Restoration Part 3!, All fixed. For now... Options

[enderswift]

Halloween 2009 some douche got beyond drunk and bashed into my parked celi before speeding off . I found the damage a few hours later and aside from an internal cuss-fest I kept my cool and was really relieved to see that there was no mechanical damage. Pictures say a thousand words so observe:


this picture is from when it first happened and doesn't really convey the magnitude of the damage, I seriously thought the rear suspension was boned. I'll post fresh pictures soon, they'll show my sad looking (but effective) attempt at rust proofing.


After saving every penny from my summer job while scouring the world for parts, paint, good advice, and someone to trust my celi to, I finally have everything in order


(thats $300 in paint supplies right there, the majority of which was the insanely expensive toyota 3l2. That taillight was damn near impossible to find for a reasonable price)

I just cant be happier right now. Ill finally be able to wax my celi without wondering if I'm an idiot for waxing a ruined exterior (I figured a dent isn't an excuse to neglect the whole paint job!) also, I'll finally be able to pull up somewhere or go on a date w/o cringing every time my drivers side is displayed

So now the next order of business is to take a few things apart before delivery to my body guy. The rear bumper has to be removed together with the taillight, mirror, power antenna, front head light, sideskirt, and window trim. I'm paranoid about having someone else work on my car so I insisted on being as involved as possible. In fact, If I had the time I would learn body work and fix this on my own. Too bad university has to be so time intensive while body work is a skill that comes with lots and lots of experience..Either way until I graduate I'd rather have someone fix this thing rather than count on my rustproofing to hold up.

I'll post pics of the tear down soon

This post has been edited by enderswift: Jun 2, 2011 - 8:34 PM

[enderswift]

whoa, finally. I cant believe it. Its here. its finally painted! No more knocking around campus like a tool in full motorcycle gear

Honestly I was expecting the worst while walking over. Mainly because a few days earlier I stopped by and saw this:


Oh yes, a garage special So much for renting out a professional booth...


Thats why I couldn't help but cringe when my car first came into view. With todays cloudy skies and poor lighting the new finish looked really flat. I thought I was in for another round of headaches


Luckily things got MUCH better as I took a few steps closer. The finish instantly gleamed up and the orange peel of last week was no where to be seen. The runs of paint on the bumper were gone and the infuriating painted-over spider-webbing was no more! In short this paint is up to par and I'm happy to finally have a car again. I paid the guy for his effort and quickly got the car home.



First I want to show off my hood look! clear coat on the underside, bonus! (Ignore all of the white dust, Its just dried up polishing compound that I still have to clean off)


I don't know what happened to my earlier photos. I had a few of the support getting drilled out. . . Oh well, maybe they'll turn up later.

This photo shows what the car looked like just after removing the ruined radiator support. It was a real pain getting the drill to stay centered on the spot welds, even after making marks with a punch and hammer. I ended up drilling the holes a fraction of a nanometer off center and had to get creative with my screwdrivers to finally remove the support.


This, of course, is the support after its been removed. Strangely it doesn't look all that damaged outside of the car. But it is.


With the old support out of the car I went ahead and did a mock up with the new one. It was held on by nothing but a few bolts and the highbeam tabs yet still allowed me to find a few spots on the frame that needed a slight tweaking. All together I think I spent an hour and a half adjusting the front end of the car before everything started to line up perfectly.


Heres the result of all my effort. I'm really happy with how I managed to align everything.


Another photo showcasing my radiator support.


And another. Its amazing how the smallest shift to the left or right in a key spot can majorly throw off the alignment of the whole front end. But I won



I painted some more bits of the front end flat black (including my hand) to keep them from contrasting against the black AC condenser through the bumper openings.


At this point I ran to Ace hardware and picked up some stainless steel nuts and bolts to permanently attach the support to the celi. I know some of you will think that bolting the support on is a hack job but the fact of the matter is that I dont know how to weld yet. So until I take a welding course sometime next summer these bolts are gonna have to do. I just wish I painted the ends to keep them from rusting. .


After the support was completely bolted in the car was ready to finally start coming back together! (In this photo the support looks like its tilted too high on the drivers side but thats only the way the picture came out, my driveway has a slight slant and I can assure you that the support is dead on


I went after the bumper and reattached all of the clips/trim/foam to get it ready to mount

Unfortunately the work light I was using made it impossible to get any decent photos so this is where I gave up on taking pictures. I figured you've all seen a stock celica before so there was no point fighting with the work light and flash settings. Right now I'd say the celi as about 70% complete. Tomorrow I have to go to the dealer and pick up a few clips for the washer hoses, a new piezo chirper, and a few other odds and ends.

Hopefully I'll get my new tie bar trim from Mkernz soon and officially call the celi complete. in the next update I'll post some pictures of the celi after its been put completely put together and washed. I'll also show you guys the automated Sigg 552 assault turret I'm mounting onto the roof. Still have to figure out how to keep it running w/o draining the battery and if my statefarm sticker will look best on the barrel or on the stock... hmmm

Seriously if i get hit again I'm buying a beetle.

This post has been edited by enderswift: Sep 4, 2010 - 9:22 AM