looks like another week! BUT I must say the work being done by Phil and Dave is exceptional. He is cutting no corners with wet sanding and three stages of polishing. My Iphone picture does not do the hood justice. Simply Amazing!

hkspwrsche

I agree the clear bra works and I've used it on an original paint car but if it's already been repainted I dont see the point. you can repaint it again if it were a problem. Staying off the highway helps.

Mike Andrews

I too like the before images :-)


I can only image how nice the after is gonna be. Nice job Alex, I'm glad you're taking good care of her.

bella1

Thanks for the comments Mike. It is definitely a lot of fun taking such a nice car and restoring the exterior to better than new. I love the car and hope to keep her for years to come.

Also I will take pictures of the repaint in the same spot as the before pictures and post side by side to see if it is a noticeable difference here.

bella1

I watched Phil insert the gasket this AM. He uses a teflon wedge to open the gap in the trunk area. He says you must remove the hood to properly insert the wedge. Then with soapy water and a rubber hammer, he gently taps the gasket into place. Of course, prior to that, he loosened that bolt!

bella1

Tomorrow Pick Up Day!!!

H.H.Chinn

When I had my SC repainted Pacific Blau, I had five coats of clear applied allowing enough material to take out any roll or peel. Your car will look great after it is blocked and polished!!

Malibu101

So have you picked up the car???

UserA

Why did you buy a US bumper set and have the bumperettes removed? Is that cheaper than buying a Euro one?

bella1

How about that! My progress is being watched around the world. Things always take longer and this is no exception. Some sunroof issues were handled Friday. The felt looks great but a special nut had been stripped previously so it had to be ordered. Saturday I worked along with Phil to put on the right side skirt and Phil put on the two rock guards. Today he and Dave were supposed to really attack the rest of the car and I have not called or visited so as to not cause any delay. I will stop in first thing tomorrow AM and now it looks like Wednesday at the earliest.

Be patient I keep telling myself!

12/18/2012 Today could be delivery day!

bella1

Well Phil had a used rear for $550 and already black with no damage and the front was $1100. I did not price a Euro nor did I try to find one. The rear metal bumper is a Euro rear as there is no place for the bumperettes to attach.