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Giving a 505 another chance


norcal505

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I, like Rabin, have body shop experience in a previous life. In my case I managed a mid high end shop in St. Louis, 1988-1990.

To expand on Rabin and Andre's comment's about prep, some explanation might help:

Primer has little/no moisture protection, in fact it will absorb moisture. When you sand to prep for paint you have to ensure its done deeply enough to remove the clear and a good bit of the paint in order to ensure that a good sealing primer will adhere. With the different types of paint used today vs. what was used 25 plus years ago, one of the other problems is paint incompatibility. in the late 80's we still used lacquer! Hell, you could apply that stuff in a sand storm with a mop, wet sand and buff and it would come out looking like a million bucks! It shrank like crazy, so we were always fixing paint problems due to poor prep (sometimes my techs fault, sometimes the customers). When we stated using Glazurit (sp?) it was like a whole new world. Literally reduced problems to zero, looked 100 times better and there was significantly less waste.

I'm a big believer in leaving paint work to pro's. The key is finding truly good, professional painters. Seems like 99% of them have all been breathing fumes one too many days.....

Good luck!

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Got it reassembled for inspection tomorrow morning.

They ended up having to do some cutting/canibalization in order to avoid bondo usage.

With that, 4/5 of a Peugeot 505 is lying at some Pick n' Pull somewhere ... :lol:

She's home...a few of the new goodies awaiting installation tomorrow can be seen in the background.

That's all for tonight.

Cheers,

S

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Do you mind shooting some pics of the fender seams? The FSM shows the cut line for doing the rear quarter in the middle of the rear pillar and they went to the drain rail. I prefer how they did it!

Looks great, and will be even better with the turbo front and rear spoilers. Well done.

Rabin

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I'll get on it Rabin. All the nooks and crannies have been completely primed, but I'll see you some pics.

The pics don't do justice to my amazement of how accurately all of the lines restored - door closed perfectly.

And thanks! Makes me feel slightly better about the amount of money I blew yesterday. :D

Well of course, I feel like it was worth it, unlike most close friends and family.

In the end, it came out to over 40 hours of labor.

The original estimate was for roughly 20, but I'm truly thankful for getting the amazing deal on the hourly rate that I got, as the shop owner was a family friend.

Hah, also notice the lack of a certain, horrid gutter trim?

Also: please disregard last post - found the little rubber stop in the door map pocket.

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40 hours for the amount of damage that was repaired, and the quality of the work done - I'd say it's money well spent. Once you have the spoilers on and the car is repainted I think you'll change a lot of minds for sure.

If you don't - so what! As long as it makes you happy and you have no regrets. 10 years from now looking back - it's well worth the $$ to be able to look back and not have the regret of not making the effort to save the car that obviously has a special place in your heart. All my cars have always been repaired without consideration of "book value" - the only value that's important is the value it has to me. I don't really care what others think - but it is nice to when they do get some appreciation. :)

Rabin

BTW: As money becomes available later, that little XN6 could easily be built / tuned to back up it's looks a little better - but until you finish school it'd be perfect as is.

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Haha, definitely. I think I only get that feeling since I'm back living with my family for the summertime, otherwise, it's whatever.

If we're talking book value, it'd for sure be a laughing matter. My car is probably going to twice salvaged pretty soon...and after all, it is a Peugeot.

Regarding the XN6, that is definitely a long-term goal of mine. I remember coming on here back in high school ranting about how I hated it, and how I wanted to N9T swap, but at this point, it serves it's job, and has really never let me down, not counting the times that I treated my car like absolute shit when I was 16.

Out of school with a stable job, this will without a doubt change. Having driven a BMW for the last few years, I've taken a liking to having a "little more" power, but then again, I'm done driving fast due to tickets on my record, as well as knowing a few friends who lost/dramatically altered their lives through the dangers of speed.

Slightly OT - Would some kind soul mind taking a picture from underneath their front bumper?

I have all the hardware necessary to install my Turbo front spoiler but threw in the towel this evening due to decreasing daylight and a sore body from the gym.

Also, I totally forgot where everything goes down there. :D

-S

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Showing my neighbors how Eurocentric I am by sina.pour, on Flickr

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Also, forgot to add that my installation woes extend past the front air dam.

Since I bought the turbo trunklid, I also bought the extra trunk shock for the right side.

However, being that my car is an '83, there is no hook to mount the second shock on to...

Anyone have any ideas?

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car is looking great, sina! looks better without the gutter trim, as well.

if i had a front spoiler on my car, i'd take pictures for you...as it is, i'll be looking forward to seeing how the front spoiler is mounted, as well...

btw -- since you are going with the front & rear spoilers, have you considered painting your door frames & b-pillars black to complete the turbo look? that's what i'm thinking of doing...

as far as mounting the second trunklid shock...ukit told me that he sometimes has to replace the lower mounting points on turbos that have rusty trunk floors. he uses this part:

PhotoMar31114424AM-2.jpg

for the upper strut mount, you can either get a trunk hinge from a turbo -- already has the mounting "ball" attached (which is what i did), or you can get a version of the part in the photo that is just the "ball" on a threaded post so you can attach it to your current passenger-side trunk hinge...

andré

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Very interesting! My father and I just finished up the finishing touches on the trunk - everything lines up nicely and is all adjusted.

We tried salvaging the automatic trunk popper that came on my Turbo trunklid (from an 88 car) but it was getting in the way, so I removed it.

In the next few hours, were are going to retrofit the wiring harness out of my 83 trunk to the new lid.

Already installed some nice brighter bulbs to the new trunk, and cleaned up the haze on the clear plastic.

We're also taping everything together so it can be easily removed for the paint.

Good eye with the black door frames and b pillars! I'm still contemplating that over..as I am also shooting for an "original" look...but that has already been tampered with now :D

I was just thinking of a possible alternative to adding the second shock:

Possibly a stronger shock, like from a Volvo or something?

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It was a long day of work on the car today. It was really the first time my dad and I were able to get out hands dirty and work from dawn to dusk on the car.

It really reminded about why I'm keeping this car, as it was originally my dad's since brand new, and I'd always admire it as a child when he used to back the car into our garage. Can't believe it been nearly two decades since I was that little kid riding in the back of my dad's red Peugeot.

Anyways, I'll cut the reminiscing short and tell you what we got done today. We started off by removing the old, crusty trunk lid from the car. We then gutted it's wiring harness, and removed the lock and latch. We did the same with the new Turbo trunk lid. Then, we experimented several things; first, we tried the rare(?) automatic trunk-lock popper. We repaired the tears to its harness, and it was working. We mated my old lock up to the new trunk, and mocked it up on the car.

Apparently, the 1988 505 sedan had a slightly larger latch, that protruded a little too much, and the lid wouldn't shut closed. So we scrapped that idea, and went back to the hassle-free, simplicity of the original 1983 specification. We mated the old lock, as well as the old latch on to the new trunk lid. Problem solved.

Also, while were at it, we retrofitted the new trunk's wiring harness so that it would mate with the power wire coming from the battery. Since originally it accepted only the positive wire, and had a ground wire going to the trunk latch, we spliced some wires and cleanly used some sealed wire crimps (Rabin :D) to retrofit it back to the old style. When finished with that, we replaced the license plate lights and cleaned up their lenses. Everything was sealed nicely with some electrical tape and we also used some painters tape to wrap them up, knowing that they will be all removed again soon for paint, underneath the trunk lid...and around the whole car.

It took us a few tries to get the trunk lid fully adjusted, but we got it lined up spot-on with the lines of the trunk. Now, we are going to have to figure out a solution for the extra trunk support shock. My car, and '83 model, does not have the hook on the right side of the trunk to add a second shock. Andre showed us the cool solution used by Ukit, and we're still contemplating that, along with possibly replacing the stock Peugeot unit for possibly a stronger shock out of another car...stay tuned for that.

With all of that done, moved on to the front portion of the "Turbo Aero Kit." I had started it yesterday, but got angry with it and left alone. Today, a fellow SoCal Peugeot head Marc, and a Quebecois friend Thierry, helped me out with the mounting. Marc literally guided me step-by-step via picture messaging and so did Thierry. Talk about help in the most clutch of situations!

So here we are, my car's Turbo-look conversion is pretty much complete. We've still got a little bit of fiddling around to do with the front spoiler, with some adjusting bits but that's about it...

What's ahead and we're moving onto now that the conversion is complete:

-I am refinishing the grille in gloss black w/ silver lion & outline this upcoming week

-Refinishing the Quad-rounds' headlight bezels/surrounds in Silver

-Sending the car to the shop to get all of the surface rust (which is only around the F/R windsheilds and sunroof) repaired

-Innerfenders redone in black coating, as well as the rocker panels

-...and of course, a full, proper respray in Peugeot 1476 "Rouge Amaryllis" , also called Claret Red in America.

I am reserving the interior for winter break. ;)

...then reassembling all the trim, lights, etc blah blah blah.. :D

All in all, after today's work, and reaching that major aesthetic milestone, I'm pretty excited for what's to come.

I kinda stopped "giving a shit" for a while through out the remainder of my high school years and the first year of college.

Now, I feel as if my love for the car's been renewed, and never was I so pleased to look at my car with multicolored body panels tonight.

Progress is Progress.

Cheers,

Sina

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Gutting trunk lids with pops. by sina.pour, on Flickr

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After a long day's of work. by sina.pour, on Flickr

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All the new panels are on. by sina.pour, on Flickr

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Check out my multicolored French car, bro. by sina.pour, on Flickr

And to finish off, thought I'd show the view I see every summer evening from the backyard of the house.

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Alameda [sF] Sunsets by sina.pour, on Flickr

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Car looks awesome Sina! I can't wait to see what it looks like once you have it completely painted - should be quite nice.

BTW - What colour are you going to paint that transition piece that runs underneath the headlights and grill - fills the gap to the bumper? If it were me - I'd be VERY tempted to paint the headlight surrounds black to match the grill paint (transition piece black or body colour), or getting them done in body colour when the car is painted. Silver just doesn't mean it up enough - and with the Turbo spoilers on it - you definitely need to mean it up some.

Well done on the sealed crimps too. :)

View from your house is spectacular as well... I'll have to make time to visit Alameda at some point - it seams like a really cool place.

Rabin

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Thanks Rabin. I think I'm pretty set on painting the surrounds silver for originality. Don't forget, I'm still going to mount the Euro Lamps soon.

A friend from abroad has sent me all of the mounting hardware that I need, and I'll probably mount the Euro's on after paint, when the car's exterior will still be disassembled, again. Then the olde' quad rounds will live on my bookshelf.

Also, let me know if you're ever in California. I live in San Diego 8 months out of the year, but the Bay area is wonderful. Alameda is a cool little island, but it's just Alameda..IMHO, some of America's best driving roads are in the Bay area. If you're ever in the area, a drive would be crucial. ;)

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Car will be stunning with euro lights - but that filler panel below the headlights and grills should be body colour IMHO - or satin / trim black... Silver just sticks out too much. Both Koll and Vic have theirs painted body colour and it looks awesome.

Are you pulling windows, mouldings, and trim for the respray? Always get a better job if they don't have to mask anything.

Rabin

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Yeah. The side molding have to come off regardless, as I'm doing them in jet black - no more chrome trim.

Also that's a cool thought with the body-colored front transition panel/strip..

Windows aren't coming off, but the doors are being popped since the inner part of that sill/fender is currently in primer.

What will be removed:

-side mouldings

-all lights

-window channeled trim (I know some people have broken these, but I learned the proper way with my old parts car that I sent to the junker)

-bumpers

-C-pillar side vents

-Mirrors

-Trunk will be popped as the inside is metallic silver LOL

-parts of the trunk compartment/floor are getting sprayed

-Front spoiler (leaving the brackets on though - that was a real PITA to install last night

-Rear spoiler is being detached from the new trunk lid (the whole entire trunk lid needs thorough paint, obviously)

-Grille (already mentioned I'll be tackling that this week)

-And the license plate panel (beneath it is all in primer)

The car has several parking-lot dings throughout. The hood has a few dimples, and so does the roof.

Yeah, I know my headliner is starting to look shitty with the tear in the front, but that's for the winter/later.

My dad and I are going to dye my *perfect* spare complete floor carpet in jet black over the winter as well... that should look fairly decent when done, hopefully.

I feel like I have gotten far more comfortable with pulling all this stuff of, after buying that grey 83 sti sedan in july to play with.

It feels crazy to be getting all of this done now, I feel like it's all been a dream, or talk, at least till now.

-S

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One more suggestion would be to see if the body shop would be able to use a flush universal style windshield rubber - A buddy had his Europa done with a GM rubber trim that's almost flush. If they can - it'd cut down on the wind noise in the car substantially.

Rabin

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I'd be interested in hearing this as well.

Good work on the car Rob. Someone's got to give André a run for the money!

Thanks Koll! I don't know if any car of mine would ever be as meticulous as Andre's, however I strive to work more like him in his attention to literally every detail. By the way Koll, would you mind posting some pictures here of your own 505 with the color matched transition piece? Trying to a better idea if you don't mind.

-S

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Yeah, that's the one. Mine came (stock) in silver. However, I ditched most of the chrome on my car (sans window channels and bumper inserts) in search of a "meaner" look.

I'm doing the grille in black gloss with only the lion in silver... *maybe* the outline of the grille... Then again, I'll need to see more cars spec'd out this way to seal the deal..

-S

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Ya, mine was silver too. Maybe that's stock? Anyway, painting it the same color as the body was a no brainer. Didn't even think about it.

I did the same thing with the grill/lion. I did mine in silver leaf. Then clearcoated it. Came out barely acceptable. Didn't look ghetto. PAIN IN THE ASS! All DIY efforts are fraught with the danger of screwing it up. I'm curious how you plan to do it. The factory, in fact all carmakers, use a process called "vacuum metalization". It's how they 'chrome' plastic. It's a rather hard thing to do on a small scale. There are only a few places that can do it.

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car's looking great, sina! you've made awesome progress. also glad to hear you've got the bracket you need to mount your euro headlights.

WRT the black turbo-style window frames & b-pillar...a while back you and i were talking about car stuff and we discussed vinyl wraps. 3M has a new material, it's called 1080; it's similar to di-noc but it's intended for use on cars so it'll probably hold up better. this might be a good way to do the b-pillar, i got the idea from a friend's car -- that's how it's done on some new cars. it might be possible to wrap the door frames as well, if one removes the window seals. in my case, the PO slammed the driver's door on the seat belt many times ( :angry: ) so i have gouges in my paint on the door frame, which means i'll have to repaint them to get rid of the gouge marks...

The factory, in fact all carmakers, use a process called "vacuum metalization". It's how they 'chrome' plastic. It's a rather hard thing to do on a small scale. There are only a few places that can do it.

koll, after i saw your comments in the headlight refinishing thread a while back, i looked into this for headlight buckets, alloy wheel centers, etc. i found a place here in LA that does this, they charge US$75 a piece. for that price, it's hardly worth it if you can find the part as NOS or good-condition used...

andré

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Andre - can you post up the contact info for the place in LA that does the rechroming? I've got some euro headlight buckets for my 504 that could use it - and if they actually charge $75 for one I'd likely do it for sure.

Rabin

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@ Koll - That's interesting. Honestly, I think that if anything, my car currently the centerpiece for "ghetto 505's", looking like it's just left Compton. :D

I don't really mind the danger of screwing it up through DIY. I'm gutting exterior again this week, after inspection/re-registration tomorrow, and before it hits the paint/body shop.

I'm gonna take my time with this car as I'll be heading back to school in less than four weeks, and the car will be just sitting around my parents' neighborhood underneath a cover. I figure that after I leave on the 20th, I'll have some time over Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks, but not again till next June.

Bimmer's my car down in San Diego, but I'm hoping to sell that on next summer and bring the Peugeot down to Sunny socal for the 2013-14 school year.

@ Andre - Thanks! Also, I'm seriously looking into the 3M alternative at the moment..I figure it'll go on after the paint's done in the first 2 weeks of September.

I figure both of our 505's will be hopefully looking nice by next summer, so a meet/photo-op with all of us SoCal 505 guys should be in check. :D

-S

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