All of last week, all I could think of is working on that bumper. It is so awesome having something to look forward to like that. I am starting to think maybe project cars are the best cars. I mean... if the car is perfect, there is nothing to do with it. If you don't do anything to your car, you get over it, and want to move on. Maybe a car that you'll keep around is a car that always needs work? There is something so rewarding about improving things. Watching the RX7 change and slowly get better and better has been so rewarding. Especially because I will never forget how I found the car. In that pit of mud, surrounded by pitbulls in that crackhead's back yard. No title, no future. Too far gone.
First coat of paint is on.
I don't know if yall noticed or not, but the passenger fender has always had a dent in it, right where it meets the front bumper. I bought it that way. I tried to pop it out as much as I could with a crowbar through the inner fender haha, but never did get it because it was dented right in the crease, where it is the strongest. Anyway, I have NO autobody experience, and **** taking cars apart because it always seems you miss a bolt or nut, or break a clip or two. So I never pulled the fender, never got it fixed.
Now that I am changing the bumper, there was no excuse. It was time to pull my first fender.
I got it off, but in the process.... broke the bottom two bolts, just as I had feared. They were rusted, and just snapped. Had a little internal scream there.
I remember visiting my uncle's shop as a kid. One of the strongest parts of that memory is the smell of bondo. Watching him mix that gray goop with a somehow-specific amount of red paste on a piece of cardboard, or plastic lid, or anything else flat really. Then watching him smear it smoothly over a rough, hammered-out dent. Then some time later, sand it smooth. I would run my hand over the spot in amazement. The dust from the bondo would cover my hand, and running my hand over the repaired area would feel smooth, cool, and dry. I would never forget that texture, that smell, and the dust that would fall as he sanded.
Anyway, I finally got to try it myself.
You can see the dent in these pics kinda
xxxx
First coat of paint is on.
I don't know if yall noticed or not, but the passenger fender has always had a dent in it, right where it meets the front bumper. I bought it that way. I tried to pop it out as much as I could with a crowbar through the inner fender haha, but never did get it because it was dented right in the crease, where it is the strongest. Anyway, I have NO autobody experience, and **** taking cars apart because it always seems you miss a bolt or nut, or break a clip or two. So I never pulled the fender, never got it fixed.
Now that I am changing the bumper, there was no excuse. It was time to pull my first fender.
I got it off, but in the process.... broke the bottom two bolts, just as I had feared. They were rusted, and just snapped. Had a little internal scream there.
I remember visiting my uncle's shop as a kid. One of the strongest parts of that memory is the smell of bondo. Watching him mix that gray goop with a somehow-specific amount of red paste on a piece of cardboard, or plastic lid, or anything else flat really. Then watching him smear it smoothly over a rough, hammered-out dent. Then some time later, sand it smooth. I would run my hand over the spot in amazement. The dust from the bondo would cover my hand, and running my hand over the repaired area would feel smooth, cool, and dry. I would never forget that texture, that smell, and the dust that would fall as he sanded.
Anyway, I finally got to try it myself.
You can see the dent in these pics kinda
xxxx
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