paint day

Today was paint day.....primer and first paint coat.



Far from finished with the paint since this is the first few coats which will be sanded down before I start the roll on method giving me a good base to start and at the same time going over the areas where the roll cant go.

Weird to finally see my car in one color..lol...

little video walk around:

sanding...sanding and more sanding ...

Finished up the sideskirts and rear bump.... I got some serious respect for bodywork professionals...amazing the amount of work.



I'm no professional its my first time doing this... so there will be lots of flaws but its ok It will have to do for now.... When I buy my next E30 (convertible) I will have learned a lot so my skills will only improve.



Bumper almost done... I just have to make the bumper supports



Cant wait to get past the bondo and primer stage... I like painting and polishing a lot more...lol..

E30 Timeline and Car Appraisal appointment made

Well its official I made an appointment with Gary from "AAS Auto Appraisal Services" for May 30 to get my car appraised.

Gary is based in Ottawa and has over 30 years of experience he will put a honest and fair value on my car for me and the Insurance.

Gary can be contacted here: http://www.aas-auto-appraisal.com/

So with that being said I built a small very quick timeline of what is left to do on my E30 sure I miss a few things here and there but these are mostly the big items...

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E30 project timeline

--- 27 Mars - 2 Avril --- DONE

1-Finish Sanding sideskirts / Primer
2-Finish Fixing and Sanding Rear bumper and mirrors / Primer
3-Finish Sanding car spots / Primer
4- Spray 3-4 Coats (1 coat every 30 minutes) gloss tremclad black (CAR/Sideskirts/Back Bumper/mirrors)
**Then let dry 2 days**
-Install hood,Sideskirts/Glue/




---- 3 Avril - 9 Avril ----

@front bumper/valence and Backbumper custom mounts
1- Wetsand 400 grid(CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit
2- Start roll up Tremclad/MS (3 coats) dry 9 hours appart

3- Wetsand 400 grid(CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit
4- Roll paint (3 coats) dry 9 hours appart

5- Wetsand 800 (CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit
6- Roll paint (3 coats) dry 9 hours appart




--- 10 Avril - 16 Avril ---

7- Wetsand 800 (CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit
8- Roll paint (3 coats) dry 9 hours appart

9- Wetsand 1000 (CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit
10- Roll paint (3 coats) dry 9 hours appart

11- Wetsand 1000 (CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit
12- Roll paint (3 coats) dry 9 hours appart

13- final wetsand 2000 (CAR/Sideskirts/Back front Bumper) clean with mineral spirit

-Compound/Polish (CAR/Sideskirts/Back Bumper, front bumper)


16 Avril - 30 Avril

- 16 april -Steve is coming over to help Remove Subframe/diff/driveshaft
- Clean up rear wheel wells
- Paint rear wheel wells and car floor
- Clean up/rust remove/paint rear subframe/diff/driveshaft
- Install all bushings on subframe



1 May - 7 May

- Clean up trunk /paint
- Install Subframe/new suspension springs/shocks
-Install Radio/Amp/Speakers/Wires custom 6x9 speakers
-Fix passenger door motor
-remove window tint
-Install Lights front / back/sidemarkers (make some transparent)
-Install rear window seal
- ** 7 May ** Father In law bmw 335i (compound/Polish / wax)


8 May - 14 May
- Brakes Install front/rear/handbrake hardware
- Fix/install Sunroof


15 May - 29 May

- Raise front Seats/rubber 1/2" , Fix RPM/mpg gauge
- FINAL fixes, touch ups , cleanup inside, outside re-polish and (Wax), detail wheels/tires


30 May

- Gary from "AAS Appraisals" 10:00 A.M


31 May
- Insurance documents and coverage
- Ontario Safety Check/wheel alignement/Alarm install and Plates

2 June

-Goal accomplished drink lots of beer and celebrate my 27 birthday :) LOL I mean 37 :(

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Fingers crossed...forward we go!!

and more primer...

yesterday afternoon I had 2 hours free... so I got busy with some more sanding and primer...



Painted and polished my front bumper and valence(finished meshing the holes).....



rear done...finishing the sanding on the shaved moldings..



...



Getting there...



Also got to finish the sideskirts...no more fake ferrari



DARK VADER!!! LOL... full suit and mask is a MUST!!



To those curious about with what paint am going to use... since my budget is very very limited and I want to keep this car rust free and protected with no more winters (4-5 years) until I get enough money and time to get a proper Epoxy primer/2 stage paint.

For now I'm going to use good old Acrylic Enamel /Tremclad Gloss black just like the famous mopar roll on paint : http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1 and cars back in the day.

Difference with what am doing is before I start the roll on method ...Im spraying enamel primer and spraying enamel paint for the first few coats..wetsanding..then going with a mix of enamel and mineral spirit just like I did my hood, trunk and sunroof which turned out really good... considering the money I spend is half of what I would of paid in just the taxes on a 3-4000$ pro paint job ..the paint is not perfect but who can argue the bang for the buck :)


Still have to finish my back bumper...Paint day is coming soon!!

one side done....first primer..

one side done....first primer.. checking to see if all is well sanded as I shaved the moldings... (what a pain in the $#@$@#%$@%) well worth it I think.



tomorrow I will sand the other side and hopefully prime as well and get her ready for first few layers of paint so I can start wet sanding...

Bodywork...

Bodywork time .... Looks like I will be painting before attacking the rear subframe... 2 weeks I should have the car all painted and assembled



Meshed the holes on the IS front valence



Primer...



A bit of Memory lane....here are some pics of the car before.... I kept the pics that the owner had when he sold me the car...






With approx 9 weeks before my goal to finish the car I need to order the last OEM parts for the rear subframe while I sand and paint... and call a automobile Appraiser so I can give the insurance a value on it.

hood paint and trunk finished.... and a little short vid of my car running with my temp exhaust...

Here are a couple of shots of my finished hood and trunk... paint is not perfect but what paint is?!? I'm happy with the results...its very addicting painting, so I may continue and finish the front end.... or maybe just attack the rear sub/suspension now..!! I still have April and May to reach my goal of June 2th.

sorry for the blurry pics...my camera is outdated..I need a new one.








Before the red german flag stripe there is a semi-gloss black stripe you can only really see it in person..






and a little video of what the paint looks like in a more live format and the car running with my temp exhaust (big exhaust leak)...lol...

A little engine work and A little paint....

A little engine work....

Last torque of the head bolts, coolant system is bled 100%...I learned a lot on how to bleed the M20 coolant system with a M42 Radiator :)

I am very happy with how the engine sounds, It sounds very strong!



A little paint...

Before I attack the rear suspension.... I decided to do a little painting as a little break :)

After a lot of time practicing my painting technique.... I think I got it right.

Made the holes on the trunk and primed the spoiler ready for paint and install.



I also want to make it a little special not just all gloss black... but the german flag as an accent... tomorrow I will add the last stripe (semi-gloss black) to contrast the gloss black of the hood. Wetsanding with 1000 grit, compound+polish the german flag will blend in with the hood.

My paint shop...lol...