Progress Thread Bessee's Build - 1988 LX Hatchback

95BlueStallion said:

Man that looks good. Where are the rest of the pics?

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Thanks! I'm really happy with how it turned out. They're coming, I'm slow, lol.

So I rolled the fenders, taped her up and it was finally time. When it gets to that point of rolling it in the booth, you start to freak out and try to think of every little place on the car you rubbed. Did I sand it enough? Did I wipe it down enough? Is it really ready!? And then the paint starts flying and you can finally breathe again. I didn't look at the car at all during the whole process, I wanted to see it after it baked. I waited a few hours and then drug my wife back to the shop to look at it. She approved and I was ecstatic. Yeah, my bodywork wasn't perfect and the car is by no means perfect, but I love her.

I pushed myself to see how long it would really take to get a car ready for paint and it took every bit of three months and almost another month of fit and finish including the interior. There were late, late nights after work and whole weekends spent at the shop too. I set tighter deadlines in the beginning, but missed them and stressed myself out. I really wanted to make it to Ponies in the Smokies, but I severely underestimated the speed of my bodywork, hahaha. I missed it by a month! I'm wayyyy too meticulous to do paint and bodywork everyday. Mechanical and wiring are definitely my specialty. I learned a lot about stress and project management and all of that will help me build my coupe.

Ok, I'll shut my mouth and share the pics already...

Davedacarpainter said:

Very nice brother

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Thanks man!

Look how different the color looks in low light. More of a slate blue.

I got the spoiler and rear bumper on first and then messed with the front. I did the original tooling bumpers and they are really nice, but I'm still dealing with a little sag in the middle of the rear bumper and a little bit of a droop on the right front. I might even have to take them off again

I probably should have done this before the car had fresh paint

The first day I drove her home after she spent months at the shop.