Thanks guys :P

Its definitely still in rough shape, but when I'm done it should be very presentable. There are very, very few of these cars that I'd say are in 100% original and excellent shape. There aren't enough good parts to go around, really. Armrests, door panels, and spoilers are usually the hardest parts to find in good shape (other than a rust-free body)

I'll be happy with a 90-95% perfect car when I'm done versus the maybe 50% car that I started with. These things are also very costly to rebuild because if you need parts, you gotta buy them from someone else and have them shipped unless you're lucky enough to stumble across one in a junkyard.... not to mention the steering wheel, horn ring, headliner, and T Type emblems are shared with Turbo Regals which also inflates their prices.

When done, I expect to have about $3000 in this car, for which I only paid $1200 for in the first place (and that was including a huge pile of extra parts).

I'm *almost* at the tipping point of being able to stop buying up parts and instead start installing everything thats scattered around my house very soon... and when this car is done it will be time to work on my other car....

I want to push the point that it really is excellent! I can see that you really put a lot of work into wetsanding and such, and that in and of itself is excellent. There'* of course more to it, and that makes it so much better. I'm very excited about this project. After all, I get to see my wheels put to great use!

Looks great.

Lots of work done today.

First off was finishing sealing the windshield... a little rigged but I think its going to work. Used some hi density spray foam.



While that was drying, I scrubbed down the car one more time with Dawn, dried it, and then started fixing paint chips. When I was done with that, I used nearly an entire bottle of Scratch-x. After that was buffed off, it was time for Liquid Glass.



Its getting dark, so I think I'll let it sit for a while. I need to go pick up my girlfriend from work so I'll buff off the LG in the nicely-lit parking lot. Another coat will go on tomorrow morning and more pictures will ensue...

Erm... well... they'll ensue after I click over to a new page as i think I'm close or at the 25 picture limit.

On to page 2! Another thing you can do is post a link to an album or something of that nature. You're so dedicated to doing this, and that'* awesome! Warn me next time you want to clean a car so I can invest in Dawn stocks!

I can post 2-3 more pictures if I get rid of a couple here so I'll be allright.

Dawn is good at getting crap out of the paint though. Probably the best thing I've used so far has been adheisve tack clothes though. Those really picked up a ton of crap.

Something else I've been using today has been Turtle Wax Wet And Black on my wheels, rubber trim, and vinyl beltline trim. Works great! It really made my tires look nice but it especially helped my trim around my wheel wells. They were gray from age but they blackened up nicely. There'll be before and after pics of teh paint here in a couple days and those should show the trim.

After thsi is done, I've still got all this to do though:

-recover and instal headliner
-replace dead DS window motor
-de-rust and clean floorpan. rust-proof it
-get new carpet padding and cut to fit
-clean carpet and reinstall
-replace steering column, seat belts, door panels, door plastics
-re dye seats
-replace cat converter and muffler
-rig up a FWI
-clean up the engine bay
-replae oil pressure sensor, thermostat, heat sensors

Um... I think thats most of it. I'm shooting to have this done in May sometime so I can show it at some car shows over the summer. Should be fun

what are these tack cloths of which you speak?

It'* a sticky cloth used to remove dust and other particles on a surface before priming/painting to prevent chipping or bubbles.

Yeup, those are what I'm talking about. I used them afer using polishing compound on the paint to remove the leftover compound and debris that the compound lifted up. I used 3-4 of them and they were almost black when I finished.... lots of Junk.

Now my rags are just reddish from leftover oxidation that I haven't been able to get off yet.

Anyway, I buffed off the haze left from the Liquid Glass and I must say I'm liking the shine... the bad part is that it brings out the defects in the paint. Oh well.. I think the only way that im going to get a perfect finish is going to be with new paint which isn't in this car'* near future.

And after my first coat of Liquid Glass:



I'm going to do 2-4 more coats and call it good for the body. Its not perfect, but its not a show-quality car anyway. At least not a winner.

Next up on my list is to install my headliner and fix the window motor. I'm really not looking forward to the window motor....