Here's the section I decided on removing.

I fit the new one and braced it. I had a little lerger gaps than I wanted, but that's what happens some times...

Got it all ground down, and filled in with filler.

Here is my dad helping with the filler. We had to use a little more than I thought, but it's still thinner than that section we took out.

Here's me grinding some welds down. It was cool to have someone else in the shop with me to take pics...

awsome job! i kinda wish i had a quarter to stick on mine, but i think ive finally got it all straightened out.

I spent all day sanding and blocking...and didn't take a single pic. I'm going to wait till Wednesday when it's warmer. I'll prime the whole thing on Wednesday, and spend thurs and fri wetsanding. HOPEFULLY I'll paint it next Saturday and then I can start putting humpty back together again...

Nice work, keep going!

Got that thing on the road yet?

Looks like a full weekend. It's cool seeing "Dad" helping you out.

Tell me about it...

The frustrating part is that it LOOKS THE SAME day after day. With the floors, there was visable progress all the time. If ALL GOES WELL I'll be on the road by the end of April. If I get it painted next weekend, it could be sooner. Then all I'm really doing to putting the weather stripping and seals back on and at least I'm driveable while I do the rest of the stuff.

I donno...I'll get there.

Looks great, keep up the great work.

Forgot to show a pic of the quarter I took off the junkster...

File this under 'You shoulda seen the OTHER guy!'

So I think I'm going to chicken out of painting it my self. I just spent the better part of 6 weeks stripping and doing body work. If I mess it up, I'll be back to square one. I'm going to go look at a few body shops today and see what I can come up with...

what kind of paint are you thinking of using? If its eurathane base/clear then i MAY be able to come up one weekend and spray it for you. Here is an s2 i sprayed for a buddy last summer, won first place in a concours the first show we went to. Mine is getting closer every day to paint, still have the ps door and all of the jambs to do, and trunks. Seems like every corner i sand i find some more surface rust to POR15 or another ding, knick or something to work on. I spent the better part of last nite grinding out the place were i welded my fenders in and rewelding over everything w/ the new welder to double check that nothing was going to come back on me... would have to be the 23-24th or 30-1st or anytime next month.

DAMN!

I was going to let your car be the test case Doug, and after you figured it out you could come down and paint mine

Seriously, I have a friend that owns a body shop down here. He painted my MGA. I did the same thing you're doing. Did all the body work up to primer and then turned it over to him. He does awesome work, but he is slow as hell on the non-collision work.

Maybe we can bribe Dan into a two-fer.

I got PPG Omni single-stage in Saturn Yellow. I bought all the stuff they guy said I needed. (The thinner, hardeners, filler, and everything else.)

If I can find someone local that I can drop it off, have them finish up any body work, and shoot it for $1,000ish, I'm just going to have them do it and get it over with. I'll either keep the paint till next time, or sell it to someone else that wants Saturn Yellow.

I'm like 99% sure that I am going to paint the car Signal Orange... was light Ivory.

I am going to do my own paint in the trunks, engine bay, interior and jambs. Probably let my buddy do the rest. Just not confident that I can lay down a paint job that I'd be proud of

I think I'm going to try the primer in the trunks and see how that all goes.

Maybe I'll wait a week and see if I can convince xsboost90 to come up and help me lay it down...

Ok...so here's tonights' installment. I talked to a half-dozen shops today, and the last guy told me "You've done all the hard stuff, now is the fun part. Go home, pick a quarter-panel and prime it. You'll see how easy it is..."

SO home I went to paint a quarter. Here's before...

And 20min later...

And 10min after that...I decided to keep going.

So I'm 1000% more confident that I'll be able to paint this thing on my own. I'l DEFINATELY going to need a second coat of primer. The guy at the shop told me to use a TINY bit of filler, and a rozor to fill the little-tiny holes I end up with. Then I'm going to hit the whole thing with 500-grit, and re-prime, then 500 again, and see what kind of trouble I can get into with Paint in the gun!

Last pic....here's where the side-light used to be. I NEVER thought it'd look this good....

I'M EXCITED AGAIN!

Nice Work!!!

Do you have a close-up picture of how the texture turned out on your interior? I may be going that route too, but I don't want too much texture.

what kind of primer are you using? I would hit it w/ some black spray can and mist it on, then block the whole car back down to find any hidden wobbles w/ some 220-320 paper. Then reprime, fix any wobbles of couse first, and wetsand w/ some 500 and its ready for paint.

It's pretty bumpy...I wouldn't want to crawl around without knee-pads on. I'm greatfull that I'm putting carpet in.

If you spray it on, it'll be less course. I'm also going to put another coat on, and was THINKING of priming/painting over it.

QUOTE (xsboost90 @ Apr 7 2005, 09:42 PM)

what kind of primer are you using? I would hit it w/ some black spray can and mist it on, then block the whole car back down to find any hidden wobbles w/ some 220-320 paper. Then reprime, fix any wobbles of couse first, and wetsand w/ some 500 and its ready for paint.

PPG K36. Urathane 'high-fill' primer. I can't tell you how well it did because it's the first time I've ever sprayed anything.

Yup...that's the next step. I'm going to finish up some stuff I found on the drivers side tomorrow, and then prime the whole thing. THEN I'll do another guide coat and block it, prime it again, and start all over again.

I'm thinking I'll have 2-3 coats of primer on this thing. There are a lot of little scratches showing through.

QUOTE (CptTripps @ Apr 7 2005, 05:02 PM)

So I'm 1000% more confident that I'll be able to paint this thing on my own. I'l DEFINATELY going to need a second coat of primer. The guy at the shop told me to use a TINY bit of filler, and a rozor to fill the little-tiny holes I end up with. Then I'm going to hit the whole thing with 500-grit, and re-prime, then 500 again, and see what kind of trouble I can get into with Paint in the gun!

Nice job. One piece of info, if you have a lot of pinholes to top off a good glazing putty will work better than regular filler. If you decide to get a glazing putty, get a quality two part like the regular filler, not the tube you " squeeze and apply" Those one part glazing putties will pop loose and can bleed through your sealer coat. Keep up the good werk, and go have a beer on me

QUOTE (scotty b @ Apr 7 2005, 10:09 PM)

Keep up the good werk, and go have a beer on me

I don't drink, but I appreciate the offer!

I feel a lot better about the whole thing. I found it was much easier than I thought it would be. I guess I just worked myself up about the whole thing.

I have 3 guns. The smallest was VERY easy to use. It's an 8oz Gravity Feed gun. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens when I use PAINT!

Right on Doug, you are doing great. Seeing your hard work is giving me a little confidence to get moving on the white car. It's funny that I have most all the same tools (paint guns etc.) I see in your picutres. HF, it can be a disease..

i am now truly motivated

Doug,
That looks real darn good. Stay the course, you have it licked now. That baby is going to be done before you know it. You will be able to look back on this experience and take some pride in knowing you did it yourself. I wished you were closer, I'd jump in there with you. To help you stay motivated . Goodness knows I know what it is like to work night after night to nothing but the sound of the oldies on the radio. Thinking damn this is a lot of work, I must have lost my mind in starting this....

I didn't have the nerve to tackle the bodywork, so I stuck with what I know. Keep it up bud, I see things are starting to take shape quickly. So give yourself a pat on the back.. and do like I do, nail the ice tea ( I don't drink either) and keep plugging away.

There is nothing that I've done to my car that made me feel better than the day I painted it myself. Talk about personel satifaction. It gives you a HUGE boost to keep going.


It looks great!

Paul

sounds like your headed in the right direction, and doing a good job too! Mine will be ready for paint, i just seem to have alot more little dings and stuff than i thought...ill need to hold you off a week or two if im gonna win this whole race thing.

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys...

I've got a LOT more little waves and stuff to concor. Seems like every time I turn around, I'm mixing up more filler. I've been through an entire gallon already. Granted, I put about half of that in a spor that I ended up trashing.

The day my Dad was here, I got a TON done...goes a lot quicker when you have someone else in there with you. Maybe I'l get some people to give me a hand with a thing or two on Sunday after were done killing the junkster.

I haven't been back to the garage since I shot the primer last night. Let's go see if I mixed everything right...and dried correctly!

i am speechless.

Your speed is incredible. Wish i am as fast as you.

QUOTE (michelko @ Apr 8 2005, 06:48 AM)

i am speechless. Your speed is incredible. Wish i am as fast as you.

You are kicking my ass Doug! I thought I was donig pretty well getting my 914 done. Man! You are a work-a-holic! I can't wait to see this 914 in a finished coat.

Done a few cars myself. Remember, thin coats when you get to the color stage. Primer you can slather on. Paint you can't. Might take a third coat before the color actually covers everthing. 1st, light dusting, 2nd, you start to see the color, 3rd more color, 4th or 5th or 6th how ever far you go, the build up of the color. You can lay the 3rd and later coats on heavier than the first.

Some paint jobs I have done rocked, other sucked. Trail and error for me. It is messy though.

Doug, this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and look through your progress. This is some great work, going all the way back to the beginning. Take your time on the block sanding. Get a damp sponge and good light and keep tweaking those panels until they're straight. You'll be proud of the results when you're all done. Keep up the good work!

doing a great job man!! keep it up!!

I went to go take pics, and the camera was NOWHERE to be found...o-well. Here's what I did tonight.

I put filler in every single little nick I could find.

I POR-15'd the inside of both doors.

I POR-15'd the channels in the front and rear trunks.

Now I need to find the F%$king camera! Tomorrow I finish up the bodywork and put the second coat of primer on the whole thing.

Guys...it's starting to look like a CLEAN car again! It is amazing how much better I feel having primer on it. The fact that it's at least one, light, solid color really helps with the mental aspects of working on a car.

Pics tomorrow!

SWEET! You're pace is crazy. . . look forward to new pics.

"I went to go take pics, and the camera was NOWHERE to be found...o-well. Here's what I did tonight...."

Doug, you'd loose your dog if she weren't fenced in, or something like that...Any thoughts on your side lights?
Thanks for the tips on sanders and seat ejection, retraction. Whatever

I knew where it was. Angie had it...Found my wallet too!

I don't like the side-lights. I'm half-thinking that I'll try Saab side-markers behind the front wheels. I donno though...

Seats are easy once you have done it once....I can yank mine in about 10min now.

Ok..NOW were cooking with gas! Angie sent me to the garage to work on the car tonight...I'd been bitching that I felt like I had no modivation. So she did dishes while I went out to work...great wife!

Anywho...got the whole shebang in primer. THAT feels a lot better!

Here's how she sat about 2hrs ago...

And here we are now...

I re-built most of this fender, and I think it looks great now...still needs a little work though.

In my tests, this primer sticks REAL well to the Herculiner. so we're at least going to prime it. One more layer of protection.

So now I'm modivated again...I'll come home early tomorrow and start sanding everything down real nice and working out the waves. I'll prima again and again till I get it right. I MAY be able to paint her before I leave for WCC next Friday!

Doug - Making great progress. Looking good! Enjoyed following the progress. Give me a call next week when you are digging in - would love to come by and get an education on what to look for! Thanks again for the PPI on the 914 in Lorain. Are you still debating on picking it up? Has some good things about it, but the structural rust scares me.

Let me know if I can help you out on anything?

Yeah, if I buy that car, it'll be for the interior. That's about all that's good on it. The front-trunk floor was real nice too, but that's about it. He'll never sell that car to anyone BUT a 914 guy, and we'll never pay mare than $500 for it. For your first 914, that is NOT a good car.

Come on over any time. I'll be working on it all weekend. LOTS of body work to finish up.