I'm officially starting my paint job for my project car today! I
chose today for a specific reason that you can read about below,
but here is the inspiration for it.....

Im not sure if you can see the date very well on this pic, but it
reads 5/21/01. That was exactly ten years ago to this day! And I
still have the same dream that I had when I got my first car, a
1982 Z28, as a 16 year old boy. Things changed as time passed but the
dream remained the same. 3 Camaros later I have my 85 Z28 and I can
finally start on the project I've always wanted! If you havent seen
any of my other threads or my page, I have been working on my car
for quite some time. I simply chose today to start the thread about
my paint job as it is the 10 year since I drew that picture. This
is a big step and a major motivator for me! I wish I could start
with the performance instead but $300.00 for paint or $6,000.00
for my engine? well I cant afford the performance end yet but this
should give me some drive to strive for it! So without further ado,
I start this thread and my project! Heres what I have to start with...

As you can see the car needs some work. I replaced the passenger door
because the original owner backed it into a fence and destroyed the
mirror and crimpled the door pretty bad! The new door has a few
wrinkles, but the mirror is good and the body work is much more
manageable. I also have to weld the antenna hole shut and fill in
some minor dents but the body is is in pretty good shape overall.
I also plan on aligning the doors better before I paint it.




I removed all the ground effects, repaired a few bad spots,
(although I didnt do the best job, you will see later) primered and
painted them all silver.




Here I have all new goodies. New headlights, turn signals and side
markers. I got new red Z28 emblems all around, a new tuned port
injection emblem that reads 5.7 (I have a 5.0 now but will be going
to a 5.7 later) and a new front bumper emblem! Awesome right?




Heres how the red emblems will look on the silver ground effects...
I think it really makes it pop!

Thats what I have done so far and what I have to work with now.
I am buying the paint with a bonus I am getting from work, but it
will take about 45 days for me to receive that payment! So I have
a bit of time before I get her done, but it works out as I have a
lot of prep work to do! So keep an eye on this thread! My posts will
probably be few and far in between but I will definately keep the
progress reports coming! Thanks and let me know what you think!

 

Awsome back story, yeah those emblems really pop. Looking good so far. Where did you get the hood from? Car looks in good condition. I need to get started on my camaro also, been playing with the formula lately. Good luck & cant waig to see her done.!!!

 

It's been awhile bud, glad to see it's all comin together. Unfortunantly Im contemplating sellin the car for a truck. Motorcycle and car don't do well in the winter and I've been looking for a big diesel instead. Can't wait to see how that hood turns out, if I don't sell the car soon I am redoing my hood with the stripes on just the hood. Keep us updated!
-Coltin

 

Keep at it. There is no greater feeling than standing back and looking at your finished car that looks ba and saying to urself "I did this".

 

Thanks man! I got the hood from ebay for about 400 bucks. It is by duraflex, but it just seems like plain old fiberglass to me.

Hey bro! Sad to hear this. Hopefully you can get a truck and still keep the car! Lose the bike. They can be dangerous. Well, mostly other people but anyways.

Awesome man! I couldnt have said it better!

 

Well I spent almost all day yesterday doing the hood! It looks really sweet! Not done, still needs the paint, but looks killer! I will post the pics this weekend when I have some spare time to mess around on the computer.

 

Can't wait to see the finished pics! The emblems are gonna look really nice on there. The little touches like all new factory emblems can make all the difference between OK & AMAZING results.

 

So I did the hood on Monday. I spent all day sanding it down and getting it ready for paint.
Here it is all sanded down, with a little bit of black primer on the lower corner, and the
stripes area taped off.


Heres the primer...


Heres the paint with the tape all removed...


Here I covered up the stripes and started to lay down the black primer.


And here are the shots after (almost) all the work is done. I got anxious and had to see what
it looked like. The stripes are done, paint and primer. The hood is just primered black. I
still need to paint it, but I gotta wait for that. So I will eventually have to cover up the
stripes again but no biggie, it wasnt too hard and I followed the lines pretty well!


This one above is my fave! Good angle!

 

That hood looks great. keep the pics coming.

 

Spray cans?....What paint will you be going with for the whole vehicle.

 

Wow im totally digging that, keep it coming....

 

Ya spray cans. This is after all, a budget job. But im using rustoleum black primer where the black will go, and rustoleum primer and paint for the silver. But the gloss is something else. I am going to get it from summit racing. The paint is gloss black acrylic eurethane, and I will cover it all with an acrylic eurethane clear coat also from summit. I am going to use my dads compressor and gun for that.

Glad u guys like it so far! I think it will come out awesome, and just under 300 bucks!

 

the color combo looks good and definitely digging the stripe design

 

I got the c.i.d. emblems (stickers, whatever) for my hood today! Im gunna put them on tomorrow or the next day and throw up the pics a couple days after that. Man this is exciting! Every little step is awesome!

 

subscribed! keep up the good work man! the hood loooks sick & so do all the gfx peices. especially with the emblems in them
-kyle

 

Thanks man! You have no idea how excited I am for this! Ive been waiting at least 12 years! I cant wait to get it done!

 

Sub'd! Looking awesome!

 

this thread has inspired me to get to workk on my paint. ive wanted to for a few years but i always put it off. im excited to see how your car looks when all is said & done! its going to be a new era for your car.

 

Ok heres what the hood looks like with the c.i.d. emblems on it. They are just stickers tho. I wish I could have it painted like that but thats beyond my skill or wallet. Anyways, when I clearcoat the car, it will go over the stickers as well so it will appear to be painted, you wont be able to feel it raised, and it will be protected. I love the way these came out! Its looking really good!

 

wow just that little touch completely changed the agressiveness of your hood. its coming along great! i cant wait to see some clear coat on it! its looking offical man, keep up the good work!

 

Yea I like the way its coming. I am in process of painting mine also, where did you get the bumper emblem?

 

Thanks! I got the front emblem from summit racing for like 20 bucks and all the other emblems from hawks third gen parts.

 

I got the antenna hole all done.
It was pretty basic, just weld, grind, sand and done.
Heres the pics.

Cut a piece of metal the same thickness to the shape I need.


Welded it in and grinded it down.


Bondo in the gaps and dips, sand it flat then sprayed some primer to see
how it would look. Not too bad!

 

You should have ground it down further. Once you spray black/clear over that its going to pop and you will notice the edge. Take out the grinder and go back over it. Trust me.

 

ya i am going to go over it one more time with some bondo. it doesnt stick up at all but it does have a small dip around the ends. I just sprayed the black to get a better look at the finish. it shows better than with just the metal.

 

I also decided to pull the engine and completely re-do the engine bay. Heres a couple shots of the bay with almost everything removed.




Here are all the wires pulled out and labeled. this part took the most work to do.

 

I also did my headers guys! Check it out here...
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...ml#post4984758

 

I painted the stripes on the roof! Same process as all the ones above so I left out all the shots of me taping it off and all that other crud. Check it out!

 

I also painted the back behind where the tail lights go and all around in the jam area of the trunk... heres that and a shot of the trunk in progress...

 

And heres the trunk with the stripes on and back on the car! Its looking really good and coming along well!

 

Looking good!!!!!!

 

hey i hate to jump into the conversation but i dont know how to like post somthing up myself can anyone help?

 

85project, where did you get the headlights, and side markers??? they look good...how much for all of that....?? You did a fine job......

 

Got em on ebay. It came as a whole set, all four headlights, the ultra white/blue bulbs, the turn signal housings and the bulbs, and the clear side markers and bulbs. I cant remember how much it was tho.

 

I have the same lights in mine and got em for 170 on ebay, and when you put em in 85projectz28, if your addin the halos like i did you need a small cut in each of the housing units for the headlights. they make your car pop tho trust me! mine looks mean w them in

 

I also painted my clear tail lights but thats a whole 'nuther thread. Check it out here...
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...-3rd-gens.html

 

Thanks for the info guys...I am going to check them out...How are they for driving brightness wise???Thanks


BTW, what did you search under on ebay to find them..I just looked under Camaro, but no luck..

 

Search "Camaro head lights". I think they go for 170 now but I think I got them for 120.

 

That's really slick

 

Brightness wise mine are decent, not as good as my last ones that I had but the good thing is about these, you can change the bulb w./out replacing the whole sealed light. as well as clean off the haze if any. One of my bulbs is dimmer and im actually checking that out soon to fix it then the brightness should be pretty awesome

 

duraflex is abs,wont crack,chip,that kinda crap.put a little elastifier in your paint and it will last forever.

 

whered you get the lights

 

fish tank lights or grow lights are uv lights.thats what I use panhead201 what color did you decide on?

 

thanks for the info on the lights guys....I will go search now....Great job on the car...

 

I thought you were talking about uv cure powdercoat cure lights.Your gonna rattlecan the whole car?Looks great so farA light grey primer might make the color stand out better.As far as the color goes what did you decide on?You need to grind that down a whole bunch.Then hit the whole car with a tack rag.

 

no rattle can in whole, just the primer. Well the stripes are gray primer rattlecan and silver rattlecan. The car is black primer rattlecan, but the paint is going to be gloss black acrylic eurethane paint and all of it will be covered in acrylic eurethane clearcoat.

I plan on wet sanding it and buffing it after the gloss goes on before the clearcoat, then buffing the clearcoat after as well. it should come out super sexy!

and thanks for all the comments! i love this car and it is turning out great! It just takes so long, i cant wait for it to be done!

 

I may be having a stupid moment but, I don't get this statement.?

 

They had a series in hot rod magazine where a guy did his whole car in rustoleum.With a roller.It looked great,at least in the magazine.Seemed like a ton of work,though.panhead201









i thought you were gonna rattlecan the whole car.That would be kind of cool if it turned out nice.

 

spray the gloss and there will be orange peel. wet sand it with 1500 grit then 2000 grit. now I have a nice smooth gloss all over. (hmmm... maybe no buff at this point...Im not too sure...) Now spray the clearcoat all over and buff it to a mirror finish. Of course I gotta let the paint cure between these steps.

 

I usually use hvlp and adjust it to temp,humididity,etc.There has'nt been much painting weather where I live,this year.I've been doing motorcycle stuff in the basement.My wife's not too happy.panhead201