dang

Ask if some if the back fees can be reduced.  They don't do it like they used to but when I registered my '51 GMC it had years of back fees.  I asked if anything could be done and the supervisor took off $350 worth, leaving $200.  Never hurts to ask (politely).  It's been stored in a garage the whole time, never on the street, yada yada.

1 hour ago, TobyB said:

 

Me too.

 

It's good to admit it sometimes, tho.

 

hee

 

t

it smells pretty awful too, on occasion.

But it feels awesome when you're temporarily not full of shit.

Wow, this thread went down hill fast...

48 minutes ago, tech71 said:

The only way that is possible is if you don’t factor in the man hours spent on prep/repairs and maybe have primer laying around from previous projects.

For most people time is money, certainly is for me?

I'm not a painter, I just shoot some paint on cars every once and awhile.  When I go to the paint stores I always talk with the painters in line and pick their brains.  I also have a very good friend who's been painting professionally for over 30 years so I bounce stuff off him all the time.  Sometimes it goes on awesome, sometimes not so much, but I expect to put extra time in the "clean up" to make it look good.

I buy Pro Spray clear by the gallon for around $210 and PCL hi-fill polyester primer by the gallon for around $110.  They both last me for several cars.  Base varies obviously.  The single-stage I used for the E3 is Lucid Technologies Northstar 777.  I like the way it sprays and based on how these older cars get used it should last a long time.

Based on most of my projects I'm worth about $1.12/hr.  8-)

2 hours ago, TobyB said:

Ok, unless that's RustOleum, or 1985 dollars, I call bullshit. 

You left off a zero.

$220 doesn't buy more than a single quart

of anything in a half- decent auto paint.  Including primer.

Yes, I'm full of shit.  I forgot.

I disagree with some of the comments here about paint quality and cost.  There are plenty of mid to higher quality "production" paints that will work just fine for our application.  The first thing to remember is, 2002's are rarely used like "production" vehicles, or never see the same amount of ultra-violets that daily drivers see.  I use single-stage for cars that came that way from the factory.  My '69 2800 (E3) cost me around $220 in paint plus supplies (Chamonix).  There's no reason the paint shouldn't last 20 years based on how much it will be getting used.  I've also painted family and friend's vehicles with mid-range two-stage paints, which means the clear coat is good quality (Pro Spray), and they've all held up very good being used as daily drivers.  Several paint jobs are about 8-10 years old.

Extra time spent on prep, making sure you follow mixtures and application correctly and you can paint your own car for under $1000.

Are you looking for an estimate to help with your negotiation?  I wouldn't count on it helping much.  Also, your location can factor into the cost.

Although I doubt yours is a major problem, we got in a Mercedes to our yard one time that the owner said had a bad head gasket.  We cranked it over and the filler cap blew off, put a dent in the hood and flew about 50 feet.  We were lucky no one was standing in it's path.

My guess is cylinder pressure over an explosion. 

2 hours ago, gary32 said:

The GTR owner was 36 years my junior but he knew my car was a 2002 he just had a much different perception.

When I drive a 2002 people smile and check it out at the gas station and in parking lots.  When I drive my coupe people say, "Hey, is that a Corvair?".

3 hours ago, AustrianVespaGuy said:

Don't recall seeing any Boras out camping though, ever!

Funny you say that.  When we camped at the Historics at Laguna Seca in 2017 there was a Father/Son camping below us in a Bora and a late-model Maserati.

Supercar's are born supercars.  They don't become supercars.

Edit:  IMO

While dealing with the starter make sure the positive cable doesn't show signs of corrosion (swelling).  High resistance in the wires can sometimes make a starter seem bad but it's an easy fix since you're already in there.

If you're set on a turbo setup I'd pull all the tii specific parts out of the engine compartment and put them in storage, build a different M10 for a turbo, do the conversion without cutting any sheet metal, have fun for a while, realize you shouldn't have changed a nice tii, then put everything back.

I'd stay away from Acetone.  Since it's "new" it seems logical that it would take more effort/time.  Be patient, you'll be looking at that spot for years to come.  8-)

I moved my next project to my shop.  '73 tii Golf/Black.

The E3 is getting really close to being on the road so I've moved the next project down to the shop.  '73 tii in Golf/Black.

Got enough together to start driving the car but it runs like crap.  WAY too lean so I have some work to do...

My daughter made a video of the current progress...

More sanding and cutting.  I'll put the decklid and hood on the car to do the finish polishing.

Painted.  I'm shooting single stage paint and I think it may have been the reason I had a problem with the second coat.  The first coat went on great and laid down flat, then I waited 20-25 minutes and started the second coat and something was wrong with the gun.  It acted like there was a blockage and it wasn't flowing right, like the vent hole was plugged and forming a vacuum in the cup.  It wasn't, but I had a full cup of paint with hardener so I slowed way down and tried to make it work.  The second coat went on really rough and I had a few choice words for it, so I cleaned the gun really quick before the next coat and it went on fine but couldn't make up for the second coat well enough to fix it.  The damage was done, so I added hours of sanding because of it.

Here's a few photos.  The first show the "rough" paint.  The last photo shows the fender sanded and cut.  I'm almost done with the sanding and first pass cutting so I'll get more photos soon.

BTW, some of the weather seals are no longer available for this car so I decided to spend more time masking and left everything in place.  I have to keep reminding myself what this car is and how I plan on using it.

This is why I guide coat when blocking.  I worked on this fender for hours trying to get it straight and completely missed a dent on the top next to the hood.  This would've been really obvious and disappointing if I hadn't caught it.  I'm sure there will be little dings here and there that I miss but the guide coat has found quite a few so far.

Primer on.  Guide coat each panel and final sanding next.  I'm REALLY looking forward to getting paint on this car.

Working on the nose of the car now. In the past I've had good luck using a roller to add texture to rockers and nose valances so I decided to try it again on this car (yeah I know they have spray texture). All I had was a foam roller, and as it turned out it added a very mild texture compared to using the polyester rollers that are thicker and "grab" the paint more to create a "thicker" look. I'm using a two-part polyester primer surfacer so it's really hard once it sets up. I may go back over it with a thicker roller, not sure yet. I had a little extra paint left over so I went over some areas that need to block sanded. I think using a foam roller to cover bare metal after welding or sander would work well and be easy. Here's a few pics..

Painted the top side of the hood and decklid this weekend.  Wet sanded the decklid and did one pass with cutting compound.  I'll finish the rest on the car.