Gettin' close to done on the old '92

[tulsacarman]

I've been here since March, just haven't been active. Summer's my slammed time at the shop and haven't had time to play much at all. Imagine you guys'll be hearing from me more often now.

Are there any shows or scheduled get-togethers for the group? I'd like attend if there's anything happening that's not too far away.

[FestYboy]

Lower It!!!!!


btw, nice job sofar

[freshtiva]

I've been here since March, just haven't been active. Summer's my slammed time at the shop and haven't had time to play much at all. Imagine you guys'll be hearing from me more often now.

Are there any shows or scheduled get-togethers for the group? I'd like attend if there's anything happening that's not too far away.

There is an "Meets and Events" forum where the get-togathers are posted.

[stevewl1164]

Enter it in the calendar post?

[Levitan]

I'd like to see more pics. Esp pics from the rear, interior, any build pics etc.

Very impressive!

[Sparky]

How do you spell "Festiva of the Month"?

[Levitan]

....or Year 2009?

[Smedley]

Cool paint job and nice work on the bumpers and scoop.
Would love to see more pics.

[IdealSociety]

ive always wanted to see a wrx/outback style scoop mounted in nicely on a festy hood, and you sir did it better than i could have every hoped. it looks like it was meant to be there.

paint work looks good, car looks clean. another excellent festiva. good work!

[Levitan]

Also, I would like to know what procedure/product you used to fill the bumper cover.

[tulsacarman]

Sure seal (a Canadian product, has the maple leaf on the front) is a great plastics repair material. They make 3 different products, rigid, semi-rigid and flexible. The stuff comes in a 2-part package and it is mixed 1 to 1. You'll want to use the semi-rigid kit on the Festy bumpers.
The mixture is a bit thicker than a body filler but spreads easily. You can use it as a filler or to repair tears (when used with a mesh material, similar to a fiberglass repair).
I prepped the covers by wiping down with a plastics prep solvent to ensure there were no contaminants. I then took a small wire wheel attached to my drill and roughed up the groove area to give the material something extra to bite to and sanded the area all around the groove with 80 grit paper on a dual action sander to make it easier to feather the repair. The material will adhere well but I like to make sure so I use a spray plastics adhesion material on before you spread the repair on. I don't think it's absolutely neccesary. I did it, again, just to make sure. These materials should all be available at an automotive paint supply store.
The material can be sanded with a power sander but you have to make sure it sets well or you will get a roll-back of the edges and it'll be harder to feather the repair. As long as it sets up hard it sands great. You can also wet sand it (it wet sands really nice).
Once the rough work is done you can use a nice urethane finishing putty to smooth it out to cover scratches and low areas. You'll only want to use the glazing putty in very thin applications because it won't stress and give as the plastic repair material will.
You can then prime it out to make it smooth and straight, just be sure to use the plastics adhesion spray that you used for the repair material. Check with the products you use to see if they are a universal product (made to work with most all paint sysytems) or if they require something else.
I've sprayed PPG products primarily for the last 20 years and have used their OMNI secondary system which is a good system yet is quite a bit less expensive. The plastics repair system I've outlined here will work well, hold out nicely and accepts the PPG products as a top coating system when used and prepped as it should. If you have any specific questions it's best to get the advice of the folks selling you the materials.
You guys that are planning any custom work with your bumpers can use this material for custom contouring and finishing out rough work. You can apply the Sure Seal material in as many layers as you like but you'll want to get the roughed out work as close as possible before you start spreading putty because the 2-part kit runs about $22 bucks here in the Tulsa area and I needed more than a kit to do both bumpers. I had a few other issues on my rear bumper so I used right at 2 full kits.
I didn't take any photos during the work on the car, just the finals. I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never taken pics while the project was in process. I get involved and stay so focused on the task that I don't even think about documenting until I've finished. Maybe next time.

[festivaWES]

Nice work, I like the gold on the front portion of the car. I'm in Joplin, MO not to far away either. You say they are some self service yards salvage yards down in your neck of the woods?? Tulsa is closer to me than KC is!!

[genghis1]

nice!

[stefan]

Very nice work indeed. Welcome to the site.

The smoothed bumpers are awesome.
Normally I don't like scoops, but you did such a fabulous job, I gotta give it a thumbs-up!

[tulsacarman]

There's an LKQ pull-a part down here on the north side of town. There's on L car that's had all the quickie easies pulled. It's a 5-speed car. I've not been out there in a week so there's no telling what's left now.

Mingo salvage had a couple out there when I last visited (in Sept) There were still a few pieces left on them as well.

Joplin's doable. Hour and a half and I've got in-laws in Branson. Maybe we should talk about trying to get all the ArkMoKanOks together some time. Everyone in S.E. Kansas, N.E. Okla, S.W. Mo and N.W. Ark could meet at Joplin since it's right there at the 4 corners.