Return to Home Page

PART 2: Reversing 30 years of nature's evil plan.

9/2007: A shot of Botox Time to get the color right. Talked to a Mexican guy, recommended by another Mexican friend of mine, in Buford Highway that is the mack at painting cars and wanted too much money to strip, prime, sand, paint, and clear the entire car. He works in the back of Ralley Auto Sales and does great quality work. The quoted price was including the door jambs, inside door panel, trunk space and engine compartment. To me in sounded too high so I asked for a lower price but we were not able to agree on a final price. Let's go to Plan B: I know the manager at a local Maaco. Talked to the guys at Maaco of Doraville and we agreed on the process. This is the best Maaco in town because is in Mechanicsville and surrounded by competing body shops. Every time I drove around the place I noticed guys sanding the hell out of old cars. That gave me a good feeling of the amount of body work and time they are putting into cars. Anybody can spray a car but not many take time to do body work. I stopped on day and began talking to the guys in Spanish. The work they produced looked very high quality. Saw a couple of completed cars and the job looked very expensive. Wanted to give it a shot even with the horror stories about Maaco on the Web. Asked for the work to be done on stages so I could approve it before moving to the next process. First strip the entire exterior and I would stop by and check it before continuing. Called other shops for estimates, including other area Maacos, and they quoted higher than Ali (Doraville's manager), so let the work begin. Gave the car to Ali already stripped of all hardware. The only thing they had to tape were the headlights and windshield frame. This makes for a more professional result and also cheaper for me.
9/2007: Strip for a living Today, I went to check out the progress on my car. The two guys working on it were Hispanics so they let me into the back of the shop to see the car. They also told me that they removed a bunch of layers of bondo and paint but the body was straight with no wrecks or dents. Red paint, bondo, primer, blue paint, bondo, primer...all gone. I heard it in Spanish: "Tiene mucho bondo, senor" and English: "A lot of bondo, sir". Great to know two languages in ever-changing Atlanta. Took a look at the metal and it looked very clean and smooth. All the surface rust was gone and no holes in the metal. Very glad with the progress. Ali came out and told me the same about the layers of bondo. Asked me to stop by in two days to see the final product and discuss how to proceed. Trying to keep costs down but now there is no turning back. The entire thing needs to be finished with a good base paint and clear. Began looking for paint color options. I know it will be red but not sure the actual color code. I recently saw a red Honda S2000 and it rocked. The Honda red color is called 'New Formula Red.'
9/2007: The Fender Dilemma So I went back to the shop today and found it in bare naked condition. All the bondo was gone and the entire thing stripped to metal. The entire body looked very good, straight and clean. For a 30 year old car, I was expecting a lot of hidden damage, old wrecks and rust all over the place. No signs of any problems except the rear passenger fender arch. It had three very old rust holes. Now I have a decision to make, do I change the entire back fender with a used one after we strip it, replace the arch, or cut out the rusted areas and weld new metal. Since the rust damage looks old and it is concentrated to one particular area, I think we will replace the arch. 97% of the rear fender is in very good condition. Also the internal (tire) side of the part is strong, good, and clean. You can see from the photo that all other fenders are in great condition. Not sure what caused the damage to the rear one. Talked to the guy that is going to paint the car and he is excited about the project. He was talking to me like it was his own car. I know he gets bored fixing Honda bumpers every day, so a project car is what he needed to get creative again. He assured me that the car was "going to be the $h!t" when he is done with it. Gave him a $20 tip as well to the guy who is going to fix all the small dents and sand the thing. I think it will be money well spent.
9/2007: eBay Addiction eBay is great for a project car but it sucks for your bank account. From the day I started this project, I have noticed that I have less money for food and shelter but more for cool parts. The people at Publix miss me but PayPal is making a killing from my addiction. No need for crack when you have a 30 year old car. Got a new dash, stereo, door handles, T-bar bumpers, Abarth rear bumpers, mahogany steering wheel and hub, speakers, wheel caps, boots... Too much stuff. I feel like I need some kind of intervention were friends cry to get me into a rehab center in Arizona.
10/2007: Bionic car parts I was able to find the rear fender wheel arches from Bayless in Marietta. The place is nice and out of the way but the lady there was very helpful. Even living just 20 minutes away, I have to place my order via Website or FAX but I can pick it up and save myself some delivery dollars. Got two replacement fender arches but only need the rear right. The other will go on eBay or Craigslist soon. There is nothing like nice shinny metal for the project. Welding begins tomorrow. I have to do a walk around the entire car to see what other minor details I want fixed. I was planning on using Abarth bumpers but the look is too common now. The last issue of International Auto shows a 'sick' front of a Spider with VW T-bars. Looks awesome so now I am adjusting the plan to fit them. Found some new ones on eBay for a couple of dollars. The best buy of the whole project.
10/2007: Fancy Fender Top Photo: The body guy cut the old rusted fender wheel arch and welded the new part from Bayless. Didn't have to use that much Bondo and then primed the part. Looks very smooth and nice. Next step is to prime the whole car and then for the final step: paint. Bottom Photo: After checking out the car, I went to check out the Italina Car Day. A lot of nice Fiats, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lambo, Lancia... Come some nice 124s but none the look better than mine will eventually look like. My plan was to have the car ready for the show but I wanted to take my time and do it right. Hope for next years' show.
10/2007: Not that red or that red, but this red. So how many reds are there? A heck of a lot!! I looked at book after book of reds and it is not easy finding one that I liked. Of course, Ferrari red is the default color but to me it looks too orange. My neighbor has an awesome looking red Ferrari. On a non-Ferrari car, the red is not strong for my taste. Before I get angry emails, I know that Fiat owns a large share of Ferrari and they are both linked by decades of design. I drove around and looked at red cars. The Pontiac Solstice, Mazda RX8, Chevy Aero and Ferrari were the 4 reds that made the final cut. Took my list to the shop and began looking at the books, walking outside to see it under natural light, compared tones, asked the other guys... Final answer: Mazda RX8 Velocity Red Mica Tricoat. Ali gave me a tour of the two-car painting booth and oven. Saw a 2008 Camry coming out and it looked very nice even with the mid-priced package. Mine is the highest-level advertised package, I think they call it 'Signature.' Base coat and clear. Mine will have three coats of clear so I can wetsand later. Glass baby, glass.
10/2007: Let's get baked. The car is in the middle of the paint booth and about to be moved to the oven. The finish looks very smooth and clean. Was not able to find any overspray. Great, clean job. The red looks nice but I can not get the real tone until I move the car outside under natural light.