First, a little back story if you don't remember. I bought the 2 door 94 Grand Prix SE in October of last year for my soon to be licensed youngest daughter. The car had only 65,xxx miles on it when I picked it up, the body (other than two rust spots in the normal spots on the rear quarters) and interior were in decent shape and the price was below Blue Book. First thing I did when I brought it home was to wash it from top to bottom including the underside.
This came out from underneath:
I hosed out the underside at least three other times trying to remove all the dirt, once with the wheels off and placed up on jack stands. Seems the last owner must have lived on a dirt road. They had it for 14 years! Dirt, gravel and rust was coming out from everywhere.
I also found this previous repair I somehow missed when looking the car over.
Its located right behind the drivers side front wheel. It held up fine all winter and still appears pretty good and solid.
Then during one of the hose downs I discovered the rear impact bar was rotted away to just about nothing:
My local Buick/GMC dealer was able to find a brand new one for $185, I bought it and the wheels started spinning in my head!
POR-15 had a Memorial Day sale with free shipping:
End of June and my daughter was out of school with our family vacation complete. Arrangements were made for she and my wife to share my wifes car for a week or so. Friday June 29th I started. I put the car up on jack stands and removed the wheels. While the wheels were off I did my best to clean them all: front and rear of all four wheels.
Before:
After:
They're going to need more work but they're much better. I used Adam's Wheel Woolies to clean them, the small and medium sizes fit pretty nicely within the Crosslace centers and lug holes. Before another set of tires go on these wheels I'll probably sand/polish the lips and use sticky weights instead of the nasty hammer on type. I also took the right rear out to have a slow leak around the bead repaired. I polished out the area where an old hammered on weight was on the repaired wheel/tire and it came out pretty nice.
Next, in order to remove the rear bumper to get to the Impact bar it appeared easiest if I removed the exhaust tips. So while at it I took care of them, again. Sanded the lips starting with 400 grit progressively down to 2000 grit paper and polished them with two different polishes, again my choice were Adam's products: Metal Polish 1 & 2. This time I taped off the polished lips and sprayed the insides and outsides with High Temp Black Satin Stove paint.
Off came the bumper cover and Impact bar, Friday evening/Saturday morning:
Old vs. New
The two rust spots in the rear quarters
Right side outer:
Right Side inner, the circled spot is a hole straight through:
Left Side outer:
Again, the red circle is a hole straight through into the trunk near the filler tube on the Left Side:
There was one other hole I found in the underside of the drivers side rocker panel back near the rear wheel well I took care of. I'll jump ahead here for a moment, the POR-15 is a rust encapsulator, it works best when applied directly on rust. The repair spots were cleaned and etched then had two coats of POR-15 applied. I then filled the voids in the left quarter panel and rocker panel with foam insulation, and top coated the foam once dry with another two coats of POR. Lastly I leveled all three holes with JB Weld and another two coats of POR.
Saturday I again cleaned the entire underside of the car. This time with the POR-15 Marine Clean, alkaline cleaner using brushes to scrub. This stuff is strong, I mixed it 5 parts water to 1 part cleaner.
This came from the back 1/3 of the car:
Sunday I used the acidic POR-15 Prep & Ready to etch the metal in preparation for the paint. The instructions said something about protective clothing, it was hellish hot out so I'd just spray myself with the hose when my skin would start to itch too badly, LOL!
I did wear an old pair of glasses (now ruined) and a pair of shorts that were to go in the trash when the job was done as well as latex gloves.
Last thing Sunday evening, I brought out the Air Force Master Blaster I picked up from Adam's last winter to make sure everything was as dry and free of rust flakes as I could. I also hit a few areas with a wire brush and a putty knife to knock off some more rust.
I used brushes to apply the POR-15 not a sprayer. Monday, and Thursday evenings I painted. All day Wednesday the fourth both Michelle (my daughter) and I painted. Friday I took the afternoon off work and a buddy, Reichler, came over to help me for about 3 1/2 hours. Saturday morning I finished up the painting. There will probably be some future mechanical issues, like needing new bleeder nipples next time the brakes need bleed. The drivers side of the car was by far the worst. I've got to figure that not only was the car never garaged in its 18 years, but that it had to have sat on a dirt or gravel driveway for extended periods of time.
Check out these before and afters:
Repaired spot inside trunk
Right Side:
No more hole!
Left Side:
No more hole!
Repaired spot behind the left front wheel:
Now with POR-15 and their Rubberized Undercoating:
After loading the above (and many other) "After" pictures Sunday morning I went back and touched up areas the flash on the camera showed I'd missed or had too thin a coat on.
This was me after day one of painting, by Friday evening I think there was more black on me than white:
The instructions stated there is no harm in getting the paint on your skin, but there is no way to remove it. It only comes off with the sluffing off of dead skin cells and from natural oils in your skin. Well, by the end I was so covered in paint I actually figured two ways to get it off: use of a pumice stone and a razor blade. Needless to say I'm now brush burned from the stone and have a hairless upper body!
Sunday I got the car all together again and back on the road!
Well of course after a nice two bucket wash and treatment of SVRT...
Question
BRZN
First, a little back story if you don't remember. I bought the 2 door 94 Grand Prix SE in October of last year for my soon to be licensed youngest daughter. The car had only 65,xxx miles on it when I picked it up, the body (other than two rust spots in the normal spots on the rear quarters) and interior were in decent shape and the price was below Blue Book. First thing I did when I brought it home was to wash it from top to bottom including the underside.
This came out from underneath:
I hosed out the underside at least three other times trying to remove all the dirt, once with the wheels off and placed up on jack stands. Seems the last owner must have lived on a dirt road. They had it for 14 years! Dirt, gravel and rust was coming out from everywhere.
I also found this previous repair I somehow missed when looking the car over.
Its located right behind the drivers side front wheel. It held up fine all winter and still appears pretty good and solid.
Then during one of the hose downs I discovered the rear impact bar was rotted away to just about nothing:
My local Buick/GMC dealer was able to find a brand new one for $185, I bought it and the wheels started spinning in my head!
POR-15 had a Memorial Day sale with free shipping:
End of June and my daughter was out of school with our family vacation complete. Arrangements were made for she and my wife to share my wifes car for a week or so. Friday June 29th I started. I put the car up on jack stands and removed the wheels. While the wheels were off I did my best to clean them all: front and rear of all four wheels.
Before:
After:
They're going to need more work but they're much better. I used Adam's Wheel Woolies to clean them, the small and medium sizes fit pretty nicely within the Crosslace centers and lug holes. Before another set of tires go on these wheels I'll probably sand/polish the lips and use sticky weights instead of the nasty hammer on type. I also took the right rear out to have a slow leak around the bead repaired. I polished out the area where an old hammered on weight was on the repaired wheel/tire and it came out pretty nice.
Next, in order to remove the rear bumper to get to the Impact bar it appeared easiest if I removed the exhaust tips. So while at it I took care of them, again. Sanded the lips starting with 400 grit progressively down to 2000 grit paper and polished them with two different polishes, again my choice were Adam's products: Metal Polish 1 & 2. This time I taped off the polished lips and sprayed the insides and outsides with High Temp Black Satin Stove paint.
Off came the bumper cover and Impact bar, Friday evening/Saturday morning:
Old vs. New
The two rust spots in the rear quarters
Right side outer:
Right Side inner, the circled spot is a hole straight through:
Left Side outer:
Again, the red circle is a hole straight through into the trunk near the filler tube on the Left Side:
There was one other hole I found in the underside of the drivers side rocker panel back near the rear wheel well I took care of. I'll jump ahead here for a moment, the POR-15 is a rust encapsulator, it works best when applied directly on rust. The repair spots were cleaned and etched then had two coats of POR-15 applied. I then filled the voids in the left quarter panel and rocker panel with foam insulation, and top coated the foam once dry with another two coats of POR. Lastly I leveled all three holes with JB Weld and another two coats of POR.
Saturday I again cleaned the entire underside of the car. This time with the POR-15 Marine Clean, alkaline cleaner using brushes to scrub. This stuff is strong, I mixed it 5 parts water to 1 part cleaner.
This came from the back 1/3 of the car:
Sunday I used the acidic POR-15 Prep & Ready to etch the metal in preparation for the paint. The instructions said something about protective clothing, it was hellish hot out so I'd just spray myself with the hose when my skin would start to itch too badly, LOL!
I did wear an old pair of glasses (now ruined) and a pair of shorts that were to go in the trash when the job was done as well as latex gloves.
Last thing Sunday evening, I brought out the Air Force Master Blaster I picked up from Adam's last winter to make sure everything was as dry and free of rust flakes as I could. I also hit a few areas with a wire brush and a putty knife to knock off some more rust.
I used brushes to apply the POR-15 not a sprayer. Monday, and Thursday evenings I painted. All day Wednesday the fourth both Michelle (my daughter) and I painted. Friday I took the afternoon off work and a buddy, Reichler, came over to help me for about 3 1/2 hours. Saturday morning I finished up the painting. There will probably be some future mechanical issues, like needing new bleeder nipples next time the brakes need bleed. The drivers side of the car was by far the worst. I've got to figure that not only was the car never garaged in its 18 years, but that it had to have sat on a dirt or gravel driveway for extended periods of time.
Check out these before and afters:
Repaired spot inside trunk
Right Side:
No more hole!
Left Side:
No more hole!
Repaired spot behind the left front wheel:
Now with POR-15 and their Rubberized Undercoating:
After loading the above (and many other) "After" pictures Sunday morning I went back and touched up areas the flash on the camera showed I'd missed or had too thin a coat on.
This was me after day one of painting, by Friday evening I think there was more black on me than white:
The instructions stated there is no harm in getting the paint on your skin, but there is no way to remove it. It only comes off with the sluffing off of dead skin cells and from natural oils in your skin. Well, by the end I was so covered in paint I actually figured two ways to get it off: use of a pumice stone and a razor blade. Needless to say I'm now brush burned from the stone and have a hairless upper body!
Sunday I got the car all together again and back on the road!
Well of course after a nice two bucket wash and treatment of SVRT...
Edited by BRZNLink to comment
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