[Broadfield]

Originally Posted by KiLLeR2001

Can you go over the step by step process of preparing the exterior body for paint? I would like to take my time and do all the body prep work myself. And when I'm content with my work, I will take it somewhere that can professionally paint it for me. A list of all the supplies and products that are needed would be most helpful. Thanks in advance!

Well... body work, paint work, interior upholstery work, engine work etc. are not my profession. So there will be more qualified people to ask I'm sure. However, everything I do I try to do at a professional level. So take what I say as a really good guide, but not the be-all-end-all of advice. I posted a nice little list on Damon's thread since so many people were asking. This was for the engine bay, but prep will be the same no matter what metal it is on the car. Quoted myself below:

"Seam sealer is basically the last thing you do before base coat.

Since a lot of people seem to be asking, in simplistic terms, it breaks down like this:

• Make sure bay is completely de-greased.
• Do all of your welding, grinding etc.
• If you are not removing all of the paint in the bay, scuff the entire bay or area to be painted with a red scuff pad. This will insure that you don't miss any spots to be scuffed later.
• Bare metal(if applying filler on bare metal, sand the metal with 80 grit or lower first) NOTE, a good rule of thumb: filler should never have a finished thickness of more than the thickness of a dime. If so, you need to do some more metal work before the filler. Obviously if you did grinding on the area, then it is ready for filler, as you most likely hit it with 36 grit or lower.
• Apply filler on bare metal if needed. Filler should never go over paint, primer etc.... only bare metal.
• Blend filler into surrounding metal by starting with 80 grit.
• Once the filler is rough sanded, then you will start feathering in the surrounding metal/original paint if present by stepping through the various grits until you finish the entire bay with 220 grit. Use a red scuff pad for any areas that are ultra contoured or hard to get to.
• So to say it again, the entire bay needs to be finished with 220grit/red scuff pad at this point.
• Use etch primer on all bare metal.... use a couple coats or whatever the particular instructions recommend.
• Sand the entire bay with 320 grit and red scuff pad. If you accidentally sand through the etch primer down to bare metal, then simply spot it in with etch primer and 320 it again. There should be NO bare metal at this point.
• Now it's ready for primer... real primer out of a gun. It will be the same basic color as what your base coat color is going to be. You can also easily do this in your garage as primer can be sprayed at a very low pressure minimizing overspray.
• Use a guide coat and sand the entire bay with 500 grit and grey scuff pad in the difficult areas. I wet sanded with 500 grit to prevent clogging of the paper.
• On the areas that are not going to be seen, like on top of the cowl where the black plastic panel goes, just scuff it with the grey scuff pad.
• NOTE: make sure everywhere that is going to get paint is scuffed with the grey pad. Otherwise paint may not stick properly.
• Seam seal the areas that need it.
• Use a grey scuff pad and scuff the seam sealer.
• Now it's ready for the body shop if you are having them do the final sealer/base/clear.
• If not you will use a paint sealer on the bay, then base and finally clear.

NOTE: I did not list ultra specifics like wiping down the bay with a cleaner before the main primer etc. Or proper sanding techniques and so on. Complete books are written on this type of thing, so I'm obviously not getting too detailed in this post. If you have any questions please let me know. My bay turned out phenomenal so I know these techniques are up to my standards. The bay will obviously need to be wiped down and tack ragged before the final paint also. So there are a lot of little things besides what I listed. But if you are having a body shop do the final paint work then they will take care of this."

Originally Posted by dkim1985

do you have any recommendations on how to restore torn vinyl?
on my s13 door, the lining of the vinyl where the main cloth piece is has torn a bit.
i want to take off the cloth and just leave it black but in doing that, the torn part will definitely be visible..

Post a pic of it please.

Originally Posted by biggie

It would have to be under the hood where the P/N was jumped or reverse lights were wired to work with the MT I guess, if there is nothing to the AT shifter.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to try a few avenues first. Hope to find someone local that installs them to do a little side work.

Good luck with it man!

Originally Posted by Nicelyphe

Is the Stock fuel sender able to be calibrated or anything? Ever since I installed a fuel tank into my hatch the first half of the tank goes like water, then the 2nd half takes awhile to get to "E" [On my gauge] Could this be fuel sender related?

You will want to check the operation of the float in the tank.

Originally Posted by hpipro4

this questions goes with painting plastic interior pieces.

are you using anykind of adhesion promoter on plastic interior pieces like the s13 cluster bezel? or just scuff and bomb with sem color coat?

SEM makes a plastic adhesion promoter, but I do not use it. I have had zero issues on the hundreds of plastic items I have painted. Keep in mind though, the SEM Color Coat line basically has a promoter built into it. Color Coat is engineered to be used on plastics etc. I do recommend using Maxx Solv or similar to wipe the plastic down. Then scuff with a gray scuff pad. After scuffing, blow it off really well with an air hose blow gun... then toss your color of choice on it.

Originally Posted by hpipro4

whats that black glue your using on the s13 bezel?

thanks a bunch!

Yes, this is what I'm talking about... this thread is already becoming useful: Check post #21 in this thread!

Originally Posted by Promise Land

Taken from CamryOnBronze's thread...

Are you Doing anything different on an S14 door panel than what you have done on the S13 doors? I am not sure if I should try to peel the cloth off or go over it with new material since the S14 isn't concave.

Since you have 3 degrees, have you ever thought about pursuing anything full-time with any of them? I'm always looking for talent at our factory in MS. You'd be an interesting talent to have around.

If the piece you are wrapping is not concave then it will be cake. You may even be able to get by with good spray adhesive out of a can. I have never wrapped the insert from an S14, but I'm pretty sure it's removable if I remember correctly. I think it may just be plastic welded to the door card. If that's the case, you grind the top of the weld off and remove the insert. You then wrap it, which will be really easy at this point. Then simply re-melt the insert back on. Feel free to post a picture of the back of the door card and I can let you know.

As for my degrees, I went to school to become an engineer. However, I realized that any sort of desk job might not challenge me in the way I like to be challenged. So I stuck with what I love... car audio. Low and behold I'm making clusters and whatnot now, in addition to the audio stuff I have always done. Why, do you have a janitor job open for me or something? But in all seriousness, I appreciate the offer. I actually saved your PM from Nico about it just in case I need/want a career change in the future. Out of curiosity, what type of position would you want me to fill?