BMW e46 330cI by Notloudenuf

N

Notloudenuf

Active member
It's been a while (7 years to be exact) but I have a car that will basically be dedicated to a stereo install. Not much happening yet but follow along because I'll be adding to this slowly.
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It needs a lot of work; but that's ok. I wanted something to tinker with.
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It came with the Harmon system. This is what that looks like
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Nice. I was entertaining doing a dedicated build when I bought my Neon. And I probably will, but I want to dedicate the Mazda to SQ and keep the miles off of it.
What are you plans? Gutting the dash, like Mic?
 
JayinMI said:
Nice. I was entertaining doing a dedicated build when I bought my Neon. And I probably will, but I want to dedicate the Mazda to SQ and keep the miles off of it.
What are you plans? Gutting the dash, like Mic?
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Nothing too crazy for now. Just a nice 2way in stock locations until I think I need to upgrade. Maybe 1 or 2 IB 15s in the trunk and a decently fancy trunk build out.
 
Continue to work on the project.
I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to refinish the headlights.
As I received the car.
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A few passes with PlastX maybe
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Here is as good as I have been able to get them.
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I'll continue to work on these. I really want them looking clear without having to buy new covers.

I bought a Harbor Freight paintless dent puller kit and it worked ok.
One of several dents before
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After
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It looks better. The glue does not stick all that well. If you buy one on your own be aware of this fact.
 
The big project this weekend was paint correction. And what a job that is
The hood was by far the worst. The part on the right is what the hood looked like when I got the car.
The portion on the left is after a pass by hand with Meguiar's Ultimate compound.
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Here it is getting set up
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Not much in the way of progress but here is the end of the day yesterday after compounding, polish, then hand wax.
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Still working toward the stereo install so you'll have to be patient with me. The factory HK.
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My Diamonds are an exact fit replacement diameter and depth
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In addition I replaced the broken side mirror glass and installed my new kidney grills.
 
Great work so far Kendal! I really like what you did to the paint surface, and I’m looking forward to the next steps with the audio. The Milan was always one of my favorite cars at my meets!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Y'all remember this picture?
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I decided to dye the rear deck back to black instead of the purple it has faded to over the years.
I used this spray fabric dye from duplicolor https://www.duplicolor.com/product/vinyl-and-fabric-coating/
It worked very well. Its not like paint as in it doesn't coat the fabric and weigh it down. After each light coat I used a paint brush to fluff the fabric up.
Getting started
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You can see it changing each time
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And finished
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And just so everyone knows it took the whole can of spray dye to get it to this.
 
I've been goin through headlight hell, as well. I'm doing a retrofit on the Neon. I started with some aftermarket Depo clear lens headlights.
They had turned yellow, and hazy. I found a video on YouTube from ChrisFix where he wet sands some PT Cruiser headlights out with 3 different grits of paper (ending with 2000)then paints them with clear Rustoleum 2X paint (which says it has some UV protection in it.) I won't say they looked amazing, but they looked pretty good, and tons better than when he started.

Wet sanding them out has been fine, but 3 times now, the paint has reacted badly. The last time, I even tried adhesion promoter. Nope. I think there might be something wrong with the paint because I could make one pass and then had to shake it up again. (And, yes, I shook it up to start)

So, finally I ordered some Spraymax 2k Glamour Clear. I've used it before on plastic, and had no issues. It's about $22 a can, so it isn't cheap. (And I had to buy a 2 pack...but I have other uses) I'm going to wetsand it one more time, and try it with the new clear.
This stuff dries hard enough I could wet sand it out after it's done (probably 3000 grit or something) and then I'll use my 3" air polisher to make it perfect.

If it reacts AGAIN, (after I recover from losing my shit) I'm going to assume it's the plastic and figure something else out. If it goes well, I'll let you know.
Nice work on the paint correction, it's looking a lot better.

Jay
 
Notloudenuf said:
The big project this weekend was paint correction. And what a job that is
The hood was by far the worst. The part on the right is what the hood looked like when I got the car.
The portion on the left is after a pass by hand with Meguiar's Ultimate compound.
cBHO0C5.jpg

Here it is getting set up
AZvsaxi.jpg

Not much in the way of progress but here is the end of the day yesterday after compounding, polish, then hand wax.
YcOaBLm.jpg

QHrrv8X.jpg


Still working toward the stereo install so you'll have to be patient with me. The factory HK.
Pj0FzeJ.jpg

My Diamonds are an exact fit replacement diameter and depth
7YkMZIw.jpg

u0Za1Fl.jpg


In addition I replaced the broken side mirror glass and installed my new kidney grills.
Click to expand...
They sell d/a polishers at Harbor Freight for $9.99 (6"). Save a little labor (and a lot of time) for a 10 dollar bill, even if it dies after one use.
 
So I bought one of these...

https://www.maxshinecarcare.com/product/maxshine-m15-dual-action-polisher-5-inch/

I didn't want to drop the coin on a rupes, but I take my car and paint care seriously, I have a fairly meticulous wash regime.

Even my old beaters get taken care of and I always seem to have a project car that need some paint correction (old bmw habit) so I wanted something quality that wasn't so loud and violent.
I've used a the Porter Cable polisher but after an hour my arms are numb and I have the wear ear protection. This thing is quiet and smooth, comes with a lifetime warranty and they have 15mm and 21mm throw versions. For the price it is hard to beat.
 
That harbor freight item might be dangerous... not a random orbit type.
(Some professionals don't have a problem with this type though.)
 
diy.phil said:
That harbor freight item might be dangerous... not a random orbit type.
(Some professionals don't have a problem with this type though.)
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I did fine with it. You just have to keep it moving. You are right they typically don't recommend them for beginners.
 
E46 series BMW are one of my favorites, looked at picking up a ZHP for a while, I'd still love an E46 M3. Great work so far, looking forward to the updates.
 
Haven't been on this site much lately, so I'm late to this party. Nice work you've done so far, keep it up Kendal!
 
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