87Creep's 90s projects: AE101, SW20, GF8 WRX

[87creepin]

For a bit of motivation I decided to see what my paint will look like. Testing a small masked-out corner of my bonnet, I begun by wet-sanding dust using 2000 grit and a block. 
 

With a denim pad I bought a while back from detail depot and some of menzerna’s most aggressive compound I went to work

this was then followed by the same compound and a wool pad I had laying about 

 

followed by a bit of my foam pads and some polish:

 

though this is just a trial run, I’ll need to get mildly aggressive pads and compounds as I left some marring. I only have aggressive and finishing at the moment  

 

there’s plenty of dust and orange peel, I’m looking forward to doing a better job when I re-do the rear/roof and bumpers. 
 

Speaking of the bumpers, I got the rear finished. Here it is wet sanded. I blocked runs with 240 and then followed with 320 DA and wet sand 

I had done the front in my old shed, rushed and with the previous suppliers product. I knew it wasn’t gonna be good enough: 

too much cut through with a colour that doesn’t cover well. I thought I’d fix it with a can of g6 primer: 

actually that’s a bad idea as 1. It’s a can-based product and 2. The new suppliers stuff is a very similar shade of grey to the old suppliers when sanded. 
 

So I decided “do it again, do it properly”, sand it back some, and get some practice in with the gun 

Did my WRX’s guard for practice

 

still got some runs, I’ve got to work on my gun control.
 

i may have to switch from the 2.0 tip to 1.8 for priming. I will be sealing with a 1.6. Here’s my primer gun, an ANI F1/N from spraygunsdirect, cheap-ish and recommended by The Gunman from YouTube

Bodyian system from Autocolourbank 

Next job was to sand. I use 3M guide coat

after using all kinds of brands, sprays, 3M really is the only option for guide coat. I chose this funky orange after using it in the panel shop I used to work for, And it even amused the 80 year old part time polishing guy who had never seen anything like it despite doing this job since he left school. 
 

but don’t, black is better, it leaves your floor orange and it’s only used by weirdos like me and when there’s no black left. 

 

 

 

[87creepin]

I swapped MR2 front bumpers with a guy from the MR2 owners club. My old one is an unobtanium rarity Sard MC2, I got his Border one and cash my way. 
 

 

he loves mr2s more than I do, and plans to replicate a rare part/kit, whereas mine patiently waits at the back of the shed. ‘‘Twas a good trade. 

[87creepin]

Progress has been halted somewhat as I battle to finish the alarm install on my soon-to-sell Lancaster Legacy Outback thing. I only have to work out how to get my door locks to ‘lock’, after going back on the tard listing and seeing I have the alarm model without indicator flashers. After spending ages trying to get my alarm to flash.

ive figured it out though surely, 2x mini relays to be ordered, and I’m going to follow relay advice on the 12volt.com. I should have working flashes on arm and disarm and door locks finally working 100% 

gave it a big wash after running it through big puddles on metal roads after frustrating days working on it 

[87creepin]

I got some aliex stuff 

had a problem with my oil pressure sensor light coming on and flickering, after many heart palpitations I realised some moran left the connector disconnected. Cos it was broken. I chopped it off and crimped on a spade terminal, was an alright temporary fix. This will do for now next time I’m in dorkland I’ll raid pickapart for oem. 
 

as for my paint mixer drill attachments, 

it didn’t like thinners. This stuff is probably for water based stuff. Good idea though will look for a steel version. 
 

after much deliberation I decided I’d high build my rear 3/4 rather than surface it. This is because my primer dries a dark colour, and once sanded, it is light. I don’t want my bumper to be a significantly different colour from my quarter panels and boot. 
 

I sanded the rear with 240, 

this pic is later, sanding is boring, didn’t get a pic at the time. where I did cut through to bare steel I just sprayed a little Ppg g6 surface primer to avoid any rusting while it waited for 2k 

The plan is to loose the colour at the top of the c pillars - I’ll prime to halfway up the c pillars, paint a bit further up, and then clear the whole roof down to the A pillars 

the roof got 800. Needless to say I use a ryobi 125mm sander which is good but as 125mm discs are hard to find I use the Chinese stuff and I’ll use many discs. Using quality abrasives is the way to go. I haven’t finished the roof, that will be done with hand during wet sanding with a grey scotch . It’s important to use fine where you are clearing, but I used red scotch/coarser before priming  

unfortunately cut through here, I’ll mist on some colour so no sweat 

 

note the position of my masking tape on the c-pillars, reverse mask is the way to go across the primer line. Also don’t prime to the tape. One gem I picked up in industry is apply a coat far away, then get closer to the second/third but don’t prime to the line. Hard lines will show in the final finish. 

 

ran out of tape, and needed It naow, so got sca’s finest: 

it’s OK, but feels more like the Norton/bear stuff, just really expensive. An equivalent roll of 3m/etc is ~$8, this was $12ish. 
 

chucked in the plastic. 

with a sharp blade cut along the masking tape, remove the bit covering the surface to be painted, tape the plastic back up to the tape. 
 

also very important before doing this to mask up your door jambs. I don’t have a pic of this, but tape inside, followed by masking paper taped to that. 

I was too excited to get some primer on it, and forgot this step lol. Nothing worse than overspray in the door jambs, I will be judged. 
 

I’ve got premier pbs plastic, but only because I’ve had it for ages. I don’t recommend buying through them, they sent stuff to wrong address twice. 
 

Excuse the runs 

water on the floor is a good idea to keep dust at bay, after sweeping out of course. I must get a squeegee for extra cleanliness. 

 

[87creepin]

While I waited for primer to cure I made a start on *all* of the dust and orange peel in the painted panels with wet 2000 soft block, then menzerna aggressive cut compound, carpro denim pad and wool pad. 

I probably won’t paint like this again:

got It flat, all the dust appeared to be taken out 

End result: 

im happy with results, but I think there is dust in my base, as it can be seen. Old workshop was dusty. Perhaps I should look into “colour sanding”. 

[87creepin]

Decided I’d try and get my bonnet looking good, unfortunately this area where plastic touched wet clear at my old workspace was not only a run but had a bit of solvent pop 

Cut through, and the solvent pop had actually gone into/past the base. 

 

After blocking and sanding

This part of the bonnet will have to be resprayed. I’ll have fun blending it. If it was a colour I was 100% sold on I would respray the whole thing. But racecar (that’s a joke btw). 
 

more dust 

The whole bonnet got 1000 grit DA and then blocked with 800 wet. Before paint I will go over it with the grey scotch, water and scuff paste just to make sure it’s clean and scuffed well enough. 

Masked up and covered with a bit of g6

I also did my drivers door. It wasn’t too bad in terms of peel, but it did have a bit of dust. I had a small run near the edge, and wanted to try out a technique I learnt from The Gunman on YouTube. 

it basically involves covering the run and adjacent area with the fine 1k glazing putty, and sanding starting with 320 wet moving through the grades to about 1500. 
 

it looks like I cut through on the edge, but didn’t, this was old paint flaking. 

I almost called this a win but I cut through with the denim pad. Probably a tough first try being right in the edge lol. Will just dab a tiny bit of paint on and not speak about it 

But the denim pads are pretty good! I questioned my use of the wool pad after as I couldn’t see any obvious swirls or marring. They go hard for what they are. 

Out in the sun:

 

[Rhyscar]

Man, super interesting to see the process/so many different ways of tackling each blemish. Great skills and love that you're pushing yourself to learn new stuff.

I've got 4 cars that would benefit from some of this attention... if you're keen for cashies. 

[87creepin]

1 minute ago, Rhyscar said:

Man, super interesting to see the process/so many different ways of tackling each blemish. Great skills and love that you're pushing yourself to learn new stuff.

I've got 4 cars that would benefit from some of this attention... if you're keen for cashies. 

Cheers mate. Im hardly an expert, just an OS’er who spent some time in a paint shop. I blocked whole cars and panels for days and repaired shitty bumpers most of the week so I don’t mind wet sanding whole panels. As you can see my painting is still not great hence the reason for practicing a lot. 
 

send a pm, I’m based in Gisborne. Cheers 

[87creepin]

The prep continues, I find more mistakes, and keep preppin 

there’s a photo of the aforementioned g6, lightly wet sanded 

Started with my LHF guard. I put the paint on too thin here and rubbed through. 

 

id have rather caught it at this stage, rather than be buffing/polishing super thin clear that won’t last against the UV rays 

I had runs of doom on this side, this would’ve worked had I put more coats on. 

Buzzed the doors and front guard down with 240, and remembered to get the door jambs this time 

Masked and taped up 

Unfortunately I added thinners when I was supposed to be adding hardener - i managed to save it by adding the right amount of hardener and a bit of primer until it was at the right consistency. Then when painting some numpty didn’t clean off the gun properly. Got there in the end though without too many runs 

 

I’m going to block the primed panels with 240 for a super flat finish and then go over with 320 DA and 400 wet. We actually used this method on a super stock purple S13 owned by an elderly gent at the shop I worked at and it came out mint. 
 

and so it begins! 

except my sandpaper sucks dry so I’m using 240 wet. It’s more laborious.

 

[87creepin]

Jacked it up to save my old back 

Guide coated, no pic but imagine orange dust all over, 240 wet, rinse off, then dry, guide coat again and 320 DA. 
 

 

[87creepin]

I’m not sure if it shows up in pics but I had a bit of drama with the trade me special sanding discs I have. they literally clog up, then drag the hard bits of paint and redistribute it over the sanded surface. Good thing I had found some Norton 320s I purchased from SCA but forgot about. 

they’re decent, as soon as I ditch the 125mm sander for a 150mm I’ll move to quality abrasives 

Once that was done I filled any pinholes with fine filler. Mind my mess, I’ve lost my thin knife applicator

Buzz it down 

Then wet sanded it with 400+block and paid attention to the edges. After that scuffed the primed panel edges with a red scotch pad and scuff paste, and the blending bits with a grey fine pad  

the fine pad is used as it’s finer (duh) and creates less scratches for the panels that are receiving clear coat only. If I were to use the coarser pads they would make scratches that would show in the clear. 

 

got this outer bit of the sill too as this shows 

Unfortunately cut through in some areas, my applied paint was so thin, but the paint beneath it was thin too. Makes sense as I got advice from the wrong guy who has like 30 more years experience than me, and the original paint was so faded it was starting to rust in places. 

Where it’s super small and in a place to be cleared, I’ll touch it up with a small brush. Other places will be re-done. 
 

Noticed this mistake on the drivers door I had polished. Previously mentioned guy told me he could paint a car with a litre of paint. I shouldn’t have believed him as I knew better. 

So now I’ll have to paint the whole rear door, paint the lower bit of this one and edge on b pillar side and blend it out. 

Hosed and wiped all the dust off, making sure to get in the wheel arches and get out 29 years worth of road crap 

 

did a bit of daydreaming, about intercoolers, more low, lips and body kits 

[187inc]

Love your perseverance man! A lot of love and learnings going on. One tip for the spot putty (pinholes/chips/whatever) is to buy a pack of single sided razor blades, and holding perpendicular to the panel, scrape the excess putty away (once its hard) The less you have to sand the flatter it will be come clear-coat time.

[87creepin]

Finally got round to fixing the exhaust leak on my Outback. 

 

I use flux core, I know it’s bad, but I’m a beginner and outside of this I’ve only done a few patch repairs and a few classes on mig. 
 

but this serves as important practice with the welder and grinder as I’m definitely gonna fab something up for my 4AFE to breathe a bit easier. 
 

bird poop it on. I found it hard with the thin old dirty metal. 
 

grinder and paint make me the welder I ain’t

This got chopped 

 

 

end result 

Even the muffler was rusty near where the tip joins it, but it wasn’t a leak, just an outer skin. Upon first drive it sounded a bit too raspy poos but must have done a thing cos it came right after a minute or two of driving. 
 

I also might have chopped the rear bit 10-15mm too short as it touches the rear subframe. May have to massage it with a hammer. 

[87creepin]

The paint has to wait a couple of weeks, so while I wait and save money, I’ll be tackling other small jobs 

First I tried to fix my scratched to hell drivers window: 

buffing, with coarse compounds/pads, and wet sanding with any grit did not work. So the only option is to get one on my next pick a part trip. Will also get a new outside weatherstrip as I’m guessing mine had a whole lot of crap in it. 
 

next up was my oil pressure sensor connector. The connector had broke, so I left it unplugged. I forgot about it when I had taken it for a spin round the yard, panicked and made something temporary: 

 

got a temporary replacement off AliExpress, will also get an oem one on next wreckers

 

 

[87creepin]

Toyota built a reputation for reliability partly by being simple and using quality parts. How to ruin that? 
add extra complexity, with Chinese stuff! 
 

I had fitted some knock off hella super tone horns a few years ago. They’re good in that they’re very loud, for when idiots don’t give way at roundabouts. I didn’t wire them in neatly before.

Tidied up the horns, unfortunately didn’t have any black heat shrink in the right size 

Won’t be visible though 

Removed wheel well cover and managed to poke the wire through using a long grabby tool 

Fitted some conduit aka split tubing and cable tied it to the oem harness that runs under the upper radiator support. 

 

 

[87creepin]

I had a $23 keyless entry kit laying about, and the key fob looks os enough, so went about installing it 

wow yuck, not sure who did this,

 
 

super easy install, door lock, unlock runs off the oem switch, indicators off steering stalk, and I’ve installed a switch in the alarm horn positive wire for when it’s not needed disarming/arming. 

 

Unfortunately it is just keyless entry. I’ve been messing about with adding a relay that sounds the horns if someone attempts to start the car without disarming the alarm first, but the diagram I’ve seen suggests it requires constant ground when armed. My testing shows the circuit is only momentarily grounded when armed/disarmed. 

so it’s not compatible/I don’t wanna hack up starter wire and will eventually install a mongoose alarm. 
 

kick panel: I’m still in the process of tidying this up, ground wires from the keyless entry module, amplifier rca’s, dashcam, radar detector, a lot of it is just extra length but when I installed these I didn’t have a good crimp tool nor the butt connectors. 

Easy to see why manufacturers started using mini fuses. 
 

also I tried to remove my steering wheel to remove the makeshift spacer I had in there to take measurements. I ended up needing to buy a stupid steering wheel puller and bending my Ali steering wheel. 
 

so to those who warned me against buying a fake momo, you guys were right, and now I will advise others to steer clear of fake steering wheels. Old real momo wheel from my mr2 fitted, until I have enough to buy the real version of my knockoff:

 

[tortron]

1 hour ago, 87creepin said:

My testing shows the circuit is only momentarily grounded when armed/disarmed. 

Latching relay might help? 

[87creepin]

Working with Chinese electronic components suck, partly due to the bad instructions, and I’m really still a beginner when it comes to electronic stuff. So I’ll just get something that’ll work off the shelf. 

[87creepin]

I’m taking a brief break from paint while I save/do other jobs. The time away from prep and paint has made me question my decision of painting this KA4 dark blue. I’ve decided on a colour scheme, but if anyone has any awesome suggestions, fire away. 
 

I had a whole lot of wiring mess in my kick panel. 

reverse/dash cam, radar detector, random other wires not doing anything, a few years ago I did a pretty hasty job, not as bad as a twist and tape, but could be better. 
 

went from this 

to this: 

 

mind the multicoloured heat shrink, aliex was having a deal. I’ll know for next time to buy only red and black kits. 
 

anywho plugged it all in and a big puff of smoke from my ground. 

after a bit of head scratching and replacing a fuse I realised where it was shorting out. I hardwired the dash cam in and ripped the plastic housing off the plug. After a bit of rectifying and tape it now works sweet. 
 

had most of it taped up and tucked away a bit better, I use narva pvc tape, but just seen they do a tape cloth but $4 per roll vs $16. 

 

[87creepin]

Here’s the daytime running lights I’ll be fitting: 

same as what I had before, but this time I’ll spray some 2k clear on them to keep them neat. I like them because I want that mouth breather who’s still half asleep scrolling through tiktok to see me at a roundabout. 
 

the major challenge I had was that they have three wires. Red : DRL; Yellow : Indicator, Black : Ground. I previously had given up trying to make the indicators work, and just settled for this method of wiring, courtesy of my good mate and former president of the MR2 nz owners club, Charlie: 

however for those that like a little more pizzazz, after much head scratching and Coke Zero, I’ve worked it out - a simple 5 pin relay: the electromagnet is controlled by the headlight switch. The relay can be either normally open or closed; for the 87 open pin, I’ve connected a 12v positive that’s only hot from when ignition is on, the red wire from the DRL is spliced into that. The ground is then hooked to the 30 pin, which has the black wire from the DRL spliced into that. The 87a closed pin is left vacant. 

I’ll have a proper diagram up soon
 

when the headlights are flicked on, the relay is activated and the DRLs no longer work. 

the indicators just get power from an indicator on their side, and use the same ground as above. 

shine bright like a diamond 

With the indicator on and drls on: 

I was a little frustrated when i saw this, but upon closer inspection, all indicator leds flash, it’s just some led wizardry that it flashes the white leds on and off 

With headlights on: 

should be 100% road legal, as wof virms state maximum 2 front pairs of indicators, and the corner ones are more side than front so should be legit

did a bit of test fitting just to see where every wire would go, and how the harness might look: 

 

shouldn’t be too hard, just a whole lot of planning, fitting etc, I’ll make the indicator harness longer than needed. Removing the bumper should not pull on the wires too much.