Painting is history...

At last, all that needs to be painted have been painted. The mags and wheelwells were sprayed yesterday so that formally finishes off the painting stage of Sergio's restoration. I am sure that there will be some retouchings to be made (I have already noticed two small areas which need adjustment) but they will not be anything major at all.

The wheelwells, hubs, brake calipers, suspension, and other underbody components now look very fresh.  The biggest change was in the magwheels as they were not in the best condition when I got the car.  Aside from the repair I had done on the first day, I have not really bothered to even thoroughly clean them up since it was part of the plan from the beginning to have them repainted.  As can be seen from the photos, the front and back sides have been given the royal treatment and are a great contrast to how they were just a couple of days ago.

The hood has been buffed and both front and rear bumpers are now attached.

The whole thing is starting to look like a car again...

Done what I can...

Since most of the refurbished interior parts are back with me, I have been adding my own improvements to the work done on them.  That's not saying they are bad, just my share of input as to how I think they can look their best.  For instance, the door siding material is totally new but the door handles and latches are the old original ones.  I am keeping them because they are very expensive to replace and even if I wanted to, are actually hard to find.  It would be fair to assume that they are the same age as the car and therefore showing signs of wear.  The color is faded and the foam rubber inner lining is getting separated from its plastic frame resulting in a splayed fit.  Using my ever trusty Forever Black dye, I was able to bring back the proper blackness to the handles and latches.  However, restoring the shape proved to be a more difficult task.  In the end, a few lengths of string and super glue did the trick.  I spread the glue inside the handle (between the foam and plastic frame) then tied the ends together using the string to maintain pressure on the bond.  Checking on the result after about an hour, I was happy to see that there was a dramatic change as to how the handle now fits more snugly to its slot.

Before:

After:

I also redyed the front seat frames to restore their color.  This was especially applicable to the seatbacks, adjustment levers and knobs.  It would not be comensurate to have the plastic bits look faded while the seat fabric is brand new. 

The front ashtray was another problem spot.  Although the ashtray itself was in good shape, it seemed that a previous owner was a smoker which made the inside full of burn marks from stubbed cigarettes.  From my perspective, it still had a disgusting look even after a thorough scrubbing.  I found out I could dismantle the front cover from the tray so I decided to sand it down and then repaint from grey to black.  After polishing the chrome trim, the whole thing looked good as new.

With these and some other smaller jobs completed, I feel I have done all I can for the meantime.  Any subsequent tasks requires having the car already on hand.  Which brings up the latest status check. 

Those with a keen eye will notice that both front fenders are now buffed.  The hood is still being worked on but should be done shortly.  Just before I left, they started jacking up the car in order to prepare for painting both the mags and wheelwells.  They are the last major painting tasks left.

I have been told that reassembly may begin soon...

Car painting 101...

I have been asked by some who have seen the car, about the seemingly disorganized process of undergoing a repaint.  The other day, a couple of them even commented that with the car looking like it does now, its about time that spraying begin.  They did not realize that the paint has already been applied.

For the benefit of those who have no idea of what takes place, let me try to present the process in as understandable a way as possible.  In layman's terms so to speak.  By the way, I also consider myself a layman in this field as my experience is limited to what I have seen being done to other cars in the past.  In watching the different steps undergone by Sergio, I am filling in a large number of gaps in my own knowledge pool. 

The way I see it, most of the confusion arises from the notion of most people that painting a car is the same as painting a wall.  Choose a color, mix the paint, brush or spray it on, wait for it to dry, and that's it.  WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get.  Unfortunately, car painting is not as straightforward.  Because the demands are more stringent, there are a lot more variables which come into play.  The two most obvious requirements are that the finish be smooth and that it have the ability to maintain its gloss.  I have no desire to delve into the technicalities but through the following pictures, I hope it will be easy to see how this is achieved.  A number of previous posts have shown the preparation and spraying stages so I will not go into those either and instead just concentrate on how to get to the end result.

When I saw the car earlier today, the hood and both front fenders were just being attached and this presented a great opportunity to see the three basic stages of paint treatment.  Notice from the picture below that the hood, fender, and doors all look different although they have actually been sprayed with the same paint.

The hood represents the first stage wherein the paint has been sprayed on and dried.  While it may seem shiny enough, a closer look reveals as the next picture shows, that the surface is very uneven; a result of airborne contaminants and the inevitable excess paint runoff.  There will even be a few stuck insects somewhere. 

The surprise here is that (and contrary to what normal intuition would dictate), to remove these surface imperfections, the paint has to be sandpapered down which also results in removing the gloss.  The fender shows how it ends up after being sanded and it would seem like everything is back to where we started from: faded and dull paint. 

To restore the shine, the sanded surface is then buffed using a very fine grit compound and after a couple of passes becomes more indicative of the paint's final finish as seen on the doors below.

The secret is in the sanding process.  It is done by starting from a rougher grit and eventually progressing to a very fine one.  The rough grit removes what should not be there and going on to smaller and finer grits polishes the surface.  Of course, this is all easier said than done.  I maintain that painting is more art than science and even if I am now more aware of the process, it does not mean I will dare venture any small retouchings myself should the need come up.

Best leave it to the professionals...

The shine is coming through...

Most of the parts that I left behind for refurbishment at the auto interior shop have been done.  I took home a number of them for the reassembly phase since they're either needed to operate the car safely, get access to the various operational functions, or to contrast the results of the work with the desired overall look.  I have both front seats so that if I need to do a test drive with one of the mechanics, it will be safe to do so.  The whole center console is ready so that the a/t shifter, speed selector, and aircon ducts can be attached as well as the electronics for the power windows and lighter.  I need the sidings for opening the doors.  The grey fabric accent on them has been replaced and the whole section reinforced by bolting the trim to the frame.  It was previously just glued together, making it prone to becoming detached over time.  Generally, I'm quite happy with the results but the final determinant will be when everything is in place.  I had thought that taking apart everything was hard enough, but now I realize that reassembly is an even greater logistical nightmare because there is little room for error.  Once everything is back in place, it will not be easy (or cheap) to rectify mistakes.

The first of four stages of the final paint buffing was done today.  Because the car was still dirty and sprinkled with dust from the compound being used, I did not realize at first that the left side was already finished until I happened to get a closer look and then saw that beneath the dust, the shine was already out.

I stayed to watch the right side being worked on.

And the result was this:

Running my fingers through the surface, I could feel that there was still some roughness in the paint which will need to be buffed out.  This is not unusual as each additional buffing will continue to remove any surface imperfections and deepen the shine further.  Even at this early stage, it seems the workmanship has been better than I expected...

A hint of what's to come...

                                   

Today's check resulted in me finding out that painting of the engine bay has been completed.  As shown in the pictures above, the engine block, hoses, and numerous other components were still wrapped up in newspapers to protect against overspray.  I had requested that the original stickers be preserved if possible, and this was done in a way which exceeded my expectations.  Now that some of them have been cleaned up, they are actually looking better than they did when I brought the car into the shop.  Most of these stickers are in Japanese but they do lend to the car's authenticity since Sergio was first sold in Japan then subsequently exported to the Philippines.

There may be a few questions raised about this point; first of which is that Japan uses a right-hand drive traffic system and the Philippine government bans the importation of right-hand drive cars. Japan's locally-produced cars are indeed RHD but, strangely enough, their government does allow the import and use of left-hand drive cars.  In fact, LHDs are considered to be the ultimate automotive status symbol because of their higher cost, as would always be the case whenever a premium is applied.  Inspite of this premium, a visit to any major city will reveal a huge number of American and European LHD cars on the road.  I remember all this information from a long-ago trip to Tokyo in which I was hosted by my Filipino expat friend driving a LHD Mercedes Benz.

In due course, most of these imports (and local cars as well) will be discarded because of the very high cost of maintenance in Japan.  Those which are no longer roadworthy will be sold off for parts while those still in running condition get exported, at a discount, to other countries.  This makes perfect sense in the Phillipines where the cost of labor is cheap and as long as the problems are manageable, it is not too difficult to get a car back to pristine condition.  What I am doing with Sergio is simply not economically viable in Japan or any other first-world country.

Which brings us to the even more important question about imports and this pertains to the legality of documents and tax payments.  Right off the bat, let me point out that I am neither a lawyer nor tax accountant, so this is not intended to be considered as definitive legal advice.  The information I have gathered is from people with expertise and experience in the field and also through my personal research and understanding of the regulations.

Its common knowledge that there are a lot of cars running around with doubtful documentation.  The large majority of problems arises from the underpayment of taxes rather than outright illegal importation.  In my searches, I have come across some units worth well into seven figures with taxes paid at only a few tens of thousands.  There are also those which have had numerous owners yet the documents show no transfers of ownership at all (the blank Deed of Sale phenomena).  In all likelihood, this is because of questions which can be raised during the change of ownership process, in effect making the car non-transferrable. 

As a general rule, stick to cars which are in the name of the current owner and those which have complete documentation, the most important of which is the Certificate of Tax Payment (CP) from the Bureau of Customs (BOC).  Unlike locally purchased vehicles, a copy of the CP must always be carried in an imported car together with the usual OR/CR.  The CP should show an amount of tax paid which corresponds to the value of the car; although this is never easy for the ordinary buyer to determine due to a sliding depreciation scale imposed by the BOC.  Because the basis of valuation are internationally accepted sources such as Kelley Blue Book, the age of the car upon entering the Philippines plays a big role in the computation of taxes.  In other words, a 1992 model which came in '06 will have a lower amount of tax in the CP versus one imported in '96, as a result of the additional 10 years of depreciation.  But using my earlier example, a token tax payment for a car worth millions should immediately raise a red flag.  By the way, there is a common, but mistaken, notion that the tax is based on the selling price of the car.  Tax is based on the depreciated value, which is fixed at the time of entry, and not market value, which is by nature arbitrary.  The market price of any car is determined by supply and demand and includes all taxes, if properly paid.  Problems arise when it is discovered later on that there was a shortfall because of underdeclarations or misrepresentations.  If a car interests you enough but involves arrangements which are out of the ordinary, ask for a copy of the relevant documents and do your research by visiting the LTO branch where the car is registered or the BOC in Port Area.  Be aware though that most owners will hesitate in handing out documents for the sake of their own security and understandably so.  Don't be greedy by jumping in without a closer look because of a below-market price.  Its that way for a reason.  When in doubt, let common sense be your guide.

The Highway Patrol Group is tasked with going after such kind of vehicles.  It is easy for them to distinguish between local and imported cars because of the first letter of the plate number.  They lurk in most of the main roads and if you get stopped, the complete papers have to be presented.  There should be no problems if the documents are in order, but if not, they have authority to impound the vehicle immediately.  If you do get stuck with a car like this, the good thing is that all is not yet lost.  Applying for a tax amnesty is possible and subsequently paying the correct amount will set things right. Most who took "shortcuts" refuse to do this, preferring to just take their chances on the road, because the tax plus compounded penalties can be more than what the car is worth now. This is particularly true for older models.  Others like the prestige which goes with ownership but refuse to pay for the corresponding obligation.  Problems which could have been avoided from the start become worse because of this kind of short-sightedness.  To find out if there is any deficiency, the BOC can verify if the amount paid in the CP is correct and they will provide a certificate, if so.   

Not all problems arise from the fault of importers.  Constantly changing government regulations and the spread of rumours regarding what is or is not allowed adds to the confusion too.

In the case of Sergio, I believe I have properly done my due diligence.  The documents from the time the car left Japan to the the time it arrived in the Phillipines are in my hands, including the original BOC gate release markings.  It is not absolutely necessary to have these but it adds to the layer of legitmacy in tracing the history of the transaction.  I can even go so far as to say which city it came from (Yokohama) as well as the two other vehicles it was shipped with (a Mercedes Benz sedan and a Toyota van).  The worksheet showing how the tax was computed is also with me.  Above all, I have a CP showing the amount of tax which accurately corresponds to the import value and the icing on the cake is a BOC verification that the tax is fully paid.  I did not encounter any problems during the transfer of ownership and as I mentioned in an earlier post, the registration is already in my name.  One of the things which really stood out during the acquisition of Sergio was this level of complete documentation which I did not see in the others I was considering.  It seems that the previous owner who did the importation was just as fastidious in making sure that everything was above board.

With all the things that can go wrong in acquiring an import, the final question then would be: is it worth it?  IMHO, yes.  Bear in mind that there was no local BMW dealer network until the mid-'90s and almost all prior BMWs were imports.  The biggest incentive of all, is that they will still be cheaper because of all the accumulated depreciation coming in as a used car. But just like anything else in life, it becomes a matter of judging risk versus reward. I understand that there is now a ban on the importation of second-hand BMWs upon the insistence of the local BMW authorized distributor.  I think this says enough about the advantage of going this route.  I will add that I did not set out with a goal of landing an import but it turned out that way because almost all of the older models in the market at the time were such.

Back to the topic at hand.  I had requested the paint shop to buff a small portion of the car body in order to sample how the final finish will be.  What I saw was this:

While it may not be so clear in the picture, the buffed area of the rear right fender generated a deep shine. I am very impressed with the result...

Rubdown...

After my massage therapy session earlier in the afternoon, I drove the short distance to the paint shop for yet another status check on Sergio and I saw a similar task getting done on him.  He was getting a good body rubbing although in his case, it was with sand paper and water instead of oil.  This wet-sanding should be the last step before restoring the car's final surface finish via a rubdown.  Part of what wet-sanding achieves is to remove the extra blobs and drippings of paint which occur during spraying, in addition to any other accumulated surface imperfections.  It then becomes a matter of bringing out the shine through fine grit rubbing compound.

One of my observations was that the color has now taken on a darker tone, much closer to the original than when first sprayed.  My initial impression of the paint was that the shade was more obviously blue than the blue-black I was expecting.  This can be seen from the picture above: the color before wet-sanding is the shiny blue strip in the middle / the original factory shade is the area above where the sticker is posted / and the bottom-most part shows the result after wet-sanding.  Not that the new color turned out bad, but in keeping with the goal of sticking to the original, it was a noticeable variation.  The master painter reassured me that this will change as the work progresses and true enough, I no longer doubt that it will be the case.  I really have to reinforce the notion that painting is more art than science.  A reasonably mechanically inclined person with basic tools and a repair manual on hand can do spark plug changes and the like, as these are standardized procedures.  But painting requires judgement and experience which no amount of theoretical knowledge will compensate for.

Now for the bad news.  It seems that I had been overly optimistic in my estimate of having the car back by the middle of the month.  In the excitement of seeing the body almost finished,  I totally forgot that the engine compartment, wheelwells, and a few other tedious spots will also be repainted.  I only realized this today because the engine bay was being cleaned of all the oil and dirt in preparation for spraying.  The wheelwells have not even been touched so far but this should be a relatively easy phase to complete.  The tedious part will be small nooks and crannies to be attended to like the magwheels, grilles, bumpers, mouldings and even the wiper arms among others.  So which points to everything being done by the end of the month instead.

I hope...

Inside, outside...

Things are speeding up. As more and more portions of the work get done, it becomes harder for me to present a detailed description of events. Today alone, saw a number of major items completed on both the interior and exterior.  Perhaps pictures can tell the story better.  For a better reference to what I am writing about, I am first posting a couple of pictures of the interior taken when the car was delivered to me.

The seats were a grey velour with a striped grey accent running down the middle. There were a few small tears in the fabric at various spots although they were not very noticeable. The bigger problem I had with it was because I felt this grey-on-grey scheme was too dull for my liking. At first, I was thinking of just having custom seat covers made but eventually went for a total reupholstery job. A number of other interior components needed a makeover too and letting the seats stay as is would unbalance the result.

Among those which needed a makeover was the center console. Like the automatic shifter cover, the color has faded over time and turned shiny. Bottom line was, I wanted to bring back the matte finish to the fittings and change into a predominantly black interior scheme.

The morning was devoted to checking on what has been finished by Seatmate, the auto interior shop in Mandaluyong. I found out when I arrived that:

                          
-reupholstery was finished but I am only taking the driver's seat for now as I do not want to risk unnecessary dirt or damage from the paint shop. In any case, I will need to have this to take the car home. The rest will be installed when I return with Sergio for further interior work.

-the center console was already resprayed with a flat black vinyl paint. I am impressed at how it came out even if the effect may not be very obvious in the picture. This is only the front half of the console and once both halves are put together, I think the change will be significant. For comparison, take note that the center pad has not yet been retouched and hence shows the previous condition of the console.  Its color has turned towards a brownish shade of black and a glossy finish.

Aside from the rest of the seats, I am leaving behind the door sidings, rear deck cover, rear console, rubber trim, and a few other smaller items.  There would be no point in storing them in the less than ideal conditions of the paint shop ceiling.

After attending to other errands, another late afternoon run to the paint shop was made.  The master painter informed me that:

-the inner walls, fenders and...

-the last panels of the exterior have been painted.

Buffing and finishing begins soon...

In plain sight...

Over the weekend, I was dropping by the paint shop for various errands like picking up parts, giving instructions, and checking the results. Now that we are nearing the final phase of painting, I have to coordinate with the upholsterer, parts suppliers, mechanics, and paint shop to make sure that flow of materials go hand-in-hand with the various stages of completion. I expect that painting will be completed by the end of this week with reassembly starting shortly after. Hopefully, I can take the car home by mid-month.

On one of those sorties, I got a chance to see Sergio's inner workings. The front assembly and both fenders had been taken down to clean and prep the inner walls for painting. This gave me a chance to do a very thorough visual check for signs of accident damage which could have been hidden with simple surface repairs.

I was very pleased not see any as there were no missing, bent, or deformed components. This observation was further confirmed by the shop's body repair specialist. He said that the only difficulty he had in removing the panels was from a bolt underneath which had a rounded head, most likely worn down from scraping humps. Otherwise, this should be the final undisputed evidence that Sergio has not been involved in any accident. I had already examined the rear end when the tailights were removed and that showed no signs of an accident either.

Then late this afternoon, another quick visit resulted in me seeing the topcoat being sprayed. It was a great feeling to see the shine start to appear. But the booth was heavy with paint mist and for my own sake, I had no intention of going beyond the plastic curtain separating it from the rest of the shop.  The pictures were taken through some small gaps and in doing so, I realized that the painter was in there with only a cloth bandana for protection.  In the course of earning a daily wage, I pray that he will not suffer any lasting damage to his health.

Tomorrow, the furniture comes in... 

Thought it was beyond me...

One of my personal issues when I got Sergio was that the knobs, switches, buttons, and other interior fittings were either dirty or just simply showing signs of their age.  Before the painting, I managed to clean up most of them but a big eyesore remained.  The automatic shifter indicator base was faded and no amount of cleansing could rectify this.  How it looked is best described by the picture below:

It can be clearly seen that the black parts had faded into some sort of dark gray and the rubber cover had layers of dust in between the grooved design.  Washing or wiping off the dust is the easy part, but what to do with the faded lettering and bringing back the color?  Painting with an off-the-shelf spray can is always an option but doing it that way presented a problem in itself because of the textured finish of the plastic surface.  The paint would smoothen it out and once done, cannot be undone.

On a visit to the US last year, I came across a product called Forever Black which is used, as the name implies, to restore the black to a car's plastic, vinyl, or rubber surfaces.  There are two unique things about it.  First is that its permanent, unlike other products which last a few days to a few weeks at most; and the second is that it is a dye rather than a paint.  Being a dye, the consistency is much thinner than paint and application is the same as using liquid shoe polish.  In fact, it comes in a container very much like liquid shoe polish.  The thin consistency preserves whatever surface finish is present despite repeated applications. Its a little bit pricey but I have seen its effectiveness when I used it to restore the black bumper trim on Winny.  After 6 months and counting, the dyed rubber still looks good as new.  This is how the shifter cover turned out:

There's no argument that the change is significant, but my only problem now is that the dye has also covered the lettering.  I knew this was going to happen but still proceeded because I thought the overall result would outweigh the consequence.  In the meantime, I was wracking my brain in thinking of how to bring back the white letters.  I had thought of having stickers printed or having a plastic strip fabricated with the letters already on, but they will surely detract from the original look.  It also crossed my mind to bring it to a sign maker who would have the skill to trace paint the letters. 

In the end, I decided to do it myself.  The risk-taker in me thought that I had little to lose since if it did not turn out to my satisfaction, I could just re-dye the whole thing and then move on to the next possibility.  I bought a white permanent paint pen (a dangerous weapon in somebody with shaky hands) and just gave it a go.  As expected the first coating was very uneven but after another few coats, the letters were starting to look good.  Gaining confidence, I continued to outline the borders as close as possible to their edge and it helped that the letters were actually raised from the surface.  However, there is no way to overcome an unsteady right hand so an increasing number spillovers came up and ruined the effect.  I was about to give up when it hit me to try scraping off the excess.  Because there was a thicker layer of paint in the intended areas, I thought that if I could somehow find a way to cut off whatever should not be there, then problem solved.  A small tool with a sharp edge should do the trick and for this my miniature screwdriver for eyeglasses was perfect.  Using gentle pressure, I was able to outline what needed to be removed and the task was made easier as the paint and dye did not bond together as closely as would have paint with paint.  Unveiling the result to the world:

Among all the things I have worked on, this by far has given me the greatest satisfaction simply because it was something I have never ever done before and thought it was beyond my abilities, large as they may seem :).  To have it come out the way it did was a just tremendous personal accomplishment.

Professionals need not worry for now...