[slowTA]

After almost 2 years of body shop class (3 hours a week) the ugly thidgen is getting painted this week! I dropped it off with my body shop instructor today and he's taking it to his friends shop to go over all my prep work and shoot the colors. It's going to be a 'simple' 2 tone, Alloy on top (yes, a mustang color) and the bottom is a Mercedes black with an orange pin stripe in the middle. The black and alloy have a bunch of metallic flake in them.

In progress pics:
(IMG:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-KLGOjJHuYCY/SsQUHPVTMkI/AAAAAAAAAp0/vjU6e3IfQYY/s640/100_0789.JPG)
(IMG:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--bTfbRh2TTw/SsQUh6bgSaI/AAAAAAAAAqc/NZaLqf8VljM/s640/100_0798.JPG)
(IMG:https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pF_wd5M4LBM/S7u3CRON9tI/AAAAAAAAA5E/xjQtBmvKQa8/s720/4-3-10.jpg)
(IMG:https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z31Ea_0kFyc/S7ffEsYZRhI/AAAAAAAAA5U/UThhXMRZy3o/s640/IMG_0021.JPG)
(IMG:https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SMt8QlWQhaA/TA8MSFRNMUI/AAAAAAAAA9M/lVztcy6RpB8/s720/6-4-10.jpg)
(IMG:https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XZNnhBQMdT8/Thpi4PkLC1I/AAAAAAAABXE/j8v6POX3Duk/s800/2011-05-07_12-11-43_299.jpg)
(IMG:https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-y_Xd0tmy3F4/ThpaqhxFxgI/AAAAAAAABWo/l32eYT7myYo/s720/6-4-2011.jpg)
(IMG:https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zrhAFGBe7pU/Thpa7IQ4wJI/AAAAAAAABWs/k7SZ01-rSdo/s640/IMG_0606.JPG)
(IMG:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i7IaMPqD9O0/ThpeWMrFEoI/AAAAAAAABW8/NQaFXFgbxsk/s640/IMG_0603.JPG)

Obviously I kept it drivable during these 2 years, also used a bunch of time to fit the 315's and Unbalanced Torque Arm so that should explain why it took so long. I painted the bumper covers and headlight doors above, and yes it looks like the same color at a distance... without the stripe it might look like one big strand of carbon fiber. I should get it back either the end of this week or early next week, then I'll toss it back together and bring it to a friend for the pinstripe.

[slowTA]

Haha, that white dust is flake!!! The painter even commented that it was such a shock looking at the car in the shop vs. out in the sunlight. I'm sure the photographers will be out at the next event, hopefully it will be sunny. My new magnetic numbers are silver with an orange outline. That said, there is a fair amount of other junk in the paint that shouldn't be there, but I doubt many people besides me would notice.

The roof rail gaskets are glued into the metal frame. Once you destroy the gaskets getting them all out you might be able to see all the screws holding the metal frame to the body. Then once you get all the screws out which are mostly hidden beneath the glue (3 on the vertical part,*many* along the roof and A pillar) , you'll have to pry out the frames since they're also held in with double sided tape. It was easy enough to pry the frame away from the body working from one end to the other... but cleaning all the tape off of the frame wasn't fun. Let's not forget getting all of the glue out of the frames was a royal pain too.

I installed the driver side first... and screwed it up a little. Got glue on the outside of the gasket and took some rustoleum off the frame. I'll touch it up but it sucks that I learned on the driver side.

I bough the double sided tape and weatherstrip at Autozone, both are 3M and one package of tape was more than enough. The 3/4" wide tape was just about right.

You apply the black 3m weatherstrip adhesive to both parts and let it sit for 30 second to set up. I started in the top corner and found it was best to work down the vertical part and feed the outside edge in first then use a body shop spreader to press the back of the gasket into the frame. For the top part I think it worked best to feed the back in first then press the outside in with the spreader. I knew I would screw up the whole deal if I applied the glue in one shot, so I applied it as I went along. Then I went back and squirted a bunch in the corners. The tube of glue is still pretty full, I hope I used enough.

Today the window started squeaking really bad with the door open... so I'll grease the whole mess and hopefully it will go up better.

The hatch seal just slips over the pinch welds, I didn't even bother with the glue since the one I took out wasn't glued in either.

This post has been edited by slowTA: Jul 25 2011, 05:04 PM