The Build of p5150 - 2JZGE-T, GT4294, Paint, and more stuff

[p5150]

For the taillights I used a black toner in some PPG clear. It took about 4-5 applications of clear with each application consisting of 3-4 wet coats.

The last coat was not tinted - only clear.

Like the taillights? I didnt want to make them too dark but you can definately tell they are tinted. I actually tinted all of the marker lights to include the front turn signals.

 

[Jaguar]

Yes, I like very much. I was gonna go with window tint like application (did the same thing to my GTO) and was curious how you did it.

 

[p5150]

I havent posted in awhile - been caught up in the snow! We had a record year for snowfall; last week we had another 4" storm and even a few drifts!

I purchased a dolly and took the car out to a deserted road to make a few passes on a base wastegate setting in order to get my boost comp map set up.

The car is great to drive! Next on the list is a ISC valve; I am also having some stalling issues as well as some starting problems.

The car isnt close to being able to run daily, and I still have to get it registered.

I did some wet sanding too. I had done some wet sanding by hand earlier but that is a slow process. I busted out the DA sander with some 3m hook/loop 1000, 1200, 1500 followed by a 2000 foam pad. Damn. Took out all of the orange peel and looks pretty nice!

I sprayed the last coat of primer on my fuel door and will be spraying the color and clear on it tonight. After that is done I am finally done with the paint!

 

[SilverSupraT]

Looking good man! I gotta say I'm also not really feeling the exhaust either but the rest looks AMAZING! Normally I don't care for chrome wheels either but they fit the color of your car very well.

Are you by any chance going to make it to the Centralia meet?

 

[p5150]

Looking good man! I gotta say I'm also not really feeling the exhaust either but the rest looks AMAZING! Normally I don't care for chrome wheels either but they fit the color of your car very well.

Are you by any chance going to make it to the Centralia meet?

No -i cant make it to the meet. I am moving down to SoCal this month. I dont have time to play.

 

[p5150]

Here are some pics of my garage paint job - ive only finished buffing one side so thats all you get!

 

[SMP142]

your moving to socal? i thought you were moving to DC?

 

[suprahero]

That is beautiful............:love:

 

[p5150]

Thanks Jay. I spent a lot of time on this car.

Brian - I will be moving down to Palmdale/Lancaster next week.

If I was to spray the paint again I wouldnt have used a sealer coat, only spot sealed areas I had sanded through. The sealer didnt lay down smooth and you can see a small bit of orange peel under the base and clear on certain parts.

 

[p5150]

After months of moving and construction on the new house, I finally got a chance to really take the car out and tune it a bit. Im running straight off of the turbo output pressure to the wastegate and the AEM logged 1.33 BAR at peak around 6000. It didnt level off though. Thats what I get for a 3rd gear run.

Positive pressure hits around 3000 but it takes a bit to reach full boost. I want to take it out on the highway but Im being really cautious until I get some more miles on it.

It feels really good right now, and im looking forward to turning up the boost after a good session on the dyno and tuning the bugs out

 

[p5150]

Another thing to point out - with this huge turbo, one of the things that really kept me from making any progress was the oil drain line. First, I had a -10 line made at a local industrial hose supply store. It had some restrictions in the line and the turbo wouldnt drain fast enough so some oil would leak out of the seals onto the manifold.

I upgraded the line to a real Earls -10, and it still was too small. The turbo wouldnt leak at all at idle, but when you got on it with the RPMs it would leak onto the manifold again. Once you parked, the oil that had leaked out onto the wrapped manifold would smoke like a bitch.

I eventually went with a -12 line assembled with a 45* fitting from the drain to a -12 hose down to another 45* into the pan with a union fitting. I dont have any more leak issues.

Also, it looks like there was a piece of slag that I didnt get in the turbo manifold. Because the turbo is such a tight fit, I actually install the exhaust housing, center cartridge and then the compressor cover. I have to disassemble the turbo to get it out. When I pulled it out to upgrade the line to a -12, the turbine wheel looked chewed up. It was done. I took the turbo down to Performance Techniques. Those guys hooked me up with a new turbine wheel and even threw in some new bearings. I recommend their shop; they seemed really honest and didnt try to rip me off.

 

[suprahero]

Looking good Cade. What wastegate spring are you using? What wastegate are you using?

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

If I was to spray the paint again I wouldnt have used a sealer coat, only spot sealed areas I had sanded through. The sealer didnt lay down smooth and you can see a small bit of orange peel under the base and clear on certain parts.

Which guns did you use for the sealer, base, and clear? To what grit did you take it to when you color sanded? It looks very nice. Swap looks good too.

 

[p5150]

Looking good Cade. What wastegate spring are you using? What wastegate are you using?

Thanks Jay - Im using the HKS knockoff 50mm wastegate with the lightest spring. Once I get it on the interstate and log the run in 5th I think I will get a better picture of what it is actually boosting to.

I also need to detail all of the wetsanding junk left over from the cracks and crevasses. If you look closely you can see white in some of the cracks.

 

[p5150]

Which guns did you use for the sealer, base, and clear? To what grit did you take it to when you color sanded? It looks very nice. Swap looks good too.

Thanks man. This is what I did:

Sanded down to toyota primer with 120 / 240
Filled any dimples or creased dents (body was good to start with though)
DP40 LF with 401 catalyst - Harbor Freight Purple gun with 1.3mm tip
K38 - Ching Chang Ebay Chow 1.7mm tip
Block sand and feather fill
K38 / Guide Coat
Block Sand 120 grit
K38 / Guide Coat
Block Sand 240 (I did this as required until the paint was perfectly flat)
K38 / Guide Coat
Wet Block Sand (500)
DP40 LF with 402 Catalyst Sealer Coat (This is where I didnt dilute the DP enough. You can mix it 2:1:0.5 with the 0.5 being reducer so that the sealer coat lays out. I mixed it just 2:1 w/o reducer and it left a small bit of orange peel under the base and clear on the cab. The rest of the car is clean.)

Base
DC 4000 clear x 3
I used the purple harbor freight gun for everything except the heavy primer.

A few months later:

Wet sand with 1k 1.5k 2k pads on a D/A with a hose. Taped the hose nozzle with duct tape so that it wouldnt scratch the paint. After wet sanding I used a heavy cutting compound on a wool pad and moved up to finer polishes with the foam pads...

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Wow, you did alot of good prep. Most people don't understand that your paint job is only as good as what's underneath. I'm a student at the whole paint and body trade. Just learning, and doing some side jobs here and there.
My lazy ass would have:


DA'd it down to toyota primer with 180
Did any metal work necessary, body filler & glazing putty.
K38/ Guide Coat Ching Chang Ebay Chow 1.7mm tip
Block sand 180 grit and feather fill
K38 / Guide Coat
Wet Block Sand (400)
DP40 LF with 402 Catalyst Sealer Coat
Base
DC 4000 clear x 3
I'd reduce the clear by 10% (or eyeball it). Lay it out with a nice Anest Iwata LPH400, and call it a day.

If it were my own personal car, or someone willing to pay for the extra work I would:

Wet sand with 1, 1.5, 2 & 2.5k by hand on a foam backing pad cross-cutting action.
Wizards finish cut with their yellow wool pad.
Wizards finish cut with their white wool pad.
3M perfect it swirl mark remover with white wool pad.
Wizards shine master with foam pad.



Another thing most people don't realize is that you don't need an uber expensive paint gun to get professional results. The finish look is all in the final wet sanding&buffing. I only use a good gun if I'm skipping the cut & buff stage. Most people never notice a small amount of orange peel. Hell, orange peel is on every brand new car these days. Don't believe me people... go to your nearest Mercedes Benz dealer and take a look at their flagship in black. You'll see it. It's what is called an "acceptable level of orange peel." EVERY new car has it.


Either way, you did a very good job and didn't cut corners. Your paint job looks very nice.

 

[p5150]

Thanks for the kind words - I wish I would have taped off the bottom of the engine bay better though. I painted the engine bay first and then taped off the top when I sprayed the rest of the car. The clear got under and kind of hazed it up so I have to go through and buff out the clear overspray under the hood.

Got any tips on that?

Something else I did was put a decal under the clear on the gas door "Premium Fuel Only". I sprayed one coat of clear over the base, let it dry, and placed a vinyl decal on. Then I sanded it lightly with a red brillo-style pad and coated it about 3 more times.

 

[p5150]

To clear off some of the overspray I got a stainless steel polishing kit from Harbor Freight. The kit comes with about 20 cotton bits to get in cracks and crevasses. I used some paint polishing compound and its coming along slowly but it looks good!

I took the sup out and did a 3rd gear pull and got up to 10 psi when the wastegate opened. Holy shit. Honestly, it was kind of scary. I think my car might be too fast.

 

[ahuynh12]

what a sick car!>>.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Thanks for the kind words - I wish I would have taped off the bottom of the engine bay better though. I painted the engine bay first and then taped off the top when I sprayed the rest of the car. The clear got under and kind of hazed it up so I have to go through and buff out the clear overspray under the hood.

Got any tips on that?

Sorry about the slow response. I read your question right before I was going to work and had to go. Then I completely forgot later.

Back tape the edge of the fenders and hood. When you're done spraying the clear, lift hood and remove the tape right around 30minutes after the last coat of clear. You won't have any overspray in there. I'll see if I can snap some pics of a little demonstration later this evening, or tomorrow morning.