Twin Dorito Neato Cheeto Bandito!!! (56k-killer)

Rotary Supremacist · 02-18-2008, 04:36 PM

Seeing as there are no posts yet in the first gen section, I'll start it off by chronicling the "de-orangification" of my 85 GSL, "The Cheeto."

I met this car on Myspace. The owner had two of them that she absolutely had to get rid of ASAP because she was moving. She didn't want to have them hauled off so she decided to give them away to the first rotorhead that showed up. So me and a couple friends drove up to KY on Easter Sunday and picked up both cars. My choice was the 85 GSL. A previous owner at some point had painted this poor car bright orange. And not even a nice metallic orange... the kind of orange that you do circles around at an autocross. Even the radio surround and door panels were bright orange. I probably could have lived with it had they not painted it directly over the factory clearcoat with absolutely no prepwork. So naturally it was chipping off in a lot of places and you could see shiny Dover White underneath. So just for kicks I decided to try out some paint thinner on that coat of orange...

That single stage orange came right off. At least at first. It wasn't until I got past the hood and fenders that I started to realize I was in pretty deep. The paint looked great up front, but aft of the front fenders I started running into areas of bondo covered in non-matching spraypaint.

As you can see by the dates in the pictures, it took me a really long time to finish. I drove around for months in a car that was blotchy half-orange, half-white. Anyone from Knoxville knows the significance of such a awful color scheme. After many grueling hours, stained hands, a few gallons of paint thinner, and dozens of rolls of paper towels, I ended up with a car that was white, at least. It definitely needs a paint job in the worst way, but I still prefer this over the orange. I used a close matching spray paint to temporarily cover up a lot of the bondo.

I still have some orange in the door jambs and a few sneaky places like that. It blows my mind that someone would go so far as to remove panels and interior places and even get the door jambs, but not bother to properly sand and prime the car. But whatever. The Cheeto is still the Cheeto, only now in white cheddar.

Mighty Mouse · 02-21-2008, 05:08 PM

I wondered why everyone always called it the cheeto...ha- I had almost the exact same problem, but it was red...and not the nice red either- the car had originally been silver, and the previous stoned high school felon of an owner I bought it from had painted EVERYTHING red- all trim, inside everything went neon orange...it was rough. But it looks great in the pictures up there! good work!

HellBent · 02-23-2008, 02:45 PM

Well this is my wide body GSL-SE 71,508 org. miles.
Mariah kit. Slow work in progress this is RIGHT after i picked up the car from utter doom.

I save sevens!!

Rotary Supremacist · 02-23-2008, 11:12 PM

Red with neon orange, ouch. I'll take bad factory paint over badly done aftermarket paint any day.

Slow work in progress is right, Hellbent! You gonna have it on the road by DGRR?

one320fc · 02-27-2008, 08:12 PM

Hey Rotary did you do those door panels they look pretty sweet?

HellBent · 02-28-2008, 12:52 PM

Yeah Im going to TRY and have the wide body up and going by DGRR..*crosses fingers*

Rotary Supremacist · 02-29-2008, 04:09 PM

Thanks. Yeah, the doorpanels were done with spray paint. Cheap but hey, it worked. I actually used the badge on the door to make a rubbing, which I cut out and used as a stencil for the logo. Next time (whenever the car gets repainted) I'll probably just use a decal though.

What all is that widebody lacking to get it running Hellbent?

BadAzz84 · 04-13-2008, 10:00 PM

what kind of paint thinner did you use. I tried this on mine and mine didn't do dick. Someone painted right over the tender blue. Where its chipped the factory pain looks untouched and sweet. But i soaked a rag with paint thinner and rubbed the shit out of a area for 5 min and nothing!

Rotary Supremacist · 04-13-2008, 11:14 PM

Hmm... I used the standard lacquer thinner available by the gallon at Advanced Auto. Sounds like you might be dealing with some better paint or perhaps a clearcoat, which is much more resistant to chemicals. Not really sure what to recommend in your case, seeing as anything strong enough to remove that paint (aircraft remover or a similar paint stripper) will undoubtedly damage the paint underneath. Perhaps if you set a thinner soaked rag sit on it for about 10 minutes and then blast it with a pressure washer, it will begin to peel or chip off.

02-18-2008, 04:36 PM	#1
Rotary Supremacist The Newbie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Knoxville, TN iTrader: (0) Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Twin Dorito Neato Cheeto Bandito!!! (56k-killer) Seeing as there are no posts yet in the first gen section, I'll start it off by chronicling the "de-orangification" of my 85 GSL, "The Cheeto." I met this car on Myspace. The owner had two of them that she absolutely had to get rid of ASAP because she was moving. She didn't want to have them hauled off so she decided to give them away to the first rotorhead that showed up. So me and a couple friends drove up to KY on Easter Sunday and picked up both cars. My choice was the 85 GSL. A previous owner at some point had painted this poor car bright orange. And not even a nice metallic orange... the kind of orange that you do circles around at an autocross. Even the radio surround and door panels were bright orange. I probably could have lived with it had they not painted it directly over the factory clearcoat with absolutely no prepwork. So naturally it was chipping off in a lot of places and you could see shiny Dover White underneath. So just for kicks I decided to try out some paint thinner on that coat of orange... That single stage orange came right off. At least at first. It wasn't until I got past the hood and fenders that I started to realize I was in pretty deep. The paint looked great up front, but aft of the front fenders I started running into areas of bondo covered in non-matching spraypaint. As you can see by the dates in the pictures, it took me a really long time to finish. I drove around for months in a car that was blotchy half-orange, half-white. Anyone from Knoxville knows the significance of such a awful color scheme. After many grueling hours, stained hands, a few gallons of paint thinner, and dozens of rolls of paper towels, I ended up with a car that was white, at least. It definitely needs a paint job in the worst way, but I still prefer this over the orange. I used a close matching spray paint to temporarily cover up a lot of the bondo. I still have some orange in the door jambs and a few sneaky places like that. It blows my mind that someone would go so far as to remove panels and interior places and even get the door jambs, but not bother to properly sand and prime the car. But whatever. The Cheeto is still the Cheeto, only now in white cheddar.

02-21-2008, 05:08 PM	#2
Mighty Mouse The Newbie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Schoolin it up in Cleveland, TN iTrader: (0) Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	I wondered why everyone always called it the cheeto...ha- I had almost the exact same problem, but it was red...and not the nice red either- the car had originally been silver, and the previous stoned high school felon of an owner I bought it from had painted EVERYTHING red- all trim, inside everything went neon orange...it was rough. But it looks great in the pictures up there! good work! __________________ The Dude Abides.

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02-23-2008, 02:45 PM	#3
HellBent Evil and Proud Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Maryville TN, 10 mins from the DRAGON iTrader: (0) Posts: 81 Rep Power: 17	Well this is my wide body GSL-SE 71,508 org. miles. Mariah kit. Slow work in progress this is RIGHT after i picked up the car from utter doom. I save sevens!!

02-23-2008, 11:12 PM	#4
Rotary Supremacist The Newbie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Knoxville, TN iTrader: (0) Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Red with neon orange, ouch. I'll take bad factory paint over badly done aftermarket paint any day. Slow work in progress is right, Hellbent! You gonna have it on the road by DGRR?

02-27-2008, 08:12 PM	#5
one320fc one Apex @ a time Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Culpeper VA iTrader: (1) Posts: 272 Rep Power: 17	Hey Rotary did you do those door panels they look pretty sweet?

02-28-2008, 12:52 PM	#6
HellBent Evil and Proud Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Maryville TN, 10 mins from the DRAGON iTrader: (0) Posts: 81 Rep Power: 17	Yeah Im going to TRY and have the wide body up and going by DGRR..crosses fingers

02-29-2008, 04:09 PM	#7
Rotary Supremacist The Newbie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Knoxville, TN iTrader: (0) Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Thanks. Yeah, the doorpanels were done with spray paint. Cheap but hey, it worked. I actually used the badge on the door to make a rubbing, which I cut out and used as a stencil for the logo. Next time (whenever the car gets repainted) I'll probably just use a decal though. What all is that widebody lacking to get it running Hellbent?

04-13-2008, 10:00 PM	#8
BadAzz84 The Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 iTrader: (0) Posts: 27 Rep Power: 0	what kind of paint thinner did you use. I tried this on mine and mine didn't do dick. Someone painted right over the tender blue. Where its chipped the factory pain looks untouched and sweet. But i soaked a rag with paint thinner and rubbed the shit out of a area for 5 min and nothing!

04-13-2008, 11:14 PM	#9
Rotary Supremacist The Newbie Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Knoxville, TN iTrader: (0) Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Hmm... I used the standard lacquer thinner available by the gallon at Advanced Auto. Sounds like you might be dealing with some better paint or perhaps a clearcoat, which is much more resistant to chemicals. Not really sure what to recommend in your case, seeing as anything strong enough to remove that paint (aircraft remover or a similar paint stripper) will undoubtedly damage the paint underneath. Perhaps if you set a thinner soaked rag sit on it for about 10 minutes and then blast it with a pressure washer, it will begin to peel or chip off.