Turbo Dodges in a Hot Rod Shop! (Lots of pics)

[Mike M]

Going to be white again, I can't change it... its such a classy color for a classy car.

These latest shots were a bit off I know, the cars are all packed together right now... once there is room I can take some nicer shots.

I'll try to remember about the primer next time I'm in, I usually visit at the end of the week/weekends unless I need something. Chances are I'll forget once or twice

[TurboSedan]

Going to be white again, I can't change it... its such a classy color for a classy car.

-----------------------------
Joshua Mitchell
'91 Dodge Spirit R/T
'98 Buick Regal GS

[Mike M]

Dez, I'm really bad at remembering stuff... but it is Omni brand primer (not sure on specifics), also a sealer was used but I'm not positive what brand... I really need to write this stuff down. I'm sure at some point I'll get it right.

I also never got any completed pictures of the wicked fridge because it got taken away before I got to see it - awwwwww.

ANYWAYS - WE HAVE PAINT!

I checked it out and honestly walked around the car 15 times and could NOT keep that evil grin off my face... I sure am excited about it. And its not even close to being done yet!

The doors/hood/fenders/front bumper/rear bumper/gfx/hatch still need paint... he is just finishing up final prep... I hope the big pieces are on the car by the end of the week. Paint will still need polishing to make it perfect and get out some small blemishes. I'm excited... not much to caption on the pictures just showing some good detail.

Full shot:


Dooors:


It's gonna be deadly to open the doors and have beautiful door jams... especially for a 4-door:


No rust shall creep up here:


What a great rear :


Underhood is puuurrrdy:


Daves custom strut bars, made for both our cars:


Smooooth roof:


And this will be my new background until more progress is made:



Adios, enjoy!

[Dez]

Man, that is looking SEXY!!!!

i wish i had a shop, now that would be bad anus. Oh, it's ok on the primer part, thanks anyways :]

[blk86trbo]

Awesome...like a brand new car! Congrats!

[Mike M]

Thanks guys, there is a lot more done - ALL the white is done, final paint on all the black trim will be done tommorow... then is misc stuff. New windshield needs to be installed, reinstall old hatch glass, tinting all the back windows, then me and Dave will hopefully be able to do the headliner ourselves at his shop (sunroof H bodies are retarded). THEN I will bring it home and begin reassembly... but well, then I am going to bring ALL my interior plastic trim to Dave and we will respray them all too... it will be new inside and out and all over.

I'm not updating any pictures for a little bit longer, waiting for some final touches and I'll be able to post pictures of the completed bodywork, paint and trim.

The Rampage project is moving along slowly but surely. The drivetrain is almost ready to be dropped in (there have been some delays, and have been quite busy). I will hopefully have pics of the motor installed with my completed paint pictures.

Until next time... you'll just have to wait

[2.216VTurbo]

THat work is almost too nice! Amazing job Realistically what would that shop charge for an equvalent paint job? $5K $7K ?

[Mike M]

Probably... a ballpark figure that was thrown around would be that I'm getting a "6k body/paint job"... that was before both of us realized there was more to be done that originally anticipated. Not tons, but enough... Dave also resprayed the front k-frame/rear axle and entire underbody to freshen it up as well (hasn't been pictured). Being that I'm helping alot getting his Rampage turbo swapped and Dave is a good friend, I sure am not paying quite 6k to get this done... still a good chunk though, it surprised me enough when Dave let me know how much just supplies and paint would cost for a job like this. I'm happy though, its turning out GREAT!

[overlordsshadow]

Thats some deadly work all around. Reminds me of restoring the shadow.

[minigts]

Probably... a ballpark figure that was thrown around would be that I'm getting a "6k body/paint job"... that was before both of us realized there was more to be done that originally anticipated. Not tons, but enough... Dave also resprayed the front k-frame/rear axle and entire underbody to freshen it up as well (hasn't been pictured). Being that I'm helping alot getting his Rampage turbo swapped and Dave is a good friend, I sure am not paying quite 6k to get this done... still a good chunk though, it surprised me enough when Dave let me know how much just supplies and paint would cost for a job like this. I'm happy though, its turning out GREAT!

Man, the way you're painting that car is EXACTLY how I would like to paint mine. You're doing it right by getting it down to the frame. Kevin Isenberg went so far as to pull the doors off the car! That is dedication! But regardless, looks awesome and looking forward to the finished product.

[Turbodave]

That's looking great and I hear you on the supplies getting expensive. The repaint of my Shadow was done similarly and ran about $1700 just in materials. It's nice to see these car getting restored.

[overlordsshadow]

What colour is that car? Looking exactly like when I painted my shadow now. It looks very similar but that is not Cadialac white gold is it?

[GLHS592]

That's looking great and I hear you on the supplies getting expensive. The repaint of my Shadow was done similarly and ran about $1700 just in materials.

3-4 years ago, it cost me around $1700 to do my car. Of course, that was a two tone job which requires more paint and more masking material.

Some knucklehead on TD.com made an --- out of himself telling me how stupid I was. I didn't know what I was talking about. He painted his car for $600. I could tell from the pictures he put up that it was bush league at best. Heck, the basecoat silver cost me nearly $500/gallon and I bought two.

[Mike M]

It's single stage (whine at me all you want if you are a base/clear person, but it looks AWESOME) Oxford white... we didn't have a color code but we used the only bright white used by Chrysler in 88 - and let me tell ya, it is EXACTLY what I wanted... one of my buddies just keeps whining because its so bright.

[minigts]

Man, the coolest paint job I saw was an enamel flat black early 70's Challenger (or was it a Cuda?) at Mopar Nat's last year. I LOVED that paint job and you can really only do it with single stage paint.

[Turbodave]

Nothing wrong with single stage, I like base/clear because it's easy to fix mistakes like runs and dirt in it later (I'm an amatuer) and it goes on pretty easily. Some of the new single stage paints are pretty amazing however and probably just as easy to work with, but since I'm learning I stick with what I know til I get it perfected.

[Dez]

Single stage, really? Sweet job man.

[GLHS592]

The black on my car is single stage and the silver is basecoat/clearcoat. I don't like any paint system better than any other. Anyway, your car is looking great!

[rare_ram]

Me next?

[Mike M]

Me next?

Absolutely, but there is almost a 2 year wait to even get into Daves shop


Anyway, I was going to wait a bit longer to post up some more snaps but I just have to post more... I already needed to grab some progress pics so I figured I'd post em up as well!! It's looking alot like a car now, only a handful of misc stuff to get done now!!

A view walking into the shop:


So pretty, the lower nose grills are not originally a Shelby item but I liked them so much (they match the upper grill very well (not installed):


Beautiful side profile... paint is all polished (it could be done to perfection with quite a bit more work, but this is not a show car):


Misc stuff being painted. The grill and headlight bezels are just base coated white... the edges will remain white but the centers will be done in black:


And lets not forget the amazing wheels this vehicle will be sporting... I imagine they will be installed shortly (15x8 one-off custom wheels, as seen in previous threads fyi):


And there is one more cool thing I wanted to add. I was in the market for a new year round vehicle (mainly winter) and was looking for something different (I've been driving nothing but TDs for 5+ years). I decided it would be neat to get a Jeep, I decided I want a regular Cherokee (required options being 4x4, 4.0L, manual trans). So I got browsing stumbled across the odd white Jeep. Then I thought to myself... wouldn't it be absolutely awesome to get a white, four door Jeep to match my Lancer? Well, the search continued to find a white four door jeep with my required options... low and behold, I found one in the next province over. I got ahold of the fellow and flew out (cheap flights courtesy family that works at the airport) and bought it 2 days later. Let me tell ya, this is one hell of a match for the Lancer. 1990 base model, 219,000 kms, white, four door, 4.0L, 4x4, 5 speed, grey interior to boot. Very clean inside and out, minor body dings but very very little rust. And as an added bonus I painted the steel wheels flat black and left the beauty rings intact - so even the wheels match my Lancers! I think its rediculously awesome that I have matching vehicles (I do get very odd looks when I tell some people about it that don't understand). I've had it for almost a month now, it has a couple issues to take care of but I love it! Anyway, here is a pic: