My Yelli Celi Bodywork Project Options

[Coomer]

This thread is going to be updated as I do some bodywork and paint my car. I always love these progression threads myself, so I figured I'd make my own this time.

Please post your comments as I go along. Since this is my project car and has a salvage title due to vandalism, I'm not doing things that I would if this were going to be a super nice paintjob, like having the rear side windows removed (Average quoted price was $200 around here) and using urethane base coat/clear coat paint (Expensive! And two different types of coats means twice the chances of me messing up.) I'm going to use an enamel of some sort, and going to stick with yellow probably.

Anyway, on with the project:

Day One

Day one started with washing the car with lots of harsh dishsoap and drying it, to remove dirt and some wax. Don't mind the amateur graffiti or the ugly front wheels...Les Schwab screwed up my alignment and it ate my nice Yokohomas up front. But do note those sexy sideskirts in the foreground...DCW JDM dealer option replicas, which fit perfectly and are beautiful! Props to Romas for excellent work on those skirts!



I then removed the bumpers, headlights, tail-lights, trunk lid, license plate bezel, and some other things. My front bumper is being replaced with a non-modified '95 bumper, and I'm getting rid of the fog lights. My license plate bezel and trunk lid are being replaced with parts from a '94 coupe as well, since they were both damaged in the horrible vandalism incident last June.



The next step was to start sanding, so I applied grease and wax remover to the hood and front fenders and wetsanded those with 400 grit sandpaper. I called it a day after wetsanding the front end.

[Coomer]

This weekend I'm going to have lots of free time, so I'm considering filling in the license plate panel and putting the plate below the rear bumper, possibly attached to a linear actuator so that it can retract into the bumper for pictures and stuff.

What do you guys think of this idea? I did a rough Photoshop rendering:





And if I choose to go this route, what would be the best way to go about doing something like this? Someone mentioned filling the panel with Great Stuff expanding foam, then shaving it down, then fiberglassing over the foam, and then applying body filler and sanding to finish it off. But I'm not sure if that's the best way to go.