howabout a mini,

 

the heck with the mini, just give me the girls [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

 

ok heres the skinny, from another auto body guy:

1. lose the chrome, sandblast the grille and paint it body colour.

2. lose the mudguards and rear decklid luggage rack/wannabe spoiler, if youre concerned about stonechips from the tires after hooking the mudguards find a clean set of ground effects.

3. lose the two-tone, it doesnt suit the car

4. mild suspension drop and some nice open spoke alloy wheels. maybe chrome, maybe silver painted or maybe billet aluminum depending on colour

5. if youre concerned about scracthes and door dings and they bother you dont go black, it shows every flaw

6. paint the rearview mirror housings body colour and for gods sake whatever you dont put any pinstripes or "badging" back on it.

7. spend the extra time and cash to paint the door jambs and under trunk/hood, its more time in removing trim and re-installing it but it looks far cleaner that way...remove as much trim such as handles and bodyside/belt mouldings and mirrors etc as possible. dont mask what you can take off and put back on after

8. last thing dont skimp on materials..buy quality product and use it properly...for best results either re-prime the whole car before applying colour-coat or at least an application of a wet on wet sealer if you dont want to take the time of priming the whole car rather than just the repaired areas. wherever theres rust sandblast if you have the option and patch with steel where applicable...filling holes with glass is just an invite for trouble.

9. if youre looking for some trick colours, try looking at house of kolors. they have some wicked *** **** that will make everyones head turn, candies, pearls, neons, you name it they got it

 

Everything you shave you have to weld in a peice of steel, right. I'm not the auto body guy? Should I take apart my install to paint the trunk lid?

I also have some silicone to strip off it I had put on to stop the rattle.

 

no take apart the install to do a new one

 

no take apart the install to do a new one </font>[/QUOTE]Not going to redo the whole trunk for next year. It won't make it sound better, so I have other things to change.

 

shaved handles and lock cylinders are a nice touch but its recommended you make some kind of hidden manual latch mechanism to access the car if the battery ever croaks on you. and in most jurisdictions keep in mind that shaving door handles is generally illegal and you may get hassled if you get a cop thats an a**, they say its a safety issue cause if theres ever an accident where youre unconscious and cant get out of the vehicle people outside will NOT be able to assist you... yes, when shaving stuff welding in steel is the only way to go and its recommended you weld the "patch" in solid using whats called a "spot-stich" technique, what that means in plain english is to weld the piece in completely using a technique where you lay one small tack weld partially over the other before rather than a continous bead in order to avoid warping the panel, its also recommended when welding in the piece to "bounce" back and forth from one side to other furthest away in about 1/2" to 3/4" intervals to minimize heat build up...use whats known as a "weld-thru" primer both on your patch and on the underlying panel youre going to weld to...it will slow down the corrosion process in the area where you weld in the patches. hope this helps...if your buddy is a properly trained apprentice he should know this stuff and how to do it properly

 

i know im starting to look long-winded and by now youre probably thinking "will this dude ever shut up?"...but when it gets to customizing and painting cars its tough for me to stop yapping, and i like to help people by trying to explain to them how to do stuff right so they end up with a job that they will be happy with and will stand up to the tests of time and the road

 

I hope when I pull off the lugguge rack that all there will be is small hoes to fill in, and no big gaps. I can't really make any manual latch for the trunk If I shave the key hole. It has an eletric pop in the glove box and I control it with my alarm remote.