*UPDATED* GOOD BYE SE Hello Frankenstein! Build Thread *PICS*

Hey scotty,

When u wet sanded your bumper after clearcoat did u make sure all that orangepeel crap on the clear was gone or did u just get it till it was smooth n then polish it up afterwards?

as you wet sand it, you'll see the orange peel getting cut down, i didnt have any really tho. was pretty smooth, it was more of removing imperfections, like dust and crap that might have landed on it.

Ok good because I didn't have much on the bumper I just wanna make sure I dont over do it so I started off with 1000 grit and then finished off with 2k. Addin a lil dawn to the water ended up making a huge difference. I also tested out my new buffer last night and I think I might need a new buffer cloth for it, but I've got several different polishing/wax compounds I can use for the final step. I'm hoping to get the basecoat on the fender today because I would like to try and install all this stuff on Friday.

so last night i was able to lay down the basecoat on the fender and i added another one this morning. ive got a spot that i have to touch up from having somekind of long legged bug landing on my **** mid spray so imma have to fix that.... damn bugs.... now its just a couple of touch ups and then off to sprying the clear tommorow night finally!!!! no photos since ive already put one up of it before it got messed up.....

I also finished the dash today with a lil wet sand

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1478468289392

loving the black wayy better with the white vents, its way more subtle with a cleaner look. ill throw some polish up on it in a bit.

here it is installed on my car...


http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1478468289392

and this shot...


http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1478468289392

so now no more in your face white dash with stickers on it lmao

now its off to getting that spot on the fender fixed and finishing it up with the clear...

ill update when im all finished and ready for install on friday yayyyyyyyyyy:D

I don't like the white vents. I'd paint them grey to match the rest of the dash. The black looks good though.

I loved painting the interior pieces but I don't like the sticky look. I also don't like how some rattle can clear coats fog up or haze up after laying it

luckily the regal has a nice matte black bezel , like a rubberized coating. If not , you bet it would be painted

I'm a fan of rustoleum paint. Lays nice , doesn't need clear and looks solid.

I like the way it came out. Enjoy the smell for the next 30 days tho lmao

actually the exact match paint i used doesnt smell at all after it dries. ive been bringing this stuff into my house to dry everytime i paint something and basicly about after an hr or so the smell is gone. i havnt had to worry about this clear hazing up at all, if anything it dries extremely crystal clear. the only problem with paint that i had out of all the stuff i painted( which if u go through my thread is a hell of alot of painting as of lately), is when i used the metallic black. for some odd reason or another that paint wanted to haze up in certain spots. so in order for me to get most of the black to look right , it took a hell of alot of wet sanding for some reason. i mean now it damn near looks perfect, you cant even tell i rattlecanned all the body parts. hopefully i can get the fender done in the next couple of days so i can have it ready for fridays install. i just wanna be done and over with the body work so i can move onto something else as this has taken up alot of my time and i still have a few suspension issues that i need to work out as well as finishing porting my heads and blower......

i did have a question to everyone tho and i know this has been a topic of convo between alot of other people and it has to do with these 500$ turbo kits.... has anyone tried to use them here and had any success with them. i know that the turbos fall apart and the welds in the flanged parts & piping parts are crap but is their anyways to fix that? i have a welder so im able to reweld anyparts that dont look good, also is their a way to rebuilt these ebay turbos to make them safe? when i say rebuild i mean reshaft, balance and new turbine added. just curious if anyone has had any success with these kits seein as how im able to fab out anything that i need to to make it work........ the GP is getting boosted either way but im not looking to spend a ton of money doing so........

Fast, cheap, reliable, you can only choose two.

Even if the $500 turbo kit works its only half the battle. You still need supporting mods, and then you are going to need about a $3000 transmission build.

Yea I think ill just stick with my M90 build lmao

Parts are are going on tommorow finally!!!! I'll post updates as I get new body pieces installed

So yest holy **** talk about a bad day!!.....

Was only able to get the bumper and fender on. I had major problems getting the old bumper off and broke a ton of **** not to mention the wheel wells are very different from the 2 bumpers so imma have to get those. Also the guide on the drivers side was broke thatlones the fender with the bumper not to mention that side got hit ( was like that when I bought the car so i still got a ton of tweaking to do just to get it right. I'll post photos of where I'm at now but it litterally took me till dark just to get I on and holding together......now I just gotta tweak the crap out of it

Keep up the good fight man!! Looks like one serious operation you had going there with all the painting and drying. I'm working on exactly the opposite stuff, the inside. But, I know how this is probably going for ya... if it's not one problem, it's another. Good luck! Looking forward to seeing this revamped Grand Prix.

so heres some photos of the front end as i was putting on the fender and bumper. keep in mind that i know that things are not perfectly aligned yet seein as how i need to make another trip to the yard for some misc parts. also know that the bumper is not exact match, but the fender after i resprayed it IS a perfect match. right now im just working on getting the front end aligned all together and trying to get the skirts and door panels on before the snow comes. ill end up respraying the bumper and door panels in the spring.....

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1479210326031



new fender on as well as i cleaned up the small rust spots on the front of the frame

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1479210405067


some views i took at the gas station since it was soo dark when i finally got the bumper actually on


http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1479210511505


hers where i need to fix the alignment but before i do that i need to get the front section wheel well as well as the bottom valance to tie in the bottom of the bumper right with the fender. i also need to fix the headlight bracket so the side marker sits right to the body.......still got alot of work to do but slowly but surely shes commin together lol

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...&1479210511505

she looks damn good.

Lookin Good!
Are you replacing the back bumper as well? And running a dual exhaust?

I'll run duels in the spring but imma keep the SE rear bump so u can see the exhaust more. The idea is take it off, respray it, but on the bottom trim line paint it black so it ties in with the black skirts. I was hopin to have all this **** on but the front bumper I giving me a huge fight with alignment probe so I gotta deal with all That first

So due to my work scedule I havnt been able to finish or work on much else with the car and with my o2 gone bad I have to wait patiently for my new one to come in. I've been to several scrap yards looking for the parts I need on the front bumper with no such luck....stripping cars in the winter sure does blow!!!! Also I have been stripping engines looking for a decent set of L67 heads with no such luck with that either....between me and my buddy, we have stripped down the top end of over 30 L67 cars and on every single one of them, the heads are in such bad shape they make better paper weights and are completely unworthy of a home resto/port job....i almost feel like giving up and just going the ssm90 route seein as how all I would need for that is the nodded lim but I need to find her cheappppp!!!! Financial struggle I hard but I refuse to not boost this car, ****s gonna go down for sure!!

Hopefully ill have some progress photos after I replace the o2 and I just knocked out the front wheel bearings last week. God I can't wait til I finally finish this car!!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142200186752

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142200187573

https://www.ebay.com/itm/222161848035

There's more, they aren't cheap to ship though. Also through a post in the want ad for them too. Your most likely going to need new valve guides on any set of heads you find since they are most likely high miles.

I'm just iffy about buyin a set of heads online especially used....if I went to the yard strippin as many motors and all end up bein crap, then I just feel super sketchy buyin them online....seems alot like bad heads can be a make or break your motor into a million pieces type situation... I know alot of you guys have been on this site and got tons of people who will speak for ya Its just a scary thing buyin used stuff like that when u cant see it before ya buy it....