new paint for ron!

[Starbug]

No, I wasn't hurt.... although I sure wanted to hurt the driver for being negligent about his load! What happened was a cement truck pulled in front of me at an intersection (normally not a problem...), but he hadn't secured his load before leaving the job site (BIG problem!) so when his back end came around in front of me I got sprayed with wet cement and large rocks, and since he was leaving a large trail behind him I had to drive all through it. I was so PO'd that you have no idea, and so distraught because he was destroying my poor car and I couldn't get away from him, that I very nearly cried. There was nowhere to pass, no shoulder to dive on, and nowhere to turn off and detour around him, and since I was going to work my route was set (no alternative way to get there from where I was). So I had to follow him, and the speed limit was 55mph, so wet cement and large rocks continued spraying at extremely high speed all over my tercel for miles. He broke my windshield and front left turn signal, blasted my hood with millions of rock chips and dings, blasted the sides of my car with rock chips and dings, coated the underside of the car (since I had to drive through a thick layer of cement that covered my lane), and now my car wobbles strangely on the right front wheel when I drive. My commute is an hour long before I hit the nearest town with a car wash, so the cement was long dry by the time I got to work. No point in hitting the Brown Bear Car Wash now. I did the best I could to remove the cement when I got home that night, but I'm so afraid that I've now got cement in areas that will cause wear problems later. So yeah.... now poor Glenda Tercel needs a new paint job. I was originally going to just repaint her like stock, but after seeing your Ron in his new lime green with black stripe and the chip guard on the bottom, I liked it too much to not do it to Glenda.

I'm going to check out my local NAPA and Schucks/O'Reily and see what they have in stock for the truck bed liner stuff you mentioned. I'll look for the kind that comes in the two cans and costs a fortune. Do you know the brand name that your friend used? Did he paint the chip guard next to or on top of the green?

Yup, going stock blue will make it easier to paint since I like my dark metallic blue anyway. I'm just going to touch up the door jams as needed and not worry about them since they are actually in really good shape. My interior is actually various shades of gray with blue & white seats much like a flannel picnic blanket, which I think looks pretty cool.

Unfortunately since it's now cold and rainy and will also be snowy in a few months, I won't be able to do any of this until next summer since Glenda is my only winter driver and is the only one that's snow-capable. My other cars are summer performance cars w/out 4WD. So I have to wait. Any tips for doing the pin stripes on either side of your bigger gloss black stripe? And did you paint the green first, or the black stripe first?

[dlb]

funny you should ask about these things. i'll say right now that the trim pieces were the only parts i painted, and my pal painted the green, black, and chip guard. i was there for the whole thing but don't want to act like i know shit about painting. anyway, my friend painted the black first, let it set for a few days, taped it off, painted the green, let it sit for a few more days, taped it off and rolled on the chip guard. BUT, and this is very important, the day after he painted the chip guard we came back and it had bubbled up in random areas. some were fine, others were not. it was like the chip guard was trying to pull itself off of the car. we chipped it all off, down to the original paint and even down to the metal in some places, reapplied the chip guard, and it seemed to take. i asked a pro and he said that the bubbling was caused by the green paint "breathing" lacquer. the chip guard was air tight and trapped the lacquer, causing the bubbling. in hindsight, we should have waited a month before applying the chip guard. after having ron home for a few days i noticed a few small bubbles again and was pissed that it was happening again but decided to wait a month and see how it was then. within a week or so the chip guard settled back down and adhered to the paint so all is well there, thank christ.

for the pinstripes we just used 1/4" painters tape, i think it was. takes a long time and a careful eye to make sure the lines are all straight and equal on both sides of the car but it's obviously worth the time.

something i was initially bummed about was that the green paint settled as a sort of rubbery skin so when we pulled the tape off, it pulled at the green and made for rough edges. at first i was choked but it's actually pretty uniform and gives it a neat appearance. if we were to do it again, we would have done the green first and the black after because the black didn't have the same rubbery skin. must have been the clear coat and hardener in the green paint, i guess.

sorry, i don't know the brand name of the chip guard we used.

i really hope you got the cement truck's license plate. honestly, if i were you i would find out the company the truck belonged to (you could probably inquire at the job site if you don't have the license plate), contact them, tell them the story, and insist on them paying to have the cement removed, all the ball joints, bearings, cvs, exhaust--everything under the car--inspected and repaired as need be, and for repainting. it would not be much fun to do this but it would be even less fun to have to do it and/or pay for all of it yourself. and besides, people need to be held responsible for this kind of idiotic oversight. god knows the company has the money to pay for it, it's just a matter of asking nicely...then threatening legal action!

[Starbug]

Thanks so much for the tips. I think I'll follow your advice and paint the black stripe after the main body color, and I'll definitely let all the paint breathe for a month before applying the chip guard. Even though you didn't do the painting yourself and don't know much about it, you still have hindsight and you saw the process. That makes you more knowledgeable than me! A small detail just occurred to me... are your fender flairs done in gloss black or chip guard? God I can't wait to do this!

As for the cement truck, his entire back end was so covered in cement that you couldn't even see the license plate's shape, and his truck was unmarked as far as I could tell. I don't know where his job site is either; I've tried looking for it. I'm pretty much shit out of luck. Grrrr...

[dlb]

the fenders are chipguarded. we also did behind the rear bumper. i removed the rub strips and more or less followed the body line from the front fender to the line that runs along where the top of the rub strip was, over the rear fender, and around the back where the bumper sits. incidentally, to remove the rear bumper you just lift up the carpet in the back hatch area and pry out the 4 plastic covers. these each reveal a 19 mm bolt. remove them and the rear bumper just slides out. easy.

i can't believe your bad luck with that cement truck. oh well, all you can do is work through it. if it's that bad i would consider finding a new T4WD. you could always keep your current one for parts too, which is super useful. hopefully it doesn't come to that though.

[splatterdog]

Starbug- I know it's too late now but I would have called 911 and pulled that cement truck over(even with just a T4). There are laws about unsecured loads. Clearly they were out of line and public safety was compromised with plenty of evidence.

Had I been armed in your situation, that driver may not have ever done that again.

If you settle the score, don't tell us or anyone else.

[Petros]

People that drive heavy equipment that carelessly around here usually do not speak any English, nor have proper papers. Anyone driving a truck in that condition would loose his Commercial Drivers License, and have to find another line of employment. So the trucks are always in good condition, lic plate clear, and loads always secured.

[ARCHINSTL]

People that drive heavy equipment that carelessly around here usually do not speak any English,...

Day laborers from Canada?

Sorry - could not resist...
Tom M.

[dlb]

Day laborers from Canada?

Sorry - could not resist...
Tom M.

oooooohhhhhh tom! you're getting my easy-going and overly apologetic nature all fired up!

[83tqhoetercel]

hey good job on the paint job, ive been searching around on how to paint my tercel and i was wondering how you did it cause it looks real good pls reply

[Starbug]

the fenders are chipguarded. we also did behind the rear bumper. i removed the rub strips and more or less followed the body line from the front fender to the line that runs along where the top of the rub strip was, over the rear fender, and around the back where the bumper sits. incidentally, to remove the rear bumper you just lift up the carpet in the back hatch area and pry out the 4 plastic covers. these each reveal a 19 mm bolt. remove them and the rear bumper just slides out. easy.

i can't believe your bad luck with that cement truck. oh well, all you can do is work through it. if it's that bad i would consider finding a new T4WD. you could always keep your current one for parts too, which is super useful. hopefully it doesn't come to that though.

Oh wow, having never before had a reason to look, I had no idea the rear bumper came off that easy. Sweet. Definitely a good idea to chip guard back there too; I hadn't even thought of that.

I don't think I'll need to replace my current T4WD since everything that broke was a replaceable piece, and all the body damage can be pounded out or made smooth by sanding and repainting. I was lucky, in that respect. Anybody have some tips on replacing a windshield, though? Since these cars are so old, it's not like you can order a brand new windshield from the factory or something.... and since I've never before had to replace one, I'm not sure where to look.

Starbug- I know it's too late now but I would have called 911 and pulled that cement truck over(even with just a T4). There are laws about unsecured loads. Clearly they were out of line and public safety was compromised with plenty of evidence.

Had I been armed in your situation, that driver may not have ever done that again.

If you settle the score, don't tell us or anyone else.

Funny you should mention being armed.... If I'd been armed that day, bad things would have happened to that driver. If I ever catch him and I'm unarmed, I will at least ensure that he never breeds again... I wish I'd thought to call 911 and report the guy. Argh!

LOL, if there's ever a story on the news about a cement truck driver mysteriously disappearing, I swear it wasn't me.

[takza]

Look in the Yellow Pages? Some can even come to your house and put new glass in...but might need a new rubber gasket?

[Starbug]

That works for me. Might as well get a new rubber gasket while I'm at it, too. Thanks!

[terkill]

Very good quality paintjob, but if you don't need the scoop I wouldn't hack up that beautiful hood.

my filter stuck too far out of mine, required the damn thing. got some funny comments and drag race incidents and fun on the highway though.

I love the color too, fits the tercel style.. unique, badass, versatile and a big "f--- you" ... haha. The stripes remind me a little of the leatherneck edition that they released on miltary bases.


Very nice. and hell yeah 32/36.

I might be aquiring a new tercel this summer guys, by the way. Hopefully.

[dlb]

thanks terkill. as you know from my grilling, your terc was a big inspiration. another member is hooking me up with another hood so i'll save the green hood just in case and use the new hood for the scoop and just flat black it all. should look pretty rally.

looks like you got rid of the samurai, is there a story there?

[terkill]

Oh alright, I had two hoods too, just one had a lot of dents from being sat on and such. That's going to look sick then, I wanted the rally look real bad.


Yeah it had valve problems, fuel and carb issues and countless countless other small problems that just kept piling up.. Along with a crazy electronic setup.

Too uncomfortable of a ride too, I borked the suspension from too many large... jumps...

but such an amazing looking little thing. Too bad suzuki didn't put the quality that toyota did back then.