Kev's '98 Protege Thread

[FE3-323]

^ i know those joys all too well. living with inconsiderate people is the worst

[monoxidechild]

the new headlights look great man.

[irishkev90]

Thanks. I need to take the driver's apart to trim it a bit so I can aim it properly and while I'm at it, I'll buff the inside of the lens too. And the passenger light.

Been preparing my junkyard front passenger door to replace my current one. The bottom of mine if falling apart and the junkyard door was almost perfect. Repainted it, front, back, inside and out. Should be ready to go on next week. No pics of repainting process, sorry.

[irishkev90]

Thinking of getting some Peel and Seal from Lowes to put inside the door before I finish it up. The other doors would get it at some point as well. I've read quite a few reviews on the stuff and people seem to like it a lot as an alternative to the expensive Dynamat.

[irishkev90]

Alright, here come some pictures for you guys of the door "restoration." I few of these I've posted before, I think, but I'm putting them again so it's all in one place.

I got this door, as well as the front and rear driver's side doors, from a local junkyard for $50 each. This is when I first started working on the door back in April.







A bit nasty, but almost zero rust. I then got it cleaned up a little bit.







The inside of the door was similarly dirty and cleaned up pretty well, too. After this, the door just sat in the garage for a while after I removed the window, window motor and track, and all the weather stripping and trim pieces. I bought some paint and sanded down some rust spots and painted over them and then it sat for six months.

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I went up to Lake George to hang out and parked on the side of the road. She opened her door and it got stuck on the curb. The car is apparently too low. When she closed it, it tore the bottom of the door open a bit and this is why I decided to bring this project back to life. Some pictures of the door currently on the car.









It's bright out today, so the pictures were kind of hard to take. The handle on my car is extremely faded compared to the junkyard door's handle.

I didn't take any pictures of the sanding, painting, buffing process so I'll just show you the end result.

The inside of the door. I completely removed everything inside including the window and track, wiring harness and door and the door lock thing (proper name?), so the door was completely empty.


This was the single worst rust spot on the junkyard door, the front-bottom corner on the inside. I used Dupli-Color Rust Fix, then Krylon Rust Tough Zinc Enriched primer followed by basecoat and clear coat from Automotive Touch Up. Hope this holds up.


After painting, wet sanding and buffing.


I also wet sanded and buffed the edges of the door that you'll see when it's open. I did the back side, the bottom and the front.


I decided to go with a "semi-flat" black for the window frame. I used Krylon Semi-Flat Rust Tough black enamel, three or four coats.


Three very small scratches on the body line above the handle. It really pissed me off when I spotted these and I have no color left to go over them again.


I also painted the control rods for the lock and handles with the semi-flat black and lubricated everything, including the sliding clips, with Never-Seez.




This weatherstripping has seen better days. The one on the car is in much better condition and will be swapped.


I used some Mineral Spirits and a microfiber cloth to clean all the weathestripping and trim pieces. I was surprised at how well it got rid of the green moss/fungus crap. I actually went so far as to wrap a screwdriver with the cloth and get into all the little crevices that no one will ever see. The left side is before scrubbing, the right side is after. And no, the right side is not wet, it's completely dry. That's just how clean it got. After cleaning I wiped all the rubber and plastic pieces with Meguiar's Natural Shine Protectant because I wasn't sure how the Mineral Spirits would affect them.


And the finished product :D


And a thank you to all the products used to make this possible


Automotive Touch Up is a company that mixes OEM colors into spray cans and they match fantastically. Better than anything I could find at Autozone. They can also ship it to you on quarts or gallons for use with an air gun, as well as other supplies. Visit their website for more information.

I'd also like to note that this is my first attempt at something like this. I progressively got better, I think, as I did each section of the door. I started with the outside then the inside then the window frame. The area below the molding, you can still see some sanding scratches from not preparing the surface enough and not taking my time. Live and learn, I suppose.

[josh95mx]

Nice work! what a difference! I have a 55' ford and the rust on it is not even close to that of your door.

[irishkev90]

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure the car was in some kind of accident at some point because both passenger side doors have slightly mismatched paint. That could also be why the right rear quarter panel is falling apart. There's overspray on the weatherstripping around the trunk and the wire loom for the reverse lights on that side, so I know for a fact it's at least been repainted.

[FE3-323]

what is this peal & seal stuff?

[irishkev90]

I think it's more for roofing purposes, to seal up leaky roofs. But I read on a Honda forum and a Mustang forum that people use it all the time to insulate the trunk and other areas from noise and rattles. Also, some of the reviews on the Lowes website said it was great sound deadening for cars and trucks. There's no smell, sticks well and the non-adhesive side is reflective so it could work as heat insulation, too. It comes in a 25' roll by 6" wide for around $18. I'm going to pick up a roll tomorrow and try it out.

[FE3-323]

id be interested to try that out in some areas on the outside of the car......... curious how it holds up in the cold weather as well

[irishkev90]

Hmm, haven't read about cold weather performance, but it apparently holds up well in the heat and still won't give off any smell.

I'm going to warm it up a bit with a heat gun before applying, as well as the inner skin of the door. That should help it adhere better.

I'll probably be checking it once a week or so since it's getting colder here.

[FE3-323]

let me know the results!

[irishkev90]

Will do.

The door will be sitting in the garage overnight and it should get down to 35-40 degrees here. I heated up the inside of the door skin til it was hot to the touch then warmed up the adhesive of the Peel & Seal. If it finds a place to stick after the heating for more than a few seconds, it's tough to peel back off. Quick, but careful was the required technique

I also put two layers, using the majority of the roll, and covered as much as I could. I tried taking a video, but the sound was terrible on my phone. It does sound a bit more solid, but only marginally.

[MazdaNoob]

if you are adding it to dampen the door panel . some on the outside as you have done will help but it is the inner panel you need to do as well . adding the weight to the panels really does change the "tone " of the door but that solid " caddy thump" is hard to duplicate

[irishkev90]

I do have enough left over to do the inner panel. At least one layer anyway. I've read of people getting a nice, high quality thump, but they also used two or three other products in addition to this stuff. Rubberized undercoating, aluminum duct tape to seal the seams, even Rhino Liner.