GTST from Tennessee

[goonk]

Hey everyone. Thought I'd be a member as I found myself browsing this site for guidance most of the time. I drove my first car for nearly 10 years; Acura RSX (or Honda Integra to the non-US members). After these cars became legal in 2014 for the US, I devoted myself to save money. Three years later, I found a great deal that was within my budget and bought my first skyline in March 2018. Not bad for my second car ever right? Don't worry, I'm not driving it daily because soon after I sold the RSX, I picked up a third car for cheap to drive every day instead. My Skyline is a 1990 GTST Type-M. I bought the car with the exterior's paint in rough condition, but since my ownership, I did my best to restore it. Maybe I'll make a build thread some other time. Here are some photos from the day I first purchased it to how it currently looks.

[GTSBoy]

That's nice.  Gurney flap looks serious!

[QLDR31]

Nice ride!

[goonk]

Wanted to update with some new photos of my car. It has went through a big change. Wrapped the car in Avery Dennison Glos Carmine Red and got my Desmond Regamaster Evo II on; wheels are 18x10 +35 (5mm spacer on fronts) with 255/35 Achilles ATR Sport 2. Aside from the previous photos along with sourcing N1 headlights, those two were the main changes, but I think it made a huge difference. I'll have to make an entire thread of my car from day one some other time, but that'll take quite a bit to do so enjoy the photos of it currently.

[Tenny]

That's awesome mate. Love it. 

 

My actual name is Tennessee so thought I had to check out this thread!

[JACKA87]

wow... looks amazing in red mate, well done. 

 

How was the body in general before the wrap? i have a few dings nothing major and im wondering if its going to stand out big tim under the wrap. 

 

only asking because i noticed a few small ones on your bonnet! (hood) 

[goonk]

2 hours ago, JACKA87 said:

wow... looks amazing in red mate, well done. 

 

How was the body in general before the wrap? i have a few dings nothing major and im wondering if its going to stand out big tim under the wrap. 

 

only asking because i noticed a few small ones on your bonnet! (hood) 

For the most part, it's straight. Nothing major on mine either that needed body work. I think I had another small ding somewhere on one of the rear panels. But it wasn't as big or noticeable as the ones on the bonnet. I wish I would have taken the extra time to take care of those dings because I didn't realize how much they stand out from that photo. Now it bothers me. Probably still could get them out from someone who does paintless dent repairs. 

[KiwiRS4T]

Personally I preferred the previous colour and wheels - but now it will certainly stand out in the crowd!

[Steve85]

I'm going to go ahead and say the red is way better. It miggt just be me liking bright shint objects though. [emoji23]

I love seeing Skylines in bright colours. The more the merrier!

[JACKA87]

i wasn't having a shot mate, i think it looks amazing, just wanted to see how anal i had to be with the body, i've never had anything wrapped before. 

 

The red looks amazing, i think the wheel set it off too. well done. 

[goonk]

1 hour ago, JACKA87 said:

i wasn't having a shot mate, i think it looks amazing, just wanted to see how anal i had to be with the body, i've never had anything wrapped before. 

 

The red looks amazing, i think the wheel set it off too. well done. 

It's actually my first time wrapping anything. I had a friend teach me some basics of it before I got started. It's quite frustrating and tedious work. What I've learned is to make sure the body and edges are de-greased, clean, and smooth. I washed the car with dawn dish soap to de-grease and clay barred it to get the body smooth. I had some small bits of surface rust showing at some places so I even had to grind it off, primer it, and wet sand that spot too. Practically if your body is still good, a clay bar job will do it. Rough spots will show if you don't get it smooth and the vinyl may not adhere/stick to the panel well. The vinyl will lay over small dings as you saw on my hood, but as you can also tell, it will stand out too just as it did before the wrap. Overall, what I'm trying to say that are most important to the prep work is get the body smooth and constantly cleaning it free of contaminants. Hope that helps some if you're planning to wrap as well.

[JACKA87]

oh wow i didn't realise you did it yourself. I'm far too impatient to attempt it. I'm searching around Sydney to find someone that can do it at a reasonable price, i've got a mate doing the rust and the small niggly dents. i'm trying to source a new front and rear bar to eliminate some of the tedious old shopping trolley dents and marks in it. 

 

Come out to Australia and you can wrap it for me!