TPrelude-370z

I like you guys, this is a great forum. I expected the worst flamming possible and the responses were extremely reasonable. I will try to respond to all comments in one post. Believe me, I am not freaked out, this is now really for all of our entertainment. I wish I had a picture of the two little chip marks that I accidentally made with my watch while closing the hatch about the 2nd day I got the Z.

I have learned a lot being in the tuner and car hobby for a long time now, the most important thing is, everything can be fixed. Once I went to far and ruined the paint, I wanted to see what it would look like satin black to match the valences (looking at other member pics). I had the paint and materials already so I was like what the heck. I also knew it would cost me like 50$ for the supplies to repaint it body color.

Again long story shorter, After multiple layers of primer and paint I at least sanded down the the black base color and began my paint job to body color. For the poor prep, it being on the car and doing it in a poorly lit garage, it came out very well (the neighbors and kids always come up and ask questions/start conversations when I am doing car projects so I decided to suck it up and do it in the garage. Another brilliant decision.

Anyway, there were just a couple of spots on the side portion of the wing that bugged me and I decided to spot paint them. It was a lot of pressure as I only had minimal paint from the last project and did not want to pay another 30$ for more oem paint from sherwin williams. A big part that bothered me was missing just a small portion in the crack of the wing that connects to the hatch you could see some white.

Nobody else would have noticed but me. Same with the touchup job. If I had just let well enough alone, it would not have turned into such a project. I had to look at the two little nicks everyday while putting my gym bag in my trunk and it bugged me so I thought why not. 30,000 dollar car, barely had it a month, lets do some paint work with a jagged edge spoiler while it is still on the car with some tough masking curves, and it is very difficult to remove without breaking it. More entertaining back story didn't want you guys to miss.

I purchased this car after selling my turbo prelude for this exact reason, no more projects, especially painting.

the main regret after the obvious stupid decisions once I decided to paint the entire wing and destroying the paint over two small nicks is I should have left well enough alone after painting it back to body color. I did a pretty good job for what it was, and nobody would have known but me. I planned to purchase a pre paiinted spoiler in a few months to replace the wing altogether.

This could have been a 50$ project to bring the spoiler back to body paint and looking pretty good. Should have left well enough alone as usual.

Definitely all valid comments regarding stop messing with it, don't paint it yourself, use a body shop, etc... I think because I knew I had a safety net of a cheap replacement painted at 200$, it wasn't a huge risk to me. If the spoiler was super expensive, then I would have been more bummed or probably made a better decision from the beginning.

It would cost about 150-200$ to have it done at a body shop and from other forum members experiences, they are prone to break the spoiler as well.

Yes it is extremely ironic that I was too impatient to figure out removal of the hatch cover portion to access the two bolts which was probably the simplest of all jobs I had attempted. At that point I was emotionally spent and needed instant results or removing the spoiler.

Using a heat gun and a paint spatula type deal I was very successful in lifting all the extremely strong tape. Then deep down knowing it was not true I was like, "oh, maybe on the 2009 they only taped the wing on since it kinda seemed that way at the time." (this is knowing I probably felt the bolts as I was using the spatula to pry into the tape.

I know it seems ridiculous, but I did know in advance, and I did see the diagram of exactly how to remove it. I knew it was more than likely going to break being forced off like that, but I was so spent emotionally, I needed some sort of instant gratification.

I am not a good painter and I recognized that before starting this project. For some reason, I really enjoy the challenge of doing it myself and making it look pretty good. I did the valences in satin black with flat clear and did a great job. Every time I look at them I have the pride of knowing, hey, I did that. I guess I wanted the same affirmation from the wing.

I am a former soldier and Iraq vet so I have experience mechanically working on helicopters as well as my previous prelude. I did not however have paint experience except for the jobs I ruined on my lude and had professionally done.

I know most of you think this is crazy and what kind of numbnut would do this to such an expensive car. This was not my intention, but like I said, anything can be fixed and to me, its only money (I do well financially and I also realize you can always make more).

All in all this kept me busy and excited about the project for a few weeks now which is important to me as I don't do anything but chill with my wife and work. Playing with my car is the only other thing I do.

My wife is extremely cool and very forgiving when it comes to stuff like this. She was serious about me not messing with this car and I am sure she will be pissed, but no big deal.

All in all I learned yet another valuable lesson and I know something good will come from this experience as it always does. I am a huge positive psychology guy so I don't let the small stuff ruin my life.

Really just started the thread to get those two bolts off hoping it was a simple job which I knew it would be (wish on the DIY the removal of the plastic trim was included, as I would have done that since I would have already read it).

We are all human, and sometimes we make stupid decisions as hobbyists, but in the long run it is part of the fun. I thought I would never sell the prelude as it was a 10 year journey getting it to where I wanted it and with tons of huge bumps along the way.

The car was like my child and I loved it dearly. Once it got to the point where there was really nothing left to do, I instantly lost interest and decided to get the Z. I don't miss the lude at all after seeing it next to the z physically, and comparing it in every other aspect (I do miss the sound and spool of the turbo, but still doesn't compare to the Z's 6cyl). There is way more possibility for progression in just bolt ons for the z and exterior accents to keep me busy for a long time.

This was not part of the plan, but you live and learn.

Yes my wife is hot as I am a pretty handsome stud myself. I will post some pics in a few from my regular computer.


Thanks again for the wise thoughts and for not being dicks about it.