Garrett Powered Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 whats up guys, got an update on my winter car progress. over the year of 2008 I have been working to get my backup ride into shape. I bought it a few years ago as a project and it was a non runner for $500. I have done all the work myself besides a few things. I did have a rack and pinion installed by a trusted mechanic and struts and an alignment. most recent work has been smaller starter, coil packs, 2 gauge battery cables. then it got parked in the shop for the rest of the summer til now THE UNVEILING!!! this first pic is after a high build primer I had to use because of all the paint was peeling off and the base coat was exposed and flaking off. It got 3 coats of that and probably 12 or more hours put together of solid non stop sanding. the sanding is not over ugh... the clear went on all dry. I had some spray gun problems so I had to re-clear it. mask it off one more time. note: the fog lights are in there this time, all wet sanded with 1000 grit. this time got a nice wet looking finish for the most part. I also sent a turbo off to get upgraded by Turbo v-sick(props) and here is a pick of that, next to a stock turbo: now its technically a T-28 oldschool disco-potato with a 360 degree thrust bearing and gapless oil-seal. Thanks Adam, It was good doing business with you!! Video of it running. listen for the new starter... also check out my nos (new old stock) floormats from an unknown 1990 pontiac. you will see quite a few new things about this car actually. when I post more pics of the red tails and glass headlights, and re-cleared fog light lenses. that one really dry looking spot in the vid when the reflection of me blurs out as I am walking there, I have started to cut and buff that area today and it looks much better. but here is a few more pics of the raw uncut paint in the sun. I just got a pack of really good 3M 1500 grit paper and a bottle of perfect it and a few foam pads for my porter cable buffer. so I will post more pics when I am done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted To Boost Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Gorgeous.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 thanks. it has some runs but they might sand out. that last pic there's a drip like 3 inches long dead in the middle of the door. hard to make out as bright as it is. good to hear though because thats my first time painting a car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 How much was it for the disco potato upgrade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake91 Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 That paint looks phenomenal!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 And that car's going to be your WINTER car. FAIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 FAIL!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 FTMFW!!! id DD a viper in the winter if i could Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareGMFan Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I hate. Really I do. No, seriously. I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 BWAHhahahahahahw! whats really FAIL! about all this is that now I want to paint my sub 100k summer car now. and its still really in good shape. This car is only the winter car because theres no AC. nice That paint looks phenomenal!!! Thanks! It only cost me $200 at API it was U-tech brand base and clear. used a whole gallon of the 4.0 high solids clearcoat. azko-nobel makes U-tech and Sikkens I think. we'll see how it holds up. How much was it for the disco potato upgrade? I sent him a low mileage good working turbo with a good center section and it was I think $750? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted2bass Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Lookin good Rick! I wish i had a TGP as a winter car. Then again with the amount of snow we get here and the large amounts of salt they dump on the roads im kinda glad i dont. Was there a big difference in the upgraded turbo? A bigger turbo is on the to do list for my car. Its wayyyy down on the list but its on there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 we will see I guess. I just swapped chips with the red car and now the initial 200 mile break in period is over. so now we will see the initial gains from switching to the top gun 160 chip. more boost. the stock chip feels like stock power just a lot smoother. not the more fuel/ power feeling you get with Jeff's much more updated tune. the stock chip is great for the break in period because it limits boost to 9 psi. and keeps the turbo at lower rpms. I am anxious to see if I can beat the 6.6 0-60 time I had with the red car. this car has a bigger turbo and lighter seats but I do not want to push it till it breaks, I still have to get the 3" exhaust on it and tweak the chip. I have a PP2 chip burner and a laptop with tunerpro and hooked up with aldl cable to my car and ready to datalog and burn files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Nice work for a first paint job. Did you paint the car with all the cladding installed or did you remove it and paint it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 I did not remove all the cladding but the front fenders had to be messed with and would not fit down snug so the bumper was flush. I had pro car body experts come check it out and nobody could get it to line up right. you will still walk around this car and see flaws and signs of age but one things for sure, there is no sign of rust what so ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Excellent job!!! Wanna paint my car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo v-sick Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 WOW, looks good Rick. I remember my first paint job, 1970 Chevelle SS, Looked really good from 20 feet or sooo but up close it sucked... I hope you enjoy the turbo, It was a pleasure doing business with you.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted October 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 Adam, we will be doing business much more in the near future hopefully. as long as you keep hooking me up with the bomb deals! thanks for all the helpful tips with the paint job btw. Excellent job!!! Wanna paint my car? bring it over, I will give you a quote! Nah, just kidding the neighbors would kill me. actually I am still laying low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra32 Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 Nah, just kidding the neighbors would kill me. actually I am still laying low. Nice paint job! Thats funny about the laying low, I was just gonna spray bomb my car in the lot across the street, lol. The beauty of West Philadelphia. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=39.963031,-75.196652&spn=0.000732,0.001207&t=h&z=20&msid=106301775666092176459.00045b20d986ec9313414 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 Excellent job!!! Wanna paint my car? bring it over, I will give you a quote! Nah, just kidding the neighbors would kill me. actually I am still laying low. when you stop laying low, let me know... part of my car is a faded red and (when im done anyway) some of its black, I want it all black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted November 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 I was not serious, I can not paint others cars in my driveway legally for a living even if I had the time to, and you actually drove your car to Oregon. I am sorry, but I am an amateur painter anyway and if I do it too much I will probably have the fire department down here giving me a ticket or some shit. I really don't know and don't want to find out what the fine will be. I actually did a search online to see if its against the law and couldn't find anything about it. Its illegal in other parts of the world, like Australia, but hopefully the environmentalists don't decide there is a need to crack down on DIY car painters around here. but I had to get permission from the neighbors and wait until their kids were at school and during a weekday early in the day but not a holiday and take weather conditions into consideration. I only do it as a hobby for personal use only. I might do one paint job a year and a few smaller repairs and thats about it. It's awesome to know I have the knowledge and equipment to do a couple repairs once in a while and get away with it. I would certainly recommend others to try it for themselves if they think they want to get all the stuff to do so. I haven't spent even close to 2 grand on all the equipment I got and I could paint another car next summer if I went down and spent another $200 on more paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 Oh ok... Can you pm me the tools you used, paint you used and approximate cost (optional)? That would help me out a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 My 60 gallon upright compressor from harbor fright cost me $350. Its a Rockworth with a 3hp motor I think. I had to pay an electrician to wire it in to a 220v circuit and that was $150. I got RV parking at my house which is basically a concrete slab on the side of the house where I got my $250 Costco steel frame tarp shelter/canopy I use for my paintbooth/shop. I had a big gate built there to block off the view from the neighbors and people driving by. then set up a 1000 watt bulb with ballast so I could see what I am doing. I bought a bunch of air tools at harbor freight for cheap and a few air hoses and couplers.You want at least one of the goodyear 50 footers for spraying so you can go all the way around the car and they are more flexible so they don't coil up on you as bad. grinders and air ratchets and 6" DA sander and 220 grit 50 count spool of the stick on paper circles, a professional air/water/oil separator/regulator (the big blue one about the size of a 40oz beer bottle). other supplies needed like bondo glass, Rage body filler, lots of other sandpaper, blocks, wax and grease remover and other solvents like laquer thinner. and also a box of 50 disposable BLACK nitrile gloves that harbor freight just got in, they are the most chemical resistant of the disposable and will hold up much better than the blue ones. all this stuff will be around 3-4 hundred approx. then at the paint store here (API) I spent $20 on a 3-M disposable resperater. I think the U-tech high build primer was like $100 if I remember right for a gallon+ the activator, a Finex paint gun was on sale for $100 but it wasn't even an HPLV it was just a conventional style. you could pay 2-3 hundred on a gun no problem. I might get a better one, but this one got me by and was cheap and better than harbor fright had. then the paint was another $200 for the color base+reducer, activator,clear, activator. all U-tech brand urethane paint. same style of paint that comes on super expensive paint jobs and that came on TGPs from the factory. they used my factory paint code when they went back to mix it up. after I finally got all the clear sprayed on it was not all that smooth, so I have to cut and buff the whole thing so I went back and got a big pack of 1500 grit 3-M paper and a bottle of 3-M perfect it II for dark finishes and I had a porter cable multi-speed polisher I bought a long time ago for $60 used. so all that stuff cost me $160 total to take off the orange peel and have a mirror finish. so add that all up and you come up with around $1600-$1900 depending on how much you spend on a good HPLV. you would have to try really hard to spend more than that honestly, but it could be done obviously if you wanted to maybe rent out a real paint booth or hire out some help. you could buy more expensive paint if you want also, but I would not recommend doing that until after you got at least one paint job for practice so you don't waste it messing up on something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 wow... thats alot of money (for me at least)... i gotta shop quote at 4k which was way to high... 2k is alot more reasonable... i know someone with alot of that equipment so maybe i can pay him to do it. thanks for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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