looking real good Chris BTW I have a new oem Sunroof headliner that has been in my parts bin since my B7 resto....if you have a need for it let me know.
David
E28 Alpina B7 Turbo/1 #0083
Thanks all! I swung by there today to bring him something and the doors were in the shop. Even more beautiful than they look in the above photos. The clear tightened up some and the reflections are gorgeous and deep. They haven't even been color sanded or buffed yet. The hood, trunklid and sunroof are in the booth right now. He was putting the sealer on the hood today and then tomorrow will spray them. I'm going to drop by in the afternoon and should hopefully have some shots of that stuff. I'm just disappointed that I cannot seem to really capture how these panels really look. After what I saw today, I'm afraid my glass will look too wavy.
Will be making headliner arrangements soon, once he gets me the contact info for the upholsterer who did the '55 Chevy seen earlier in the thread. He's figuring to be done end of next week, but I'm not holding him to it, especially since I have to do some work on the doors (wiring, latches and seals) before they can go on the car.
He also painted that kit car thingy yesterday and the while the color match is perfect (a Mercedes silver), his work makes the rest of the car look a bit disappointing.
Will be making headliner arrangements soon, once he gets me the contact info for the upholsterer who did the '55 Chevy seen earlier in the thread. He's figuring to be done end of next week, but I'm not holding him to it, especially since I have to do some work on the doors (wiring, latches and seals) before they can go on the car.
He also painted that kit car thingy yesterday and the while the color match is perfect (a Mercedes silver), his work makes the rest of the car look a bit disappointing.
I called today to check in to see if there was anything to shoot. He had the hood, trunklid and sunroof done. It froze here last night, and I had been giving a lot of thought to the effect the cold temperatures would have on this process, but it was pretty simple to realize that it's a lot easier to make an environment warmer than it is to make one cooler, so this actually should almost be ideal.
Anyway, I walked into the booth today and here's what I saw:
Same deal as before. Haven't been color sanded or buffed yet. Three coats of clear on there, so there's a lot of material to work with.
The doors and fenders are across the way in the shop now, so here's some updated shots showing the quality of the reflections and such. The paint is still just as it was sprayed. Nothing has been done to them since.
Mike is shooting to have it finished up by the weekend. I'm not, but I guess at this point, I'm working with his schedule.
Anyway, I walked into the booth today and here's what I saw:
Same deal as before. Haven't been color sanded or buffed yet. Three coats of clear on there, so there's a lot of material to work with.
The doors and fenders are across the way in the shop now, so here's some updated shots showing the quality of the reflections and such. The paint is still just as it was sprayed. Nothing has been done to them since.
Mike is shooting to have it finished up by the weekend. I'm not, but I guess at this point, I'm working with his schedule.
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waxonwaxoff
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Das_Prachtstrasse
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Patrick McHugh
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Looking good! I thought of scraping up enough dough to buy that car from Jon but I would have never been able to put in the hours or $$ you have. What a rewarding car to restore! I can't wait to see more pics.
How was the engine running before you took it to the body shop? Is it making proper boost and such?
How was the engine running before you took it to the body shop? Is it making proper boost and such?
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fastenerpuller
- Posts: 291
- Joined: Jun 04, 2012 6:12 PM
- Location: San Francisco
On Wednesday, the car was masked up and ready to be rolled into the booth on Thursday. Things were delayed Thursday since a semi with a 53' trailer showed up to unload all of the parts necessary for Mike to start work on the '67 Camaro soon. In addition to taking up some of the time, it also has resulted in space rapidly decreasing. Thursday afternoon, the car was in the booth, ready to spray. Since it was going to be done end of the day and I was working, I made arrangements to go by today and see the progress.
By the time I got there, the front of the car was unmasked. Not sure when it will be sprayed, but it and the battery tray will get some attention.
Since there was no way to remove the rear striker without the reinforcement plate falling into the depths of the quarter, they were pulled out as far as possible and will be replaced with a cleaner pair anyway, with nice screws.
Unfortunately, a couple things got painted that shouldn't have been painted, so I'll have to replace all those vapor hoses now.
The texture coating ends at exactly the right spot, just as it was done on the original rear panel. Unlike NA-Spec cars, Euro cars do not have texture across the entire rear valance.
In addition to the body being painted, the hood, doors and trunklid have received their second buffing. Any dirt or nubs, etc that were there when initially painted are virtually gone now. The sunroof has to be resprayed as it had a couple of very minor flaws.
The valance has had it's black texture done. The airdam is attached to it so as to make it easier to buff the whole thing as a unit.
I gave Mike all of the latches, door seals, wiring harnesses, etc, as they plan to start assembly of the panels tomorrow. I'm going to swing by in the morning and I have been told the time has come to pay him. Trying to make contact with someone that can install the headliner. Once the headliner is in, the front and rear windows can go in as well. At that point, the car will be trailered back to Phoenix to await the complete assembly process, after which it will be returned to Mike to make sure everything is as it should be and a final buff.
Timing has just been a nightmare this week, and while Mike says he's not trying to rush, etc, I can tell he wants the car out of there, as it takes up a lot of space when it's all apart. That's frustrating as I'm not really in a position to help, being quite busy.
By the time I got there, the front of the car was unmasked. Not sure when it will be sprayed, but it and the battery tray will get some attention.
Since there was no way to remove the rear striker without the reinforcement plate falling into the depths of the quarter, they were pulled out as far as possible and will be replaced with a cleaner pair anyway, with nice screws.
Unfortunately, a couple things got painted that shouldn't have been painted, so I'll have to replace all those vapor hoses now.
The texture coating ends at exactly the right spot, just as it was done on the original rear panel. Unlike NA-Spec cars, Euro cars do not have texture across the entire rear valance.
In addition to the body being painted, the hood, doors and trunklid have received their second buffing. Any dirt or nubs, etc that were there when initially painted are virtually gone now. The sunroof has to be resprayed as it had a couple of very minor flaws.
The valance has had it's black texture done. The airdam is attached to it so as to make it easier to buff the whole thing as a unit.
I gave Mike all of the latches, door seals, wiring harnesses, etc, as they plan to start assembly of the panels tomorrow. I'm going to swing by in the morning and I have been told the time has come to pay him. Trying to make contact with someone that can install the headliner. Once the headliner is in, the front and rear windows can go in as well. At that point, the car will be trailered back to Phoenix to await the complete assembly process, after which it will be returned to Mike to make sure everything is as it should be and a final buff.
Timing has just been a nightmare this week, and while Mike says he's not trying to rush, etc, I can tell he wants the car out of there, as it takes up a lot of space when it's all apart. That's frustrating as I'm not really in a position to help, being quite busy.
Thanks.rcbmw wrote:The lower edge of the tail panel should be black. The car looks great and I hope your next project is saving an E28 M5.
Best,
RCBMW
The lower edge of the tail panel, rockers, etc will all be painted after the body is color sanded. Trust me, I'm trying to do this as as accurately as possible.
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unt0uchable
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hubble1953
- Posts: 857
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- Location: Boise, Idaho
Nice project
Chris: Car is looking great. I need to find a painter like yours:)
jm
jm
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Eddie in TO
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- Contact:
It's coming along so well! Glad to see you're very happy with the work from your painter. The details you captured are great. -
mooseheadm5
- Beamter
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- Contact:
All panels except the hood and sunroof are back on. Gaps are perfect and I am quite pleased. No photos of that since the whole car was masked off for the painting of the core support and the batt'ry tray. Should have something tomorrow. I've got to put the latch back in the trunk. All wiring is in the doors, but I didn't do that, so I will have to route the wiring where it needs to go. Really only an issue for the front doors, particularly the left. Hood will probably go on tomorrow as well, so in the afternoon time, perhaps I will get to see it and install a few things.
Headliner guy appears to be a flake, so we are going to look into other options. I've got one that is sewn, but no holes or anything. I have also harvested the c-pillar foam in excellent condition from a super-eta, so I will install that as well. The original was cut for the reading lights added long ago, with them also being the sole reason for replacement.
Thanks for the comments so far. I'm happy with the quality of the work and the attention paid to my project. Mike has answered all of my questions and has kept me in the loop with everything. He's gone over and above what I expected. The timing has been a bit of a nightmare over the last week as I've been very busy, as I'd have liked to help them assemble the car however possible. I was worried about the wiring and while I came up with a solution, I wasn't sure how to make it work and I was feeling a bit rushed, which impedes my thought process. Mike took it and ran with it and he came up with something using my plan that not only works, but looks nice, too.
So, hopefully I will have a visual update tomorrow evening. Thanks again.
Headliner guy appears to be a flake, so we are going to look into other options. I've got one that is sewn, but no holes or anything. I have also harvested the c-pillar foam in excellent condition from a super-eta, so I will install that as well. The original was cut for the reading lights added long ago, with them also being the sole reason for replacement.
Thanks for the comments so far. I'm happy with the quality of the work and the attention paid to my project. Mike has answered all of my questions and has kept me in the loop with everything. He's gone over and above what I expected. The timing has been a bit of a nightmare over the last week as I've been very busy, as I'd have liked to help them assemble the car however possible. I was worried about the wiring and while I came up with a solution, I wasn't sure how to make it work and I was feeling a bit rushed, which impedes my thought process. Mike took it and ran with it and he came up with something using my plan that not only works, but looks nice, too.
So, hopefully I will have a visual update tomorrow evening. Thanks again.
Not a whole lot of photos today, but they're pretty exciting nonetheless.
I went over earlier than I was planning as I had to bring the headliners over and such since it sounds like headliner guy is coming through and should come by today or something.
So, the car was uncovered, which was great as I got to throw in the trunk latch and my c-pillar foam insulation. Then I installed the hood struts so they could install the hood.
Hood is sitting in front of the car, ready to go into position. It will be aligned before the new latches are riveted into position. Also, the cowl vent insulation has been installed as everything else is self-adhesive, I can handle that.
Here's the car!
Perfectly even gap around all four doors and the fenders. Rear doors were installed first, then front, then the fenders.
Trunklid is latched. The lock portion is not yet installed as the housing has to be painted.
Here's a terrible shot of the left side. Not looking to win any awards with these photos. Was trying to stay out of their way today. Get a couple of things done quickly, a couple photos and out of their hair.
Here's a shot of the RF door with the seal and latches installed, etc. Right now, the doors are a little tough to close and the trunk sits a bit proud. I imagine once I put the seals on the body side after the headliner, they might get more difficult. We shall see.
That's all for now, I guess.
I went over earlier than I was planning as I had to bring the headliners over and such since it sounds like headliner guy is coming through and should come by today or something.
So, the car was uncovered, which was great as I got to throw in the trunk latch and my c-pillar foam insulation. Then I installed the hood struts so they could install the hood.
Hood is sitting in front of the car, ready to go into position. It will be aligned before the new latches are riveted into position. Also, the cowl vent insulation has been installed as everything else is self-adhesive, I can handle that.
Here's the car!
Perfectly even gap around all four doors and the fenders. Rear doors were installed first, then front, then the fenders.
Trunklid is latched. The lock portion is not yet installed as the housing has to be painted.
Here's a terrible shot of the left side. Not looking to win any awards with these photos. Was trying to stay out of their way today. Get a couple of things done quickly, a couple photos and out of their hair.
Here's a shot of the RF door with the seal and latches installed, etc. Right now, the doors are a little tough to close and the trunk sits a bit proud. I imagine once I put the seals on the body side after the headliner, they might get more difficult. We shall see.
That's all for now, I guess.