2002 Steel Grey 6spd coupe Daily/Restoration project

[Tbonem3]

Thanks guys! I tried a turtlewax product that is a polish and seal in 1 (sio2/polymers). As you'll see in the next post or two, the finish came out so perfect from the wetsanding and compound, I truly didn't see a need for a final polish - it was that clear! So I used the TW product more for the sealant than the polish, but it was nice as it killed 2 birds with 1 stone. In the end, the TW product is too watery, doesn't have much longevity, but does look good for a bit. I have another product that's even more ceramic like, probably the closest to a ceramic, called CMX that I'll top with carnauba or beadmaker. I don't want to use real ceramic because it doesn't fit my situation. If I didn't like to try products and didn't diy, and drove more and/or the car wasn't garaged, I'd be inclined to pay for ceramic coating.

[skristedja]

Amazing job, dude... The finished product is going to be insane. You going with a ceramic coat or just wax?

[Casa de Mesa]

Shit man, just read this whole thread. Badass job bringing it back to lifel!!

Had to give a shout out - fab work man.

[Tbonem3]

I think I got too tired! Thanks

[antknee]

awesome work! If this were me, i would've sanded down to the primer by now, trying to "perfect it". I'm glad you had restraint on sanding too deep!

[Tbonem3]

Finishing the bottom of the door



Alright, so I'm ready now to start cutting the paint to remove sanding marks and bring back clarity/reflectivity. I'm trying a blue eurotech pad that's supposed to have good cut, and I'm starting with the medium polish from Griot's, the correcting cream. I have the heavier compound as well.



QP molding is original and in no need of correction, so I taped it up. I also still have tape in certain areas where I don't want any real cut. I'll remove the tape for the final polishing stage, however.



Test spot



Well, it made a big improvement, of course, but it didn't cut fast enough imo, still leaving a fair amount of haze and sanding marks. I finished with 2k grit paper and I don't think the correcting cream even gets that aggressive. I'd only use the correcting cream for light defects, like a one step on a car that's already in pretty good shape. I moved next to an orange (heavier cut, for foam) LC CSS pad and the strongest Griot's compound, Fast correcting cream (pic taken after correcting, new pad shown).




Even still, there were some sanding marks and some texture left in the rougher areas:



I decided to move to an even more aggressive pad, a thin MF pad that will take the paint down faster yes, but also less evenly, affecting the peaks more than the valleys vs foam that is so soft that it contours well to the highs/lows.



That did the trick. I did have to use my finger (wrapped with MF towel) and compound in the arears immediately surrounding the molding, and that wasn't easy (to generate enough heat), but I'm done and satisfied with the lack of sanding marks. Really pretty paint. I'm a sucker for our metallic paints:



Started in on the bottom door, but got tired so stopped about halfway through.



That upper, flat surface came out great:



Let's compare the factory fender to the resprayed door:



This is only after compounding, no polish, but still very very clear. Polish will only reveal that last little bit of clarity at this point. Can you even see a difference in color match (moldings too, not just panels)? I talked a lot of shit about this respray - it really was a poor job overall, but the actual paint job was very very good. Basically identical color match and metallic "flop." As far as orange peel, it's very very close. I matched what the upper sections were, for uniformity, and I'd say it's just a little less orange peel than factory. Certainly not quite as tight of a "knit" for lack of a better term. Even the average "enthusiast" wouldn't have a clue it's a respray. You'd really have to know what you're looking for to tell it's a respray imo.

This car is my daily, and I had to pick a point to stop as I had work the next day and wanted to see it in the day light. Let's take a look:



Kinda ghetto, but it's a work in progress. Maybe the tape lets you know?



Hood and fender still looking great from the correction I did at the beginning.

Let's look more closely at the job I just did:




Yes! I'm very very pleased with this! It was a big job (still only like halfway done), and probably the hardest thing I've done with the least amount of preparation/training/planning (well, I do have exp with the buffing part).

Now I'll finish the QP, including the little strip that runs under the trunk and the rear bumper. I also still will do the front bumper, and then last will be the upper pillar of the QP that runs over windows, as it's a pretty close match to factory as is, so last priority.

This, along with my other painting/finishing experience, gives me the confidence to also redo my faded rood rails. After that, the car's exterior is done and I'll move to the interior.

[Tbonem3]

Wetsanding cont...

The upper portion of the door, except around handle, & QP didn't need much work, most of it actually had slightly less orange peel than factory (or perhaps same amount, but not as tight of a "knit" or "weave" so doesn't quite match factory exactly). However, the very top of the door and qp, the flat portion where the trim is, wasn't ever sanded post respray:



Of course, I just recently replaced all the trims Should have waited.



Started working the main section of the QP. It's the roughest here. My fingers were screaming.



The portion under the molding is also horrible



Be careful of the ends of panels - it's very easy to burn though high spots. I took it easy at the edges like where door meets qp. Once done, if there's slightly more orange peel there, oh well, better than burning through. You could also use a higher grit in places like this.






My strokes were getting messier and messier. In the end, it didn't matter since I had so much clear to spare (respray, not factory paint). If you're wetsanding on factory paint, like to try and take out a RIDS or something, I suppose it'd be more important to have even, uni-directional strokes, with the finest grit possible so that you don't have to cut much to remove the sanding marks)

Now moving down the bottom of QP, and will work my way back along the bottom to the front fender. I decided to stop at the rear wheel hump for this round. I already bit off a lot; I didn't want to do the whole QP yet before buffing to make sure I'm doing a good enough job. I will still do the end of the QP and the rear bumper later.



The residue looks like a lot because I let it dry in order to grab the camera. Normally, you wipe or spray some water and wipe, and continue.



QP's molding is original, so left alone.



Even the little strip of QP running under door! Leave no stone unturned.



Now the door.




Almost there



Back to the top of the door, I noticed that areas around the handle were too textured, so did a light job here



Next will be the rest of the door, then cutting and polishing the paint to see what progress I've made.

[Tbonem3]

I am stoked to see the results... I hate the orange peel on my steel grey. Props to you for taking this on.

The orange peel on factory paint or a resprayed panel? Thanks!

Impressive paint restoration. Nice build thread btw.

Thank you!

[MathewM3]

Impressive paint restoration. Nice build thread btw.

[skristedja]

I am stoked to see the results... I hate the orange peel on my steel grey. Props to you for taking this on.

[Tbonem3]

Wetsanding

So, as mentioned, the front & rear bumpers have been resprayed plus the passenger door (incl molding) & QP (not the molding) have been resprayed. The color match (door/qp/rear bumper) is incredibly good. Front bumper is a little more off, perhaps done at a different time/place. I've developed an eye for paint in the last couple of years, and I can barely tell the difference. However, it literally looked unfinished as in no color sanding or buffing. I have never seen such an unfinished paint job. Rough to the touch!

I took it to a local body shop my friend uses (knows the owner) and paid $150 for them to wetsand and buff it (I should have known better that $150 wasn't gonna go far). Well, they probably used a denim pad or some other pad on a rotary that makes quick work of orange peel because the job they did was sloppy and only on large/flat surfaces. They took too much orange peel out in the upper sections (compared to factory), but then didn't take enough out of the mid sections of the door/qp, and then the bottom portions look untouched. And tight and curved spots were untouched. So I basically wasted $150, but it did motivate me to learn how to wetsand myself.

I have some decent experience with paint correction and painting (rattle can). But I've never wetsanded before. I spent 2 minutes "researching" and learned enough to start with - soak your paper in soapy water (or a clay lube, something slippery), use something like 2k, 2500 grit paper & move in even strokes.

I decided to start on a less important part of the car, the resprayed door molding. The goal was to see if I could match factory orange peel, and then bring the paint back to life with rubbing compound. Of course that's how it's done, but I had never done it before. If successful, I'd make my way from front door to driver side rear bumper. I actually didn't know how massive of a project this was going to be.

I think it took about 3 weeks from start to finish! That's only like an hour or 2 of work a day, but still. That's also not including the front bumper or top pillar of QP where it goes over windows, which I'll do later.

I think I have like 200 pictures from this job as I was uploading them to my Instagram stories everyday. You can see all of them in my Instagram highlights ("SG Redux"). But I'm only going to post a fraction of them here, just the ones that tell the story the best, with some captions or explanations.

I used 2k grit for most of it, finishing with 2500, but did have to use 1500 in the worst areas. After some sanding, the paper gets dull; effectively a higher grit. You sort of learn how hard to push as the grit gets weaker, and when to move to a new piece of paper. I would have a couple of pieces soaking at a time, labeled "2k" or 2.5k," in sharpie, to help me remember.



Here's a good pic to show you how unfinished the respray was (molding is factory). Literally pebbled texture. I don't think saying "unfinished" is an exaggeration. It's like, "oh shit, the owner's here, send the car out" "but it's not ready jefe!"

LoOkS GoOd tO Me





Ok, let's go. Test spot on door molding where it meets fender.



Now let's bring it back (I ended up moving down to the Griot's fast correcting cream [1000 grit], because the medium correcting cream only goes down to like 2-2500 grit, and there were still some fine sanding marks left.



Hey alright, this might work! I didn't try to perfect the paint clarity here - just wanted to make sure I was doing a good job of sanding plus I learned that I needed a stronger polish, true compound (1k-1200 grit). I also learned that 2k was probably a little too rough for the molding. I think I took out a little too much orange peel, here. Some sections only needed 2.5k, maybe even 3k with enough effort/time. It was a challenge to match everything given that some sections were fine, some were a little too textured, and many sections were horribly textured.

So I was confident and satisfied enough to keep going. I was very confident in my paint correction abilities, the challenge was going to be the actual wetsanding. I also felt like, "fuck it," it's a respray anyway. I wouldn't try wetsanding for the first time on factory paint (trying to remove defects). I could literally have removed most of the clear coat and all of the orange peel and it'd STILL look better than the Van Gogh textured paint the shop left the car with.

Ok, so now the door itself. I taped off the fender where they meet, just to be careful.



So the upper portion is the part where they seemed to have done a good job of matching factory orange peel. the part closest to the fender had too much texture, but after that, it was mostly perfect, with some areas having too little orange peel. I only used 2.5k up top here, but then when back down to 2k for the main sections of the door. I was moving so slowly, that I had to go down to 1,500 grit for the worst sections right above and below the molding.






This is taking forever. What have I done? Oh well, onwards.

If you get close to the paint to create a very sharp, acute angle of view, even without buffing, you can see enough reflectivity to see if you're having the desired effect, the right amount of orange peel. To put it into words, I found that leaving just the faintest "dots" aka the valleys (peaks and valleys of the texture) was the right amount of orange peel (not even enough to feel with your finger). You don't want to sand it completely flat - it'll turn into a mirror-like reflection. Maybe you'd do that on an old classic show car or something, but it'd have to be the whole car, not just sections.




My fingers got so fatigued, that I started to move in vertical directions to do some of the heavier sanding, but I made sure to finish in tighter, horizontal movements. I don't get paid enough for this shit. I think you're supposed to use a block. I also could have used a machine and disc on these flat spots. Oh well. I usually do things the hard way.

The sections immediately above and below the molding were the most textured. I had to use 1,500 grit to make fast enough progress.



Whew, done with the upper section of the door. It looks a little uneven due to residue (paint dust). I didn't clean well as I made progress. This was taking so long, I knew I was going to have to wash the car before cutting and polishing the paint.



Anyone want "frozen grey" paint? I can do it



Will do the bottom section of door before moving to QP. Rocker panel (side skirt) is factory and doesn't need anything luckily.



More to come...

[Tbonem3]

Loving this refresh saving another m3 from the world! I also picked up a second m3 (2002 coupe) that was dirty and cheap to do the same. Car was severely neglected but lower miles, no leaks or accident. In some ways its more fun/ satisfying to restore than add performance or looks.

Nice! Ya, it's a lot of fun. It's also easier to drive than my nicer car. No anxiety about someone damaging it or whatever. I am also really appreciating a stock car again.

[akshon]

Loving this refresh saving another m3 from the world! I also picked up a second m3 (2002 coupe) that was dirty and cheap to do the same. Car was severely neglected but lower miles, no leaks or accident. In some ways its more fun/ satisfying to restore than add performance or looks.

[Tbonem3]

Nice find on the Fabspeed headers and sec 1. I've been running those headers since the black friday sale a long time ago. Now you have me thinking about swapping my euro sec 1 just to go to 2.5" . Great journal BTW

Fabspeeds are amazing. The car just keeps pulling. I think the 2.5" sect 1 is playing a role here too. Euro cats are a great piece though. Stock fit/finish with quality cats. They also improve torque, in my experience, vs straight pipe.

As we are on the topic of header and exhaust, is SS the only company that make a 2.5” header ?

I think bimmerworld has their own set? Otherwise, it's pretty much just ssv1s ya.

[loudspeaker69]

As we are on the topic of header and exhaust, is SS the only company that make a 2.5” header ?