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"Overhaulin" the Beefaru


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yes, what is your secret pretty plz!
Well, I think you're referring to picture 10 on day 8. The first reason they look so black is they're not original. Back bumper is brand new, and the front is only about 6-7 years old.

 

Even with just 6 years difference, the front bumper need to be a lot more black to match the back. The first step was to clean off dirt and particles, then scrub it wet with a scouring pad like the green one people use for dishes. But this one was red and he also had a grey one. They're for auto and they have a certain amount of abrasion about the same as 1000 grit sand paper.....which is why you want things clean so you don't notch a groove in there with a larger particle getting under your sanding surface.

 

Anyway after wet scrubbing, he wanted me to steel wool (steel wool with four zeros) the black part of the front bumper to get rid of any additional oxidation. That made it blacker, but did put a minor haze to the finish. Then he dusted it with a very light coat of trim black paint and it blackened right up. Anything more than a dusting of the trim black will start to fill in and flatten the texture, so be careful.

 

EDIT: The name of the product is "bulldog" its an adhesion promoter. He did spray both bumpers just before painting with something he called "glue in a can". Its a spray can surface treatment that's really sticky and lets whatever is sprayed onto it stick much better. I think its purpose is more to make sure that the colored paint doesn't peel off, than to make sure the trim black stuck.

 

The trim black looked really good. Don't know how long its lasts, but just dust on a really thin coat after cleaning and prepping the surface.

Another thing I think works great on trim and possibly bumpers (after cleaning surface) is to steel wool it and then buff it with the 3M buffing liquid I talked about in another thread. The 3M product REALLY makes it black and shiny but you need to get off the oxidation first with the steel wool. Probably doesn't work with heavily textured stuff because it's a white paste, but it really makes the door molding trim very black & very shiny because you've taken the surface down to new rubber and buffed the new rubber. Should work for bumpers too if you can get it cleaned off OK --E

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Overhaulin' photos: Day 9

 

The last day of painting! Doors and hood were painted. After sealer, the hood and some fender & door areas were hand sanded with 1000, then I think with 2000. My friend always puts in a "wake up" hour of work before I come over. Here's a teaser shot of the new color showing the blue and purple casts.

04_newcolor_close.jpg

 

After paint dried, we pulled a lot of the masking off to reveal the two tone paint. That was really cool. The rest of the day I was roped into helping another friend of my friend move. who He owns a british auto & body shop called car crafters. He had about 25-30 MG's, MGB, MGmidget, Triumph, Austen Healy, and a few Jaguars all in different states of paint, engine and body work. Saw a lot of those small british engines and lots of parts. We can be thankful we don't own those cars....whew. Still it was a unique experience pushing cars onto trailers, and moving all that gear. He had a lot of stuff. They've bought out Arvada auto body and are moving in there.

 

Day 10 coming soon. I thought we were done with paint related, but day 10 was all hand sanding and buffing the paint. Came out pretty glassy.

--E

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Wow it's looking fantastic!

When your done Beef I'll have to come meet up with you so I can scope it out, gotta be one of the nicest looking wagons I've seen.

I forgot to link the text to the day 9 photos. You can see them now. Lots more color to see there.

 

Yes! come scope it out! It should be ready to roll tomorrow or Thursday. We can hook up this!weekend, or... I'll be at Parfet park in Golden on Tuesday evening. I'm performing on stage for the big Police/community party about 5-8pm. I'll be setting up as early as 3:30. Last year I parked the wagon behind the big stage right there in the park.

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Overhaulin' photos: Day 10

 

Top, tailgate, and sides were hand sanded with 1000, wet sanded with 2000 and 3000, then hit with two levels of buffing. I wasn't expecting that....but wow does the paint SHINE! And it was a real kick wiping off the buffing compound to reveal the finished shine. We left the front buffing for tomorrow and began reassembling the wagon trim, lights and bumpers.

 

Day 11 will just be a few photos of the finished hood. When we're done assembling and detailing I'll take some "reveal" pictures of the final completed project. --E

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wow man that is something else.. you are doing so much high grit sanding that this is gonna be as smooth a paint job as possible.. you wont wanna drive your soob anywhere! :eek: its gonne be a beautiful finish, when you are uhm, well, finished....

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holy cow i posted my last reply before looking at day ten..

 

yah, alot of shops wont do anything beyond a wet sand with like 1400, and a double buff... so to have sanded at 1000, then wet sanded at 2000, then dry sanded again with 3000, THEN do a cut, and a polish (im assuming you probably used a slightly more abrasive compound on the first buff than the second anyhow...).. then yah, you can expect to be able to see the underside of your roof rack rails :- ) i think you might need to censor some of those roof rack pics, the underside of these things isnt usually exposed so BLATANTLY.. (if you havent looked at the pics you need to)

 

I mean seriously... its like the roof of the car is a mirror to inspect the underside of the man's roof rack!!! that is what i call a paint job.

 

I cannot wait to see the final reveal pictures of this car.

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Overhaulin' photos' Day 11

 

Not much to see just a couple hood shots (holy crap) and a couple other photos. The painter kept saying as he buffed and wiped off the font end...."yes sir, by cracky.....smoother than a frog's hair" :confused:

 

We put on the wheels and pulled it into daylight which was a great feeling. The paint color is really rich. I like it a lot.

Moved into a larger working area, I did all prep and buffing of window trim & door moldings. That took 8 hours by itself! The rear view mirrors, rear wiper arm and some door chip protectors (junkyard score) were prepped and painted. The last thing to go on today was the grill. I drove it 2 blocks away to my house. I'm dying to get a clear bra on the front of the hood.

 

Still need to get the mudflaps and a just a few more trim pieces. When I get it all together maybe I can get a couple pictures in before Fridays gig (singer guitar thing) at a country club. It'll be nice to pull up to with a cherry exterior rivaling or besting the paint on the pricey cars.

 

--E

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coming along nice!! i think you and I are the only people with that much prep & paint work done to our cars:lol:

 

Well... Just for Info: I have done Almost EVERYTHING and Every Li´l thing on both my Subies since I got Them... (The White One is 1985 Weberized EA82, and the Yellow One is the "Project" with a lot of parts on it... )

 

From Engine Repairs, Axles, Brakes, Rim Adaptation, And a Whole Lot of etc... to the Paint Job of Both Subies.

 

This Image is Just a few Example of It:

 

SubiesCollage.jpg

 

By this I just wanna say to BEEFARU that I know how hard is to do that kind of Good Paint Jobs in a Car, And I Just wanna say CONGRATULATIONS! :) Your Subie Looks Amazing!!! :burnout: And will Look Better when the Paint Job is Done.

 

I can´t Wait to see more Pictures of it! ... I know the Feelin´ when you finished paintin´ and you wanna put everything back and run it NOW! ... But be carefull when reinstallin´ parts, or you can Damage the Fresh Paint... I damaged the paint of one Door installin´ the Black Trim.

 

Very Nice and Well Done Job!!!

 

We´ll be Waitin´ for more Images...

:banana:

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Thanks for all the encouragement and compliments! It's been a real blast having everyone along for the ride!

 

I wouldn't have bothered doing the photo albums, but I thought you guys would enjoy watching it all happen. I've had fun putting them together for you. I might put up an Overhaulin' album on the Beefaru website someday.

 

I have 2 gigs in the next 5 days, then I fly out of state to see family. So I wont get a chance to fix the peeling window tint or interior, but I'm going to try to finish exterior today and schedule clear bra asap. If no clear bra, I'll have to remove the grill and mask the front of the hood...... ha ha. I never feared nicking hood paint till now. It's totally naked up there :eek:

 

I want to do a post that gives the run down of materials and techniques for reviving/restoring/painting trim & bumpers as well as any other materials used that might be helpful.

 

As soon as I get a chance I'll post a reveal shot, and put links to all overhaulin' days in the first post.

--E

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Were you out driving the Beefaru today on I-70 east bound around 1:30?I was traveling westbound and I coulda sworn I saw it cause it had the same color on the bottom of the body and the upper looked like purplish blue color in the sun.I was almost 90% sure it was cause it was so shiny!

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Were you out driving the Beefaru today on I-70 east bound around 1:30?...I was almost 90% sure it was cause it was so shiny!
Bingo! That was me. You must have been sitting in or on the way to that big backup westbound from a passenger van wreck.

I was going to pull n save for two final pieces of trim. Cool you spotted it just from the pix I posted. --E

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nice job, Eric.. now get that sucker APPRAISED!!
Ha ha! What do these wagons total out at....maybe $1500? Hey with that paint it probably skyrocketed in replacement value to $1600 :lol:

 

I'd have to have a serious Subaru lover appraise it. --E

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everything custom on it is worth something. Do you have receipts for the custom transmission and rear differential work? for the custom EJ engine install? for the lift kit? for the pug wheels? Get quotes for having all that acquired and installed, as if you were going to do it to another car. Get a receipt of some sort, including hours of labor, for the paint and bodywork it just got. You've got a solid $5000 car there and if it were totalled on the highway tomorrow, the insurance adjuster might just laugh and offer you $2000, maybe make a joke about how you'd have gotten $1700 if it didn't have new paint.

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yah, for real.. appraisal might not be the right route, but if you can prove it is worth a given value to your insurance agent, they can make a note of that for just such an occasion.. you can at least talk to him about it. If he says youre crazy, call a state farm agent. They will be happy to talk you through the details, because its worth doing. You will probably pay more in insurance payments on the car then they will pay you in claims... its a statistical certainty. they are happy to oblige you in making a predetermined value statement on your car, specifically for this purpose. My brother managed to get over 4,000 for his 91 miata when it got totaled out just based on aftermarket parts... and then one of our best friends found the car as soon as it hit the junkyard, and got the rebuilt motor with the hot ported head, the AFM, the exhaust, the header, the suspension bits.. for like 100 bucks total. a good time was had by all :- )

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All photo days compiled into master list on first post. BTW regarding insurance, thats how I initially insured the car; receipts for replacement value of custom work. I should do the same for the paint if policy allows. I'll post reveal shot when completed. Got one mudflap and final trim urethaned on before the gig yesterday. --E

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