As some of you may already know I was on the fence as to keeping our 93SE. Well in the end I decided to hang on to it a while longer. I needed to carefully evaluate the decision about preserving or restoring it.
Because the car had 90% of it's original paint it was a tough decision to respray areas that weren't in too bad of shape. For example the bumpers and front chin spoiler had some serious scuffs, the rocker panel and wiper arms needed the black finish restored, the body side moldings were completely dull and chalky. These were no-brainers.
Unfortunately the mirrors had taken a beating over the years an in one case the left side was replaced with a used model that didn't work very smoothly. Also the paint had chipped on the other one due to a garage door mishap. All the wheels had been curbed more than I can remember and had already been planed down several times.
So in the end having just turned 129K I decided to go for it since the car has plenty of life left in it. I found NOS mirrors and wheels and threw on a new set of Michelin Premier A/S tires on and had the above mentioned items resprayed. The biggest disappointment was the hood and trunk lid as the clearcoat was failing. Interestingly the roof and spoiler held up fine.
I found a highly rated body shop on Yelp that specializes in custom paintwork and had it all taken care of. Overall I'm pleased with the results but wonder how much I may have diminished the value since the repairs had reduced the original paint to about 60%.
Since I'm in it this far I plan to bring the drivers seat in for re-upholstery work and have some worn panels replaced.
Because the car had 90% of it's original paint it was a tough decision to respray areas that weren't in too bad of shape. For example the bumpers and front chin spoiler had some serious scuffs, the rocker panel and wiper arms needed the black finish restored, the body side moldings were completely dull and chalky. These were no-brainers.
Unfortunately the mirrors had taken a beating over the years an in one case the left side was replaced with a used model that didn't work very smoothly. Also the paint had chipped on the other one due to a garage door mishap. All the wheels had been curbed more than I can remember and had already been planed down several times.
So in the end having just turned 129K I decided to go for it since the car has plenty of life left in it. I found NOS mirrors and wheels and threw on a new set of Michelin Premier A/S tires on and had the above mentioned items resprayed. The biggest disappointment was the hood and trunk lid as the clearcoat was failing. Interestingly the roof and spoiler held up fine.
I found a highly rated body shop on Yelp that specializes in custom paintwork and had it all taken care of. Overall I'm pleased with the results but wonder how much I may have diminished the value since the repairs had reduced the original paint to about 60%.
Since I'm in it this far I plan to bring the drivers seat in for re-upholstery work and have some worn panels replaced.
Are those the original rubber trims around the foglights?
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