New to HT - My EJ2
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
finished sanding whole car with 500 last night. Decided to spray entire car (bumpers and all) at once. Figured only one clean up. A lot of the cheap shops do the same. I’ll be happy if my car comes out Macco quality. It’s all in the prep, right?
installing new lights I have and masking them off. Can’t decide if I want the mirrors color matched. I think it would be nice black to tie in a black lip. I know for sure I don’t want the lip matched. It’ll be scratched up and look worse than staying black in the first place.
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
It came out good as I hoped for. Nothing special. Just like the rest of car. Worth the $200 in paint and materials. A little dirt and on hood. Only 1 run. I’m happy. Reassembly with Antenna block off and mirrors next week. Then I’ll buff it out to clean it up
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
Thanks! The color looked a lot darker before mixed. I was kinda worried. But then i thought about it... The car was going to be sprayed either way haha. It came close to Aztec. But $140 in paint, $10 HF Gun plus misc primer and $10 sander+sandpaper. I have to say it came out alright. Worth the effort. We are traveling for the holidays or I would be completely reassembled this weekend. I'll be ordering a lip soon. That should complete the exterior for now. Maybe window visors...
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
Or Rep’ Spoon to match mirrors. Good call on the painting the grill black. I’m going back and touching up trim pieces.Other notes: mirrors on. Not very practical lol. I’ll be getting a rear view mirror with some wider angle to compensate. Somehow lost the antenna block off. Found the screws and gasket. I’m sure I’ll find it when the replacement comes in. Nearly went nuts looking for it knowing it SHOULD be here. I got a few gift cards from the wife for Xmas. Can’t decide what to get. Probably be a Lip and save the rest for now.I also started a “piggy bank” for an engine swap/rebuild/whichever direction I go. Still can’t decide on a mini me or b20 or trying to source a full D16Z6 swap. Wish I could find a wrecked donor of some kind to make the decision for me. Pros to D series: even if d16y7/d15b7: CHEAP. Should be replacement rather than having to source everything. A mini me would be fine... Cons: but knowing me boost would be in the future. forged internals would be a must. At that point cost would be equivalent to a b20. Swap pros: displacement upgrade in any case. Anything is a better platform than this 8v head. Any B would be boost capable to respectful power Cons: Cost. Odds and ends that would add up and take longer to accumulate.This car needs so much more money thrown at it right now I can’t decide which direction first. Interior still needs a little work and cleaning. Not sure if I want to gut heater controls and make a block off. If I did that I would add a few gauges and switches to fill the void. I could fit a cheap radio in the glovebox LATOMMYLA style. Simpler idea would be to leave it as is and add the cheap radio to dash and call it good. Exterior could use a buff. But I’m in no hurry. I want a front lip. I may try to make a splitter and side skirts out of ABS. Would seem silly as the car doesn’t even see the road much less a track... yet. But I bought it to have fun with it so meh, we’ll see.
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
Junkyard UPDATE!!
Found bits and pieces I needed.
-Tacho cluster from a non automatic haha.
Found bits and pieces I needed.
-Tacho cluster from a non automatic haha.
-Interior handle cover for driver side
-GLOVE BOX HANDLE Makes it feel complete. Glad I didn’t go back with bumper ties
-driver side speaker “Bucket” for inside the panel.
- tail light pig tail ( old has melted bulb)
found a p28 virgin ecu and lots of D16Z6 & D16Y8 parts... I think I’ll be staying D. So cheap and abundant.
-GLOVE BOX HANDLE Makes it feel complete. Glad I didn’t go back with bumper ties
-driver side speaker “Bucket” for inside the panel.
- tail light pig tail ( old has melted bulb)
found a p28 virgin ecu and lots of D16Z6 & D16Y8 parts... I think I’ll be staying D. So cheap and abundant.
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
Yeah I think so too. I was going to redo the hood. But I decided to move on for now. I have paint and hardner left over for If and when I’m ready.Considering this was done in my garage with a $10 gun and my first paint job. I don’t think I was expecting it to be even as good as it turned out. It’ll take a good buff to clean up some things... I’ll worry about that when it warms up. Engine is focus now.
Last edited by Tlikethedrink; Jan 24, 2018 at 05:50 PM.
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
Thanks she still a work in progress though. I can’t wait to get the engine work done and able drive it. I’ve had project cars before then never really got finished. The whole time I had them they were unfinished and seemed to be wasting garage space. I wanted to go the other way with this one and make it at least look good until I get the meat and potatoes figured out. I think the wife agrees with me as she doesn’t want to look at it anyways ha ha. At least now she can stand to look at it and see the progress.
Last edited by Tlikethedrink; Jan 24, 2018 at 05:49 PM.
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From: Fort Bragg, CA, USA
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
I am all for do it yourself stuff to save money but I have to point out that not removing stuff like tail lights, headlights, corner lights is just not the right way to paint a car. It takes longer to tape these off than to remove them. You will get better results by removing them. Its not my car so I will just move on but there is a proper way and an improper way to do things...
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From: ALBUQUERQUE
Re: New to HT - My EJ2
I am all for do it yourself stuff to save money but I have to point out that not removing stuff like tail lights, headlights, corner lights is just not the right way to paint a car. It takes longer to tape these off than to remove them. You will get better results by removing them. Its not my car so I will just move on but there is a proper way and an improper way to do things...
Same with bumpers... fact of the matter is, it’s a cheap/quick paint job. I had assembled the car to clean it up and check fitment. I could have easily disassembled. But I’ll argue that it was quicker to tape off. May have not been the best way to go about it. But I knew that. I expected fair results and feel I received them for my efforts.