oilcan93
Active Member
Aloha, fellas! Living on Maui has its challenges (don't worry; I'm not expecting a lot of sympathy here). And one of those is finding qualified people to work on our cars. I've been lucky enough to have the services of some of the greatest mechanical minds here in bringing the Green Meanie up to what is an exhilarating pleasure to drive. But, rust has taken hold around the rocker panel area and needs to be repaired pronto. I figure if I'm repairing rust, I might as well take care of the spots where there are wrinkles from the chair rail being applied too early after the last paint job some time ago and a few other imperfections.
I know I'll never convince my wife to let me paint the car twice in our lifetime. So, to that end I'm going for the whole enchilada and taking the entire car down to metal, completely repairing/replacing the rusty areas, and adding an air dam, roof hoop, and duck tail spoiler to a re-spray of Taiga. After speaking with most of the reputable shops on Maui (and what turned out to be a couple of not so reputable ones), it turns out they're too busy with insurance work to want a project that takes this much time. Apparently, there are lots of terrible drivers here and plenty of accidents. So, I hooked up with a fellow on the mainland who has Maui ties: Long Tran of LT Motorwerks. After speaking with him, I became convinced he is capable and even excited about the job. So, I'm shipping her off on Thursday......until it's done.
From those of you with experience in this arena, what items should I anticipate being difficult to find and get in front of quickly so I can avoid an issue? Things like the rubber door seals, etc....There are going to be enough variables in this project; I'd like to be proactive on avoiding as many problems as possible
I'm also leaning towards a stainless steel exhaust to supplement the Stahl headers. Does anyone have a sourcing recommendation?
Mahalo for your input, guys! I'm really excited to finally have some movement on this project. After this......THE INTERIOR!!!
I know I'll never convince my wife to let me paint the car twice in our lifetime. So, to that end I'm going for the whole enchilada and taking the entire car down to metal, completely repairing/replacing the rusty areas, and adding an air dam, roof hoop, and duck tail spoiler to a re-spray of Taiga. After speaking with most of the reputable shops on Maui (and what turned out to be a couple of not so reputable ones), it turns out they're too busy with insurance work to want a project that takes this much time. Apparently, there are lots of terrible drivers here and plenty of accidents. So, I hooked up with a fellow on the mainland who has Maui ties: Long Tran of LT Motorwerks. After speaking with him, I became convinced he is capable and even excited about the job. So, I'm shipping her off on Thursday......until it's done.
From those of you with experience in this arena, what items should I anticipate being difficult to find and get in front of quickly so I can avoid an issue? Things like the rubber door seals, etc....There are going to be enough variables in this project; I'd like to be proactive on avoiding as many problems as possible
I'm also leaning towards a stainless steel exhaust to supplement the Stahl headers. Does anyone have a sourcing recommendation?
Mahalo for your input, guys! I'm really excited to finally have some movement on this project. After this......THE INTERIOR!!!
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