Thursday, August 1, 2019

KARR Wants New Paint...

It's been obvious for quite some time that KARR wants to look new again. Despite that fact that he is often a little shit, he always seems to get what he wants. Why does this behavior seem so familiar? ;) In any case, I have started looking for a painter and I ordered the restoration parts that will be needed before and after paint.  The new parts I ordered from The Fiero Store have arrived, and I want to give you a quick preview.


The first was a total splurge for the engine bay.  I purchased the Billet Aluminum Dress Up Kit from The Fiero Store.  This kit includes billet aluminum covers for the oil cap, thermostat housing cap, EGR valve, and MAP sensor.  Here are before and after pictures.  Please ignore the dirt.  I will clean the engine bay before installing these permanently.



Next up is a replacement Fiero GT badge.  The original was damaged when a seagull struck the front of KARR and bent back the corner of this badge right above the GT portion.  The damage is not easily visible in this picture but the badge was bent to the point where I did not think I could fix it to KARR's standards.  KARR would also like to point out his scanner was damaged in this seagull collision, and he now harbors a hatred for seagulls.


One of the badges that definitely shows its age is the GT emblem on the rear bumper.  I ordered a replacement for this and you can see the difference below.


I also ordered replacements for all four side marker lights.  They were all broken, either around the mounting points or where the light socket turns in.  I have glued these many times but they keep breaking. 

Looking at my two front side marker lights, I was highly suspicious they were faded due to the fact they were yellow rather than amber.  When the new replacements arrived, it became obvious just how faded they were.


The reds in the back fared much better as far as fading.


I also removed the shift knob and took it to a local upholstery shop where they are going to attempt to reupholster it with a higher grade leather.


I ordered new reproduction spoiler gaskets.  These were not available when I remounted the spoiler, so I had made my own.  I figured getting the car painted would be the perfect opportunity to replace the gaskets.


Last but not least is the molding for around the windshield.  Unfortunately I will also be replacing the windshield.  A couple of weeks ago while traveling for work, a gravel truck threw up a chunk of concrete and chipped and spidered the windshield in two places.


As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I am actively looking for a painter that will put in the time and attention KARR deserves and work with me on replacing these parts.  If anyone has any recommendations on a painter in the Aberdeen area please let me know.

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