Operation Bora Body

[PranK]

With regards to the body, you could always give it a buff first and see how much of a difference it makes.
Won't fix the dents/scratches on the "a" pillar but will take out most, if not all of the roof racks and spoiler marks.

The panels that have deeper scratches will need a respray but if your a perfectionist (like me), then you might end up having to respray the entire exterior of the car.

This takes time/effort and a bit of skill or a lot of beginners luck to get right but saying that, we all have to start somewhere.

You don't need to spray in a booth but I seriously recommend it, especially considering that you can hire one for $150 a day.
(Saves a fair bit of buffing in the end and your not suseptable to moisture like you are if you paint in the elements.)

Since there was so much dirt in the door jams, I bet theres heaps more stuck in behind the front guards. You can clean this out by removing your plastic inner guards or just do it if you need to remove the guards for paint.

Good luck.. I always love a project!

I bought a polisher and have been attacking small parts of the car with cutting compound and then a polish, makes a big difference in some places but barely noticable in others. I should say that I am no polishing expert though, so my technique could no doubt use improvement. Thanks Youtube!

A mate of mine up the road has a huge tent that he has erected inside a giant shed and he sprays cars in this tent. I *might* try and borrow that for a day or two, but I might even prefer to just pay for a booth, it'll be a lot cleaner.

There is *so* much grime behind the panels. Actually in any 'slightly obscured' part of the car. Under the boot, it must be almost a centimetre thick. It'd be interesting to see how much weight it would add (definitely not performance hindering but just for curiosity's sake.)

Thanks for the info!

Boras are great,so you have a wonderful project to work on.

The Navy is a good looking colour,I would keep the origional alloys,clean them up,and DONT spray them Black...

Hopeyou got it for a bargain price ???

Hah, you sound like my wife! They do look great when they are nice and clean, I must admit. A sand, respray and nice clear coat would work very well.

And yeah, I did get it for a bargain price. When I went to look at it, it was totally filthy. I could see this putting off so many potential buyers. It amazes me when people dont make any effort to make their cars look good when selling them. I must have spent 4 or 5 hours cleaning my Golf before showing it.

Where did you get the power windows plastic thing? Mine looks shocking too, wouldnt mind replacing it.

From here. I was pleasantly surprised that they were all genuine parts too.