My 1987 Two Door Crown Victoria AKA THE BROWN BLOB

[87gtVIC]

The radiator was smaller?

Yeah the three core I picked up needed about 3" brackets. I'll confirm at a later date..probably in the same post I make about painting them.

In other news.........


Today I changed my fenders out and boy what a job that was.

First off here is one reason I had to change fenders:



Can you say RUST!?!?!?! I’ll grab some other pics tomorrow and include the p.side fender as well.

Most of that stuff was not even around back in 2010 when it was sprayed.

Anyways inorder to remove the fenders the hood and header panel has to be removed so I did that next:





My poor baby look like it hit the chop shop…

SO next was removing the passengers side fender:



And then popping the new one on:



And then removing the drivers side fender:



And lastly total reassembly:





Plans are to cut and buff it tomorrow then put the last of the trim back…..and then drive in confidence.

[rellik god]

what you gonna do with the old fenders

[87gtVIC]

Gonna toss em. You want them to work on?

Come on over I am home all week VACATION!.

[gadget73]

I'd have more confidence if the wheels were on it. I suspect it will handle poorly as pictured


How close did the paint come out? Looks pretty good from the pics but pictures can hide much.

[rellik god]

ok ill let you know when

[87gtVIC]

I'd have more confidence if the wheels were on it. I suspect it will handle poorly as pictured


How close did the paint come out? Looks pretty good from the pics but pictures can hide much.

Paint aint bad. A bit darker then the rest of the car as I have suspected but I am hoping it will lighten up some after I wetsand the clear and make her reflect like a mirror. Either way I am very happy with the results. I honestly will not complain. I knew going in that odds are it would not match great but I was pleasantly surprised at how close everything is.

ok ill let you know when

I'll pm you my address and number.

[87gtVIC]

The job is done!

Yesterday morning I wetsanded out all of the nasty orange peel.

Have a look at it on the passengers side fender:




Here is the driver side:



I then went to town on her with 1000 to break open the clear, and proceeded with 1500, 2000 then 3000 grit sand paper…all wet. That left me with this uniform mess:



The drivers side looked the same, no pic of it.

Then the heat came out and it was no condition for buffing so I went back later in the evening like around 6pm and attempted to bring out that shine I was looking for.

I was using a 6in orbital polisher. It just didn’t cut the mustard so I had to run out and get some realer tools to get the job done.

I ran out to harbor freight and picked up a 7” buffer with adjustable speeds and snatched two meguiars professional foam pads from pepboys. One was a cutting pad and one was a polishing pad.

Here is a look at my saviors with their respective compounds:



Needless to say they did the job very well:





Now in some light the color looks more off than on. I thought that the buffing process may lighten the color up some but it didn’t. lol Honestly over all I ain’t gonna complain.

Just some general pics to give you an idea of the completed job and the quality of it:





Close ups of the header panel, hood and fender for comparisons sake:







OH and a picture of my fallen soldiers:



Good riddance my rusty friends.

[gadget73]

Completely unacceptable. There must be at least 1/64" difference in gap from the left side to the right side of the car. I expect better of you.


;D

jfwy obviously. Looks good. Can't say I've ever seen such results out of what amounts to a rattle can job, even if it is somewhat better quality than a standard hardware store can.

[packman]

Beautiful!!! May have to show up one evening with the CV, some rattle cans, and a case of beer.


Packman

[87gtVIC]

Completely unacceptable. There must be at least 1/64" difference in gap from the left side to the right side of the car. I expect better of you.


;D

jfwy obviously. Looks good. Can't say I've ever seen such results out of what amounts to a rattle can job, even if it is somewhat better quality than a standard hardware store can.

Its amazing what you can get in aerosol cans these days. It also has a lot to do with technique while spraying. No stopping on the center of the panel, full sweeps from one end to the other. Overlap is key as well as laying on just the right amount of product per pass. A lot of it is just luck....

Beautiful!!! May have to show up one evening with the CV, some rattle cans, and a case of beer.


Packman

If I had the place to do it I would. But I will say this....you can rattle can the entire car it would just suck to do so. I'd invest in a proper paint set up and paint an entire vehicle that way. Panels here and there are okay to do but a real big job requires the real deal tools in my opinion.


At least I am not a scared to ever fix/replace any other panels that need a fixin. This was a big learning experience for me even with all that I already know. Many times through the prepping of the fenders (body work and such) I wanted to walk away from it. It was hard, it was time consuming and it was frustrating. But now I have done it and look back and say it was not so bad and that it will be easier if there is a next time.

[Bobcat]

HOLY SHIT. Didn't think your fenders were that bad.

[IPreferDIY]

... A lot of it is just luck.... ...

You know what they say: "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

Your old ones are probably better than my current ones. "Beater gonna beat."

Do you know if there's anything like a UV exposure treatment to recreate sun fading? Maybe take them to a tanning salon?

[packman]

If I had the place to do it I would. But I will say this....you can rattle can the entire car it would just suck to do so. I'd invest in a proper paint set up and paint an entire vehicle that way. Panels here and there are okay to do but a real big job requires the real deal tools in my opinion.


At least I am not a scared to ever fix/replace any other panels that need a fixin. This was a big learning experience for me even with all that I already know. Many times through the prepping of the fenders (body work and such) I wanted to walk away from it. It was hard, it was time consuming and it was frustrating. But now I have done it and look back and say it was not so bad and that it will be easier if there is a next time.

Yah, I just have to find 2 good fender from a 4-door and I am good to go. May have to raid the hood or sumtin to that effect. When the time comes, somebody is gonna wake up sans 2 fenders one morning. LOL


Packman

[87gtVIC]

Just took her out for a beating and took some pics when I returned.










Planning to go out again tomorrow morning. So fun to drive.

[mitymerc]

You do some awesome work man.