I'm a highschool student so this build will include a bunch of make shift repairs, i don't have alot of money but I hope to make my t/a look really nice. i will be re-upholstering the majority of the interior (i will try to do this by myself) I am going to re-do the headliner, re-paint most of the trim pieces and maybe even put some carbon fibre vinyl on the interior like motobooks did. I will probably go the poor man's way and plasti dip the car but i will do all prep work so it should last a bit. I will post lots of pictures of the process and hopefully gain some experience and end up with a nice looking car. right now, i have a job which brings in a little cash and need some advice on how to do the underside of the car, like rust treatment (I have a little rust) and undercoat material, maybe even put some bedliner. I am also strugling with the color options for the inside. i cant afford a carpet right now and my interior is tan and brown. i was thinking maybe changing the tan interior trim pieces to black and leaving the headliner tan or just doing black on black or maybe even wrapping the interior trim pieces with carbon fibre. I would like to buy most of the things in stores like canadian tire and walmart and even partsource or watever. I got the car last summer and was hoping my dad would help me restore it, $500 later he stopped so I took it upon myself to restore this car back to its original state. right now its rocking i-roc z rims and a rigged up sound system that isnt half bad.

it looks like it's in very good shape overall! Is that last pic photoshopped? what happened to the original wheels? they fit in well with it.

The last pic was in the morning right after i waxed the car so the dew on the car makes it look matte, just put that in to show the iroc rims. I swapped them because i got them for like $200 with tires on kijiji, the firebird rims had a rare tire size (215/65/15) so the tires were expensive and i could not afford them. so i swapped the tires and rims. i am just wondering what color scheme i should make my car. i plan to do the car gloss black (the brown part) and do the trim (the tan) in either matte black or carbon fibre. any opinions would be appreciated

ok, i am going to start pulling apart my car (after it stops raining) i will be taking out
-most trim pieces for re-painting/carbon fibre wrapping
-gauge cluster maybe
-centre console (lid needs to be re-done)
-seats (front and back)
-door panels

anyone have any tips or any threads or videos that i can watch to help me?
any help is appreciated, thanks in advance

I think you should leave it Brown/Tan. It looks to be in decent shape, why ruin it? If you don't have much money to put into it, that means you probably won't be able to paint it properly. Instead, get some aftermarket wheels that compliment the car. That may make you grow fond of the colors...especially since you don't see it everyday like the color black.

lol the driver seat is gone, half the fabric is off... i put these pics on fb lol they had to look good... was just wondering about diff color combos the most likely being tan and black with some carbon fibre for a more modern look, i was also going to get white gauge faces and maybe look for alluminum rings like motobooks (his interior is amazing) but first before i start spending the big bucks i have to get it appraised, it has something to do with the ownership or watever, its wierd in ontario...

If you're going with black for the main body color, I think silver is the best accent color for the ground effects. It looks especially good with the factory style stripes in silver as well. Here are some examples I found from a quick google search:

tomorrow i will get myself some initative and pull the car out of its current spot (its in a lil mud rn) take a few more pics explaining my situation and the current condition of the car, and maybe even start a teardown of the innards lol. but i was going for gloss black and matte black for the ground fx, which i think will look amazing, and then some gold stock vinyls (no pinstripes) thnx jeremy for the suggestion with the silver but i dont really like that, i would rather plop tan and black on the outside like this one
any opinions on the interior, i will be pulling the carpet off the trim pieces, which i have heard is difficult. was thinking of getting black plastic spraypaint and re-doing them or even finding tan spraypaint and maybe put some carbon fibre where the carpet was, anyways im just juggling some ideas through my head, any opinions or ideas, i want to keep some parts tan.

I have to re-paint the trim pieces because there is discoloration on some and there are even white spots on some of the pieces so i was wondering black or tan, and if tan can someone please point me to a store (in Canada) that has the factory tan color. right now im looking at krylon fusion paint, is that any good? anyone had any experience with this particular paint and is there better? this is for $5.99 at Canadian tire http://www.krylon.ca/products/fusion_for_plastic/

and a pic of the driver seat, i am fairly confident that i can re-upholster the seat

I really don't get the idea of having the body gloss black and the ground effects matte black. I think they'll just look like they're in primer. Regarding the color of the trim pieces, which parts do you mean? If you mean items like the headlight door trim, the triangle near the side mirrors, hatch and t-top trim edges, etc... I would go with black on those rather than tan. When all the little trim parts are made to stand out by using an accent color, it looks too busy. Keep it clean, simple and sleek :-)

If you find a match - use SEM color coat paint. Check online for a color chart. The sheen is correct, and it works great if you make sure you prep the parts correctly. For the black trim pieces, use SEM Landau black color coat. The match is perfect. Remember - its all in the prep. You have to thoroughly clean the parts, and use a good adhesion promoter. Plastic parts are made of petroleum and paint does not want to stick to it. But also remember that the factory painted trim when the cars were new, so if done correctly, it will last. The console, and various other parts were painted from the factory.

wait, so krylon is no good? and i dont want to buy anything online unless it is a must. I would like to get these paints from canadian tire or another store like walmart or watever. and for adhesion promoter, what is a good one? I am getting the car appraised on saturday and will start the teardown on monday, i hope to get all the interior off the car so i can clean, paint and re-upholster. my goal is that my car be ready by mid-april.

Krylon fusion comes out too shiny. You should have someone local that carries SEM paint. I used Bulldog adhesion promoter.

I'm not looking for 100% factory colors, how much shinier? and do i need adhesion promoter for krylon? thanks, and i will search for some stores that carry sem paint but im not sure if anyone has adhesion promoter

IMO the car looked fine in the first pix with the correct wheels on it. By the way you can use 235/60/15's and they are just fine-that is what I have on my Camaro. the 235/60/15's are very very close in size to the 215/65/15's, but IMO look just a tad better. Yeah not feeling the Camaro wheels on it. I'm all about staying on a budget and learning, that is what I'm doing with my Camaro, but also I am doing it right as I can and I do have money to spend on it if need be. Do what you want with the car, but if it was mine I would do a stock restore or close to it.

yes, but i dont have tires for the other wheels, when i get tires, i will put those rims on... also i haev decided to do a gloss black and tan interior with carbon fibre in some places. has anyone heard of those kick panels where you can put speakers? and again, would i need adhesion promoter for krylon fusion? and one last question, how would i remove the paint from the wheels? the firebird wheels have lots of paint chips (car looks nice in a pic but up close there are lots of little things wrong with it) and i would like to remove paint and then re-paint them, would i use a sand blaster or some sort of paint removing wheel (saw one at canadian tire) thanks again

Yes you need adhesion promoter AND a good cleaning agent for the plastics.

And FWIW: 'full restoration' and krylon shouldn't be in the same thread.

oo sorry, i really dont want to pay $30 for sem paint (ebay) is there any other paint in canadian tire that would do the job? i found this tremclad stuff http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
there is also this wheel thing that i was going to use to remove the paint off the firebird wheels http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en and is this adhesion promoter or something completely different http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

you can use a wheel similar to that one to strip the paint, but that one is probably too aggressive for aluminum. You would be safe with a wheel that's basically Scotch Brite pads on a disc. However, you'd be much better off using a chemical paint stripper. One of the more popular brands is called "Aircraft Stripper". It'll save many hours of time and will leave you with a good paintable surface without scratches.

Also, you seem to putting limitations on yourself that with either make your work harder or make the finished product inferior. Unless Canadian Tire is sponsoring your car (being sarcastic of course), why aren't you willing to order some products online or go elsewhere?

I do not have a credit or debit card so i cannot go online, I have searched ebay for sem paints but found that most are $30 if someone can find me a good online store that has these paints and ships to canada I think my friend wouldn't mind if i used his debit card to order them. thanks, and another reason I am limiting myself is because i dont really have a steady income right now and I want to get this stuff done. I also found someone with a magnaflow exhaust and headers for my car on kijiji so i will stop by and grab them tomorrow.

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Hey check out my thread it shows the frustration with restoration and modification. Can't wait for the weather to break I will have some good pics then. Don't get in over your head that's my advice. I was lucky that I had experienced help.

Luis (motobooks) gave some great advice. All I would add is that if your budget doesn't allow you to do something as well as you would like, hold off until you can afford to do it the right way. The interior paint is a great example. If you want it to look nice and last a long time but you can't afford the good paint now, live with it as-is until you can afford it. In the end, you'll be glad you waited and got the results you wanted.

I would also say that if your budget is too tight for the $30 spray cans, you should hold off on your exterior repaint plans for some time. You're very fortunate that the exterior is very presentable as-is, so you can focus on mechanical aspects and interior details of the car before dropping big money on a full repaint.

ok so, i found some paint on ebay, sem adhesion promoter for $33 including shipping, sem saddle tan (is this the one i am looking for) for $33 also and then landau black for $40 (i like tan but tan kinda looks wierd on my car to me) and also luis, how durable is sem paint? and do you still have any gauge rings? also does anyone have any expirence with PQR-15? i looked at it and am thinking of coating parts of the car with it. is there an alternative? thanks again for the advice.

my car is in mechanically good condition, it has new platnum spark plugs and a new battery, the only thing it needs is an exhaust (my tailpipe rusted off) and an undercoat. i am going to see if i can get an exhaust system tomorrow. also on a side note, luis, you used something called "B-Quiet" in your restore, what is it exactly and should i get it if i can?

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a spray gun as in hlvp or somthing like that? also how many cans of sem paint should i get (adhesion promoter and landau black)? i will start on the interior right after i get the ownership and everything sorted out and after i take it to a shop to see how much work it needs. again i will try to do most of this by myself so if there are any threads that show a teardown of the interior that would be appreceated. also one more thing, if i take the carpet out, can i put it back on or would i have to buy a new carpet? thanks for all the help

You should be fine with the spray cans. The SEM Color Coat line is very forgiving and applies nice. As long as you prep the panel properly and use the adhesion promoter it will come out nice. Just make sure you have no dry rot on your panels. Any fading or chalkiness means the panel is garbage.

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I haven't had much done to it other than getting spark plugs, a battery, and the wheels. Next week I will have some more money and ill take it to a shop to get looked at, I am going to look for another exhaust system (mine is stock and one of the tailpipes fell off and the muffler is rusted out)

i took it to a friend who is good with cars and had it checked by the school auto teacher, they said i need new wheel bearings and new spark plug wires, so right now as is i am looking at around 400 of work, also is it possible for me to install the exhaust i get today by my self?

Less than $100 in parts= $400? This is really pretty basic stuff to do on your own. Don't really even need any special tools. Just read up, or video, packing the bearings and setting the preload. Plug wires don't even require any tools?

going to be watching this. I like the stock color but that's because I have one two. what did you do with the stock wheels?


here is mine

was my first car. still waiting for restoration.

Really!! I was told that wheel bearings costed $90each... Well I'll hold off taking it to a shop, can someone send me a link to where i can get wheel bearings for my car, both front and back. Also where can i get the plug wires?

https://www.rockauto.com/

Front wheel bearings you could do yourself. The rears are a bit more involved, and if you wore the axles out due to bad bearings you will either need axle saver bearings or new axles.

It's unlikely you need rear bearings. You should be able to get most parts you need from Rock Auto. I got a set of plug wires on clearance a few months ago for around $6. Search for a discount code here that will give you 5% off.

Timken Set 6 and Set 34. Just at $10 per side.

Plethora of plug wire choices. I got the BWD OE type last time and they were fine. Just make sure you get an OE style. Two of them should have a straight connector to the plug while the rest are angled.

how do i know if i need wheel bearings? when we put my car up on the lift at school, the back and front wheels wiggled, the teacher told me that if they wiggled that i would need new wheel bearings. also an update on the exhaust, the one the guy had was not a magnaflow (although he said it was) and it had no catalytic converter on the plus side i have $150 to spend on needed parts. if someone could point out links to the parts I need, it would be apprecated, seeing as I dont have that much of a car background. I will however empty out my garage by the end of the week and start tearing down the interior of the vehicle to see what needs to be done.

is this what I am looking for? https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...597&cc=1251166
and should i just take my car to a shop to get it checked or should i try to check it myself? and if i should check it myself how do i do so?

Those wires will be fine.

Check it yourself. Get a Haynes manual and do EVERYTHING in Chapter One.

I don't KNOW that you don't need new rear bearings. They're just not as common a fail item as the front bearings. If you do, however, you can still replace them yourself although it's a little more involved and the axles must be inspected for wear at the bearing surfaces.

Ill just opt to get it checked over, and how would i know if i need new spark plug wires?

??

They said that I needed all 4 wheel bearings and new spark plug wires BUT how would I tell if my car needed them? I don't want to spend more money than nessisary.

You're the only person that can decide what kind of tasks you have the interest and time to learn to do yourself and what tasks you'd rather pay a mechanic to do. If you decide that you'd rather pay a mechanic for items like wheel bearings, there's no shame in that whatsoever. Of course, if you do decide to do the work yourself, there are plenty of us here that can help you out along the way.

I will call some places and get it checked then we will go from there

I say again:

So i am looking for this? http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Haynes-Public...#ht_1707wt_964

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ok so along with my limited knowledge about cars i also have a limited tool set so i went out and got some tools (my friend works at canadian tire so i get his discounts). I got a paint spray gun kit and a sander. I know that to do prep work i need whats called an interface pad, the only one i found is $60 on ebay, is there any way i can just make one?

pics of what i got