I picked up a couple cans of this in black. I will be taking the carpet out tonight and scrubbing it down with a wire brush to try and get most of the dirt and grime out of it. Then maybe a quick spray with the hose, let it dry for a day and then spray it black. Pictures to come.
I can't remember if I used that or something similar on the parcel shelf in my E28, the key to getting it to look decent is to spray it on and then really rub it in with a stiff brush, otherwise it won't come out even.
Good luck,
Adam
adam525i said:I can't remember if I used that or something similar on the parcel shelf in my E28, the key to getting it to look decent is to spray it on and then really rub it in with a stiff brush, otherwise it won't come out even.
Good luck,
Adam
Maybe need to get another BBQ Wire brush to use in order to rub it in fully then. Not sure the Mrs. would appreciate me using the current one. LOL
One of those stiff plastic scrubber brushes worked for me, I think something with metal bristles might be too aggressive. You just want ot move the die and carpet fibres around so that it evenly coats all everything and not just the fibres that happens to be facing out. Speed Academy did a video where Pete tried this product on some suede seats and the vacuuming marks were permanently left in them as he just sprayed it on after cleaning without rubbing it in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlxeUYNrdEg&t=283s
Adam
Finally got off my rump, cleaned and painted the rear carpet of the 924.
How it started.
halfway through painting
And full paint laid out
Small steps to making it look it's best.
When last we lost the 924, I had cleaned up the read carpet. Getting it back from grey and dingy to black. It needed it. I then took it to my local track www.calabogiemotorports.com for a 2 hour lapping session. To say the least it was eventful. The battery was moving around and shorting out on the right hand corners. We rigged it up the best we could, but it really needs a new battery tray welded in to hlidnitbin place. That is on the list of things to do.
Now that the 944 is resting peacefully in its storage bed for the winter, it was time to dig into the 924 a bit. I removed the bumpers, which are blue on a black car.
Removed the rubber overrides and turn signal lights from the front bumper and gave them a good clean.
Unfortunately I broke most of the bolts for the overriders so not sure if I am going to buy new ones or fill in the holes for a smooth, clean look.
I'm no painter, so maybe I'll give it a go or maybe I'll do the prep work and take them somewhere. Not sure yet.
After getting the bumpers off the 924 they sat as you can see in the above pictures for a week or two while the temperatures dropped below freezing here in the Great White North. It has warmed up a smidge. Enough to get working on the rear bumper. I started with 100 grit sandpaper and then down to 180 grit. I went looking through my stash of crap and could only find 1000 and 1500 grit. Question for the hive; Is that too big of a jump or should I get some 500 grit sandpaper before I go to the 1000?
Sorry no pictures yet.
In reply to Mike924 :
Your question is a bit vague. What are you trying to accomplish with the sandpaper? Strip it for paint?
The 1000 and 1500 are fine and typically used for for wet sanding new paint. Not for prep work before paint.
In reply to NOT A TA :
I am currently prepping the bumpers for paint. When I bought the car 7 years ago they came in baby blue, and while it does add a bit of colour to a black car I am looking to paint the bumpers black to match the rest of the car. I want the best finish I can get on them so I was going to stop at a 1500 grit sandpaper making sure everything is nice and smooth to get the best finish I can. As I hear from alot of people, preparation is key. So I am doing the best prep I can. 
I'm not a pro painter, but I recently repainted the nose of my 2002. General rule of thumb seemed to be that 80-400 grit are used to work out larger imperfections or remove the bulk of the material that you are trying to strip. By the time you get to 400, you should be at a relatively smooth and even surface. 600-1000 grit is usually used to work out the sanding marks and small imperfections, most DYI'ers don't use anything finer than 600 on prep work. 1000-3000 (and beyond) are effectively polishing steps that are used to work down new paint/clear.
If you are still in the prep phase I would recommend going with something like a 320-400 grit, after your 180. You could go to 240 in between, or you could just spend a little more time working with the finer stuff. It really just depends on how much time you want to spend on it.
Edit: Just saw your latest post. I would caution against prepping the bumpers down to 1500. My understanding, albeit limited, is that if you go down to that fine of grit you will actually make it more difficult for the paint to bite/bond to the surface. Someone more knowledgeable can chime in, but I've heard it's not recommended you go beyond 800 before primer.
Things have smoothed out considerably since i started working the old paint. So maybe I will hit up the auto store and grab some 240 and 320 paper.
Thanks for input.
If your bumper paint is pretty thick like my '77 924 was I would remove most of the paint with 8o grit till you see it getting thin. Then switch to 220 to remove the rest of it. After that prime and fill nicks or little dents then sand the primer with 180, re prime & sand with 320 then 400 or a little finer depending on whether you're going to use a sealer or not before top coat.
The reason for switching up to 220 before hitting bare metal is because the scratches left by 80 grit would be filled with primer which will shrink after you're all done painting. Perhaps months or years later the scratches from the 80 grit will show up in the paint as the primer shrinks.
The reason for going with a rougher 180 to start working the primer flat is because it takes the high spots off quicker without clogging up the paper.
There's mechanical and chemical adhesion which has to be taken into consideration so that's why as previously mentioned by MTechnically you don't want to use very very fine paper before primer. Think of like chrome plating where it's easy to scratch off paint compared to a rougher surface. Are you using self etching primer?
If you use a powder guide coat to sand your primer and use a hard block you'll reduce waves in the final finish on the top of the bumper. And use wax & grease remover regularly before sanding so you don't grind contaminants in.
So far I have sanded the rear bumper by hand. No block. I do have a sander head that i used for sanding walls, so maybe I will use that when i pick up some 220 and 300 sandpaper before hitting it with some primer. Wasn't even thinking about sealers, I was going to rattlecan the paint or pay a body shop to throw down the paint.
Thank you for the input. Learning on the go has always been my method.
First off Happy Hooidays to all the GRM people, staff and forum users. This is one of the best sites for motivation, and information.
That said, here in Ottawa the sun was shining and my wife was changing her oil. Temperature was above 0 celcius by 3 degrees, so I decided it wasn't going to get any better here to do work on the 924.
After purchasing 320 grit and 400 grit sand paper, I opened the 320 and went over the rear bumper again.
It started looking like foing with anything finer wasn't going to make it any better. So I threw a coat of primer on to make sure it all stays nice. For best results the can said 20 degrees celcius, but I went ahead anyway. A few runs that I will sand off when it is fully dry, but not terrible.
Mike924 said:First off Happy Hooidays to all the GRM people, staff and forum users. This is one of the best sites for motivation, and information.
Mike, these last two photos make me think you need to go back a step and hit the bumper with some more aggressive grit. The fact that you can see some depth to the, what I presume is pitting, would tell me you aren't going to get the perfect finish you're after.
In reply to MTechnically :
I can't say I am going for perfection, but I was thinking of giving it another run down with the sandpaper again. For a first run and rattle can primer it's not terrible.
While I had time and it being cold and snowy in Ottawa, I couldn't really do any painting. I wanted to dig into why the airbox was moving around. After removing the air filter and other bits I found the culprit.
And here is the part that needs to be replaced. these are pretty cheap so 16 bucks and a bit of waiting I should have it back together
The weather reached positive celcius numbers today and I had the new rubber mounts for the air box ready to install. So I took the time and put it all back together. Took about 30 to 45 minutes. Cleaned off the caked on gunk that has accumulated over the years of use. Here are just a few pictures. Not overly interesting but shows that I can get some things done when the weather cooperates.
Now to start working on correcting the high rpm stutter the car developed after the last lapping day.
whenever I see those double-post rubber mounts on cars in the JY I grab them (used in both my 924 and e30 and for other non-factory mounting solutions). They come in handy a lot.
Found new ones on Amazon of all places. When I spoke to the Dealer they wanted big dollars and I had to wait 3 weeks for them to ship from Germany. Wish our JY's here were as good as yours in the States.
So I have a few extra hours on my hands these days and the weather was on my side today. Warm 13 degrees celcius and sunny. So it was time to throw some paint on the rear bumper that I started working on earlier this winter. I did a quick wet sand with 400 grit sand paper and wipe down when done. Then I added 2 coats of black. It came out not too badly for an amateur.
2nd coat of primer put on:
After first coat of black:
And after coat 2:
Now to start on the front bumper. Need a bit more primer though.
Finished up the rear bumper of the 924 today. Mounted it up as well.
Started working on the front. Pictures to come as work moves ahead.
Ok on the front bumper use some glazing putty and high build primer. Those will get rid of the imperfections of the pitted areas which where under the bumper strip. That could be done as well on the back bumper with it on the car.
Also get as long of a sanding block as possible and sand in a x pattern. This will help get rid of any ripples in the primer and glazing putty.
Thanks Brad. I will look into the glazing putty.
For the front I did find a sanding block and started using it. Although not in the x pattern, but with the block it does mean that is should be smoother.
Truth: this thread is one of the ones that convinced me to buy another 944. Now I'm hoping Dean really wants to buy it stil. as I don't have the space for this many cars.
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