Joe's '94GT money pit

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joemomma

joemomma

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Thanks guys. I looked at lunch, and the spoiler does have inserts for bolts in it. My quick check with a tape measure showed they lined up with the factory mounting holes. I'll just need to get some 1/4-20 bolts - I don't think the studs will come out of the factory spoiler. I've got some 3M tape on order too.

I ordered a kit from Touch Up Zone - a can of primer, two cans of base, and a can of the "2K" clear. It was just over $100 with shipping ($20+ shipping!). I'll likely start the prep work this weekend. I'm open for tips on prepping the spoiler (grit, brands, process, etc.).
 
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joemomma

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Right on. I looked closer at the spoiler last night, and all 4 inserts are in good shape, but one is "loose". I couldn't get the bolts I had (1/4-20 for reference) to snug up in it, it would just turn in place. I have some Loctite quick epoxy on order. I also discovered the original double-sided tape is still in place with the covering still on the "sticky" side. Most of it looks in tact, but I'll likely just try to get what I can of it off and replace with the new tape I have on order. That will be a job - not sure what the best way to remove that is going to be. I wonder how big of a mess a nylon wire wheel would make?

EDIT: nylon wheel would be a no-go I'm sure. I've got a heat gun and some 3M adhesive remover in an aerosol can. That should get it done.
 
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07GtS197

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Another way to go is to use a wax wheel. It removes adhesive with no residue or chemicals. They are pricey though.

The prep isn’t hard. Get an assorted set of sandpaper and a sanding block. You might have to sand it to the primer do to going to a lighter color. With that in mind I’d get an electric sander with different grits on disks. Sand it, prime it, scuff it and remove the high spots and paint. It isn’t a hard process but it’s time consuming, especially if you’re a wannabe perfectionist like me lol.
 
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joemomma

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Yeah, sometimes my OCD gets the best of me. I think with the heat gun and my plastic razor blades that I got for removing the window tint, I should be good. I'm going to stop in and pick up some assorted sandpapers after work.

EDIT: forgot to add that I ordered a Cobra front bumper cover. Hopefully it's nice.
 

DKblue98GT

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Where are you getting the bumper from? What king of fog lights are you going to use?
 

ttocs

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it should not need much more than a good scuff with some 600-1000 wet sanded to create some tooth on the surface for the paint to bite.
 
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joemomma

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It's an eBay special on the bumper. It comes primered and ready to paint. We'll see about that lol. Remember this is a budget build for the most part. The seller had excellent feedback, so I'm not too worried about it. It will certainly look better than my current GT bumper. The PO ran a front license plate on it for whatever reason and it looks like trash. It also has a good bit of stress cracks in the paint.
For fogs, I was looking at the Envoy ones (they're cheap online) but it sounds like you have to use the factory Cobra mounting brackets with those (which I don't have, and can't seem to source just the brackets). So, I'll probably just end up running the Cobra replacements from LMR.

For the spoiler - I won't have to sand all the current paint/clear off? The clear is fading on it now. That would be a huge plus if so. I was planning to prime it again before I put my base down. I picked up some wet/dry paper in various grits last night. I was going to start on it this weekend hopefully, if it isn't unbearable outside.
 

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I have heard some nightmare stories about fitting the reproduction bumpers and I have personally experienced how much cheaper the reproduction fenders are. I will NOT lean on my drivers side fender because it is a reproduction and its thinner/lighter and will cave in.
 
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joemomma

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Got the S281 clone spoiler all done up this weekend, despite the heat. I removed the old tape with a heat gun and a plastic razor blade, along with 3M adhesive remover (that stuff is the jam). After that I hand-sanded with 220, then 500 to scuff the old clear and some bad spots/chips in the paint. After I did that, I washed it with soap/water and hung it up in the garage using weed-eater string from the garage door tracks.
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Once I had it hanging like I wanted, I wiped it down again with soapy water and then isopropyl.
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Here's the kit from Touch Up Zone: primer, two cans of base, and their 2K clear. The clear was pretty slick, it had a secondary nozzle on the bottom that you depressed when you were ready to spray it to mix the activator in with the clear.
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Laying down primer - honestly, it was probably too hot/humid to be painting, but I wanted to get it done. I think my primer was drying before it was getting to the spoiler, as evidenced by the rough/gritty finish:
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I put down 3 coats of primer. I just used my hand and a little 500 wet paper to knock the rough spots on the primer down before I started with color. Wiped down with soapy water and isopropyl again before I started color.

It had cooled down some by the time I got around to laying down the color and clear, thankfully. I put down 3 coats of color, and 3 coats of clear. I'm glad I picked up a second can of base, otherwise, I would have only had enough for two coats. I really needed the third coat, and I ended up sanding through the primer on a couple of edges where it was the roughest. I was kind of worried about the finish, but that clear is pretty amazing stuff. It's smooth for sure, and I haven't even polished it. I thought about wet sanding it, but I don't think it needs it. I've got some correction polish, and will likley just hit it with that before I mount it.

Finished product:
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Overall, very happy with the kit from Touch Up Zone. I can't comment on how close it matches yet, but I'll update once I have it mounted. I should also preface this by saying the car has been painted before by the PO. Oh, the epoxy didn't hold. No worries, between the 3 other bolts and the 3M tape, it shouldn't go anywhere. I noticed a couple of spots I could have done better with, but honestly, as a beginner, I feel like it turned out really good.
 
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joemomma

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Well, as feared, the paint kit I got doesn't match the paint on the car. It does, however, match the original paint as you can see in the shot below. When they repainted the car, they didn't use Crystal White. I'm not sure which white it is, but it isn't Crystal. It might be Oxford White, I'm not sure. It looks pretty close to my truck, which is Oxford.
Original vs respray:
l1wgJqx.jpg


Other than that, pretty happy with the fit. I mounted the new 3M tape and then used painter's tape to "hold" the spoiler in place (mostly) while I hinged it over to peel the tape backing. It did a decent job. I did have to restick the passenger side, it slid up a little too far and I couldn't get the mounting bolts in.

Hinge with painter's tape:
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Here you can see how "off" the color is:
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Fit is pretty decent:
6BjsRFe.jpg

The driver side was up a little, but I sat the welder on it overnight and that seemed to bring it down some. The passenger side was down pretty good. I sat the generator and an ammo crate on top of it as well to help it stick/flatten out.

I got the seat track extenders installed, which is nice. It raised the seat up 1/2" or so, but no biggie. Any more, and it would be an issue but the seat is OK. I also got the eBay Cobra bumper in. It looked fine, but I have no idea how the fit is. Honestly, I don't really want to drive around in a 3-color car for any length of time (the hood is still blue, and the bumper is black/unpainted). It will be some time before I can afford to get it painted so I probably won't be installing any of the new parts until much later. That is unless I decide to do more "show" before "go" and get it painted before doing the crate motor swap. We shall see.
 
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joemomma

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Just remembered I have some Oxford White touch up paint for the truck. There are some chips up front I could test with to see if Oxford is indeed a match.
 

Venompower

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Just remembered I have some Oxford White touch up paint for the truck. There are some chips up front I could test with to see if Oxford is indeed a match.
I had an 04' Oxford White Mach 1, I agree your car looks similar.
 
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joemomma

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The Crystal White looks is a "brighter" white than the Oxford. Somebody needs a kick square in the jimmy for this nonsense.
 

ttocs

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crystal white is damn near an F-word in the paint world I wouldn't doubt that they went with a different color just to try and cure the curse of the crystal white. Did you manage to use the studs at all or just the tape?
 
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joemomma

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Ahh, I knew there were issues with Crystal White from Ford. They did something different with the primer or something?

I got three of the studs in the spoiler. The 4th is in, but not tight. I couldn't get the nut insert to hold.
 

ttocs

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Ahh, I knew there were issues with Crystal White from Ford. They did something different with the primer or something?

I got three of the studs in the spoiler. The 4th is in, but not tight. I couldn't get the nut insert to hold.
yea they did something different, left it out of the equation completely to see if it saved money.
 
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joemomma

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Yeah, that'll save money for sure lol. So, the car isn't Oxford White either. It's somewhere in-between Crystal and Oxford, as the Oxford was a little too "dark" still. So, I'm probably going to go and see about getting some quotes for getting the whole car sprayed.
 
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joemomma

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Ordered some Envoy fogs to play with and see about fabricating a mount.
 

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