Diaries of the Noob Mechanic: Fuzzydunlop's '85 MR2

[Eli]

Just do it in the winter when it's 20 degrees and you'll be fine.

I've not used the products mentioned, but acetone would still be my immediate choice. Just have to know how to work with it.

 

[Black2na]

wow your performing alot of unneeded steps in your repair process wasting time money and materials. if you want feel free to either email me and i can help you out a bit or find me on AIM. i own my shop so i have an idea whats going on there

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

wow your performing alot of unneeded steps in your repair process wasting time money and materials. if you want feel free to either email me and i can help you out a bit or find me on AIM. i own my shop so i have an idea whats going on there

I PM'ed you. Im wary about using anything made by AOL.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

It has been ten days, time for an update.
After hours of working on the quarter panel trying to get Shaker can paint to look good I got frustrated. It just looked like shit, was uneven, and the cans always spattered at random times which would make a mess. I gave up.
SO...
I bought an air compressor, its small, but puts out about 4.8cfm at 40psi which is enough to run a cheap paint gun that I have bought. Its ultra quiet too so it can run all it wants and not be a bother.

With a some tips from Black2NA I have been practicing my painting skills and managed to get a few fairly clean and even coats of primer onto the hood. Its smooth as silk even before I start to sand it down.
I wish I had a better camera to give you a better look at it, but no dice.

Today I got home from work and spent the evening tearing down my car. I was amazed at how much I actually accomplished in just a few hours. Pretty much down to skeleton besides the doors. Tomorrow Ill start just sanding the crap out of everything. Ill need to do some more welding in a couple of spots in order to fix rust problems, but after looking closely at it tonight it looks they wont be a problem.

I feel like Dexter.

So, now, lol, I need to decided on a color! I was thinking of a Gun Metal looks similar to this

"Sparkling Silver" from Nissan
IF you want to see more pics of that 2, check out this thread...
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?9110-Terjen-s-MK1-MR2&
What do you think?

 

[jlee]

Nice progress - good luck! I like the color, but keep in mind you'll have mismatching colors in the engine bay/etc if you don't go with the same color it is now.

I found an exhaust leak on mine - thought I fixed it yesterday but it was somewhere else (turbo adapter, not turbo/downpipe). That'll keep me busy for a few hours.

 

[Zargon]

goddamn fuzzy I quick scrolled the page first and though you had painted the car and gotten new wheels already :awe:


thats a good looking color!

mazda has a similar flaked gunmetal they did on the first gens of mazda2s thats awesome too

 

[bbs lm-r]

Just read your whole thread...

Epicness: that is all.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Just read your whole thread...

Epicness: that is all.

thank you!
My sanding time was cut short tonight. Sander bought the farm. I will buy a new (better) one tomorrow and continue.
Oh well, no better excuse to sit on my ass and play World of Tanks, am i right?

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

goddamn fuzzy I quick scrolled the page first and though you had painted the car and gotten new wheels already :awe:


thats a good looking color!

mazda has a similar flaked gunmetal they did on the first gens of mazda2s thats awesome too

Ya, i like the color alot. I like the contrast is gives from one plain to the next.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Nearly have the entire car sanded down now. Just need to do some minor fabbing on it. Today besides sanding I also took off the rubber trim from the side of the car. Looks much more clean and less 1985 now. I also removed the antenna from the roof because I never listen to music while driving this car (mostly because it doesnt have a stereo) and the radio stations around here suck. I hated the location of the antenna, so off it came. Heres how.

Hole left by antenna mount. Cut a piece of 18guage to match.

Laid tape down to avoid any splatter if it did happen (it didnt). and tack welded in corners. I would blow the tack with compressed air immediately after in order to prevent too much heat from building up.

That outa do

Ground it down smooth with an angle grinder: again being careful not to let it get too hot

Some sloppily laid bondo

Sanded down and smooth as a babies bottom

EDIT: in hindsight I probably should have primered then bondo'ed?
Thoughts?

 

[JCH13]

AFAIK bondo (epoxy) likes bare metal to adhere to.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I know all this body work stuff is probably boring as hell, but its necesary.
Today I cut out a major section of rust infront of the rear passenger wheel and welded in a new section. Halfway thru I was like, "what the eff am I doing, this looks like hell."
But in the end, I dont think it came out too badly. Much better than what was there originaly. The only reason I quit working today is that I looked at my arms and realized how bad of a sunburn I have gotten.
As before, pictures tell a thousand words.

Forgot to take a before pic, but this is the rusted piece I cut out. The sideskirts are supposed to be screwed onto this piece, but wouldnt hold due to the amount of rust (zip ties were temporarilly holding it in place). So I fabbed a new piece to sorta match what should have been there.

I fabbed and welded in a part of the arch and sills as well. A previous owner had done a mickey mouse repair with some kitty hair bondo. All better now.

End result

not so pretty, but much better (and stronger) than what was originaly there. Most of the work will be hidden by the side skirts anyways.

 

[Black2na]

body work is looking good and your fine with the bondo the way it is

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Yesterday my spray gun plugged up and wasted about 1/4 can of primer. Was pretty pissed cuz the store I bought the primer from is closed till monday. but it gave me the perfect excuse to put the car back together and cruise around. Been jonesing to drive it since I tore it down. Only took me about 1:15 to put it back together. I think its looking better already. just wish I could have gotten one coat on the bumpers. Oh well.

A shot from the side to show off the wheel well arch I rebuilt. Good enough for the girls I go for.

I also am going to paint the plastic piece between the taillights because I think it makes the ass end look at little more wider and modern.

I have to do a little work to get the front facia to fit better. Its not stock but I dont mind the look when the side skirts are attached. Right now without the side skirts it looks a kinda silly

Also, note that I stripped off the rubber from the doors and quarter panels. A little less 80`s.

Basically Im just taking a combination of things that I have seen other guys do with their twos and applying them to mine. So far Im happy with the results.

Goal for this week: get the car completely primered and sanded smooth and prepped for paint. Also talk to a guy I know who says he can match paint and get some "Sparkling Silver".

And Jlee, ya Im aware of the mismatched colors thing, that is why Im sticking with a silver color so that it wont be as noticable (maybe). See what happens. I`m still excited to see the results.
Special thank you to Black2na for the tips. Ill be PMing you again shortly.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

July 4.
Today I did two things at once. I removed the tail lights and smoked them using VHT Nite Shade. and while I waited for the layers to dry I sanded down the car for the next coat of primer.
Heres how the tail lights turned out.

1. washed with TSP
2. wet sanded 600 grit
3. taped

4. two light layers of VHT (three is recommended but i didnt want to go too dark).
5. 4 layers of clear coat
6. wet sanded with 2000grit
7. some polish compound

A little photo shop of another dudes car gives me an visualization of what exactly I am aiming for.

Probably sacrilege amongst the MK1 MR2 fans, but I kinda like it.
Edit: this is just way too much fun.

 

[Zargon]

you should come to IL and fix the rust on my jeep

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Wow, how'd I miss this thread? Awesome job dude.
I just spent the last 2 hours reading this and Jlee's thread. Sweet awesome.. I need moar updates!!

 

[Black2na]

if you go with that darker Charcoal the lights will looks really good like that! or if you desire a good inexpensive update is the 87+ tailights does wonders for the MKI. also probly should have mentioned with the 2k primer you cant leave in the gun for more then an hour or so ask you paint store about "POT LIFE" what that is. is how long you can leave it before it starts to harden up on you. or else it will harden in the gun and Be a wicked PITA to clean. sorry i didnt mention that earlier. Laquier thinner works great for cleaning it up once your done spraying for the time being. and ill be here with any questions!

 

[spinn360]

Fuzzydunlop,

I recently bought a 1985 MR2 and I am trying to find the o-rings to replace on the oil filter brackets (or adapters) but when I call the local auto places they have no idea what O-rings I am talking about. Napa said to bring it in so I am going to tomorrow when they are open again but I was wondering where you were able to get your new o-rings? It was back on page 6 I think.

Thanks in advance

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

July 5

if you go with that darker Charcoal the lights will looks really good like that! or if you desire a good inexpensive update is the 87+ tailights does wonders for the MKI. also probly should have mentioned with the 2k primer you cant leave in the gun for more then an hour or so ask you paint store about "POT LIFE" what that is. is how long you can leave it before it starts to harden up on you. or else it will harden in the gun and Be a wicked PITA to clean. sorry i didnt mention that earlier. Laquier thinner works great for cleaning it up once your done spraying for the time being. and ill be here with any questions!

Hilarious that you bring that up! lol! yes. yes, you made me learn the hard way! ahha. I left some in for a while and it got all gooped up inside. This caused the gun to plug up and slatter all over the right rear quarter panel - so I had to sand it down yesterday. No big deal. Cleaned the gun out yesterday and today it worked like a dream! Did most of the removable parts of the car tonight, tomorrow Ill do the unibody and I should be done the heavy coat of primer. Then Ill wet sand it all down and use a different mixing rate to create a sealer (as recommended by manufacturer). This 2K stuff is hard as rock when it sets.

oh. some butt shots for ya'll

I think the paint makes it look wider. See what happens when i put the spoiler back on.

Lights lit

I never noticed before that the 87+ taillights were different. its very slight.

EDIT: really starting to turn heads now. More and more people are stopping me to ask what the hell kind of car this is. Im sick of hearing "is that Fiero??"

 

[jlee]

EDIT: really starting to turn heads now. More and more people are stopping me to ask what the hell kind of car this is. Im sick of hearing "is that Fiero??"

Hahahaha....yeah. I had one guy at Autozone, VIP, or one of those auto parts chain stores tell me that my '86 was a Fiero. C'mon dude...it's my car. It's not a Fiero - I promise. He insisted that I was wrong...

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Hahahaha....yeah. I had one guy at Autozone, VIP, or one of those auto parts chain stores tell me that my '86 was a Fiero. C'mon dude...it's my car. It's not a Fiero - I promise. He insisted that I was wrong...

lol! haha, yeaaa, they do look fairly similar

but the nose end on the MR2 looks better IMO.
Also, the rear triangle windows are pointless ^^ ... POINTLESS!

But i gotta admit, this guys Fiero looks really good
http://www.chromjuwelen.com/de/network/237/25518-pontiac-fiero-with-caddy-v8.html

Fuzzydunlop,

I recently bought a 1985 MR2 and I am trying to find the o-rings to replace on the oil filter brackets (or adapters) but when I call the local auto places they have no idea what O-rings I am talking about. Napa said to bring it in so I am going to tomorrow when they are open again but I was wondering where you were able to get your new o-rings? It was back on page 6 I think.

Thanks in advance

kbox.ca

 

[DivideBYZero]

So cool.

 

[JCH13]

Get a vanity plate: NO FIERO

Looks good!

 

[DivideBYZero]

You need a new exhaust, if only the tip, as that current one looks, well, limp.