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

[87creepin]

Got most of the masking done and all panels partially assembled and fitted except the bonnet - which will be next - and the bumpers which will be painted off car. 

Why am I doing this? 
a) I’m painting the panels on the car, and with metallic/pearl you want to paint the panel as it sits. It’ll settle the same way and look more uniform. 
b) the door jams/inners don’t need to be sparkly, I’m sure it’ll look okay if the inners are solid black. Some OEM finishes are done this way with only base coat on the inside. 
c) less overspray to clean up and also saves $$ on clear considering I’m putting on many coats 

inside door jam, I have overspray from when I painted the outer black but think it’s only a bit of buffing and it’ll be corrected

 

getting there! 

Also sorting out panel gaps as I go, this is future me’s problem 

I’ll get the bonnet on, then I’ll wet sand the roof/pillars/rear quarters. It shouldn’t be too much of a drama that I’ve masked it off, I use a spray bottle and will blow off inside the crevices and make sure the dust is all goneskies 

 

[87creepin]

Got my panels all on and aligned well enough, I’m happy with them all except for the boot. But that will be taken care of later. 

I forgot that bonnet goes on before guards, I had put guards back on first which cost me some time. But managed to reinstall by myself:

 

Got to wet sanding, this was helped by cheap compressor parts coming from Ali. I got the compressor working again and it’s a big help being able to blow the water off and see what you’re doing. 

 

 

It’s laborious, but it works. One day I may compare/contrast results with using an 800 DA. Sounds like a Barry test suitable for Me. 
 

A preview of what it could look like using prepsol 

Fortunately the masking didn’t retain any dust/water and held up to being applied first. +1 for quality materials 

masked my front bumper up in a half ass way as I’m not too bothered, it’s a challenge to mask and I want to fit a body kit/lip

 

Cleaned and masked up 

[87creepin]

To use an American analogy, today was my Super Bowl. “Don’t fuck it up”. Gave it a big sweep out, masked off the walls etc, and got organised  

That’s my paint warming up in a bucket of hot water in the bottom left 

I had never painted with Ali pearl before (I think I’m right in calling it pearl, as it changes colour depending on light/angle) so had to come up with a solid plan. 
 

OS loves a graph and I’ve never done one before so here goes nothing: 

 Basically, I had to know a few things above and test from there to achieve my desired effect. Which was in the middle of OEM finish and low rider Chicano spec, but more towards the OEM subtle look. Unfortunately I went a bit further than that but first rambling then elaborating. 

I knew that my particles were pretty fine, that 20g per 600ml was a good baseline from previous Subie bonnet test, x2 coats achieved my desired effect. BUT I thought “what if I just get it done in one coat?” As I only had about 6l of clear and according to my (Overestimated) calculations I’d only have enough for three coats in total. So I would do 40g per 600ml and +10% to make sure I hit the target = 44g. 

One coat, less clear use, max grams used, and spray it in a straight line (front guard to rear quarter, no stopping), with the paint cup filter removed, and don’t strain the pearl coat. Also shook the gun every now and then to make sure the particles weren’t settling. Gun technique very important. 

i then made a big list of any touch ups to do, both by gun and then brush. This went well except for me missing one spot on the rear bumper. 

Dust wasn’t an issue at all! Despite my tack rag being dropped on the wet floor and being unable to tack before paint, I had tacked it off two or three times before. 

the big issue was moisture though! I checked my filters and opened my compressor tank often. But it would drip out of my fitting before the gun-end filter. I need to investigate further but I fixed it by tying a rag around where it was leaking. 

The result 

Toxic cloud of doom 

 

With the light off, checking for coverage 

 

And at the end:

 

It would’ve been great if I didn’t get moisture problems but I’ll do my best next post to fix this up. Better to do it on a car like this than a hero car aye. 

Thanks for reading my extra long post! 

[87creepin]

Those big lumps aren’t in the paint, just bits of dried clear from the masking. 


 

I then spent 1.5 days wet sanding it with 800, and in places, 400. I decided to not go overboard with it as the flakes hadn’t been buried 100% in some places. Also the clear had filled most imperfections from the first coat like they weren’t even there. 
 

 

A prepsol preview 

 

There weren’t many dust nibs/runs, my main problem was moisture. But all imperfections got sanded out 

 

Something that annoyed me was that overspray had got on my Matt trim parts, I thought it was a good idea to wet sand and polish a wing mirror, but a quick wipe of thinners worked fine. 

One mirror will be shiny; if it annoys my ocd enough I’ll paint it later. 
 

Scuffed up the DRL lenses too. 

Cleaned, tacked, and cleaned 

And masked up 

[87creepin]

2.5 coats of clear as a flow coat and that’s done. I first applied a light coat, which helps with adhesion. 

I managed to fix my moisture issue by removing the Teflon tape on the fitting that was leaking, and tightening it up. No moisture to speak of, except one spot where sweat from my forehead dripped on to a guard. It shouldn’t affect the outcome as the paint had flashed off quite a bit. 

The toxic fumes were wild, I tried a cheaper clear which is made in China as opposed to Korea. Next time I’ll like to have an exhaust fan. 

I’d also recommend applying colour and pearl coat together, as it’ll save a lot of time and materials, and sanding/painting twice as opposed to 3x.

Cheers guys for watching and all the helpful hints and tips. It’s a privilege being a part of this forum. 

 

[87creepin]

Let the buffing begin 

Bought some polishes, and clean cloths. Contaminated old cloths may add scratches. 

 

 

I already had a few denim pads, wool pad, and a few foam pads. 

I started with the bonnet. It had a few ‘craters’ in it which I think is solvent pop. I did decide to dump an extra coat on it at the end and didn’t give it enough time to flash off. 


blocked them out with 1500 then 2000 grit wet, some large ones are slightly visible but I’m happy as it’s not too noticeable.

You may be able to see it in the below reflection: 

polished the bonnet and then decided it was a good time to pull out of the shed 

In overcast/rainy conditions the colour appears ‘solid’ 

It went well, I gave most panels a quick wet sand with 2000 

 

 

Bumpers just got a polish, I felt they were good enough, and they’re just bumpers 

 

Destroyed a pad or two along the way, 

After this I dropped the machine speed and had no further mishaps  

There were cunty bits too 

 

My LHF guard where I sweated needed a lot of (careful) time consuming refining too. Note the run in the left hand side of the pic; that’s from trying to fix it without letting the paint flash off first. 

Also this fugly spot on the boot lid, I think the paint film had built up too much; didn’t cure fully, and didn’t like me sanding it. 

 

Overall it isn’t concours d’elegance but more concours d’barry. If there are any scratches I didn’t get out due to a limited budget this can be fixed later. 
 

Next up is to buff out any overspray from the door jambs which shouldn’t take long, then start reassembly. 

[Rhyscar]

Well done, huge amount of work. Reconfirms why I'll never paint a car myself again! you must be looking forward to getting it finished and enjoying it?

 

[87creepin]

1 hour ago, Rhyscar said:

Well done, huge amount of work. Reconfirms why I'll never paint a car myself again! you must be looking forward to getting it finished and enjoying it?

 

Cheers it’s probably more tolerable if solid colour/two stage job. Less sanding etc.

I sure am. Hopefully have it wof/reg for summer time and keep trying to see how much power the 4AFE can make with stock ecu/rev limiter. The shocks in it are rooted, and the tyres are cheap Chinese 14in. I’d like new shocks, lowering springs and go to 205/40r17 as I’ve got a lot of those sitting round but no 4x100 wheels. 

after those 6 months it may be a good time to take things further with cert-required stuff. 

[tortron]

The trick is getting it perfect off the gun, works for me/I'm due some new glasses 

 

This paintjob reminds me of a car I used to see years ago, it was something similar. 

[Rhyscar]

15 hours ago, 87creepin said:

Cheers it’s probably more tolerable if solid colour/two stage job. Less sanding etc.

I sure am. Hopefully have it wof/reg for summer time and keep trying to see how much power the 4AFE can make with stock ecu/rev limiter. The shocks in it are rooted, and the tyres are cheap Chinese 14in. I’d like new shocks, lowering springs and go to 205/40r17 as I’ve got a lot of those sitting round but no 4x100 wheels. 

after those 6 months it may be a good time to take things further with cert-required stuff. 

 

4afe will last forever you can't break them. My car was originally 4afe and it went OK. Will insert some comparison vids 4afe to blacktop below. It's not as big a difference as you think. 

If I were at your stage of build, I'd consider going 16's. 17's can look a little goofy on AE-series cars until you get them SUPER low. Most coilovers won't go as low as mine without a number of coil bind etc issues. And a 16 will still look great with lowering springs. 205/45/16 is also a great tyre size that'll ride and handle better than a 205/40/17. 

 

 

 

 

[Stu]

Ive got a set of 17inch Evo R's if you were interested?

Old photos as they are in storage but you get the idea. Have centre caps, nuts and lock pins.

 

[87creepin]

@Rhyscar thanks for the heads up, but ill

probably go with 17s just due to having 3 Potenza s001 in 205/40/17 and a few others in that size. If it’s too ugly I can always downsize after. And I’ll probably try MRP coil overs. 
 

hmm @Stu not really my style but I’ll keep your offer in mind thank you. 

[87creepin]

@Rhyscar I’ve thought about what you’ve said, and it makes sense. There’s so many 16” 4x100 options. And I do recall chats with AW/ZW mr2 owners which are similar-sized cars and 17” isn’t a popular choice for them. 

[87creepin]

Currently part way through assembly, it’s been sunny lately so I tried to get it out before the sun went down for some pics:

As much as I like my old-font white plates, it’s only $200 to get your plates redesigned in new/fake black, and from what I see you don’t have to turn in your old white ones. I think it’d look nice. 

It’s a shame there are no clear front indicator options, only orange. There are some made for usdm bumpers; It’s not impossible to make some. But cost is always a factor. 

 

My DRL lenses got chooched by overspray, and I tried to wipe them with thinners but the plastic hated it. I’ll have to find my old ones and polish up, or buy a new set. 

Could do with a lip.. but why stop there  

And a shot of it under the lights: 

 

[Nominal]

Looking good.

 

They do expect you to send back the old white plates when you get the new black ones.

[Rhyscar]

Looking great must feel good to see it in the daylight!
 

Here’s the difference between 16” and 17” on ae1xx chassis. These were actually the same Tein coil overs run at max low.
 

Even coilovers like BC with enough adjustment run into other issues with running out of stroke and coil bind at this height - don’t use my car a guide, I’ve spent the last 15yrs perfecting the recipe and $8k on custom coilovers to get a setup that works at that height.  
 

16’s

 
 

17’s

 

Even with a smidge of tyre tucking into the guard, the extra height of the 17s make the sills seem quite high still. But I find the 16’s still fill the guards well and overall the car sits lower. I think it suits the size of the car better I found. 
 

plus 215/40/17 is a prick of a size to find a good tyre in (I know cause this is what my racecar is running). Most road tyres in this size have low speed/load ratings as sidewall is so thin. 
 

From my experience running 16s, 205/45/16 or 215/45/16 both have great sidewalls, smaller overall diameter and ride great. 

[87creepin]

Bit of a derp update, 

but I’ve almost got the car fully assembled, just got passenger side doors, rear seats, and fuel flap to go. 
 

It’s taken a while, because I have to document all my missing clips and get part numbers. And I may have misplaced some bits that hang off my weatherstrips. My pics don’t suggest I painted them lol. 

this bonnet rubber that sits on the radiator support is missing everything 

I’ve got 6 different part numbers written down that I’ll need. AliExpress has some, but majority will be OEM. The interior roof/pillar trim for instance uses three different metal clips. And for non essential/etc stuff I’ve just added to the pick apart list.

I know it’s not sexy and it’s boring, but having a non-rattly interior and well-aligned and fitted bumpers is important. 

Complicated my speaker wiring further, as it is a bit short. It’ll run to an amplifier, which will come out for any track use (note the lack of a negative terminal, I need to order the right size from Ali) 

 

newschool.co.ng won’t know what these are or the ballache it is if you don't remove the clip properly 

i don’t really like the grey; I think it would look a bit more sportier if my interior was black. But it’s starting to look and feel like a car again: 

Note the blue spot in the bottom left, there’s a few spots like that. I didn’t have enough scuff pads and ended up using them til they weren’t effective. I’ll touch them up later. 

[bigfoot]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with making speakers removable for track things. Extra effort for minimal gain

[87creepin]

Got the car assembled, and realised I have a fuel cap holder. How good! 

Did some quick tidy up of cables and test fitted sub and amp, no sounds yet as I need some wiring harness adapters. 

 

I put the rear back together, no pics but my seats got really mank, somehow water got on them and they’re developing a whole ecosystem. Had to wear PPE while reinstalling, but here’s a pic of my crusty parcel shelf before finishing 

After charging the battery for a bit, I took it out for a quick drive to get some gas and look at it in the sun. 

In the above, it was sparkling quite nicely however doesn’t show in the pic. I took it out on my uncles property as I don’t condone driving without wof+reg. 

It was actually quite mental, as mental as a 4AFE can be. It was weird to be driving manual again, and super sketch to bounce over railway tracks with cut springs and stuffed shocks. 

There’s also a few more issues: the gearbox is super notchy even though the fluid in it is new. And it burns a bit of oil, this is it at idle: 

[87creepin]

Set my ignition timing to the factory spec +10 BTDC using a timing light and a little jumper cable 

This will serve as a nice baseline for testing ignition advance, but before I do that I’ll need to buy perfexpert again for iOS this time and also DIY up some det-cans 

I’ll test on 91 to begin with, and progressively move up the octane grades as I inevitably start to see knock. 

Couldn’t gap my plugs, cos I couldn’t find my gap tool, and also remembered I need to re-do the timing belt because the new one I went to put in got damaged when a tensioner pin came out. First time timing belt change things. Good thing it was on a non-interference engine. 

I then decided it would be a good idea to make an airbox with some CAD 

Because I’ve always ran an open filter, it’ll be great to test if it makes a difference or not. 

 

I thought about getting some steel, cos I can weld steel (barely) but it wouldn’t be a fun time due to the weird shape at the bottom. Alloy is better but that’s out of the budget. 
 

$20 at Bunnings later 

I was hoping I could close my bonnet and it would give me accurate measurements on bonnet clearance, but it ended up sticking and making a mess. I should’ve waxed underneath.. 

 

Rough shaping the bread loaf

Applying the icing to the cake:

And that’s where I ran out of hardener. I’ll order some more filler, but I pretty much want to build it up where it is flat-ish enough to build a presentable mould. And in places it’s pretty weak, I’ve got some fibreglass somewhere I can chop up and throw in to help with that. It goes without saying that buying the right 2 part foam for the job is important.