65imp's TVR build

[65imp]

That toyota nautical blue and the audi pearl are very nice in person. Those have my vote! 
Good luck with your search, Im still choosing my color and I only have a little time left before paint!

Finally saw the audi pearl on an actual car.  Most of the new Audi's are Nagano blue which is close, but more of a metallic.  The Estoril blue is only available on S models this year (and maybe some RS models).  Last year it was a special order option that added substantial cost to the vehicle.  Of the 3 dealerships within 20 miles only 1 car was Estoril in the last month!  No metal flake, great pearl effect.  It is gonna be the winner. 

^   That is the main reason I didn't paint my car satin black.   I hear upkeep SUCKS and you can't polish out defects.

Yep, from all the professionals I have spoken to I get the same impression.  I may do a quickie satin rustoleum job on my 59 caddy until I get redy for a pro job.  But if I am paying it will be smooth for now. 

Interesting twist.

You could paint it your blue of choice and wrap the car with matte finish Xpel ultimate. I cant link you since im one my phone, but the stuff is pretty awesome. Would keep the paint from any scratches chips or fading as well.

Pricey, but in the long run could be very much worh the investment. 10 years later you will still have a brand new paint job.

I like what I see with the xpel ultimate and the high end wrap jobs, BUT not all is peaches and cream.  I HATE that there are the folded over edges on the marins of the exterior panels.  I know no one else can see them, but I CAN and if it is my car then that feels like a cop out.  Kinda like wearing a T-shirt that says you have a running car, and being 65imp ( )
Also like you said the cost is high, and you need someone with skills to install.  At that point, just go with paint.  Unless you bought a new(er) car and wanted a color change, then maybe...

Literally I spent an hour and a half of my life going through each page of this build and was crushed the last two pages was picking out paint selections. lol Throw us a bone here and cruise around the block or something. lol

I know you wasted an hour and a half and feel disappointed.   
Guess what.  I have wasted more like 6 years on this M#th@-Fuck@! 
 Sorry to give ya blue balls and all.   I've got a couple hundred feet on  it, but it is not registered because that is a retarded cost once smog is considered here in CA.  Add to that the costs of insurance, and the time the car will spend in paint jail...   
I'll get to drive it sooner or later, and with my luck stack it into a Bridge embuttment within 30 min...
there will be video.  And hopefully flames

I had a couple of blue recommendations but then I saw that House of Kolor bike and said DAMN!!  That's the color, end of story.  If not satin wrap.  I've heard the satin paint is a pain in the ass on upkeep.

The HOK stuff is quite custom.  you got to imagine the color is a tint in the clear coat, most of those pictures are over various types of silver.  It can look great, or not so great based on the angle, and the base coat, and the guy spraying, and on and on....
For a show car I will be using there stuff, but I don't need more excuses not to drive this thing.

This would be pretty awesome.

A lot of the brighter blues look great with a satin finish.  It especially looks good with faceted body lines.  They make it look more intentional to be semi-gloss, rather than just not washed...

how about a non permanent satin clear?

I like this thought a lot.  It may be a way for me to get that look with thecolor I know I like.  I will try to get a test panel shot when they spray my car, then I can try out a satin clear semi-perm as a project in the future. 
Thanks Jacklin

[NOROTOR]

I just watched a few of the Plasti Dip videos. I think it would be a great way to change things up. I might try this on my truck.

[gnx7]

Alright..... been 3 months since an update!

[frijolee]

It's been at the body shop.  There's work involved in making panels fit perfectly.  99 spec bumper, fenders, flush headlights (specifically the edges around them), carbon doors, carbon hatch....   They're all made by different folks and require a variety of love (and $$ and time) to make look good. 

Mike, did you go back to an OEM hood?  You've been through so many configurations trying to nail this that I actually can't remember on that one.

[65imp]

Joel beat me to it.  Car is in paint jail.   

Shop has been having fun sanding down all these composite parts to level the surface from gap to gap, then make the gaps nice and even. 
They even asked about what kinda wax is on the rear panels - since it was clogging up their paper.     All that partall paste wax for mold release I guess is not fun for the body guys to deal with. 

Old seibon rear carbon hatch came off, the lightweight one from gnx7 is on, and being ground down/built up for optimum fitment.  The rear bumper is off, and had a split in the urethane that needed repair.  In front I am going from the plateless 99 spec replica bumper that was on there to an authentic 99 spec bumper with the plate shaved.  The shop already did this work, and it looks great.  I plan to initially run a CF hood(painted), but will also have a OEM one painted when they spray, so I have options as time goes on.  Front fenders are carbon Ronin widebody, but those initial molds leave a imperfect final product.  Rear fenders are good, but for the wax that needs to be stripped, and final prep.  I gotta head over there later to drop off headlight covers, and pick up some of the parts they have taken off.  I will try to take some work in progress pix. 

[Bigblockquad]

Flush headlights..........Do tell.

[65imp]

Here's the status as of yesterday:

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As you can see it generally looks like regression before the improvement we will see after paint.  I considered removing the rear bumper aluminum to drill out for weight reduction, but it does remove weight where I will need it most (rear) and I imagine I would be hard pressed to get more than a pound out of it.  I'll get some weight out of other areas first. 

Rich - the headlights are a combination of Rotary extreme's buckets, brackets, and lights (replicas of RE-Amemiya's kit), and some custom domed polycarb panels a guy on the club made years ago when other guys said he could not.  I bond them together with 3M clear bra, so I don't get the black outline on the lens that would generally hide the adhesive. 

I considered making a custom headlight setup, but in the end came to the same conclusion that LaBreck did.  Anything short of an injection molded modern optical setup will have notable inherent issues.  The tooling cost to do it right outweighs what sane people would pay.   

[Mik3ymomo]

Indigo night or Ferarri Tour blue.
I know you picked the color but to me the Audi color seems to have too much bite for me.
Would def want to pic a color I won't get sick of. But I'm somewhat conservative with paint.

Paint is so subjective and its hard to tell from that pic. If you have seen the color in person that's the best way.

Obviously go with what you like. Everyone's opinion be damned. You did an awesome job and did the community a great service documenting everything. Which making a long and tiring build even longer and more laborious.

I feel like I am cheating as I came in late to these build threads and read them straight through. Its like watching the whole "Lost" TV series on DVD instead of watching week by week.

Congrats and can't wait to see it out of paint shop.

[frogslife2]

..... its still to early to talk about "Lost"..... what a letdown

[65imp]

Got this in a text from the paint shop yesterday:

[turbo-civic-si]

Great craftsmanship 

[tai-lun]

Looks like you and I are in the same boat with our body shops heh, can't wait to see how it looks all painted!

[65imp]

Whole car is final blocked, and ready for paint this evening.   
Don't know if I will be able to see it till next monday.   

[Simronrx7]

hope to see some updates today!!

[digitalsolo]

Can't wait to see this thing all shined up.