Hi all. I’m Philippe, I posted a lot usually asking for help to problems I’m having with my car. While doing that I also searched for solutions and in turn found ideas. So I thought I’d share my car’s progress thus far. I’m planning on doing DIYs as well and will add them to this post. Just because I took a lot of photos and hope they will help others. So let me know what you guys think.

I’m not a huge repair person and would just wash and detail my car but after my warranty was up and needed to repair my rear strut bars and Nissan wanted $180. Said no thanks. After getting my head hit a couple times I decided to do it myself. $60 and an hour and new ones were installed. From then on I did a lot of my own work.

This is what my car looked like when I first got it May 2008. A 2005 350 Touring Coupe with 30,000 Miles.



I added close to 60,000 in the first 2 years. Regular maintenance but the body started showing its age. So although I wash my car and vacuum the inside I never did a good detail job. Until I wanted to wax my car. So I started doing my research and checked My350z and found some good stuff. When I find the post I used I’ll add it in here. So this is what my car looked like after a multi-step polish and wax:



So then I started thinking. I really want new rims. There’s a problem, didn’t want to spend the money if there’s a chance I’m gonna trade the car for a new car in a couple months. Then I saw the post on how to spray your own rims https://my350z.com/forum/body-interi...tock-rims.html and decided to do it.

My new designated tool area and project area in my garage.:



My car before the work:



And the original wheels:



The process of changing the front wheels (DIY will be included later):
Lift Car
Clean Rims Completely



Sand and Tape



Multi coat



And clean



Here’s the thing, I got to thinking while now taking off my rear wheels. It would look pretty sweet to spray my handles and pillar. This is also where I got my going graphite idea similar to the Going Green post I liked https://my350z.com/forum/exterior-an...ing-green.html So…

Lift Car
Remove Wheels
Remove Door Handles
Remove Pillars



Clean, Sand and Tape



Put everything back and be satisfied with my work. Which I was.



So this was the first weekend that I really worked on my car in some fashion. I did replace those rear strut bars and my driver side door handle but never spent the weekend on a project.

So next was to try to repair some damage I did. I will admit that I wasn’t paying attention one day and swiped a dumpster. I was going in for an interview with a client, while in the small parking lot I needed to pack up a distance and while doing so swiped a green dumpster. It damaged my driver side rear fender. So I decided I would risk it since it lowered my car value (the day I was getting it checked for trade in value I damaged it hours before getting it checked) and fix it myself. Exact match paint from paintworldinc.com, some bondo, mask and lots of sanding paper. This was my following weekend project.

Started like this:



Then















Quick polish and wax. It’s not perfect but I think after a little time in the sun and a good full polish and wax it will look decent. I’ll add a better picture after the weekend.



So I was thinking what else I should do to my car. I didn’t want to overdo the graphite but I thought it look really good so next was emblems and headlights. Emblems because there was barely any silver left on the outside of the car and headlights because I knew the seal was bad and was ruining the inside cover. This way I can clean the headlight covers and spray the inside at the same time. DIY coming soon.

The emblems:








The headlights:







*Night fall and started sprinkling so I couldn’t finish. Next morning I sprayed without taking photos till I was done.







Then I decided and got my windows tinted, I think 35% I don’t remember. Not to dark but matches the rest of the car:



So I then worked on a couple projects in fixing and cleaning some small stuff and painted my sisters wheels. Then turned on my car again and thought there was something missing. The rear strut bar seemed like something to change and then I realized it. The piece holding the side view mirrors.

The Rear Strut Bar:



Sprayed and with a little graphite/black mix for the squares in the design.



Final product:



My side mirrors (most recent project)





Side Mirrors / Door Handle / Pillar all in one.



Some before and afters of the car:





So that’s it for now. I’ll add some better pictures of the car as a whole this weekend after a good detail job. Hope everyone enjoys and let me know what you think. I have a tendency to write a lot so I hope I didn’t make anyone fall asleep haha.

* I also redid my front bumper because of all of the rock chips, it turned out horrible. Ran out of paint, had to get a standard black, shitty sanding job, and did it outside. I was amateur and paid the price. Going to redo in in a couple weeks with all the right equipment from a friend and a booth in my garage. I’ll add pics when that happens.

Projects that I did that I will add a DIY with detailed pictures and directions.
- Spraying Tires
- Spraying Rear Strut Cover
- Spraying Emblems
- Spraying Handles / Pillar / Side Mirror
- Removing, Replacing, Installing Door Handles
- Changing Spark Plugs (most recent project and although not too bad, a pain for first timer engine work)
- Severe Damage Repair with Bondo and Spray (Amateur)

- PSebagh

 

Nice try but this **** just looks cheap!!

 

OP, how old are you?

 

Guys...this actually looks decent. Cheap, he did it himself, and it's not a bunch of riced out useless fender lips and CF bull$hIT! OP..not bad man, at least you do your own work and don't buy a bunch of useless "LOOK AT ME!" BS.

 

LMAO

 

Good job OP. Really not digging the pillars but the emblems, wheels and handles look good. :thumbup;

 

good job man, you did it yourself, that says more then most people on here say.

 

I'm glad you are liking it, just don't be mad when you can't get blue book value when you go to sell it. Others will not see what you have done as an improvement.

 

black is hard to blend and u gotta tape it so it sweeps up its hard to explain next time paint the whole panel

 

I would have had a pro do the fender. otherwise looks ok..

 

props to doing alot of work yourself.. handles and pillar and mirrors dont flow at all... sometimes les is more.
Headlights and wheels, plus one. Good job.

not painting the entire fender panel= fail.. any way you slice it... sorry, just not the right way to do it.

id a least change the pillar colors back to black...
but hey, its just IMO.. not my car.

 

front bumper looks weird in those before and after shots (after shots looks like it lost its gloss)

i do like the painted triangle by the side view mirror. that part pisses my off when washing and detailing. might paint it as well.
would prefer color matching the pillar and handle to the car color rather than the graphite but props for doing this on your own.

 

Damn bro looks like you got an 8ball of coke and some spray paint and went to town.

I like the headlights.

 

Good job, but I'd have gone with black color instead of gunmetal. As long as you like it, it's fine.
Would I do it? No.

 

pretty good job! how do you paint the inside of headlights? how did you take them apart? thanks!

 

great that you did the work, but the color combo just doesn't work for flow.

 

After I read your whole page I realized you said that the front bumper you redid yourself and admitted you f*cked up because you definitely did, you live and you learn man, otherwise some stuff looks good...

 

OP your post to me was like a Roller coaster ride. Started off low(i thought you were gonna spray the entire car) then it started to climb on up with the wheels then thats when the drop came with pillars and handles then here comes the loopyloop the fender then it leveled out with the emblems then Great job on the headlights now the second drop the rear strut and mirrors.

All in all a great DIY. The wheels headlights and emblems would have been Perfect! The other parts just look like you had some extra rattle can and wanted to use it up.

And finally if you are happy with it that is all that matters and enjoy ut!

Chris

 

Nice DIY - not bad. I'm diggin' the wheels and the headlights, but the rest doesn't really flow for me.

 

Hey all. So when I got up this morning and started reading the comments I was like "F" why they hell did I post but then I read on and really appreciate the comments that were left. I totally understand the changes I did are not going to be liked by everyone and thank you all for your two cents. In the end I love my car, it's a great Z and I am actually really happy with how it turned out.

Some responses:

Cheapness: Yeah I get it, it doesn't look like a pro did, because a pro didn't do it. I don't have the money to throw at it to have a pro do it, if I did then I'd do it. Fact is I make decent money but have a lot of expenses and take care of my parents. I don't want to do a $1000 paint job if the car is already almost double underwater. Everything done to the car was done by me, by myself, using information found primarily on this site. A lot of it I plan on redoing since the first go wasn't perfect.

Fender Work: Totally agree I didn't do that well on the fender. I was doing completely off of information I read from multiple site but no one mentioned doing the whole panel. I realized it right when I took off the tape. I plan on redoing it in a couple weeks when I have the money.

Value: No worries I don't plan on being shocked when I look at the kelly blue book. Since by the time I sell the car I will have at least 175,000 miles on it it wont be worth much. I'd rather make it look interesting and slick and have some high schooler near by buy it. Use what ever I get as a down on a new car.

Hope no one reads this reply as hostel or anything, just trying to explain my self a little. I really appreciate all the support and understanding comments. Like I said, totally understandable that not everyone's gonna like it, and I definitely don't mind hearing "not for me" or "I don't like" its those who put really harsh comments out there that annoy the hell outa me, just dont bother haha. Anyways let me know if you want to see DIY, I know theres a lot out there, I figured I do one with a little more pictures and alternatives.

Have a great day everyone,

PS: Fyi, I'm 23, a nerd, live in thousand oaks, I work in east LA (50 mile drive to and from) as an IT Consultant. I started these projects so I'd stop laying around all weekend and actually do something productive. Its been a huge help in not being lazy anymore. Never worked on a car before.