Today everything went pretty right.

I did a final coat of 2k clear on the engine bay and unmasked the engine to pull the valve covers off for paint.

I also got paint and clear on the hood and unmasked it to let it dry in the sun. Very ok with the results.

It was tempting to just slap the car together without these details but I’m glad I didn’t.

Cleaned and primed the valve covers.

Then got some color on them. Can’t wait to put the new 2500 twin turbo decals back on in the new colors and get this back on the motor.

Last night I went out with my homie and he ended up in the bathroom doing bumps with a Mexican cat. He became paranoid that MS13 was after him. After finally convincing him to leave I drove him home. We had to chill in the car so he could come down. The night ended with a pushup contest on the sidewalk. He owes me $200, because his Venmo wasn’t working.

Anyway. Here’s where the car is…

This feller was unpleasantly surprised when he got home.

Prepping my wing for the detail paint I realized it had no clear on it. This scummy shop single staged all the aero. I’m going to have to get it cleared. I masked and painted the wing and masked the top of the hood.

I’m so over this paint job. There’s already some issues with the paint on the hood.

Fallrinkatidy and his feet were awful dirty…

I’m seriously reconsidering switching my plan to do the trunk and engine bay black obsidian metallic black and go to midnight purple. I sprayed the underside of the roof wing LP2 which is the old color of the car and I forgot how pretty it is.

I masked off more of the engine bay and removed the fuse box and some wiring.

I also finished painting the cold side piping and wrapped them.

Hot side polishing and wrapping next. I ordered more LP2 in case I do change my mind. Trunk wing and hood vent get painted next.

When drifting I could feel my entire subframe moving around. Jacking up the rear to change tires there was about half an inch if gap between the subframdme and frame.

So I bought a bunch of Battler Version stuff to fix it (I finally got bump steer correction rods as well. My bump steer was so bad I hit my elbow on my helmet and tore something in my shouler at turn 1 at Piedmont).

Pulled the subframe and pressure washed it. Then pulled all the arms and diff and sanded it for paint.

I POR15’d the diff as well.

While everything was out I cleaned the bottom of the SC and undercoated it.

Loaded the diff and arms and solid bushings into the subframe and put it back in the car.

Next down there I need to replace the sway bar and endlinks.

When I bought my 1j I picked a halfcut that had steel cold side piping because I read that side tends to rub and get holes in the aluminium. As a bonus I got an HKS intercooler and couplers. The intercooler mysteriously disappeared at a shop that won’t be named…but the piping needed refreshed badly. Originally I was going to buy just piping but prices for JUST the cold side were $600+. So I decided to refresh what I have which is structurally sound.

My space is limited so Im spraying small things like these outside. Not concourse by any stretch but it will do.

Its getting chilly so I’m heating parts before spraying.

Layer of prime down…

You wanna know the dumb part of this? I’m heat wrapping all my intercooler piping. So you won’t see any of this work. But I would not be able to sleep knowing that horrible finish was underneath…

Base coat done. Waiting for the rest of the paint to come in to do the metallic then clear. I may add reflective tape to the center.