You've my car in person in the past year or so? You know it could use a winter in the spa getting the cosmetics back in order. The picture below was taken on 8/25, you get an idea of what the front is looking like... Besides being blasted to hell from following too close on drives and at the track there are 2 holes about the size of a .45 cal. These are leftovers from destroying the last splitter leading a Waco Run. A little to fast at a dip that was a cattle guard and that was that, baling wire saved the day. No more splitters for me! Being the brake ducts are molded in I'm reluctant to trash the bumper to fix the holes. Think they could be patched? Otherwise I'm looking at a big bill for a new bumper, new ducts and the custom work to make them look good. Moving to the bonnet, there is some rust forming around one of the louver panels. Need to nip that in the bud. The smoothed in hood scoop has cracked, it's not looking very nice. As a result of the wheel center that broke the right side (passenger) front arch doesn't like to stay connected. Todd (WRR Radio fame) put some black vinyl over part of the arch to help keep it in place. Before that the duct tape often used matched the roof color well. It was an odd stripe on the side. So that needs fixing, which will be a bit of fun being the vented A Panel is fiberglass and doesn't have the best fit. Might as well get that right at this time too. Then there is the right side (passenger) side skirt that was cracked by a flat bed incident. They payed, it was a long time ago. It never was a real bother but with all the rest, better do that too. The rear bumper could use a refresh too. It's been modded to many times and is flimsy. Good luck finding another R53 Aero Kit bumper though. Then it comes to the overall finish, respray or wrap? There will not be a paint color change, really the only way to do it write is tear down the car. Not ready for that. Besides Space Blue / Silver is getting less and less common, not that there were that many being it was an 06 only color combo. I have an idea for a wrap, something that has been festering for years. I've always been a huge fan of IMSA and one of the liveries that I like was by Interscope Racing. Besides, the other iconic, at least to me, liveries of the era have already been done, think Martini or Gulf. Mock up of possibilities... Thanks to someone that eschews credit, this being my nod of thanks to you... Anyway, thats the thought process out loud right now. Interested to hear ideas, thoughts, and comments.
That color combo is way cool. I really like that. If you are not leaving the blue, then what color will the tri-color stripes be? Jim That mock up work look familiar to me.
As you said the rust certainly needs to be taken care of. Patching the holes and such I would find a good body shop and see what they say, an estimate can't bee too much. As for the livery, I actually like it. A wrap is great in that you can go back in a few years.
I like the idea of the wrap vs a re-paint. It would be fairly easy to prep the car for a wrap.....no need to paint. You can clear bra over the wrap to help prolong the life.
I don't know... I kinda liked that duct-tape stripe once I got used to it. I've never seen a wrap (other than ones that are more advertising with a lot of detail and few open expanses of pure color) that look good after 6-10 months of daily use. Perhaps you could sell advertising space on the Gnat! He makes it to enough big MINI events... it might be worth it to sponsors to pony-up. Maybe you could sell naming rights, so that it would become the "Gnat by Detroit Tuned" or maybe even, gasp, the "Paulo Uber Gnat" (though just having that name might promote the car to fall apart and rust prematurely )!
If you're looking for a new splitter, Jan makes the mother of all splitters--I had one (group4) tear off at 135mph; the RMW one has aluminum brackets that actually bolt onto the frame and to the splitter, which is thick and won't flex. Not to mention no turnbuckles on the front, so it's a very clean look. I have mine, just waiting for a few other parts until I install it (want to do them all at once to save time). Can't wait to get it on.
Nate you could also just wrap the rest of the car to look like its covered in stone chips....:lol::lol::lol::lol:
If you think wrap, I've used this stuff with great success over the years. I have it on the daughter's Cabrio. Goes on easy and seems to hold up well. It' not just printed vinyl, it's actually base coat/clear coat paint on vinyl. I was skeptical at first, but it really bends and stretches just like vinyl with no ill effects. FLX-Paint Home Page
:cornut: THREADJACK-(maacodale) Your car makes me thirsty for a Panama Rum Lime Gimlet and I just can't imagine why?:lol::lol::arf: Jason
Looks to be mainly used as a color change or graphics, not a printed wrap.. It's plenty cool though, but with a printed wrap you get your graphics in with it, and not more vinyl applied on top of it.. So just depends on what your wanting...
Here is an idea. Have the full spa treatment done to Gnat + paint the front bumper & bonnet. The rear bumper could easily be reinforced from behind, bond on a piece of tubing. The side skirt can also be fixed & painted. Just a thought & a heck of a lot cheaper than a new paint job.
Bad week up here... 2 bikers airlifted out in separate accidents. I was calling my wife from the lobby (Skype is a wonderful thing) and a woman came in who had sat with one accident victim while waiting for the paramedics. He couldn't feel his legs and was taken by bus to a place where they could chopper him out. She came to Fontana looking for his son, who had skipped the ride to take a nap.