Build thread - new paint and body for 220K mile SC400
#18
Lead Lap
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Well, progress has been made but it's not all on the car. It's toward the car, just not on it. Since my garage is such a ****show, I've had to do a ton of work on it to be able to make forward progress on the car. I've been insulating and painting the OSB walls in chunks as I go around, which means rearranging all the crap and then moving it back, etc.
Last weekend I pulled down a section of wall in order to wire in a 240v outlet. Here is the result.
6.5hp, 2-stage, 80gal, flows 16.9 SCFM @ 90psi and 16.0 SCFM @ 175psi. My father in law passed away on Christmas Day last year so we've been slowly accumulating his lifetime's worth of tools, including this compressor. I'd rather have had him still around and bought my own compressor, but as that is not an option I'm still thankful for the tools. This thing will come in super handy for painting the car, as well as running air tools and all kinds of stuff around the place.
The only progress on the car itself is that it's been almost completely sanded with 80grit and I got a front bumper cover. Turns out that www.oemlexusparts.com is about fifteen minutes from my last jobsite, so I ordered it from them and only paid $433 after tax. All I need now is sideskirts and door moldings and I'll be set. Hoping to pick up a DA sander and some 220grit pads and start getting the car a little more ready for primer. I'd like to spray primer in a couple of weeks and then really start making progress.
Last weekend I pulled down a section of wall in order to wire in a 240v outlet. Here is the result.
6.5hp, 2-stage, 80gal, flows 16.9 SCFM @ 90psi and 16.0 SCFM @ 175psi. My father in law passed away on Christmas Day last year so we've been slowly accumulating his lifetime's worth of tools, including this compressor. I'd rather have had him still around and bought my own compressor, but as that is not an option I'm still thankful for the tools. This thing will come in super handy for painting the car, as well as running air tools and all kinds of stuff around the place.
The only progress on the car itself is that it's been almost completely sanded with 80grit and I got a front bumper cover. Turns out that www.oemlexusparts.com is about fifteen minutes from my last jobsite, so I ordered it from them and only paid $433 after tax. All I need now is sideskirts and door moldings and I'll be set. Hoping to pick up a DA sander and some 220grit pads and start getting the car a little more ready for primer. I'd like to spray primer in a couple of weeks and then really start making progress.
#22
Lead Lap
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Been a while since my last update. I have been making progress, but it's mostly just been sanding so no real visible changes. I've been focusing on getting an air drying system set up so I don't get moisture in my paint. Picked up a desiccant dryer off Craigslist, put a particulate filter after that, and I have a disposable inline dryer at the gun (borrowed Sharpe Titanium T1), and I live in dry Colorado, so I think I'll be okay. Once I got that setup dialed in, I shifted focus back to the car and devoted most of last weekend to making progress.
Wheels on for the first time in six months or more:
Pulled it outside for a little hose action to get residual road mud out of the wheelwells:
This floor hasn't been this empty and clean in a loooooong time:
Installed some lighting I got for free. Commercial lighting but 120v = awesome.
Had the ladder outside and couldn't resist a picture:
The results of the new lighting:
Even more stripped....
Bits and pieces:
Masking begins:
I think I'll pull the hood this weekend and strip it, either with a grinder or aircraft stripper. It just has too many little rock chips and dings to fix, and a lot of the paint has tiny cracks as well. Being that it's a couple acres of hood area that will show any mistakes like a neon sign, I think it's better to just strip it and start "fresh".
I'm also planning to shave my antenna hole and roll my fenders while I'm unpainted. I just know that as soon as I put the car back together, I'll really want to roll my fenders and get rid of that unsightly antenna, so I figure I'll do it now and just forget about it. Buddy of a buddy has a fender roller so I hope I can borrow it for a 12-pack and do that this weekend as well. If I can get plastic hung up in the garage and find suitable fans, I'm hoping to spray at least the SPI epoxy primer next weekend.
Wheels on for the first time in six months or more:
Pulled it outside for a little hose action to get residual road mud out of the wheelwells:
This floor hasn't been this empty and clean in a loooooong time:
Installed some lighting I got for free. Commercial lighting but 120v = awesome.
Had the ladder outside and couldn't resist a picture:
The results of the new lighting:
Even more stripped....
Bits and pieces:
Masking begins:
I think I'll pull the hood this weekend and strip it, either with a grinder or aircraft stripper. It just has too many little rock chips and dings to fix, and a lot of the paint has tiny cracks as well. Being that it's a couple acres of hood area that will show any mistakes like a neon sign, I think it's better to just strip it and start "fresh".
I'm also planning to shave my antenna hole and roll my fenders while I'm unpainted. I just know that as soon as I put the car back together, I'll really want to roll my fenders and get rid of that unsightly antenna, so I figure I'll do it now and just forget about it. Buddy of a buddy has a fender roller so I hope I can borrow it for a 12-pack and do that this weekend as well. If I can get plastic hung up in the garage and find suitable fans, I'm hoping to spray at least the SPI epoxy primer next weekend.
#24
Lexus Test Driver
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yea i was about to say... remove the antenna hole... i want to do that to mine. i think it will look clean... fyi the window strip antennas u put on the inside of ur car work great. just get it from a car audio place so u get a good quality one that will have legit recption.
coming along great.
coming along great.
#25
1JZ Single SC400
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Now this is work in progress. A lot of things going on at the same time. My original paint still looks good, but in certain lights it looks kinda yelowish, due to the age of it. Its nearly twenty year old paint. These are threads that makes the forums worth logging in and checking out.
#26
Mortgage Slave
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Lead Lap
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So I decided to shave my antenna hole. I was hung over for the better part of today, but I got after it this afternoon and got it almost done.
The donor for the patch sheetmetal (my old driver door):
The patch:
Holding itself in with tight fitment:
Paint ground/sanded off:
Masked so I didn't torch the rest of my quarter panel:
Tacked all around:
Quick video of a tack weld. It was raining hard outside when I shot this so that's the background noise.
View My Video
Done up - no more hole!
Ground down:
Dolphin Glaze:
I know the welds look kinda lousy, but it's a 110v flux core welder so it off-gasses and spatters quite a bit. The foil tape actually helped a lot in keeping nastiness off the rest of the quarter, although it did leave some melted residue that I had to get off with rubbing alcohol. I kinda gooped on the filler with the full expectation that most of it will become dust tomorrow. Hopefully it's not too hard to keep the curvature of the panel - I think my long Durablock will make short work of it. I'll probably do a quick wipedown of the inside and slap a little seam sealer on it and forget about it, and I don't anticipate any future issues with it.
The other thing I got done today was the removal of the screws and inserts from the fender lips. I'm picking up my buddy's fender roller tomorrow morning and hoping to get that job done tomorrow so I can mask the wheelwells.
Lots of screws and inserts:
That solves the question of whether or not to keep the fender strips.
Hopefully more pics tomorrow, with bodywork results on the shave and some rolled fender action.
The donor for the patch sheetmetal (my old driver door):
The patch:
Holding itself in with tight fitment:
Paint ground/sanded off:
Masked so I didn't torch the rest of my quarter panel:
Tacked all around:
Quick video of a tack weld. It was raining hard outside when I shot this so that's the background noise.
View My Video
Done up - no more hole!
Ground down:
Dolphin Glaze:
I know the welds look kinda lousy, but it's a 110v flux core welder so it off-gasses and spatters quite a bit. The foil tape actually helped a lot in keeping nastiness off the rest of the quarter, although it did leave some melted residue that I had to get off with rubbing alcohol. I kinda gooped on the filler with the full expectation that most of it will become dust tomorrow. Hopefully it's not too hard to keep the curvature of the panel - I think my long Durablock will make short work of it. I'll probably do a quick wipedown of the inside and slap a little seam sealer on it and forget about it, and I don't anticipate any future issues with it.
The other thing I got done today was the removal of the screws and inserts from the fender lips. I'm picking up my buddy's fender roller tomorrow morning and hoping to get that job done tomorrow so I can mask the wheelwells.
Lots of screws and inserts:
That solves the question of whether or not to keep the fender strips.
Hopefully more pics tomorrow, with bodywork results on the shave and some rolled fender action.