Down but never out

KnightRyder

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i've been MIA for a long time now. just want to get you guys up to speed...

been busy working 55-60hr weeks for a while now, pretty much since i disappeared.

on my way to work one day, the day we all fear came... accident...






damage was not that bad but damage to one of a kind parts is severe damage, especially when you did the work yourself. my front bumper took it the worst, most of the filler in the front cracked, but the lip held on a like a champ thanks to the legit adhesive i used when i molded it. this bumper is getting retired, not trashing it but not fixing it either right now. i'll eventually fix it and sell it. im switching up the front bumper.

gonna cut this bumper in half and mold it to a new OEM bumper. it's an SiR-T bumper and lip. bought it over ago and it's been sitting ontop of my desk since i brought it home, time to take it down and do the unthinkable to it... cut it in half. :eek:
 

KnightRyder

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btw, im changing the color to a Mazda color, Copper Red Mica (google it)
Had the fenders pulled because i'll be running new wheels too, not sure what i'll go with yet.

and the body work begins, smoothing out the pulled fenders and making them perfect, and filling in all 34 dings and dents i marked on the car. getting things smooth and straight like they should be.







see the 3 or 4 dents on the top of the drivers side fender.... thats from working in the engine bay over the years. lesson learned. dont even put your hands on the fenders when you're leaning into the engine bay. the 2 large dents on the side of that same fender are from some homeless woman sitting on my car in downtown SF years ago, she had her whole body weight on that poor fender, left her *** dents in my fender :( , but it's all fixed now.
 
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KnightRyder

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at this stage the entire car has been sanded down in preparation for the primer and paint. all the areas where there was body work done have received primer/sealer already and then sanded again to get it perfectly smooth with the untouched areas around the touched up areas.


window trims have been removed. rear quarter glass will get cut out just before it goes in for paint. rear windshield will stay in place since we were able to yank out the ghetto trim that was placed on it back when i had the windshields removed. we will tear the front one off as well and replace with new OEM seals.


battery is totally dead, needs a jump everytime now just to move the car around. dammit, i think it's my "custom" interior LEDs that are slowly drawing power and killing the battery. may have to ditch the custom built boards inside and go with something PnP to stop the slow power leak.


rear fenders dont really have the original body lines anymore becuase of how much they were pulled and the body work that followed. want wide wheels, gotta make some sacrifices. the rear bumper will also need some heat and bending to get the edges to line up with the now pulled out rear fender. i knew that was gonna happen.






my poor car is absolutley covered in dust from all the sanding and what not, it's EVERYWHERE, especially when they need to sand the roof, they need to open the sunroof to do the edges so all the dust that's floating around just falls right in. gonna take an entire weekend to just clean the inside and the engine bay after all this is done.


all the pieces that get ripped off the car in preparation for paint are starting to pile up inside the car, lol.



should have some exciting pics this weekend. possible have the whole car primered. we'll see on saturday.
 

KnightRyder

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oh and before the accident happened, i was preparing the car/trunk for new audio setup and air ride which is why the car is stripped inside. that air ride/audio project will resume when i get the back.

and in case anyone was wondering what the plans are for the CF stuff, thats going to be pretty much the last thing that gets worked on since i want to be there when he sprays it so i can tell him exactly when to stop layering the thin layers of paint on it to achieve the look i want. so once the main body of the car is painted, then we'll start working on the CF hood, trunk and rear window spoiler
 

20-CG5-01

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Looks dope Vimal, just curious, are you still keeping the WW rear and sides or are you going with something more OEMish because of the SIR-T front end?

Hope to see this car on bags soon. Props to one of the cleanest 6GA coupe and custom work done.
 

KnightRyder

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p5kt.jpg

i bought these Algernon Intelesse wheels (18x8.5F+30 18x9.5R+30, front needs 15mm spacer to clear brakes too) But im already considering selling them because with the amount i paid + the amount i need to pay to have them resized, repowercoated, and black chromed... i might as well buy $3500 wheels to start with. oh and i already bought new polished ARP wheel bolts too. the plan was for satin black faces, black chrome lips, 24K gold ARP bolts.

we'll see what i go with now.

so FYI guys, both my AMEs and Algernon Intelesse's are for sale ;)
 

KnightRyder

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yes, keeping the WW rear and sides. will wait to see how the SiR-T bumper looks with the rest and then i'll decide if i want to mod the SiR-T lip to better flow with the WW sides. there will eventually be a new thread just for that front bumper because thats a big project just by itself.
 

Brad2274

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holy crap, the accident stinks but im just glad you're still in the game, i thought forsure you sold it or something(i was getting ready to message you about your retros and if you might be selling them lol sorry) i always loved those bumpers.
But the progress looks awesome, whatever happened to the carbon fiber roof?

btw love the color choice, in the light it looks a lot like the pearl red/scarlet i went with :naughty:
 
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