Paint work

[bigviper]

The car has been mine now for just over three years now and the front nose could do with tarting up and a few stone chips here and there is there any paint shop that anyone has used that thay trust or recomend . as i would leave the car with them and i dont want any you know what i mean

[V1PER]

I know someone that can get that sorted for you..Same guy that painted your sills....

But if your getting some paint done might as well carry on and get it all done in a proper colour YELLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MADMAX-UK]

Richard,
I know where you are coming from. I need some paint work on the front stripes of my 96 GTS but am happy to leave her with a friend to do - problem is, I'm in Suffolk (not too near to Surrey). An alternative might be, removing the bumper and giving that to a spray shop? Depends how winterized she is.
Cheers,
Ade.

[V1PER]

Welcome aboard mate..............
Baz

[ViperDave]

have you tried a clay bar on it, i was amazed at the marks that i thought would require a respray that just came off with a clay bar.

Of course if they are actual chips in the paint work then the only thing you can do with the clay is fill in the hole.

[Viper_Larry]

When I had the nose of my Viper re-sprayed a few years back, I took the bumper off, put it in the back of the car and left it at the paint shop for a few days. I'd recommend you do that with whoever you use, guarantees then there's no way of driving it and easier for the paint shop to handle. Also means you can leave it there longer for them to take their time.

[RT/10Dave]

Richard, if it's just stone chips my brother deals with a couple of very good mobile companies that would be able to sort it out at your house. Larger body work got to agree, it would probably be safer to remove the fascia and have it done independently of the car... Being left somewhere, the temptation for the sprayers would just be too great! (they had a problem with one company having a blat in a Civic Type-R)

MADMAX-UK, Welcome!... Hope you are enjoying Viper Ownership!

[MADMAX-UK]

Thanks for the warm welcome gents - much appreciated.
I'd better just quickly say what a pleasure it was to meet you all during the dyno day - sorry if I was a little distant - I blame it on the jet lag. I look forward to getting more involved with the group soon, now I've finally got my VCA membership paid for - not sure when they'll recognise it but I suppose time will sort that one out - can't wait to post my own Avatar.
As for my front bumper problem, maybe I'll think about leaving the car in the garage and send only the bumper to the spray shop - as you say 'it is one hell of temptation.'

Edited by MADMAX-UK on Thursday 6th December 20:51

[bigviper]

well its a little more than a rub down dave unfortinatley,she is just in need of a little tlc and there are odd small marks all over her thay are only very small marks but i'm a bit fussy ,i just know there there.baz would your bloke have room for thr car ,as he did do a spot on job of the cills ,just as long as he has plenty of gray primer and no spare yellow hangging around

[MADMAX-UK]

I need some work on the front facia stripes - poor spraying/fitting (or poor 3M film fitting) has resulted in damage to the edges of the stripes - it looks tatty.
I'll probably remove the bumper as Viper Larry suggests. I've had a quick look and to me it looks like 19 bolts and 9 of those 1" press-in plastic fasteners (you know, the sort that never quite look the same when re-used). Besides replacing the fasteners with new ones, is there anything else I need to know? I've searched the VCA website and nothing jumps out at me. The service manual also seems to be mysteriously lacking in the area.

[bigviper]

ask v1per he will let you know .he is known as DR BOB
or of course viper wizzard

[Viper Nigel]

The cars often have lots of shims to get the panel gaps right. Be careful when you undo the bolts as they will fall out without you knowing which came out of which fixing.

Don't try to re-use the Christmas tree fixings - buy new ones.

Baz has had a few of these off - he'll be able to show which bolts to remove. Some look like they need to be removed but don't!

Nigel

[A GTS]

You can remove the front bumper / nose by just a few bolts, look into the fascia and there's some 15mm bolt heads ( extream L + R )that bolt the fascia and its greeny coloured fiber glass support on. Getting those fir-tree fixings out is a pain in the *** ( especially behind the HL ) and takes too much time! There's the 8mm head wheel arch bolts and 11mm head underside bolts you'll have to remove. I would just take bumper in, not the car, if the body shop do it right, they will want to paint the panels off the car anyway!

[MADMAX-UK]

RESULT!!!
It's off - just hope I can get it back on one day so it look something like a Viper.
Sorry I didn't read the reply about the fiberglass blukhead bolts before I started - that might have made my job a little easier/quicker, although, I managed to borrow an xmas tree extractor tool which worked like a dream - even those 2 little suckers in front the head lights - just enough play in the fascia to ease it forward and wip them out.
Baz, I hear you know of a 'christmas tree' outlet? I need more than one during this years' festive cheer - how about 11 (that's eleven). I also need to replace one of the 8mm bolts which sheared off with rust. The captive nut doesn't look too sharp either with half a rusted bolt in-situ although I might be able to drill that out.

[V1PER]

You have mail

The nut sert can be replaced with the right tool..
I replaced all the bolts with SS ones i did button head allen bolts..
Baz

[bigviper]

its abit late now but TB2 went of for a bit of a face lift on wednesday to a
local bodyshop ,with good conections with one of my custermers so hopefully no
messing around, took all the little bits out the car ie MGW bits,never know might be a trophy hunter around,keep you posted