Ibo's Garage - TTRS3GTR

[Fazerfan]

Superb work with the S3. I hope everything goes well with the GTR too!

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks guys and @CAMAROBOY69 for even during your holiday staying in the project :bigfatthumbup:

Unwrapped car (feels like xmas every time )

This time I didn't forget to close off the threads

Result of tapping off the Vin

Result of the fender holder holder

A few dents like these need to be filled

So mainly just sanding today.Didn't even finished. Even a buddy helped out for some hours. A lot to sand, and I am going really slow to not sand through. I did sand through but it's a mere mm's. Is that a problem. The filler will be enough? It's really nothing. I will make a pic tomorrow.

@CAMAROBOY69 Is there a trick to straighten / smooth out the sealant (like soap water with silicone) ??

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

1. If you sand through just a little it will be fine. As long as the coverage is even and the color is even you will be fine.
2. "straighten the sealant"? Do you mean to thin out the sealant so it doesn't spray as thick? Or to smooth out the rough orange peel texture when it is dry?

 

[Ibonibo]

1. Okay cool. I make a pic tomorrow of it, should be small enough

2. The sealant in the tube, that black glue stuff. To fill the seams,... So how to make that sealant seam look smooth, especially if I need to "wipe" it in, like in that roof line. That need to be filled, how to achieve something that is not looking like spit out?

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

2. The sealant in the tube, that black glue stuff. To fill the seams,... So how to make that sealant seam look smooth, especially if I need to "wipe" it in, like in that roof line. That need to be filled, how to achieve something that is not looking like spit out?

Sorry for the delayed response.

Oh the seam sealer sealant. You could wear a rubber glove and wipe it with your finger. Or use a towel, or some sort of cleaner / thinner on a rag. The tube itself will say what is necessary for "cleanup". Use that to wipe the seam sealer smooth. Then just wipe up any of the access.

Also I forgot to mention. For the little touch up dents or chips as you posted above, you can just use a spot putty for that. You have spot putty right? Will save you a lot of time. There are many types of spot putty but they all work about the same. Even just the generic Bondo spot putty / glazing works well for the tiny holes and imperfections.

or

 

[Ibonibo]

I had some of that tube bondo stuff. Need to look if it's still good....

Thanks for the sealer. That was what I meant 👍

Today was one of those days. Completely forgot I had an appointement at a chiro. So this was the first day, in what, 6 weeks that I worked less than 4 hours on the car.

SO did not achieve a lot today. But got my shoulders "straighten" after all the sanding. Felt good

Oh yeah if the pics might get an error or some kind of message, I am near exceeding the 10gb bandwith limit it will reset on Sunday. So you know....

This is what I already used on the car:

There are even some cans missing :haha:

So the sanded through spots in pics:

Forgot to mark the spots on the pics before uploading, so search or look under the pic

center picture, edge near the run. Happend while getting the run out

Edge of door, :duh:

On the inner side of the a column. On the bottom where it goes from big to small

These look so awesome freaking good, as does the front bumper. If I wouldn't need to sand, base could go right over it. It is so smooth, Not a spit from the pistol, not a run. Nada 👍

Cleaned a lot today. Look at the line at the gorund. Left not cleaned, right side vaccumed

2 Weeks I didn't drove this....

After 16 months, it still smells like a brand new car. Guess that's the pro side of not wearing cologne, parfume


SO S3 : metal is sanded to get the filler on. But first I sand the plastics, apply the seam sealant, and do more cleaning. Then filler....

 

[Ibonibo]

Today was seal day

First off, I cleaned the car.

Then I taped off, so the product wouldn't get everywhere

Sadly my product didn't smell like chocolate, but stank

Then sealing, started off with the roofline

Don't know if those little holes are some sort of water evacuation channel so better tape them off. But that resulted in a valley where water would sit.
So with a toothpick I straighten the sealant to the side...

Roofline put some in the corner. It seemed to me while cleaning this spot, Audi did the same, so ....

Resealed the old seals and those I opened to take the rust out

Tank cap, better be safe than sorry

Resealing the rear

Nemesis spot done too as visible above and below

the underside of the nemesis spot, whole plate plastified (as origiinal and pulled over the edge for better coverage and adhesion)

The big rust nest, resealed, will get another layer tomorrow, need to fill the cavities up

Hood resealed

The bottom plate of the sill will get some too, ...

...but the tube was done, took 4 hours to empty it. 8Pm. Going to grab some grub and call it a day. Tomorrow I pop another one open and will continue...

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

That Seal picture had me rolling.

Looking better and better every day. Smart move putting some of the sealer on the bottom sill of the car. Very smart move. That will work as a chip guard and a rust preventative.

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks. Yeah the seal pic

I have 3 tubes left of sealer I will plaster everything in that is exposed to water, like in the fenders where the big rust was, even that crest out so water and dirt doesn't touch metal and doesn't stay in,... 👍

You gave me the advice with the sealer I think. At least you sparked the idea

 

[Ibonibo]

So seal day no2

or so I taught

...

First I poped open a new tube...

When removing the old, the pusher was full of product, I had to remove the cap because too large, so the screw pierced the bottom of the tube

Pinched the cap of and rescrewed it on...

Fender 1 done...

Sealed... also the bend you don't see on the top. Everything...

Then I wanted to give the rear arch a bit more,

coined my head against the edge, a piece came off, underneath it, rust, rust, rust...



The whole lip of the rear exterior panel that is bended it. Just superficial, no cavities, but the whole arch

So Seal day became rust day

Rust be gone

Cleaned, reprimed

let it dry

then seal the duck out of it

I did seal some parts though, so the tube was not lost

Seal pass. side done

(doubled checked with a light for complete coverage)

And the inner side of the trunk (no pic)

I don't need to guess hard to predict, tomorrow the other side will be the same....

But then whole body rust free

It's for the better

Now if the rust has been underneath the bended lip, it surpasses my knowhow either way. Can't ply that open and rebend it shut. Would never work, and rewelding just to control,... I did test spot control the inner sheet, which looked fine. And seeing how it was just superficial, it wasn't there for that long, so....

That should now be the last visible for me metal sheet that can ruin the job, the rest is hidden, was not touched by the garage or me, so it should be good,....

Let's bring this to an end,....

 

[Hayden]

@Ibonibo, I can't believe how much rust has found its way into every crevice of the S3 in just 12 years since manufacture! It really puts into perspective just how rough the conditions you guys drive in is compared to the snow-free world of South Australia.

Huge props for being so thorough mate, this paint job is going to look amazing for decades to come and I can't wait to see the final result of all that work. Thanks for the photos too, absolutely awesome to watch it get better bit by bit.

And a quick had tip to @CAMAROBOY69, I always find your posts knowledgeable and interesting but in this thread you've gone to another level! The back and forth you too have gone through in here has taught me a lot about the process of painting a car and If the time comes when I go down this road, I'll be retracing this thread for advice.

Keep up the good work, guys 👍

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks 👍

Well most of it is where it is touched either on resular basis (sill) or where it was touched for the last paintjob (badly done). But yeah, it suffers over here. And the S3 was mostly always outside (rain, snow, heat,....)

So today,....

Other side...

fearing the most....

Test grinding through the plastic "bondo"

5 spots like that through the lenght of the whole arc.
Nothing..

Ohh thank god

Only the last quater had some, where it is hidden underneath the rear bumper....

Here:

Was quickly handeled

RePrimed

Not forgetting the first rust encounter on the rear fender

Resealed

Fender lip resealed

Finishing off the rear trunk

Done

Sill Driver front

Middle

Rear

Finishing off the front window frame

The hood

Passanger side, rear fender

Second layer (driver side also got a second layer)

Double holds better

I sooo misestimated the needed time for sealing off the whole car. Taught it would be a one day job....



Either way, last seals tomorrow : 2 doors, 1 fender, rest of the innerside of the hood.
That should conclude sealing then. I gonna control everything though

I taught my 4 tubes were ludicrous, but I actually need 3. something. So 4 was the right number

That's it for today

 

[eiriksmil]

Most thorough project thread there has ever been on GTP.. Seriously good work man, the real enjoyment will come soon

 

[Ibonibo]

Thanks bud 👍

Yeah I guess it will start immediatly after the first particle of blue hits the car

Last sealing day : ohyeah :

The last 3 tubes of sealer I used were from silkaflex (or something) from switzerland. This one today was from liquimoly.
The silka were like silicone in consistancy. Not easy to wipe, but they were sticky enough to be applies upside down, whithout raining down.
THe liquimoly today, well... it was easy to wipe across panels. But a pain to apply as it was just to liquid. The name should have given it away

Seriouly thouigh, a pain, it was getting everywhere. On me on the uptapped panels. Everywhere. To the point, I started losing interest in taping off really soon.


But lets start....

Finshing off the hood, bonnet

Reinstalled the pusher. The woodstick was just to paint another coat on the knob that the pusher attaches to

It should be plenty protected. 4 layers of epoxy. + sealant.

The seam on the bottom, well not easy getting on. Taped of layed down on the engine

But got it on clean enough

Fender

wait for it


BäääM

Doors

Bottom of door

Bäääm the second

Sadly the tube was done before me

So little missing, so much product on the ground

Should I ... naaahh kidding

Used a whole box for the sealing

looks dandy

And to finish the day off

A bit of wet sanding

Papers were soaking in for hours...

Is there a max time the papers can be in the water before they disintegrate ??

 

[Ibonibo]

Week 15 (2013 incl. / Week 8 for 2014)

plastics sanded wet 8such a joy sanding wet after all the dry sanding. Luckily it is warm enough outside.

I could have moved outside in the sun. That would have been nice...
but too much time would have been lost for nothing...

Bondo the 2 small dents ( I went multiple times over the whole car, those were the only ones, I sincerly hope so)

Let them dry

Sanding the rest of the plastics, the smaller stuff

Sanding the bondo flat

And started taping off. Missing wheels, engine bay

Tomorrow, the rest, quicky. Then the rest of the day is filler day.



Some surprises are in for tomorrow It's again more work, but in the end it will be more than worth it

 

[Ibonibo]

Painted till 2300

Notice the engine bay being taped off differently

During no pics.....


Finished

Plastics : As I needed to open a new plastic primer,I painted the black top plate in the engine bay. And as I didn't want the primer to be lost, I reprimed all plastics with it. It's just an adehsion giver. sooo....

Then I poped a bottle of Plastic filler open. Fillered the whole plastics. Then passed onto the 2k Filler. Layed 2 thick coats on the exterior of the metals. And one inside.

Then I poped open the elastifier. Mixed 2k with elastifier and hardener to get a black filler for the plastics that is elastic.

Now no color difference between plastics and metal. This will garantuee a same tint of blue 👍

That's why the plastics are black this time around and not grey. But the layering is correct for optimal grip

After last night a mosquito kept me up and this intense work load day. I am a bit knocked out

 

[Ibonibo]

The car looks marvelous.

On the second pic, last post, it looks like the front bumper had a missing spot of black. I saw that yesterday on the pic, and was a little pee'd. But it's black, not as thick, but enough to play with it

The only part I messed up :S

there was still gun cleaner in the gun, after switching to elastic 2k filler....

But it looks like it can be saved with sanding. Good relex putting a towel on it, absorbing the thinner, and then resprayed...

Cleaned the gun. Didn't do it yesterday, because ... 23 o'clock. But managed to clean it completely.

I think this might have been the best 16 bucks I have ever invested in something....

Started sanding and cleaning. :up:

 

[eiriksmil]

Just one quick pointer.. Be sure to have all areas of door hinges primered and painted. Other than the fact you're skipping the bay, which makes me a little sad but it can be a addressed at a later stage, good work on all accounts.. No color difference metal to bumpers even Audi didn't make that happen lol.
When is your painter gonna do his magic?

 

[Ibonibo]

All corners, jams,.... everything has both 2k epoxy and 2k filler on it. Only the inside of the hood (between the 2 metal sheets) has just epoxy on it, as it is not easy to get product in there. When going colour, I can plaster some in there and seal it with clear

I'm gonna do the magic as soon as I am happy with the render of my filler sanding


And this now brings me to the question that buged me the whole day (gonna pm Camaroboy)

How smooth, perfect does it need to be?

Smooth to the touch??

That is simple as it just means going over the layer with 600 a few times and it feels slick, smooth, sleek,...

This already feels smooth

But then my OCD kicks full throttle in....

Because what feels smooth is in fact a little uneven to the eye, everywhere little valleys....

Going wet with 600 or 800 would take ages to get these out. The shop recommands :
240 dry / or 400 machine / or 600-800 wet

So I tested a bit....

Started with 400. Still not enough

Stepped down to 320 dry, then 400, then 600 wet = This results in Number 2. Smooth to the eye and touch. But am I exaggerating?

How much needs to be sanded. How perfect does the render need to be?
1? 2? 3?

Because for Number 2, it takes time. And I can not imagine a shop would sacrifice that much time...

I am okay with either workload. It not at a day more or less anymore. Stopped counting long ago

 

[Ibonibo]

Got the answer : smooth as a duck

No pics for today as it's the same as the last days. Sanding and cleaning.

Nearly all done with the 300. Took all of the orange peel off.

Now I hope tomorrow everything is presanded with 300.

Then as I sanded through some parts ( to the epoxy, not the metal ) I will, tomorrow before leaving, do a little Spot Repair Filler step. Otherwise it's for Monday

Giving no huge contrast between the filler black and the epoxy white. And I have enough ui/um on the car, so it's even

Then when that is done :
Wet sanding : 400->500->600

Then the finish should be perfect. 👍 It is like detailing, doing inch per inch making sure, all imperfections are gone....

It already looks amazing, can't wait to see it sanded to 600

Only then, when the surface is as perfect as I can achieve, I will put the base on.

If it takes 3 days or 5. No rush here..... It's the critical surface. This is the finish you see and every imperfection will only be magnified by the colour and clear. So fetching for perfection

 

[Ibonibo]

Well,...

I hate it!! Still not understood how far I should absolutely go....
Either my spray finish wasn't good enough, 600 wet only is bonkers, or what ever

I keep sanding and sanding and sanding, hour after hour, so many parts, checking inch per inch (only the visible places, the rest get just a light sand to give adhesion)

The hood is done. No orange peel left. Gone from 320 to 400 everywhere and to 600wet on more than 1/2 of it....

Result: Check were enough fluid is to give refelections

But sadly, on some spots it is too thin so the epoxy came through....

And that mainly on edges, not that many, maybe 8 edges were an inch or two are filler free (2mm*3cm trail)

I still haven't figured all out as you can witness. But hey I'm a virgin at this

Now I am pondering when I should do the filler repair.

Probably best to get all to the finish that is wished upon, meaning going up to 600wet maybe a pass with 800wet.
Then spot paint where I grinded too much off....

Either way, I tried today a spot with only 600wet. Doesn't work. Or not fast enough.

The 320 and going up seems to work, just a question of faith that the layer is thick enough everywhere else now

I just hope I have enough filler left....

Now that I just got this out loud (or written), pondering if I should order a bit more. Especially the hardener is getting slim I think.
Normal 4:1 but for the plastics I needed to use 2:1, so that eat a lot of hardener....

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

primer sanding question.....

As you know I was on vacation for the week and I am so very sorry I did not get back to you sooner. But yes the primer needs to be smooth as glass before you paint. I actually use a little rubber squeegee to wipe over the surface while wet sanding. This MUST be smooth. I usually finish with around 600 grit. But again, must be smooth.

If you sand through the primer a little it will be okay. But this is why I always say to lay a bunch of primer layers so you have a lot to sand without sanding through. Make sure all orange peel is gone from the primer.

Your progress for the week has been amazing. Just take your time and get the entire primer sanded smooth as glass. Also your wet sanding paper can sit in the water a few days but after a while it will get a bit fragile and start tearing and bending easier.


@Hayden Thank you for the kind words.

 

[Ibonibo]

Firstly. It was your holidays, and I tried to not bother you. It was weekend either way, and found the answer. What I did not find for the love of god, was a picture of actual filler that was sanded done.

But it was Okay. I taught so, so I did so.

I am done with 320grid. Did nearly everything with 400grid today, Some started at 600.

I did not sand through the primer. The primer is the white stuff. The filler is the black stuff. I did not touch metal on one single spot *ohyeah*.
But I need to refill those white spots, because colour auroras (do you call it like that?) in the blue. On plastic (as it can be seen on the bumper pic below) if I sand through the black, undeneath is a gunmetal grey. So not that much colour difference. But white and black, it might give too much of an light tint in the blue, and I don't want that.

Now when and how should I refill?

I think for most parts, spot refill should be enough and fog it out?

Stuff like the hood, with multiple punctures, a complete cover over it?

How far should I fog it out?

Should I stop sanding now and refill "now" everything that still isn't sanded down or has a puncture or wait till everything is sanded to a finish, cover those parts up and then refill?

I think the second choice sounds wiser, less work, and should be enough?

What can I do to get a smoother surface with the filler??
I need some new filler as I def. haven't enough hardener. So I will retake a liter of filler (I used nearly all of the gallon I had ) I could order a bit of thinner (special one) to mix in the filler. But it should go without...

Reduce the distance? Slower movement? More paint in the flow?

Ohh I found a nice chart. The 3 M pads I have correspond to 500-800grid. I think 3M could write that on the box.

Now pictures

The last tiny holes to sand out in the roof

This I don't get

Notice there is a dent in the edge. How the did this happen. Just how. It's a bended edge from the C-Column. It's really strong. Just how? It makes me furious how professionals treat customers cars, because this happend 100% not at my place.... None of the dents came from me. It just shows me,that the trust I give to shops is justified, which is none

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

For the answer to the black filler, if you are already getting light areas then I would stop now and just refill. Just keep in mind you want several layers so you have enough to sand off. As for getting it smoother while painting, that just takes a lot of practice, along with trial and error. Very hard to do if you don't have a professional shop setup. So don't beat yourself up over that at all. Multiple lighter very thin layers will help a lot to reduce orange peel or the little holes you see. Just make sure you have enough layers to sand off and not sand through to the white primer.

I would skip the 320 and just go 400 then 600.

Also, all this sanding was not for nothing because the car is now a huge step closer to being glass smooth.

 

[Ibonibo]

Okay. Thanks.

I will stop then. Meaning tomorrow, I gotta do the last parts to see if those need refiller too or not. Till the new filler arrives, it will pass time, I will clean and retape in the meantime....

Ordering tonight another batch of it Good they are dirty cheap. A bit more than a gallon, 4 liters for a fifty 👍

One coat more and it would have been fine.

And that's the reason why, no matter if I loose half a day, I will not restart spraying that late. You get tired, do faults and too lazy to apply the third layer....

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Very true.

Also don't forget to see if they have a wet sanding squeegee. Its basically just a square piece of rubber but works very well to see how much orange peel is left in the primer or clear coat. Should only cost about $2.00 each. You really only need 1.

 

[Ibonibo]

Well,

today I had a plan,
tomorrow paint the accents black....

Because the plastic parts were smoother than the metal thus sanding was quick to a proper finish...

Only part was the B-Column covers, which are metal, and well sanded through a bit....

So the plan fell flat...

Ordered an other gallon of filler. A liter cost 20 bucks. 4 Liters 50...
Took 2 liters of hardener, if I intend to redo the plastics....

For my roofline, which has some water stains ( i hope it's water and not cat pee), I wanted to get reholstered. But such a clumpsy part, transport is expensive, really expensive.
That also eliminated an ebay exchange part. Cost 1/3 of the whole roofline.

There was a woman in the street the S3 stands at, that does it. Well she moved last week, before I could ask.
I could either go on the quest of finding out where she moved or...

Bought 7 meters in a piece + special glue....

Now, question for the masterchief:

As the plastics have a dandy finish, which I presume comes from the elastifier, should I add a few % to the metal mixture to get a smoother finish?
Would it harm? I can not see how, I actually think it could help with rock chips...??

Any idea?

Now today pictures are slim as same old so I took something differents

How I fixed these up (they have a railing, so the heads act as the heads that are welded on the bottom of the doors)

This is how I made it possible to only took 1/3 of the time in taping off the roof window trim

Double tapped off.

Once the whole glass+ cover in plastics. Seal shut. It's only warped aorund that, it doesn't close the hole, but makes sure, those expensive parts don't get fogged

I slide the paper I use to tape off the hole through the roof and the window

And shut the holes with some paper balls

Time saved 20 min

👍

I have made a little video today with the BlackMagic,.... it will take time till you see it, colour grading and all (shot in raw)

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Now, question for the masterchief:
As the plastics have a dandy finish, which I presume comes from the elastifier, should I add a few % to the metal mixture to get a smoother finish?
Would it harm? I can not see how, I actually think it could help with rock chips...??
Any idea?

You can experiment with it to see how it turns out. It should not hurt anything at all but I would mix a tiny sample together and make sure it does not separate. Should be fine.

 

[Ibonibo]

It didn't when I did it on the plastics, so 👍. But I gonna try first on a smaller piece 👍

Now it's gonna be worth it

 

[Ibonibo]

Completely forgot to take a few pics,

but same old. Sanding cleaning...rinse repeat

Car is completely sanded, so the new layers stick. Plastic is all done. Leaves the small metal stuff.

Car is precleaned , as the wet sanding is quite messy. More than dry sanding, which leaves just powder.
Wet sandind leaves a smudge on the ground... and the car

My roofline tissue was dispatched (what do you call fake wildleather? Suede? alcantara. That's what I bought. In black. Enough for the roof plus interior column covers.

New Filler, Hardener, more siliconremover, more stirs, more cups were dispatched today too.

It looks that if tomorrow I advance good enough, friday I could refill. But as said, if I consider it too late, it will be Saturday.

And if the elastifer trick works as intended, sanding should take a considerably shorter timeframe. The plastics, I can go directly on with 600.
On the bumpers I taught there was orange peel, but it was infact the gunmetal gry shining through slightly. When I knew that, the other plastics were cake.

I guess when refilling, I first fill in just the spots that were sanded through, and then complete layers?

2 or 3 (knowing there were 2 now on, and still a bit on) ???

With these words...

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