Perdana, Painting Part 3

The puttyworks and surface preparation for it's original colour to go on took about four or five days. The did the undercoat once, and started sanding and applying putty again to seal off most or all imperfections on the car; which is a good thing as most shops only putty the surface once and then go "I dont give a fuck attitude".



I have opted to go for the very same paint as the Charade. Mazda 3 OEM color, 34k pearl white. This white looks real solid under the sun, but when the sun rises or sets, you'd see silver glittering dust on the surface. Not ah beng blue, purple, or whatever greenish color. My car, my taste. I like lah. I have also requested for the very best and hardest clear coat PPG, (yes PPG) has in store. The painter told me he can do the first polishing after the car was finished, but will end up with little to none swirl marks. He also mentioned that he didn't have the confidence to do a second round of polishing a month after the paint cures. He also said that, the second round is rather necessary due to the hardness of the paint, and advised me to go look for an auto detailer to finish the job, which, I will do so when the time is right.




This post, below will be pictures of the car being done up and already painted. Not polished yet.

 Notice the flatness on the surface of the doors after painting? Orange peel effect is still visible as the car is not yet sanded and polished, all the more waxed.

 I have also opted for a black roof, similar, identical to my Charade. Crap, should've removed all the items off the roof before snapping this shot.

 The boot area, again, flat nice finish.











 Rear. No more dent.

  Polished. Unwashed.







 Yeah, I forgot this picture, The engine bay was painted as well!

 Just a teaser, blue dust. Mixed with my black paint for the roof :).

















To be continued

Perdana, Painting Part 2

Hey peeps, the car was sent in just after the Raya holidays. As soon as the car got in, the Myanmar workers under the authority of Boon Fun Auto started working on the car by stripping off all parts that's not supposed to be painted with caution. I did remind them on the minor clips and everything, being a perfectionist.

 You have Whiplash, working on the car. The entire car was already sanded down and it's already partially partched up with putty.

 Notice the rear area, carpet in the boot was also removed to paint the lower area to prevent future and further rust. The dent caused by the motorcyclist is no longer there. Welded, pulled, knocked back, and patched up.

 The guys also planned to paint the insude part of the boot lid. Now you get to see all soundproofing materials exposed.Damn!

 Sand, sand and sand. The surface preparation is very important to achieve a straight flat finish. The whole car, inclusive of the inside area was also sanded down to allow the paint to stick properly onto the surface.

 In this picture, the car went into the spray booth for it;'s first layer of undercoat to cover up all putty marks. You don't want the color of the putty to come up through the finished surface when it dries.





Undercoat done.

Here's just another picture of the car done with undercoat.

The car with all it's former dents all patched up. Very important for the painter to look and feel again.

 You can see Whiplash here masking off all black area for the car to be driven into the spray booth again for the base coat painting. I will not be explaining the process of having a proper base coat here, sorry. And I do not ahve pictures of the car done with base coat, either. Was too busy to drop by due to my hectic work schedule.

 To be continued.

Perdana, Painting Part 1

The Perdana is 17, close to 18 years old and I've been thinking, it's been close to ten years since it was given a new coat of paint. Given two choices, either Mazda 3's OEM Pearl white, or McLaren's MP4-12C Volcano Red, I've chosen the former just to be safe. No doubt the McLaren has a deep dark nice red but I don't want too much attention on the car. The Perdana's a hot car anyways.

 This picture was taken before the painting. Notice the stone chips on the frontal area of the car and how faded the white has become.

 The rear of the car. Previous owner had a motorcycle rammed into him at a traffic light back in Kuantan a couple of years ago, hence, the mark just above the number plate.

 Dings and dents all over the car, visible by the naked eye. Front fender, doors, small dents everywhere!

Dents, dents, chips. Faded color. There were also some rust spots around that needed urgent attention.















As you can see the above the car has aged cosmetically over time. More to come.

Reminder : Weak Cranking, Hard Starting

Hi Guys,

Some of you may or may not realise, but this post is a gentle reminder to keep an eye on how is your car starting. Something out of the norm :

Weak Cranking - an indication that your battery is either dry(for wet batteries), battery getting weaker not being able to keep charge, your starter is getting weak, bad grounds.

Easy to crank, hard to start - Dirty injectors, dirty throttle body, weak fuel pump.


Not many of us will not realise the above unless we pay additional attention to it. Some of us won't realise the above too until shits happen. You don't want to start your morning with a flat battery!




Cheers

Elton

Heat Management, Part 7

Hi guys, this is another chapter of heat management. I've been observing around workshops and some race cars on how they have been managing their heat. Please scroll down to view some juicy pictures and explanations of how heat is managed on these cars :

 This picture on your right is a Honda Prelude with a H22A Vtec Engine, bolt-on-turbo. Pay attention to how the turbine housing is covered with a turbo blanket and the hoses wrapped with heat shroud/sheath so that the heat of the turbo doesn't melt the hose down.

Mind you, the steel braided hoses for the turbo oil feed is also heat-resistant.

 This picture on your left, shows that the downpipe after the turbo being wrapped with DEI Titanium Exhaust Wrap for that sexy looking finish and insulation. Again, note the silverish looking pipe beside the downpipe. Tidy much.

 This picture is taken at Autobacs anniversary in Meru, Klang. I didn't have a good look at the car but the top is wrapped with DEI Reflect-A-Gold heat reflective tape. It's probably an airbox for the air intake system.

This picture is taken from a Satria Mivec, wrapped intake manifold also with DEI Reflect-A-Gold heat reflective tape. The owner wants to reduce his Intake Air Temperature(IAT) to reduce knocking/pre ignition. This car goes for Saturday Night Fever races in Sepang from time to time.













A friend of mine drove his Waja up Ulu Yam and it caught fire. The cause? The heat of the exhaust maifold(as he has a top-mounted turbo) melted the top air-con gas hose. Compressor oil was all over the engine and ignited the moment it touched the exhaust manifold. Thank God for fire extinguishers and an extra help from friends and cops from the nearby police station. A bloke even did a Tripe-H entrance by drinking F&N orange and spew it onto the engine bay while it was on fite.

 The engine bay caught fire the moment he switched his air conditioning on. Gas pressure built up in the hose and it ruptured almost immediately.

 The ruptured hose, it was only like a couple of inches away from the turbo.

 In the process of putting out the flame.

 The car owner inspecting, thinking what's gone wrong. Initially they thought it was coolant as it was greenish around the engine bay. Found out that the next day it was the compressor oil igniting.

 Flame out - the end.













Photo credits to it's respective owners/

Cheers

Elton

Headlamp Cleaning

 Hi Guys,

Remember I once posted about headlamps and bulbs? Well, when the Perdana was sent in for painting, I got hold of my sister's Kelisa and drove it for a week. Man, that car does not drink fuel, AT ALL!

One thing I noticed was that her headlamps were all dull and yellow due to dirt, rain, and oxidization all combined, and baked under the sun over a long period of time. Yeah, the car's been parked under the sun every, single, day when she's at work. As I once mentioned previously, platic headlamps tend to turn yellow over time compared to clear and tempered glass.

It looks ugly, fugly to be exact. This affects vision at night. Imagine shining a torchlight through a frosted glass. You get unwanted glare and reduced amount of light. Displeasure to the eyes if you ask me.

I met up with Dennis of Denskiro Automotive Works to get the headlamps cleaned and polished on a free Sunday evening. 

 Here, you can see Dennis masking off the bumper area before the cleaning job was commenced. 

In this picture, Dennis wets the headlamp with water, or soapwater, or whatever h2o content he has in that spraybottle before sanding it down.











Sanding, sanding, and wet sanding till all the dirt and grime comes off. Dennis then finishes his job by polishing off the headlamps with proper compound and the right amount of pressure. This step, is very crucial as you can risk scratching the plastic deeply or "burning" it.






Andddddd............. *drumrollls......... VIOLA! The finished product! Lookin' as good as new, restored vision at night and also elimination of unwanted glare at night :). The outcome is satisfying as it actually saves me from changing to a new pair of headlamps. The sister said "NO MORE CATARACT!!"

Comparison :





     :::::::Before and after ::::::::::





On top of the above job being done, Dennis also does other things like :

- Fender Knocking
- "Hella Flush" consultation / preparation / works / fitment
- Wiring for manly accessories (please ask for wire tucking, etc)
- Car vinyl wrapping (assorted colors, CF)


The process of cleaning the headlamps is estimated around an hour or so. Kindly contact Dennis for pricing and appointments :


 Denskiro Automotive Works
 Dennis Tan
 016-377 0384
 Facebook Link : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Denskiro-Automotive-Works/276281869057336
 Email : Denskiro@gmail.com
 Location : Subang Jaya


Cheers,

Elton

Wiper Replacement

"It's raining, it's pouring."



                                      Remember to change your wipers if they're worn guys. People often forget to replace them until one day when they need it, or when it starts pouring :)