Refreshing a 2007

Took a grinder to the crappy paint on the hood. That took all of a minute, but needed heavy sanding to get out scratches.



Primer.



Painted hood (simulated pic here).

Tore it all apart to remove bumper and headlights.

 

New headlights in, new bumper resting in place (no bolts). I'm calling it a weekend to let the paint dry fully before putting everything back together. Then mask off and spray clear coat next weekend.

 

I had the day off and didn't want to wait, so I laid down clear coat last night. I didn't sand between coats, so it's not as smooth as factory. Still, I've seen Maaco paint jobs that are worse, and I paid less, so I'm happy. It's good enough for the high school parking lot.
Right after spraying:


Close up:


Overall, not terrible. Looks great from 20 feet. Still needs a super-fine sand, polish, and definitely washed, but that will be a few days. Black badge, because high school.


I need to finish wiring the fog lights and the front end will be done. Then it's time for the roof. I've decided to spray gloss black, and add a sharkfin antenna. I'll be going slower there with lots of sanding, so hopefully it comes out smoother.

 

It's a Porter Cable 6 gallon pancake. Yeah, way too small for painting an entire car, but it's fine for the two minutes I'm spraying these parts. And it's paid for, and I'm cheap.

 

Got the windows tinted. Huge difference in heat and I can use lower a/c settings and still survive. Should have done that years ago.
Fog lights wired up.
Driving lights are LEDs now.

Next, fix that nasty roof.

 

Sorry, I said driving lights up there, but meant parking lights. The yellows at the very top of the housing. Got them from RockAuto for cheap.

I've been busy with other projects, so I haven't finished the roof yet. It's looking like next weekend. I did find some OEM mud flaps in the junkyard. I can't seem to find these for under $50 online, which is annoying for such a simple part. $3 each works for me even if they are well used.



Also finally got around to adding a 1.5L badge. That added at least 10 hp & 6 MPG.

 

I realized I never came back to this. Sanded the snot out of the roof with a hand sander, down to the metal. Then primer, sand again, repeat both. That seemed to get better results, and it looks factory from 10+ feet away instead of 20+.

I picked up some 17x7 wheels from a Subaru Legacy GT with some 215/50 tires in great shape. $100 on FB marketplace. Only maybe a 5% increase in NVH, and handling increased. Yeah, MPG have probably dropped to ~40 based on what I've read here. I haven't run a full tank to check yet tho.

Next up is the steering wheel, it's been chewed up at the top by UV. Do people usually replace with stock, or go with a cover?

 

YouTube. I probably watched 10 hours of people painting vehicles before giving it a go. I used what I had, and bought Harbor Freight for the rest of the equipment. I went higher end on the primer and paint tho.

I added a few things since. The antenna was deteriorating and looking gross so I bought one for a DOLLAR on eBay. It looks nice and works well.

The plastic grille insert wasn't quite shaped right (cheapest Rock Auto version), so I pulled it for a metal one from eBay. Not a dollar, but it looks good and should stay in place.

My fender liner came undone and ground itself against the tire. Cheapo replacement on Rock Auto fits well, plus a bulk pack of retainers. I made a video on how to change it out, but you probably don't need it.