Please Help Make my 96 Impala Look Terrible

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Danspeed1

New member
I know most of you are going to have to read this twice. Probably half of you will sob after reading this, hopefully I won't get banned from the site.



Heres the problem, I am going back to College this year to finish up my education. And although my campus is beautiful, the neighborhood I live in during the school year is not so nice. We usually see alot of robberys, a few stolen cars, and a couple of shootouts. Last year a couple of local gentlemen thought my impala would look nice with a set of silver stripes running the length of the car. So they got out the spray cans and let loose down the side of the car. And to let me know who was responsible for the art work they also left a nice gang symbol on the hood. I didn't appreciate this all that much, and luckily caught the paint before it was able to dry and harder on my car. I'm sure the 30 or so coats of wax I had on the car helped. My friend wasn't so luckly. They got the bats out, and re-sculpted the panels on the car for him.



I love my car obviously so I made pervisions to buy a car I didn't like. What I like to call a winter beater. Well of course one week before I have to go back to my prison, the beater decided it doesn't want to run so I am stuck taking my nice car.



I need to make this thing look aweful! DIRTY, so much so that a bum wouldn't want to be caught dead in it. But I can't do anything that will harm the car seriously in any way. When this is all said and done in two or so weeks, the car needs to look like it did prior to this whole fiasco. I realize that it draws attention when its all dolled up, and my hope is if it looks like an old taxi cab, no body will pay any attention to it.



What do you think,... please keep this constructive, because if you were in my situation, you wouldn't want to hear someone telling you not to take the car, when you have no way of getting to and from where you need to be in a neighborhood similar to Newark!



DG
 
It is definitely a unique thread. Never seen that before lol. First off, I think it will damage the clearcoat no matter what if you leave it in a bad condition for that long. Also, have you looked into parking in a more secure area? I start classes next week and I have already scouted out the parking garage to find where I want to park. Plus, I made sure to get the lot that only has one entry or exit and that is via a keycard.
 
Find you a good dirt road and drive up and down it a hundred times or so. Preferably when it is wet once or twice. That will take care of the outside.



As for the inside, I dunno. I have never had experience in that area. Ugly seat and steering wheel covers help make interiors look bad. When you go down that dirt road, roll the windows down a couple of times and just stop and let all the dust in. That will take care of the dash and guages.



Other than that, you may want to find you a really cheap set of steel wheels. Those always bring the visual value of the car down.



Good luck man.:nervous:
 
why don't you... I don't know sell the car, move out somewhere. If such an area exists, you shouldn't be there. I'm sorry to hear about all of that.
 
I suppose this is a valid and serious question. Obviously, the better way would be to go find a more secure parking spot. Otherwise, I suppose you'll have to try to "dirty up" your car.



I agree with sixtymustang. Keep the wax protection on your car, wet the car, and go driving on a dirt road until your car gets covered in dirt. No tire dressing, dirty glass, etc.



For the interior, I guess you could trash up the interior, but make sure not to make anything so dirty that it's irreparable.



Don't go too overkill with this. Just make it look like most of the dirty cars, nothing that makes your car stand out.
 
sixty7mustang22 said:
Find you a good dirt road and drive up and down it a hundred times or so. Preferably when it is wet once or twice. That will take care of the outside.



As for the inside, I dunno. I have never had experience in that area. Ugly seat and steering wheel covers help make interiors look bad. When you go down that dirt road, roll the windows down a couple of times and just stop and let all the dust in. That will take care of the dash and guages.



Other than that, you may want to find you a really cheap set of steel wheels. Those always bring the visual value of the car down.



Good luck man.:nervous:
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this was my original suggestion





You could also buy a cheap primer hood or get a junkyard hood and scratch it to hell
 
Oh, right, I forgot the mention another alternative as well. I don't know how viable this is for you, but maybe you could buy a beater/junk car to use instead.
 
mikebai1990 said:
Oh, right, I forgot the mention another alternative as well. I don't know how viable this is for you, but maybe you could buy a beater/junk car to use instead.
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he said in his OP that he bought a beater and then it broke.
 
How about a nice thick coat of paste wax that isn't buffed off? That should give it a pretty hazy, crappy look, while still protecting it. There will be some risk when it comes time to take it off that there is debris stuck in the wax, but given the alternatives, this seems like a fair trade.



EDIT: There's also that spray-on front-end bug shield stuff that's been talked about on here (a couple of different kinds). Perhaps a layer of that all over the car will make it look crappy, although that might be a bunch more expensive than wax.
 
Just put a coat of Collinite 845 on it and stop washing it. I used to do this whenever I went to Detroit. If I knew I was going I wouldn't wash my car for a week at least. hahaha!
 
Setec Astronomy said:
How about a nice thick coat of paste wax that isn't buffed off? That should give it a pretty hazy, crappy look, while still protecting it. There will be some risk when it comes time to take it off that there is debris stuck in the wax, but given the alternatives, this seems like a fair trade.



EDIT: There's also that spray-on front-end bug shield stuff that's been talked about on here (a couple of different kinds). Perhaps a layer of that all over the car will make it look crappy, although that might be a bunch more expensive than wax.
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I would worry about the wax picking up dust as the car sat.
 
Matt's 03 GT said:
I would worry about the wax picking up dust as the car sat.
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Yes, it would have to be carefully washed (pressure washer?) afterwards. I think I'd rather deal with stuck dust than rattle-can stripes or baseball bat remodeling.
 
Have you considered leaving this car at home and getting a total beater car to take to school. The last thing in the world that I would do would be to get my car looking pristine then trash it up so that others won't. :nixweiss
 
I would say just stop washing the car immediately and put steel wheels on the car. Steel wheels really make the car look alot worse. I don't think you need to do anything drastic like going up and back on a dirt road, it'll get dirty by itself in no time.
 
Rent a garage to keep it in near your house.



If the area is a disgusting as you say, you should be able to rent a garage for less than a tank of gas. I remember paying a woman $75 per month, in the Bronx, back in 2000 to garage a car for me.



What school is this? They certainly arent teaching you think properly!
 
My son's 2001 Mustang ( the one listed in the sig) got vandalized just a week before he graduated from UMass Dartmouth... Some jealous sick little SOB took a key to his paint job, smashed the windshield, ripped the Mustang emblems off of the fenders and tried to break the pony logo off his grill insert... all they were ably to do was "amputate the tail"...



all for having a "nice car"... :angry



Buy another $#!tbox, keep the nice car at home. The peace of mind is priceless!
 
People can be so hateful and jealous! I agree with the steel wheels, ugly seat covers and tacky wheel/dash covers. Do you have an alarm?



I can't help but wonder, though, if the vandals that hit your Imp pulled their punches a little out of respect for the car, as funny as it sounds, so trashing it up too much may backfire.



I've never been so unlucky as to get deliberately vandalized (knock on wood), but because I'm superstitious, I keep an evil eye amulet and a piece of amethyst in the car. It doesn't hurt, and it may help. Good luck, I hope you and your car stay safe.
 
DaGonz said:
My son's 2001 Mustang ( the one listed in the sig) got vandalized just a week before he graduated from UMass Dartmouth... Some jealous sick little SOB took a key to his paint job, smashed the windshield, ripped the Mustang emblems off of the fenders and tried to break the pony logo off his grill insert... all they were ably to do was "amputate the tail"...



all for having a "nice car"... :angry



Buy another $#!tbox, keep the nice car at home. The peace of mind is priceless!
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A friend of mine, who lives in the same building had this exact thing happen to him car. Pretty much towed it off to the junkyard afterwards. It wasn't an expensive car, it was your typical $2500 nice car. He kept it clean, like I did, and thats about it. They wrecked it on him. I don't know what I would do if that happened to me.



Under the circumstances you have to understand i have no choice in the matter. Either drive it to school (4 hours away from home) and then drive it back and forth to class 2 miles away, or don't go. Not going is really not an option at this point. Its my hope that if the car is dirty it will attract little attention. I am missing a show I was looking forward to this weekend on account of this disaster. :mad: .



So I've been driving the car and I have been hard on the brakes which are being replaced over the winter (winter project). SO there is brake dust caked on the wheels.. not to worry though the wheels have a nice coat of wax on them. If I can get some Steelies I will, thats not a bad idea. Seat Covers from autozone too! I haven't washed it in a week or so. I spoke with a firend who is supposed to get me some NEW McDonolds wrappers to throw on the floor. I want to drive it down a dirt road, but I am afraid the dirt and rocks are going to be to abbrasive on the paint.



This whole situation is driving me to nuts, and to see the car like this is killing me inside. Its bull*hit that I even have to deal with this.



DG
 
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