Celica update (November)

This post has been pending for a while as I was waiting to get the video done. So finally I manage to krunch the pixels and uploaded the video to youtube.com

Before

This was the state of my grill. With silver paint which was already peeling. I was wondering how was I going to clean it because of the fins. A friend of mine had informed me that there was a way to remove the paint without damaging the plastic. I had already purchased some paint remover. Luckily I asked around before using it, because if I had used that I would have totally destroyed the grill. So DO NOT USE PAINT REMOVER to remove paint from plastic!!!

I had gotten 5 liters of multi purpose detergent from a whole seller for about RM 28.00. He was unsure if it would work, me neither. I was at my wits end on how to clean the fins. So got to give it a try. And it worked! *whew*

I had not dilute the multi purpose detergent with any water. I had probably used up 2-3 liters to clean a few bits and pieces of my car.

AfterThe above image was taken well after 24 hours. During the 24 hours of soaking it into the multi purpose detergent, I had to turn/flip the grill around, as the tray I was using was too short to soak the whole grill. So I soaked half for about 6-7 hours then the other and back and forth. After 24 hours, I took it out, rinse it with water, heaps of water let it dry. Then took a spray can and sprayed 3 coats of black paint onto it.

Installed (mock)I must say, I'm VERY happy with the result. The plastic was not damanged in any way, it came out very clean and after the paint, it looked as if it was brand new.

A word of warning tho, the multi purpose detergent was instantly reactive to the paint. I had got some on my hands and I didn't think much of it for about 10 mins when I started to feel that my fingertips were slightly numb. I tried to was the detergent off but I guess it had soaked into my skin. For the next 6 hours I had tingling sensations on my fingertips and could not feel much of touch. And the following few days... my skin was peeling.

peeling skin, result from 10 mins without washing my hands after soaking in the detergentSo if you were to try this at home, please wear gloves! Or suffer the same fate as I had !

Here is a short clip I did of the process. CERTAIN PARTS OF THE VIDEO HAS BEEN SPED UP, TO CUT DOWN THE TIME. IT DOES NOT SHOW THE ACTUAL REACTION TIME OF THE MULTI PURPOSE DETERGENT.

Note that at the beginning of the video, the multi purpose detergent was clear as water and at the end it was dark black. As everything sank down to the bottom of the tray. After removing the grill, I used the multi purpose detergent to clean the floor of stains and oil. It was still packing a punch!

Then I procceded to install the door panels :P my dad was complaining how ugly the doors was looking. I would have never figured my dad to complain about it.

Hooking it up

Metal bitsDoor panels installedWell I must admit having the door panels installed brings a different feel to the car. As it also dampened much of the road noise. And looks good when opening the doors.

Also I had finally recieve my amplifier back. So I purchased a Pioneer 6x9" 3 way speakers. I didn't really have much choice as the previous owners had already cut out the shape thru the metal at the rear. Bought some RCA cables and amp fuse, hooked everything up without a head unit. I'll do a more detailed posting about audio when all the bits have arrived and installed :P

I had also fixed one of my wiper thingys. Another post coming ! :P :P

So that was my Celica update! More things planned for December!

[Gears: Sony DSC-T90]

[g]

Comments

[foosi]

vrooommmm~

[khairul]

hehehe! nice try gerald. BTW where are you buy the multi purpose detergent?

[Gerald]

@foosi no vroom!

@kahirul from a friend. ^^

[Irene]

yay! no more cacat celica! now on the way to becoming cute!

[Gerald]

Yikes! it was never cacat ok!?!

[Irene]

cacat 'cause inner door panels missing. macam person walking around without skin liddat.

[dtg]

snooopppyyyy is alive!

[Gerald]

@dtg meh... that was what you said >>its alive. Its been alive for a whole year already lar Derbe... :P

@Irene Hmm... if it was normal for people to walk around without skin then its not cacat but in this case, your right. ahaha~ thats why I said it feels more complete.

[ahlost]

wah wah.. so clean and clear O.O

[Gerald]

so clean so clear?

[dtg]

oh, so i should re-phrase and say "it's still alive!"

[Gerald]

yeaps! =P