WRITE-UP..Shaved center tail light panel (no more key hole)
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WRITE-UP..Shaved center tail light panel (no more key hole) EDIT---------------- -to anyone reading this, DON'T use bondo (read the thread/comments) either use a 2 part plastic filler, or a long/short haired fiberglass filler. i redid this since this thread with the fiberglass filler. also you CANNOT fill in the entire hole, it will not allow you to reinstall it all the way, because the way the lock has to fit inside there some. WHEN I GET SOME TIME I"LL RE_WRITE THIS WRITE UP TO LET YOU KNOW HOW I RE-DID IT.---------------------
okay so heres the deal, after having washed my car twice since gettinn it in august i realized that some of the swirl marks in the center panel were not going to go away no matter what i did. plus i didnt like the keyhole in the back. so i decided to have some fun and clean it up a bit... so i decided to shave it and repaint it.
Materials Needed:
-100 grit sand paper
-250 grit sand paper
-600 grit sand paper
-bondo body filler
-masking tape
-sanding block
-dupli-color auto primer
-dupli-color black auto paint
-dupli-color clear coat
-decal of your choice- or no decal for a bloack out look
-polishing compound
-wax
STEPS and PICTURES
Before:
STEP 1) take the 600 grit sand paper and wet sand the panel to scuff up the surface and remove the bird and trans am decals.
STEP 2) take a couple pieces of masking tape and cover the back of the key hole.
STEP 3) get your body filler- follow its directions- and fill in the hole real good with the filler. put more than enough to just fill the hole, you'll sand it all down after it dries. -there are other easier options for the body filler, i just used this because i had it at the house.
STEP 4) after the filler has dried 30-40 minutes, take your 100 grit s.p. sand down the bulk of the filler. i then switched to the 250 and got it down almost even, and then switch again to the 600 grit to finish it up and get out the scratches left from the lower grit papers. once you're done wash it down and remove the tape from the back (i did nothing special with the back). ----If you do like me and sand it down too much where the hole is a little sunk in, add some more filler and follow the directions from steps 3 and 4 again.
STEP 5) once you are all done sanding and have given the panel a good wash, you are now ready to primer it. i did 2 or 3 coats, i forgot.
STEP 6) now its time for paint. i chose to keep it black, but you can do any color you want. i did 3 or 4 coats of paint.
after having filled the hole a second time and priming it, i thought i filled the hole perfectly, couldn't see it at all. sadly, afer doing the first coat of paint that hole pulled a houdini and reappeared. but at this point i wasn't turning back.
STEP 7) decal time. i bought a set of replica decals that look the same as the stock decals that i found on ebay. but i did switch the bird and the writing around to put the bird on top. you can do whatever you chose to though. make sure you put them on even. or you can do nothing at all, and leave it blank.
STEP 8) clear coat. i applied 3 good coats. at this point you will be filling all good inside with the work of art you have just accomplished
Based on what i had always heard about painting, after you paint, everyone says to wet sand it with 1500-2000 grit sand paper, than use a polishing compound, then finish with a wax.--- i had a BAD experience with this. after wet sanding with 2000 grit sand paper, i dried it and took it outside to take a look at it- it looked TERRIBLE
. i thought i had completely ruined it, but i had sanded it normal, and not too hard or anything like that. so i figured this was normal so i continued with the rest of the steps. the rubbing compound and wax made it better but did not fully correct it, and it defienitely wasn't as goos as it was. so i was a little pissed. i decided to re-wet sand it with the 2000 grit to reomve the wax and everything and recoated with a couple more coats of clear coat....back to beautiful. i let it dry for a few hours and decided it looked perfect as is. but after a couple days i do plan on going over it with the polishing compound and wax. no more wet sanding though.
AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!!
-i did did the ceta mod at the same time, and painted it exactly the same way, came out GREAT!
okay so heres the deal, after having washed my car twice since gettinn it in august i realized that some of the swirl marks in the center panel were not going to go away no matter what i did. plus i didnt like the keyhole in the back. so i decided to have some fun and clean it up a bit... so i decided to shave it and repaint it.
Materials Needed:
-100 grit sand paper
-250 grit sand paper
-600 grit sand paper
-bondo body filler
-masking tape
-sanding block
-dupli-color auto primer
-dupli-color black auto paint
-dupli-color clear coat
-decal of your choice- or no decal for a bloack out look
-polishing compound
-wax
STEPS and PICTURES
Before:
STEP 1) take the 600 grit sand paper and wet sand the panel to scuff up the surface and remove the bird and trans am decals.
STEP 2) take a couple pieces of masking tape and cover the back of the key hole.
STEP 3) get your body filler- follow its directions- and fill in the hole real good with the filler. put more than enough to just fill the hole, you'll sand it all down after it dries. -there are other easier options for the body filler, i just used this because i had it at the house.
STEP 4) after the filler has dried 30-40 minutes, take your 100 grit s.p. sand down the bulk of the filler. i then switched to the 250 and got it down almost even, and then switch again to the 600 grit to finish it up and get out the scratches left from the lower grit papers. once you're done wash it down and remove the tape from the back (i did nothing special with the back). ----If you do like me and sand it down too much where the hole is a little sunk in, add some more filler and follow the directions from steps 3 and 4 again.
STEP 5) once you are all done sanding and have given the panel a good wash, you are now ready to primer it. i did 2 or 3 coats, i forgot.
STEP 6) now its time for paint. i chose to keep it black, but you can do any color you want. i did 3 or 4 coats of paint.
after having filled the hole a second time and priming it, i thought i filled the hole perfectly, couldn't see it at all. sadly, afer doing the first coat of paint that hole pulled a houdini and reappeared. but at this point i wasn't turning back.
STEP 7) decal time. i bought a set of replica decals that look the same as the stock decals that i found on ebay. but i did switch the bird and the writing around to put the bird on top. you can do whatever you chose to though. make sure you put them on even. or you can do nothing at all, and leave it blank.
STEP 8) clear coat. i applied 3 good coats. at this point you will be filling all good inside with the work of art you have just accomplished
Based on what i had always heard about painting, after you paint, everyone says to wet sand it with 1500-2000 grit sand paper, than use a polishing compound, then finish with a wax.--- i had a BAD experience with this. after wet sanding with 2000 grit sand paper, i dried it and took it outside to take a look at it- it looked TERRIBLE
. i thought i had completely ruined it, but i had sanded it normal, and not too hard or anything like that. so i figured this was normal so i continued with the rest of the steps. the rubbing compound and wax made it better but did not fully correct it, and it defienitely wasn't as goos as it was. so i was a little pissed. i decided to re-wet sand it with the 2000 grit to reomve the wax and everything and recoated with a couple more coats of clear coat....back to beautiful. i let it dry for a few hours and decided it looked perfect as is. but after a couple days i do plan on going over it with the polishing compound and wax. no more wet sanding though.AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!!
-i did did the ceta mod at the same time, and painted it exactly the same way, came out GREAT!
Last edited by crimson_bird; Feb 22, 2010 at 07:19 PM.
Thread Starter
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trust me, it doesn't look rough AT ALL. if you look at the last pic, you can see it blends perfectly with the lights. i've showed it and the ceta mod to several friends and they though i paid to get it done. once i do the polish compound and wax it should get even glossier though. thanks though
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Looks great! I don't know what happened with your wet sanding experience, but it doesn't sound right at all. 2000 grit is SO FINE, you cant even tell you're sanding anything. Thats the whole point. It sounds like you had a coarser grit and didn't realize it, but i doubt that. Anyway, looks good! Did you also clear your tails while you were at it?
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Your suppose to wetsand when your all done and when the clear is on, then buff. That way it smooths everything out and the buffing removes the 2000grit scratches you just gave the clear coat. lol If you do it by hand then yea.. its going to look like **** and it's not going to turn out that great.
you needed at the very least a metal or mesh backing rather than tape, but even then I wouldn't have used regular body filler for that. Looks good, but expect to re-do it the right way eventually, I guarantee it will fall off over time and after closing the trunk several times.
Thread Starter
TECH Veteran
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: The Bay Area, CA
Looks great! I don't know what happened with your wet sanding experience, but it doesn't sound right at all. 2000 grit is SO FINE, you cant even tell you're sanding anything. Thats the whole point. It sounds like you had a coarser grit and didn't realize it, but i doubt that. Anyway, looks good! Did you also clear your tails while you were at it?
Your suppose to wetsand when your all done and when the clear is on, then buff. That way it smooths everything out and the buffing removes the 2000grit scratches you just gave the clear coat. lol If you do it by hand then yea.. its going to look like **** and it's not going to turn out that great.
you needed at the very least a metal or mesh backing rather than tape, but even then I wouldn't have used regular body filler for that. Looks good, but expect to re-do it the right way eventually, I guarantee it will fall off over time and after closing the trunk several times.
. hopefully it lasts for awhile, if not i can redo it. plus, this car isnt my daily driver so i wont be using the trunk at all for the most part. 
Looks great! I don't know what happened with your wet sanding experience, but it doesn't sound right at all. 2000 grit is SO FINE, you cant even tell you're sanding anything. Thats the whole point. It sounds like you had a coarser grit and didn't realize it, but i doubt that. Anyway, looks good! Did you also clear your tails while you were at it?
Your suppose to wetsand when your all done and when the clear is on, then buff. That way it smooths everything out and the buffing removes the 2000grit scratches you just gave the clear coat. lol If you do it by hand then yea.. its going to look like **** and it's not going to turn out that great.
I would do this mod as well, except i plan on putting my reverse camera in my key hole for my navigation.
Looks good! I smoothed out my camaro tail panel using bondo and I know at some point it probably will crack as well. Plastic filler probably would be a good idea but we shall see how long it holds up. Mine has lasted about a year now. The wet sanding I usually start with a 1500 grit if it is as rough as yours looked then 2000 then 2500. I have learned with the spray can paint to fight my urge to sand it for at least a week. Good to see yours came out good though!
i think it looks good..... decent write up and the CETA mod looks really good on red T/A's..... good work man....... now post a further away rear shot so we can see the whole back end of the car
Thread Starter
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trust me, i've got a lot to show everyone. consider that a sneak peak as to what i've done with this car since i got it on aug 26. once the car is done (by the end of this week) i'll do a post showing the transformation. its a whole new beast
Last edited by crimson_bird; Oct 14, 2009 at 08:16 PM.
Thread Starter
TECH Veteran
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: The Bay Area, CA
Looks good! I smoothed out my camaro tail panel using bondo and I know at some point it probably will crack as well. Plastic filler probably would be a good idea but we shall see how long it holds up. Mine has lasted about a year now. The wet sanding I usually start with a 1500 grit if it is as rough as yours looked then 2000 then 2500. I have learned with the spray can paint to fight my urge to sand it for at least a week. Good to see yours came out good though!
