Restoration of BringaTrailer 240z - HLS30-35883

[Patcon]

I sprayed my cowl panel black but my cowl will be painted separate from the body

[inline6]

I have been motivated to put in more hours last weekend and this weekend.  My deadline for finishing the body work is the night of Feb 12 when I go to bed.  Little things here and there are getting addressed along with final wet sanding.  One of the things I noticed a while back is that the sound deadening mats are supposed to have rounded corners at the luggage strap bolt down location and at the mid point.  Took care of that:

    

 

Another thing I have been needing to do is make some block off plates for the holes that were cut in the firewall for the dealer installed AC.  I made some plates and tack welded them in, then sealed with seam sealer.  This way, if I decide to add AC later, it will be pretty easy to knock these plates out.

    

 

Tomorrow, I will be shooting the entire exterior with a couple more coats of primer.  Sanding from this point forward will be 600 grit or finer.

[inline6]

Getting so close to handing the car over for painting - I am very excited to finish this phase of the restoration.  I've written up painting instructions for the place that will be painting the car.   Many reference pictures included, but even so, it is 21 pages long!!!!!  Link included there if any of you would like to check it out.  

My punch list is going to be challenging to get through by bedtime on the 12th.  Hoping I don't run into any unforeseen issues.

A quick walk around video: 

 

Sometime this week, or this weekend, I plan to bolt on the custom wheeled sub assemblies I made and take it off the rotisserie.  I'll post some videos going around the car with some silicone and wax remover sprayed on to have a final look at the quality of the body work.

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by inline6

[emccallum]

Beautiful! body looks really nice, I feel for the painter, he better bring his A game. 

What is your plan for the undercoating? Are you going to paint over the black with body color or leave it? I am trying to decide how I want to address that. 

[inline6]

Just now, emccallum said:

What is your plan for the undercoating? Are you going to paint over the black with body color or leave it? I am trying to decide how I want to address that. 

Well - the long version is in the 21 page document - LOL.  The short version is that I want them to spray silver on top of the undercoat, but not to full coverage.  I want to replicate how the factory did it.  So, lots of direct spray on rear fender wells and some on the front fender wells, and some on the floor and spare tire well.  

 

[dutchzcarguy]

Hahaha... A painterdocument of 21 pages long!  Well done!  Now he knows what to do and what is asked from him! 

I told my painter... JUST paint the Damn Thing.. and do it RIGHT! 

I think your car is gonna be one of the best restorations! Kudos to you!

[inline6]

Well... I have reached a milestone in the restoration, delivering the car to the painter on Friday.  It was a mad rush at the end.  For the last two weeks, I spent every spare minute I had trying to get through my punch list.  I fell behind on the tasks I had outlined for each day, and even taking Thursday off from work to power through, I was still at it until 3 am on Friday morning.  I got a couple of hours of sleep and was back up at 6 and back working on the car at 7 am.  Another 3 hours later and then I called it "done" when the truck and trailer to take the car to the painter arrived. 

 

 

Finding a painter was difficult, and it will be expensive.  I understand now why many take on even that part of the project themselves.  In the late 80's and in the 90's, in my hometown I grew up in, it was easy for me to find someone who was willing to spray a car for a few hundred dollars.  I was not as fortunate this time around.  There is a saying or variants of a saying that "It pays to know people".  Myself, having moved to GA somewhat recently in 2011, and generally not being the type of person that makes a lot of contacts, I simply don't know a lot of people or businesses here.  But, I have a few, and my friend John put me in touch with the place that will paint the car.  While it will be expensive, I know at least that the remaining body work and paint will be done right.  And, I am relieved that I do not have to spend any more time on bodywork on this car.  It has taken an incredible amount of my time over the last 2 years.

Pictures taken at the painter:

    

 

    

 

I was in a rush, so I didn't take many pictures of assembly, but I took a few:

    

    

 

Now the painter has my punch list and anything they find in addition.  They will be sending me some paint cards so I can have a look firsthand at what 901 silver is before I commit to it.  If it is too grey for me, I might go with orange.  Or green... or blue.  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[Patcon]

Looks great!

[inline6]

Thanks Charles.  

It feels good to do something other than bodywork.  Today I changed the oil in a couple of my other cars (the GT3 and M3).  For right now, it feels like everything is easy compared to bodywork!

 

[Patcon]

What year is the M3?

[inline6]

It's a 1995 - Avus blue with black interior - US spec.  

[Patcon]

3 hours ago, inline6 said:

It's a 1995 - Avus blue with black interior - US spec.  

I love blue BMW's; so E36. I've had a couple of E36's and E36/7's. M cars are fun! We have an 06 M roadster currently that needs a new home