Will Thomas 93 BPT-Tuning

[Will Thomas]

Well, I expected to make progress and I did. I finished repairing the largest dents and masked her up with some fashonable "Scottish" wrapping paper and blew on the first two coats, about 12 cans of Wal-Mart 99 cent flat black. I then drove her until this morning when I sprayed the next 12 cans on to get it even. The first 12 cans are to cover the white and absorb into the primer where the bodywork was. When it is cured very well, the car is re-masked and scrubbed with green scotch brite. I apply many dry coats from about 24" to get an even coverage that shines silver in the light. If I decide to repaint the car at anytime, it takes about 3 hours and costs me right at $20 with tape and paper. Unfortunately, we had a wet snow from 7Am until about 4pm, so all I have is pics of new paint beading water. I let it dry in the warm garage for 5 hours before unmasking, assembling and bringing her out into the weather.












Wal-Mart paint @ 96 cents a can.



Love the Scottish masking paper!



Finished






Steam coming off the hood in the 33 degree weather. The hood will steam for hours when it's this cold even though the car never heats the water and the turbo is allowed to cool for two minutes at idle before shutoff.



Last night I cranked the boost back up to 14PSI and I am enjoying my HP fix! We treated Beast to a new set of wiper blades and a wide band O2 sensor today and went crusing for a couple hours. My wide band O2 guage still isn't working though and now I need to trace wires to see if I screwed up something when I was cleaning up the engine harness. The car is running fantastically and the highlight of every day is blasting the country roads to and from work .

[Mooneggs]

looks like it turned out good! Seems like it always rains the days when I apply a fresh coat of Moonwax®

I thought for a second you had something custom done to your GS spoiler then I realized it was a chubby riding lawnmower wheel

Do you have any more pics of the rear bumper?

[Will Thomas]

looks like it turned out good! Seems like it always rains the days when I apply a fresh coat of Moonwax®

I thought for a second you had something custom done to your GS spoiler then I realized it was a chubby riding lawnmower wheel

Do you have any more pics of the rear bumper?

I will take some snaps for you, but it's just a cut up stock bumper. I am planning on replacing it when I return from vacation

[Sleeper6]

Looking good! Guess I will have to primer mine white then instead of black so it set apart. Btw you up for meeting out at the logcabin this summer time to time?

[IMACHU2]

Festive masking paper and my favorite color, nice work.

[mikeinaus]

lol that actually turned out pretty good for 99 cent spray paint. i wonder how much better it will hold up compared to flat black primer...

[Will Thomas]

lol that actually turned out pretty good for 99 cent spray paint. i wonder how much better it will hold up compared to flat black primer...

I have a G-20 that is mostly painted with Rustoleum black primer and it fades and stains. My civic has had this same black paint on it for over 6 months and it holds up great. The key is to prep the surface (use a DA sander and knock the shine out of the old paint) and don't paint over grease or dirt. Spray bomb is spray bomb in my opinion and is not really durable, but cheap to do.


Sleeper, If you are talking about parts raids, I'm in. I will be back from vacation on the 16th. Stop by and see me and Rynn, you know where we work. I will be having a swap the Infinitis party early May if you would like to join in. Basically, you swap a little wrench time for a T-Bone steak and beer Oh, and anytime you are up for a flat wax job, let me know and I will help...lol. White might be cool, they have it at Wally World, but it is $1.02 a can...haa haa

[Will Thomas]

Shots of the bumper for Moon and some pics of the car when it's dry out. It is a bit dirty now, but the light is good to see the even ness of the paint job.



This shot is for Moon. Just a cut up rear end.



another



and another




looks nice and even down the side (the paint that is. Needs 2K primer, block sand, guide coat and bodywork to make perfect)



looking good and yes, thats an Angry Bird hanging from the mirror.



I feel like I am whoring out my car, but I like looking at her.

When I get back from vacation, I will be replacing the front passenger knuckle, wheel bearing and ball joint. Then if all goes as planned, I will be installing a GS rear subframe with disk brakes. Next is the rear bumper and exhaust. I have a line on two pristine rear bumpers locally for like $25. For the exhaust, I am using a Vibrant 3" aluminum race muffler with 3" aluminum tubing all the way up to the downpipe. I need to tackle the MegaSquirt as well, but am stalling on that one at the moment because I don't want a PNP unit for a turbo BP. I want to make my own harness and do something different with the intake (plentum).

OH! Can someone help me find a MS front bumper????? Fiberglass, carbon fiber or whatever. I love the look and have to have one

[Sleeper6]

Nice work on the paint again, I think if you evenld out the rear bumper it could look really good that way. I plan on putting the 90s era vents in mine. Also if you still need to pick up a knuckle let me know and we can drag my spare out of hiding and strip it down. I actually have to leave to pa for the weekend of the 14th but Ill be free after that.

[Will Thomas]

Nice work on the paint again, I think if you evenld out the rear bumper it could look really good that way. I plan on putting the 90s era vents in mine. Also if you still need to pick up a knuckle let me know and we can drag my spare out of hiding and strip it down. I actually have to leave to pa for the weekend of the 14th but Ill be free after that.

I have the Knucke, still need the rear subframe. When we both get back, I have transport arranged VIA flatbed. We can have it delivered to my house and strip it. Best part is that I have 2 scrap yards within 3 miles of my house so we can ship the bones off. If you need a place to store the trans, I can help with that also. Heck, I have space for all the small stuff we can pull off that could possibly break on our cars. I just found out what the logcabin is. My day off is wednesday (go figure). I will represent and decimate all who cross my path...LMAO. Subies are slow!
I was thinking of making a diffuser out of aluminum for that void in the middle, but the bumper has some creases I don't think I can get out. I would want to run the exhaust out the center also. That would require cutting out the spare tire well. Hmm, not a big deal, but I would end up cutting another bumper. But, have you seen the new Hyundai Veloster? the Rear end on that car is sexy. Center exhaust with twin tips. I really want to do it. Regardless, I need a cleaner bumper. At any rate, lets strip and scrap so you you will have better access to the parts and I can get my rear disks...lol.

[mikeinaus]

wow that paint looks good. it looks alot more uniform then the typical flat black, it almost looks as good as vinyl wrap...

[Will Thomas]

wow that paint looks good. it looks alot more uniform then the typical flat black, it almost looks as good as vinyl wrap...

You need a thick coat of flat black on the car and it needs to cure for a week or so. Then you scuff it up with a green scotch brite. Mask and shoot.
For the first coat (painting over the white) I unload a dozen cans of flat black on the car in one coat. (no runs please). For the second coat, it changes to 4 coats with the same 12 cans. Since you have a base color down, you are not concerned with coverage. Hold the can 24 inches away from the car and work your way around the car from bumper to bumper (in other words, right front to left front) in a continual motion for about 4 coats (12 cans). Don't try to cover or you will have shiny spots. The cost is 24 cans @ 96 cents each, 4 rolls masking tape and a couple rolls wrapping paper. Total: appx. $40. It lasts also. Well, for at least 6 months. You can do this outside also, but not if it's hotter than about 50 degrees out. I did the second phase at 35 degrees because it goes on dry and as you come around a second time the spray actually blows off any trash that landed in the previous coat. But, the paint is still soft enough that the following coat MELTS into the previous one. It ends up looking pearlish in that when the light hits a curve, it looks silver.

[mikeinaus]

interesting... im wanting to do something with my cars paint but i cant afford to get it professionally done and im worried about ruining it. its a shame the oem silver colour is so hard to find(and expensive), especially in spray cans.

[Will Thomas]

interesting... im wanting to do something with my cars paint but i cant afford to get it professionally done and im worried about ruining it. its a shame the oem silver colour is so hard to find(and expensive), especially in spray cans.

You can't duplicate a factory finish with a can. Shiny does not work with a can. You need to use a paint that cures with a catylist and not with air drying. Spray bomb will just not cure properly. Thats why we do flat and primer.

[AaronTietje]

Prep work is everything. The paint looks great.