Bought more paint today just in case. Gunna mix the extra quart into the rest so its all the same color.

$$$ :(

9/18/11
Teaser:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1316389396

More pics when I can get it outside. I ended up using ALL of the paint and clear.

I ran into a pretty major problem when I started to spray clear.
First of all, I should have re-masked after I sprayed the jams yesterday, because there was dust on the paper that I didnt get off.
Second, I forgot to change the filter on my exhaust fan, so it went from somewhat clogged to IMPENETRABLE after I sprayed blue. I started spraying clear and the fan was just pushing all the dust back right onto the car. There is dust EVERYWHERE in the paint. I am praying that itll wetsand out and not "tear" out and leave pitted spots. I Was ready to murder someone to say the least, but its my own fault. I dont even want to post a pic of it.

Well, regardless of what you say, I think it looks pretty damn good. All the reflections look so clear. When is wetsand and reassembly?

I am in NO rush. Someday?

Right now I am trying to find shop space to rent with my buddy.

Tent came down today. Car is now outside and covered.

Mildly less shitty pictures outside on a cloudy day taken with an iphone :oops:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1316908931

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1316908931

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1316908931

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1316908931

Getting a shop for the winter kinda fell thru. I will be putting it in storage mid november and will pull it back out in march to finish it up and get it back on the road. I need a break anyway.

Looks good! Whats up with the gap between the hood and front bumper? Is the hood just not shut or is there a few adjustments to be made?

Fenders arent bolted on, hood isnt bolted on, bumper top support is taken off (hence the sag)... LOL everything is just "sitting" on there right now. I have to put the doors back together before i can put the fenders on for good.

Your rite. That looks absolutely horrid. I'll take it off your hands ;)

Shiny!

Looks 1000% better out from under the blue tarp, very nice job.

I'm back to traveling for work, but last weekend I did cut the whole car in 1000 grit. It came out pretty nice. Most of the dust sanded flat. The most nerve racking thing was sanding out the large sags, but i got them down. I'll sand it in 1500, 2000, and 2500 before buffing, but we arent buffing it till the spring so idk when Ill sand next. I want to get the car assembled now because its just sitting outside under a cover.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1317686301

Looks like crap now!



Looks like the worst is over. Ought to be really nice once you get it buffed.

haha it does look shitty doesnt it? I only cut 1000 above the body line. Ill cut pretty much everything in 1500 tho. I just wanted to get the big problems done before the clear gets too hard.

Its been a while since I updated this...
I havent done too much work on the car. Bolted the fenders and hood on, installed the windows and a few gaskets, and swapped back to the C3M's so I can use the snows on my MINI soon.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1320629890
I put the car in storage yesterday. My dad and I got a 10x30 that'll fit both of the miatas. There is an RV parked outside of our storage unit. It was really tight getting the car in... and I decided to drive it in and trust my friends guidance. Well, one guy can only watch one thing at a time, and I managed to scrape the side of the storage unit :(. The damage isnt THAT bad. No dents, but it did chip the base/clear on the front right fender around the wheel arch. It DID NOT go thru the primer, so rust wont be a problem. I should be able to blend it in pretty good using my rattle can of the metallic base, and then clear over it and sand it in. Still makes me want to cry.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1320629890

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1320629890

I feel your pain! I scratched my fender not even 4 days after I finished painting the car, if it makes you feel better....haha

Took a chunk out of my passenger fender when installing it right after a fresh paint job. :facepalm: cordless drill jumped.. Can i not own anything nice?

Damn man that sucks!

Storage unit is a bit cleared up. I can actually work on my car in there now!! I also drew up some custom side mounts for my FX1 Pro's and they are now out for laser cutting.

Currently I am wetsanding headlight covers in my kitchen sink. WIN

Spring is near!!!!

I took today off from work to get some stuff done on the miata.

I ended up helping my brother with his turbo swap on the wrx for a while this weekend, but all in all I was still able to get a good amount of work done.

-Soft top with new rain rail is in
-Carpet is trimmed and installed. Just need to cut holes for seat brackets, center console, etc.
- dash is installed.

I also took it for a short drive through the industrial park this weekend. No windshield, no dash, seat not bolted in... but it was so much fun. I cant wait to get it finished.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1331595332

Your rear quarter looks weird and you need to stop resisting the urge to take your side markers apart, reinstalling the chrome backing with the bulbs still in, then bondoing and spray foaming til it is flush and diy shaved.

So when are you going to want a hand mofo?

I love clubroadster jokes! haha

I'll let you know if I need a hand. So far its all little crap, not worth having extra help

Interior Teaser...
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1332205037

Drove it quite a bit this weekend with no windshield. Good times.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1332700040

I should be getting the windshield next weekend and then I will start back up on wetsanding. For now I only have 1 stock seat in. Still waiting on my custom brackets to get laser cut at work.

That thing is going to look great once it's all polished up...and not 3" higher than stock height

hey hey its lower than stock.

I ordered some supplies to wetsand her. Going to use 3m's DA sanding products. Foam cushioning pad and 1500 then 3000 grit...should make quick work of it.

Lemme know if you want a hand with polishing that thing

Damn man. Its come a long way.

I'll have to meet up with you guys at some point this spring/summer to check it out.

Hopefully I'll have mine back on the road sometime soon. :hs:

It amazes me how Interior/Exterior "restoration" can make your wallet burn just as fast as turbo & suspension goodies. Just when I thought I was done buying stuff:

-3M 05776 Hookit 6" Disc Pad

- 3M 02088 Trizact Hookit 6" P1500 Grit Clear Coat Sanding Disc, (Box of 25)

-3M 02085 Trizact Hookit 6" P3000 Grit Foam Disc, (Box of 15)

- 3M 05777 Hookit 6" x 1/2" x 3/4" Soft Interface Pad

-MF1 Uber All Purpose Microfiber Bulk 50 Pack (splitting with a friend)

- 650G Uber Blue Pad 6.5 inch final polish pad (bought 3)

- 6515HOG Uber Orange Pad 6.5 inch medium polish pad (bought 3)

- 631G Uber Yellow Pad 6.5 inch cutting compounding pad (bought 3)

- M105 Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound Size: 1gallon
-M205 Meguiar's M205 Ultra Finishing Polish Size: 32oz (bought 2)

This weekend I plan on doing plugs, oil change, etc... and then back to body work. I want to fix the chip I got while putting her in storage. Next week I will begin wetsanding with the DA. I am pretty excited/nervous about cutting the paint with a DA, but people speak highly about this 3m trizact stuff. I plan on just keeping the DA at a lower PSI and seeing how it goes.

It seems like you bought A LOT of compound.

I barely used 1/4 of my 32oz 105 for my entire car, But I am pretty sure I need a more aggressive pad because the 105 wasn't quite cutting enough.

Yeah I have a feeling 2 qts would have been about what I use...but the difference in cost from 2 qts to a full gallon was minimal. It will probably go to my friend as a thank you for helping me polish. I personally thought it was a lifetime supply. lol.

-Windshield installed
-random cowl trim installed
-front lip installed

- Oil changed. Spark plugs changed. Still need to change the fuel filter

I will be fixing my chip tomorrow and wetsanding all weekend. Maybe buffing next week!

Some "These might actually look nice if my car was done" pics (iphone4):
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333502103
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333502103
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333502103
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333502103

looks incredibly clean.
good luck with the wet sanding/buffing,
your build thread is an inspiration to make me finish mine

Nice man!

Dude, the truck is lookin sweet

Yeah Yeah ik 4x4 blah blah

Today I learned how much of a ---- it is to spot repair metallic paint. I started by sanding the damaged area with 220. I didn't go crazy because I wanted to minimize the repair area. Next I feathered with 400. I cleaned and prepped the area and masked off using the bent over tape technique to reduce the chance of getting a hard edge. I did 3 coats of color (rattle can base coat), moving the tape back on each pass.

Next I did 3 coats of clear using 2k 2 part rattle can clear (its legit clear that you mix right in the can by pressing a pin). I moved the tape further and further back each time to reduce hard edges. It will all get wetsanded in and blended later anyway though.

This is where I made the mistake. in order for metallic to look good it needs to be sprayed in a complete pass. If you were to "dust" metallic it doesnt look right. In fact back when I had montego blue it would look crazy green (green metallic flakes in it) until you sprayed a nice wet coat. By trying to feather in the edges I created a half assed metallic line along the edge. I should have wetsanded the base coat with 1500 before continuing onto clear coat. What I ended up with was a wrinkle looking line in the base coat where the metallic got built up. Nothing I can do about it now short of sanding it again and re-spraying again but that will be another can of clear ($25) and mean an even larger repair area. Right now the repair area is still only about 1" tall x 4" long and right on the wheel arch so its not too noticeable. Oh well. She still will look good from a few feet away. My car is by no means a show car.

Pics:
220-
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

400
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

First coat
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

Second coat
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

First clear (you can sorda see the edge)
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

Second clear
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

Final clear
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333582275

Shoulda let it dry and sanded before the clearcoat.

Yeah, Live and learn. Maybe somewhere down the road I will re-repair it but my fenders could be in better shape anyway and flares may be in its future.

For now... stand 2 feet further back and we will never notice it.

It is a bit darker in that area in the photo's, how does it look in person?

darker. Hard to say until it dries.

when you buy paint in a rattle can or any small quantity its just a crap shoot if you will actually get the same color. 1 drop of a base color will throw it off so much.

I'm sure unless that spot is scrutinized it will be hard to notice. How does the time line look for completion?

I'm not sure. I hope to get the seats in, fix the coolant leak, and cut it in 1500 this weekend.

Friday I replaced my turbo coolant lines. Today I cut the entire car in 1500 using my DA and 3m pads with a soft spacer pad. I was a bit nervous because my DA is on its last legs. The bearings sound like ---- and it isnt spinning as nice as it used to. It's had a hard life.

I have to say I LOVE this 3m DA pad system. With zero pressure it will cut through quickly and leave an extremely uniform surface. It was able to take the 1000 grit scratches out like nothing. I am very glad I did originally cut with 1000 though cause it saved me A LOT of time today. I didn't have to deal with drips or orange peal. I simply had to get everything uniform and cut out some of the dust nibs the best I could. The only issue I really had was that if I didnt clean and wet the pad enough I would get some curly q scratches from the DA. All I had to do to remove them was throw on a new pad and go across the area again. Oh yeah... it also made a HUGE mess.

Tomorrow I am going to hopefully cut with 3000 grit, but I have a cold and feel like crap so we will see.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333839206

1500 grit is upper left corner:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333839206

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333839206

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333839206

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333839206

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333839206

Did you cut all the way through the clear anywhere? That is my biggest fear when using the powa

No. I thought I did in one spot where I was going over somewhere that I already had a paint error (fisheye on the rear panel next to the frank bolts)

its 3000 and polish now...so hopefully (fingers crossed) my chances of burning through are pretty much over.

Martin, Looks like there is no way I'll be taking this to the Uconn show next weekend. I have a bad cold so I am not touching the car today. I hope to have it ready for polish by saturday but that depends on weather and work.

I might end up taking the MINI to autox that day, or maybe convince Evan to let me co-drive his NB.

You know, the miata doesn't need to be polished to autox ;)

So you are doing 1000, 1500, 3000 and then polish? Looking forward to the finished pics.

Got my seat brackets from the shop today...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334014944

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334014944

I test fit them on the seat and they are a bit tight on the front but should work. I didnt realize the seat had a slight taper to it when I drew up the brackets. I cant wait to get them in the car and see how they fit.

Fuuuuuuckiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesooooooooooooooooooooome.

Bummer I was looking forward to seeing this at Uconn

Yeah I wish it was going to be done, but i still feel like crap, and I am traveling for work a day or 2 this week.

Did a bit of 3000 grit today. Hood & trunk lid...

upper left corner is 3000
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334105283

whole hood
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334105283

Trunk
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334105283

Set bracket just sitting there. Still have to drill the front holes. Ignore the dirty carpet.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334105283

I test fit my seats and modified the brackets as needed. I am going to paint them at work next week.

I also drove the car up to my friends garage so we can begin buffing it. I cant wait!

Not to hi jack your thread, but that seat bracket is awesome. I would like more info on it, and if they can be purchased. I need one for my passenger side.

Also, I took on the body work of my Miata, except I went with just plain white. Actually the car is still in primer, kinda swaying towards going with a pearl white of some sort. Doing the high build and guide paint after all the hammering and body filler was pretty rewarding. Like you said, some of the lines arent as crisp as I'd like, but it looks 100% better. The hardest part for me was in the passenger door. It got hit and it was right in that line that runs around the car. That was a PITA. But yours looks great! Did you match the engine bay? What about bottoms of the hood and trunk?

Great to here someone else doing body work. The engine bay is black. I hate body colored engine bays. The under side of the hood and trunk lid are matched tho.

As for the seat brackets, I took rough measurements, and came up with a design that would work for both the driver and passenger. I designed them as "blanks" with the intention of cutting and drilling as needed at assembly. I took my dimensions and drew it up in Autodesk Inventor (3d cad) and then sent it to one of our suppliers at work to be laser cut.

I wasn't planning on selling any purely because I took some "inspiration" from a vendor on CR.net and I didn't want to stomp on any ones parade.
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/sho...=seat+brackets

I only made 3... 2 for me and one for my friends NB. I don't know if that guy offers passenger side seat brackets. If he doesn't, come back to me and I will see what I can do. Only issue is that I can't get these in a rush. They get put in cue behind all of my companies parts so they tend to take forever.

Here are some pics of my hack job mods to the seat brackets:

unmodified pass seat: Didn't drill holes yet in this pic
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335056106
drivers seat with the holes drilled and corner trimmed to fit around the tunnel.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335056106

Clearing around the seat belt hole. Wasn't necessary, but I didn't want to rub.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335056106

Head clearance with my seat in the bottom hole... I might have some bolt clearance issues on the floor mount, but I love how low it is so I will probably end up modding the seat to fit or using button heads.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335056106

I will post more pics when I paint the brackets and mount the seats for good.

Yeah weird sledgehammer pic! How about one of the polished area?

when there is a polished area...

BUFFING HAS BEGUN!!!!!!!!

Using Meguiars 105 with the yellow 6" foam pad. Evan started with the right fender and the top of the bumper...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335135251

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335135251

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335135251

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335135251

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335135251

Can't wait to see the depth of this paint in person. What are you going to put in for the side markers?

Still haven't decided. I have the ebay one's that are shown in some early pics. They look good and match the front lights I have, but they don't fit well. I might tint the stock ones and then decide.

Sorry I missed your call. I want to get up to your place and work on your car soon.

Looks like he does do a passenger side. I appreciate the link to that. I wasn't planning on installing a passenger seat so I never made brackets for one before I painted the roll cage and interior. A part of me sees your car after some buffing and makes me want to go with a pearle white. The metallic looks great. My plan was just plain white, no metallic, no pearle. I'm torn what to do. My hardtop is in great condition and it's just plain white, that's where I got the idea. Just color match that so I don't have to mess with reprinting it. What are your thoughts on pearle vs. plain Jane white...