91MR2 Posted March 6 Author Report Share Posted March 6 Also just got my floor mat back today. It came out ok. Mostly pleased, especially considering the condition of the mat in the first place, quite weathered. All in all, the patina/fit will be just fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted March 11 Author Report Share Posted March 11 Pesky tail lights off now, just needed some convincing. Car goes in for paint/body sometime in May... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted March 25 Author Report Share Posted March 25 Man, this place has been quiet lately... Took the SW for it's maiden drive of the season yesterday (for added fun, we crossed 132K miles) after much deferred maintenance and all new fluids over the winter. Ran flawlessly, very pleased with where this car is at. Just awaiting some minor paintwork this summer and that will be all for this car other than routine maintenance... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted April 7 Author Report Share Posted April 7 Made some major progress with the red Mi16 this past week, after cutting out and grinding away all the bad metal inside the trunk and in the inner fender wells, I cut up new metal patches and by buddy came over and welded them in. Very please with the results. Car goes in for further surgery/paint in May... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goce Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 Looking good, Joe. The most important part is now, to use good quality primer and paint to protect it from again rusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted April 7 Author Report Share Posted April 7 Thanks Goce, there are many steps to go still of course, including using a great product called chassis saver, that my body shop swears by. I'll keep everyone updated for sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted April 10 Author Report Share Posted April 10 Had my paint/body guy stop by to have a look at some of the prep work I’ve been doing and to get aligned for the upcoming work his shop will be doing. Super excited for the outcome of this car… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted April 29 Author Report Share Posted April 29 Been doing a lot of work on the red car, grinding, scraping, cleaning all the inner trunk area, as the car is finally going in for paint next week. Today, I applied the Chassis Saver (think por-15). This product will neutralize the areas of concern and convert it to a rock hard surface, never to rust again. So they say... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 4 Author Report Share Posted May 4 Well, today was the day, I brought the red car in for paint today. Should be done in a couple weeks. Very excited, hoping it will come out really nice, especially with all the prep work I've been doing. Car should go back together pretty fast once I get it back, hopefully by the end of May. Will update... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 Is the chassis saver paint a paintable rust inhibitor?  And do you know if it’s UV stable?  Por-15 needs a special topcoat to be paintable, and it’s not UV stable on its own so not good for anything that will see sun. Great progress though! Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 You can paint over chassis saver, however, that isn't necessary in this case, since it's all on the inside of the trunk and will be just covered in carpets anyways... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 Makes sense - I just assumed it was the trunk getting painted, but what is getting done then? Undercoating and sealing underside?  Is body getting paint somewhere? Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 More or less the entire rear of the car is getting repainted, where the rear 1/4 panels were seamed, all of the body work is starting to show through, so they are taking it down to bare metal and fixing everything properly and then repainting. My friend and I did all the structural stuff on the inside, so that is now complete. Basically restoring a car that I thought was going to be nothing more than a parts car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 18 Author Report Share Posted May 18 Big week, the red car is in the body shop and work is well underway. They should have it for a couple weeks, before it returns home for cleaning and re-assembly. Lots of areas that will be cut out for new metal to go in, but they aren't too bad, mostly small areas, even the body shop felt good about it once the stripping down began. It has to get uglier before it gets better... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 24 Author Report Share Posted May 24 Bodywork done, getting painted today... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 Always a fun stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted May 25 Report Share Posted May 25 Looking forward to the results!  Hope they mail the paint match as well…. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 26 Author Report Share Posted May 26 Gentlemen, the car is back home as of yesterday, and I'm very pleased with how it came out. Paint match is great, and it should last a very long time, lots of metal replacement involved here, finished off with waterproof duraglass. I spent the rest of the day cleaning it up and am now preparing for re-assembly, hopefully this coming week... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goce Posted May 26 Report Share Posted May 26 The bumper mounts are very different than euro models. Paint looks great, do you know what paint color code that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted May 27 Report Share Posted May 27 Should be Vallelunga Red P3K8.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted May 27 Author Report Share Posted May 27 Mike thanks for that, I think they just matched it kind of like they do at hardware stores with a chip/sample, etc. Either way, I’m pleased… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted June 2 Author Report Share Posted June 2 Tons more progress over the last few days. Got the car cleaned up and then undercoated all the areas that were metal patched (plus a sizeable area beyond), including the inner trunk area as well as the wheel wells. Then got all new stainless hardware (with tons of grease for future removal needs) to re-attach the bumper support, plus repair and mount the reverse light housings. Today I ran the wiring loom for the reverse lights and rear side marker lights. Tail lights and center panel next... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted June 2 Author Report Share Posted June 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91MR2 Posted June 2 Author Report Share Posted June 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 Have you inspected the trailing arm bearings? The undercarriage looks very rusty (surface). With the bodyshell rusted out like that, I've no doubt that those are suffering, if not gone completely. I'd recommend a preventative re&re and then installing grease nipples and packing the (large) void with grease. This is - next to the atrocious electrics - the worst thing about the 405. My 405 had no rust perforation at all when it was scrapped, despite living in HARD winter//salted areas for many winters. And despite this, the trailing arm bearings were totally shot at 200,000 km, to the point of no camber, toe or other geometry being stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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