Make over time

[ttypewhite]

Thanks guys, I hope I don't let you down because this should be interesting.... Really don't know where to start, but this weekend I'll take a stab at it. If I can't get it back to the way it was.... the motor is coming out and I will power wash everything, paint some things and detail it back to life and put the heart back in.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

the motor is coming out and I will power wash everything, paint some things and detail it back to life and put the heart back in.

Oh man. I feel your pain.

Pulling my engine is exactly what I had to do the last time and every time my car has been at a body shop. No matter what you do, you just cant clean well enough to get the black components to pop like they did before. Wheel wells, frame, fire wall, cowl, radiator support, engine cradle.....it all needs to be painted again. Plastic needs to be soaped up and rinsed over and over. Polished aluminum needs to rinsed before you touch it or the paint dust will put micro scratches in it. While the engine was out, I had to brighten up everything. I used artists brushes to paint the block and also to soap up to clean in all those nooks around the intake and front cover.

 

[TurboTGuy]

Oh man. I feel your pain.

Pulling my engine is exactly what I had to do the last time and every time my car has been at a body shop. No matter what you do, you just cant clean well enough to get the black components to pop like they did before. Wheel wells, frame, fire wall, cowl, radiator support, engine cradle.....it all needs to be painted again. Plastic needs to be soaped up and rinsed over and over. Polished aluminum needs to rinsed before you touch it or the paint dust will put micro scratches in it. While the engine was out, I had to brighten up everything. I used artists brushes to paint the block and also to soap up to clean in all those nooks around the intake and front cover.

Pretty little nooks and crannies........

 

[ttypewhite]

This weekend I started on the floors first so I could experiment on what works and what doesn't before I tackle the engine compartment. I hope to never do this again. I made a mess of my garage, my lift, my clothes and tools. i tried compressed air first. That didn't do much. So I used a multi purpose cleaner called Simply Orange that I picked up at the Dollar Store. Works great. I started off by doing sections first. Gas tank to diff, Diff to tranny, and tranny to the front of the car. I soaked it down for 15min and pulled out a micro fiber cloth and started scrubbing anything that I can see and reach. After doing that I soaked it down again and let it sit. Then brought out my pressure washer and blasted it, and dried it the best I could with compressed air before wiping it down with a micro fiber cloth again. Overall I am extremely pleased and have a good idea on how I am going to do the engine compartment. Once it was all dry I started sanding down the frame and started painting it Satin black, along with some Never Dull on my exhaust. The undercarriage never looked this good before. So after 15 hours and 2 days, this is the end result.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

This weekend I started on the floors first so I could experiment on what works and what doesn't before I tackle the engine compartment. I hope to never do this again. I made a mess of my garage, my lift, my clothes and tools. i tried compressed air first. That didn't do much. So I used a multi purpose cleaner called Simply Orange that I picked up at the Dollar Store. Works great. I started off by doing sections first. Gas tank to diff, Diff to tranny, and tranny to the front of the car. I soaked it down for 15min and pulled out a micro fiber cloth and started scrubbing anything that I can see and reach. After doing that I soaked it down again and let it sit. Then brought out my pressure washer and blasted it, and dried it the best I could with compressed air before wiping it down with a micro fiber cloth again. Overall I am extremely pleased and have a good idea on how I am going to do the engine compartment. Once it was all dry I started sanding down the frame and started painting it Satin black, along with some Never Dull on my exhaust. The undercarriage never looked this good before. So after 15 hours and 2 days, this is the end result.

BEFORE

AFTER

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Man! I swear you and I must share the same brain. But don't be offended. I think you use the larger share of it.

Looking at this, it feels like I'm watching a re-run of my life's events. I've done this SO many times over the years. But unfortunately I've have had to this on my back with the car on jack-stands. On a few occasions, I have used J. Cottons lift when I was up at his shop having some other work done. Usually Brian yells at me to get the hell out of his way while he's doing the other work. But when I have done this, I was soaking wet, covered in grime, and flakes of old paint, spray paint all over my face, cuts and scrapes all over my hands trying to get up and reach and squeeze my hands into tight places. I've used soaped up paint brushes, mineral spirits, and brake clean. And cardboard to mask while I was spraying paint.

This is why I fear auto-body shops so much. I don't think I can do this again. But I don't see how I would be able to go on living knowing it wasn't this good.

 

[ttypewhite]

Keep in mind that my car was there for 2 months.... I was told from the bodyshop that they weren't overly busy, so now would be a good time to get this done. If I stripped the car, I could save them a lot of work and get this done in a 2 week window. So I did that and brought it to him when he said he wanted it, and just my luck it snows and a bunch of cars come in through insurance jobs and delays my project. Sucks, but I totally understand. You can't sacrifice your bread and butter on my account. So what you see is a accumulation over a 2 month time span. Keep in mind it was under a car cover too when they were not touching it. Seems like the cover did nothing. But nonetheless it is what it is. I ain't gonna whine about it, cause that serves me no purpose. It's a project that I will put in whatever time is necessary to get this car looking the way I want it to. I'm not going to rush it just to get it back on the road. I have written this year off and vowed to do everything right this time around.
So Joey if your just going in for a door to be cleaned up, I can't see your car coming out this filthy. Push comes to shove, take the door off and give it to them. Keeps your car out of harms while also keeping your sanity. lol

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

So Joey if your just going in for a door to be cleaned up, I can't see your car coming out this filthy. Push comes to shove, take the door off and give it to them. Keeps your car out of harms while also keeping your sanity.

Yep. I thought about doing it this way. I may shoot for this next winter.

What is that orange canister/filter you got going on behind you driver's floor pan?

 

[ttypewhite]

It's a Fram fuel filter.

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

You’re doing a fantastic job cleaning that beast!
Out of curiosity what muffler is that in the cat location?

 

[ttypewhite]

Thank you. My wannabe catalytic converter is a Dynomax Race Bullet muffler. lol

 

[ttypewhite]

Finally a beautiful day weather wise, so I decided to tackle this engine compartment. Treated it exactly like I did with the floors, then used the Mother's polish on all the aluminum and Never Dull on the exhaust. Put about a good 6 hours into this one and it saved me from pulling the engine. Now I have to mask, prep and paint the inner fenders black to really get the engine compartment to pop.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

Finally a beautiful day weather wise, so I decided to tackle this engine compartment. Treated it exactly like I did with the floors, then used the Mother's polish on all the aluminum and Never Dull on the exhaust. Put about a good 6 hours into this one and it saved me from pulling the engine. Now I have to mask, prep and paint the inner fenders black to really get the engine compartment to pop.

View attachment 354619View attachment 354619View attachment 354620View attachment 354621

You know it looks good!

BTW, I was cleaning my interior the other day. I vacuumed the shit out of it. And just today I went for a ride with my blond better half. After that, I spent a few minutes picking lint and blond hairs off my seats. And you happened to pop into my mind. Boy oh boy. Your going to have your hands full trying to keep a black interior clean. Feel my pain brother!

 

[V6sleeper]

Really Really nice, is that Bowling Green plenum chrome dipped or high polished?

 

[ttypewhite]

Really Really nice, is that Bowling Green plenum chrome dipped or high polished?

Thank you, Yes it is a Bowling Green plenum chrome dipped. Bought it used in the late 90's and I am assuming the guy I bought it from did that.

 

[ttypewhite]

Boy oh boy. Your going to have your hands full trying to keep a black interior clean. Feel my pain brother!

I'm no stranger to hard work... Majority of the time it's just me in it and I'm always cleaning the car, so I'm not in the slightest bit worried. I have had lots of all black interiors before. Besides, I have no blonds. Lol all the ladies in the house have black hair.

 

[KC87]

You know it looks good!

BTW, I was cleaning my interior the other day. I vacuumed the shit out of it. And just today I went for a ride with my blond better half. After that, I spent a few minutes picking lint and blond hairs off my seats. And you happened to pop into my mind. Boy oh boy. Your going to have your hands full trying to keep a black interior clean. Feel my pain brother!

LOL, a lot better than pulling it out of your roast beef sandwich. Yeah, the car does look immaculate but I was thinking his car looked pretty darn good before the cleaning. That's one area where leather has it all over with cloth.

 

[ttypewhite]

Spent the last 2 days stripping and prepping my wheel wells for paint. Bodyshop sprayed white inside them in some areas. So I stripped and cleaned the fronts first because it was the easiest job with minimal prep and clean. Then tackled the back where I stripped 30 years of rubber from burnouts etc. That in itself filled a grocery bag, I was shocked to see how much rubber was left in there. After I painted the wheel wells black again, I sanded and painted the frame satin black like the rest of it that I painted before when I did the floors. Very pleased with the way that it came out. So I mounted back my GNX flares and put back on my rims and rubber, and boy does it ever pop now.

 

[ttypewhite]

Put on my spoiler and the deck lid on the trunk tonight. Slowly it's starting to look like a car again.

View attachment

 

[grass doctor]

sharp....

 

[Stevezx900]

I see we have the same ceiling issues.