world's ugliest celica...at least until i paint it, please stand by for more info Options

[axelrduvirage]

well it's started. i rough sanded down the topcoat and i will begin the hand sanding tomorrow. filled in a lot of bumps, scratches and ridges. i couldn't feel most of them but my buddy Jim says "it has to be smooooooooth!". doing a bit every day and hope to get to pulling things off (mirrors, heads, tails, etc) this weekend and start priming the engine bonnet, backhatch and doors. i am painting it 199 (Alpine Silver Metallic).

here are a few pics of the progress-- from before i started to what it loooked like this afternoon:









it's so ugly now, it turns as many heads as the day i bought it (i know i'm an eternal optimist).


This post has been edited by axelrduvirage: Jul 19, 2006 - 4:43 AM

[Rayme]

Wow that's alot of work there, can'T wait to see it painted (when's that?)

[Fate]

i've been driving mine like that for the past few months. well with mine the whole front half is oprimed and the rest is rough sanded.

[celicagurl152003]

keep up the good work.....your getting alot done....the hardest thing is the sanding

[presure2]

its alllll about the prep work man.
the more time and effort you spend now on it, the better it will look in the end.
great job so far!

[celicurr]

spoilerless for the win !!

[j0e_p3t]

wow, that's a nice car you had. good work... can't wait to see the final product.

[ILuvMyCelica95]

no celica is ugly! its just...not easy on the eyes atm

[Stasis]

Hi folks. I'm new here, and before you all ask, my ride doesn't exist. But I'm often in the passenger's seat of this ugly baby axel posted.

Had the pleasure today of doing some fine sanding on the car. Some of the first bodywork I've ever done, and I really enjoyed it.

"Make the shiny go away!"

I can't wait to see the final product. For now, I just tell axel that he must have been driving so fast the paint tore away from the body...

This post has been edited by Stasis: Jun 8, 2006 - 2:40 PM

[devilsden97]

no celica is ugly! its just...not easy on the eyes atm

forever the optimist (i cant ****ing spell)

[axelrduvirage]

Hi folks. I'm new here, and before you all ask, my ride doesn't exist. But I'm often in the passenger's seat of this ugly baby axel posted.

Had the pleasure today of doing some fine sanding on the car. Some of the first bodywork I've ever done, and I really enjoyed it.

"Make the shiny go away!"

I can't wait to see the final product. For now, I just tell axel that he must have been driving so fast the paint tore away from the body...

thanks Kevin,

X3 was alright. Eric threw a fit at supper. Parking the car in the garage tomorrow morning. sanding the wing and the skirts. starting the masking and hopefully prime this weekend. BTW i could only go that fast if i had a 3sgte pushing me. .

[axelrduvirage]

^^ thanks for the encouragement all. christina, again, glad you are ok. was there any heat damage to the car's finish? celicurr, for me it's all about the spoiler-- it goes back on. tinabell, dd97 absolutely right. forever the optimist. rayme, shediac.

[axelrduvirage]

i have been working on the Celica every day it seems for the last week. got quite a bit of work done. still more to do before i am anywhere near finished. today i removed the nose and bumper, sanded under driver's side of car, replaced driver's fender, sanded and primed the mirrors (they look sweeeeeet!!) on the weekend i worked mainly on the doors and started painting the plastic inserts. <-----------need opinions on that! sanding the nose down to the plastic is a pain the the crotch!! there are so many rock chips and scrapes, i don't have a choice .

thankfully i have friends that really help out. they are a blessing.

anyway here are a few pics. let me know what you think and if you have tips... please share.

what it looked like this morning




removal and replacement of fender


fittement is 90% or better

removal of nose and tail

[snapshotgt]

Awesome pics, keep the updates coming (w/pics ).

~snap

[axelrduvirage]

no work today. i have to take #1 shopping for a grad dance dress. oh, thrills!!!

my hands were really sore this morning from all the ratcheting and weird positions you need to get into to reach some of the bolts. i need one of those flexi-drivers...for Father's Day, hint hint hint!!!

next big job is the doors. i am going to brush out the rust with a 3M disc and cover the remainder with Rustcheck rust convertor. has any one used this product? then i fill and sand. a shot of primer and paint. hope to get 2 more years out of them. i will probably buy new/collision doors next spring.

again please leave me you comments, tips, tricks and warnings about the paintjob project.


Paix, Amour et Soleil

r.

[Slow-lica]

Is that a neon I see?

This post has been edited by Slow-lica: Jun 14, 2006 - 4:24 AM

[CelicaZR]

Good luck with it Axel
Should be great once your finished.
Take your time and dont rush it.

[presure2]

looks good so far, all that work will pay off in the end!

[axelrduvirage]

Is that a neon I see?

yup they are my courtesy lamps. they go on the little "shelf" on the outside of the foot wells. they are so pretty!

[axelrduvirage]

Good luck with it Axel
Should be great once your finished.
Take your time and dont rush it.

Thanks for the encouragement mate! it's coming along great.
Took care of the rust around the bottom door panel seam where the front panel meets the back. 3M sanding disc made a quick, efficient job of it. then i soaked the area in Ruct Check Rust Convertor. it's suppodes to turn the rust into a "primer". hell knows if it works, we'll see. i have been at it for a while and not rushing too much..a lot to learn and mistakes to fix ( oops!).

[axelrduvirage]

looks good so far, all that work will pay off in the end!

thanks.

i will try to take "after" pictures tonight of the rust on the doors. i have a few "before" pics lying around in my photobucket, it think. hope to find time tonight to finish the rough sanding and start removing the engine bonnet and the backhatch. soon be masking, then priming, then undecoat, then paint, then clearcoat, then reassemble, finish the interior, clean, shine...CRAP!!! i am no where near done am i??

[Rayme]

you get it painted in shediac?

You should drop in moncton meet a couple 6th gen here, and Nick with his V6 swap, that thing is sexy and its not even in the car! lol

Really hope to see your brand spankin' new 6th

[axelrduvirage]

not much done today...post tropical storm Alberto screwed up my schedule. traffic was hell getting to Dartmouth. a 20 minute drive took me well over 1 hour. why do people forget that rain, wind and fog are just as bad as snow? multiple fender-benders and cars hyroplaning onto the berms and into ditches. what a mess. anyway finished rough sanding the passenger side underbody and finished around the nose and tail. took care of a few nicks and bumps then cleaned-up the garage a little (i said a little, ok?). removed most of the cockpit plastic to sand and paint later. any comments on the colour would be appreciated, thanks.

the rest of my day was playing Driving Miss Daisy to my girl. junior high grad dance is tonight (she's a sophomore)...her first date!! shopping, hair salon, cosmetic counter, etc.

here are the pics of the bottom of the doors. sorry they are of poor quality and only a couple came out well enough to post. the before pics are from the early spring.

[axelrduvirage]

you get it painted in shediac?

You should drop in moncton meet a couple 6th gen here, and Nick with his V6 swap, that thing is sexy and its not even in the car! lol

Really hope to see your brand spankin' new 6th

no, painting it in dartmouth. the shediac reference was to whet your appetite for a meet. will let you know when the Celipig is painted. Cap Bimet at sunset!

[Valo666]

AWWW..isnt that cute..your celica is going through puberty. Its a strange time for a celica, it starts to notice other celicas and gets bad pimples.

[axelrduvirage]

not much done these past few days. took the weekend off from the project. had two trees to cut down and some serious partying to attend to. was out last night doing some shopping. paint gun, masking, paper overalls, etc. stopping by the Sherwin-Williams paint store on my way home today to pick up primer, sealer, paint, reducer and whatever else i need. hope to prime on wednesday night and paint on the weekend.

[axelrduvirage]

life keeps getting in the way ! hardly touched the car yesterday. put the wheels back on and rolled it out into the driveway for a quick wash (no soap, please!!) it looked pathetic there all naked and 5hit. i may not paint this weekend . too many things to take care of still. anyway, i'm not discouraged just impatient now. the real problem is that i may rush through the rest of the job and screw things up.



oh well, back to the garage this afternoon. mostly have to clean the work area and start hanging dropsheets and install the ventilation. hope to post some pics by the end of the day.

[vsideboy]

be patient dude!!!

Once you start the painting bit it won't take you that long to do. You could probably get all the painting done in a weekend.

It'll take you more time going places after though, cos you'll have to drive nice a slowly so you don't get any stonechips or anything on your new paint haha

[axelrduvirage]

stonechips are inevitable but will stay off gravel roads (maybe). i will prolly park FAR FAR away from anybody to avoid door-banging-fender-syndrome . i am really looking forward to my first dent/nick/scratch...NOT! (after all that work i will no doubt cry like a nine year old girl with a skinned knee).

This post has been edited by axelrduvirage: Jun 22, 2006 - 9:25 PM

[vsideboy]

as would I dude!!!

[axelrduvirage]

well, we got the garage cleaned out last night and did more "finesse" work on the body. i seem to be getting nowhere. after seeing daily results with the larger areas, this detailling is very frustrating. 3 days' work and i can't see any progress. i know there is work being done but it's slow going.



here are a few snaps of the car before we parked it back in the garage















the only real proof that you can actually clean a garage

[/size]

have a great weekend everyone!!

[size="4"]"sing as if no one is listening, dance as if no one is watching, love as if you've never been hurt, live as if you'll die today, dream as if you'll live forever."

- anonymous

[vsideboy]

wish i had a garage, yours looks massive

[axelrduvirage]

wish i had a garage, yours looks massive

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ...it only LOOKS huge because it's clean. there is just enough room to work around the car comfortably. it sure does beat working outside though. the weather here has been total crap for the last month or so. i would be nowhere near as far as i am now if it weren't for Jim and the garage.

[axelrduvirage]

long day...seems once more i got nothing done. sanded the nose some more. filled a few last (hopefully) nicks and scratches. bloody weather is going to be crap all weekend. on the plus side i am learning how to mask. not an easy job, very slow and meticulous. anyway, add another week to the calendar 'cus it's going a lot slower than i expected.

cheers

[axelrduvirage]

got some real work done last nite. masking started and painted the rear bumper. promise to post pics when i get home from work today.

[vsideboy]

yey, good lad! Soon be finished! Then you can come over to the UK and do mine haha

[axelrduvirage]

^^ you get me a plane ticket, all the materials and a map of the english countryside and i'll do your car for the price of lodging and sustenance. have to wait till next summer for vacation time tho'.





This post has been edited by axelrduvirage: Jun 27, 2006 - 10:06 AM

[vsideboy]

haha no worries dude, think I'll do it myself.

you'll still be doing yours this time next year anyway haha. all the bad winter weather, you'll need to paint it again. DOH!

[axelrduvirage]

a few rush shots from the last few days. i masked some more today (pics to come) but i had a busy schedule and have not put much time in since Monday night. these pics are from Monday night. decided to say Fμ¢қ off once and for all to local radio. filled in the antenna hole. Sirius Satellite Radio or nothing, Baby!! (OK maybe my iRiver MP3 player too). all i need now is for someone to build me a custom preamp with EQ, Volume and Fader controls, mini, sub-mini and RCA selectable inputs.



masking from the inside can be so much fun!!!!!!!!




hard at work or hardly working...j/k



good bye crappy local radio!!!



the Jim going nuts with the putty



me-- being childish after painting the bumper (do i have to cover it? it's so black!!)

[WH95TE]

Look's promising.

[b1gr3d]

whtas under that spot putty?

[axelrduvirage]

whtas under that spot putty?

nothing..it willl probably pop out first time i go over a speedbump. should i put a small fiberglass patch behind it or go all-out and MIG a plug?

[vsideboy]

if you have the tools then I would weld it mate, or at least put a plate behind it, you'll be washing it one day and accidentally push it through. Even if you don't push it through it will definitely split the paint and it'd be a shame after all your hard work.

Don't bodge it when you can do it right!!

[b1gr3d]

if you have the tools then I would weld it mate, or at least put a plate behind it, you'll be washing it one day and accidentally push it through. Even if you don't push it through it will definitely split the paint and it'd be a shame after all your hard work.

Don't bodge it when you can do it right!!

x2

[axelrduvirage]

just a bump to let you know it's still going slow. had no time this holiday weekend to work on the car. friday--worked late, saturday-- felled a tree then rushed home for Canada Day Party, sunday drove to Charlottetown and back-- 800km for a 6 hour outdoor concert (Hedley, Theory Of A Dead Man and Three Days Grace) and Monday mowing, gardening, cleaning the Tracker and had to come to work to finish work i started on friday.

[axelrduvirage]

shameless self-promoting bump to let you know there will be a major update to this thread shortly,

[axelrduvirage]

i am done for now.

posting the pics in another thread...hope you enjoy. not quite done and i need to fix a few SNAFUs.