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I touched up the passengers side rocker panel on saturday. It had a hole in it and some cracks that I had patched with fiberglass earlier in the season.
No idea how a hole managed to get there, but its gone now!
Ended up sanding them smooth on sunday - no after pictures.
Finish sanded the last spot on the drivers door. Will need to spot putty a few small pin holes after primer goes down.
Loaded up the soda blaster and blasted the louvers - Worked great! Blew the paint right off - left a nice finish.
After the first quick pass: You can see some of the paint left over. I went over it a few times to ensure all the old paint was taken off.
Onto the rear hatch!
On the body i ended up using walnut shells to do this one due to the previous discussion above with BIRD91ZRAG (PS what ratio should the vinegar/water be? 50/50?) It worked out pretty good, I ended up going over it with some 150 grit to clean up the edges and smooth out any rough spots.
All of the second paint is officially off the car!
Next weekend is gonna be a big one!
I have jury duty Thursday which I'm hoping gets called off, and I took off Friday. If it gets called, I'll be able to clean the garage out Thursday, mask off the car and start building the scaffolding stands and start shooting primer! Progress!
We are gonna shoot one coat of epoxy primer to ensure the panels are sealed, and then do two coats of Evercoat high build primer.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 03-18-2019 at 07:51 AM.
Cleaned up the bottom side of the hood and all the flat spots that wont be covered by hood insulation.(removed hood latch, spring and striker after picture)
Cleaned up the fenders and body with pre prep.
Installed 3 stage filtration system.
I wet down the floors Thursday/Friday and gave it a good squeegee. Swept the floors one it dried out, Vacuumed out the shelves again, and took all of the tools out of the room.
Saturday taped off all of the car and set both heaters on full blast and turned on all the lights I had in the garage. We waited until 60* to spray - My dad didnt feel confident on the chemical bond at any colder temps.
Here is where experience comes into play. I must of shook this can vigorously for 20 minutes, My dad came over with a paint stick and told me to scrape the bottom. Was pretty suprised at how much sediment was on the bottom. Always scrape the bottom and stir despite how much you shake the paint! Also, use a separate gun to shoot primer vs base/clear. Despite how clean you get the gun, there will always be left over primer somewhere. Last thing you want when you shoot your base coat is for a chunk of primer to get spit out and ruin a good panel!
For this, I'm using eastwood's epoxy primer to coat the bare metal for extra protection. We went over all the spots including the windshield frame. We decided to completely cover the fenders seeing there was so many issues with them.
I ran out of paint before i could shoot the other one.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 03-25-2019 at 09:02 AM.
We left the heaters/lights on for a while while we went out and had dinner. Everything was dry the next morning.
I was pretty shocked to see all the pin holes in the primer that looked perfectly flat before the paint. I now see why spot putty is important and needed.
Its mixed up similar to body filler, but more runny. I mixed up a batch, and went over all the areas I had little pin holes or imperfections. Again, most this is gonna get sanded off with the DA and 320 grit, then recoated in epoxy primer. After that the car will get again sanded in 400 grit, then a couple solid coats of evercoat feather fill to build a "thick" layer of primer to build a solid foundation on.
I had slight pitting above the windshield - the whole cause of the paint job. Relieved to see it finally gone!
Productive weekend! Was low 50's outside all weekend, perfect for spraying paint (inside with the heaters it was 60+. Turn them off and take any heat sources out before spraying!)
Sanded out all of the previous spots I had used spot putty on. At this stage I'm using 220 grit by hand.
Understanding "feathering" is a really interesting concept. if you can still make out a sharp line from the putty knife, its a good chance you havent sanded enough and the putty (or filler) is still too high. You want to sand to the point where it looks like its almost streaking - Like a ink stain. I for one always run my hand over it just to verify. at this stage, the spots left over should be very small as I'm only looking to fill small imperfections.
You can barely see the spot putty in some spots.
All of the panels laid out and cleaned with pre prep.
Flipped the hood and gave it a good cleaning.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-01-2019 at 08:20 AM.
My dads primer gun. I'm really starting to like the way this sprays. Oldie but a goodie.
After sanding the initial spot putty layer, I mixed up a second batch and again went over all of my spots, "spot priming" all of the issue areas.
Cleaned the jams with water/vinegar mix and primed them with a good layer.
Went over the windshield frame again. I don't want any of that crap coming back.
Not often I emphasize the use of safety equipment, but gloves for type of work I cant stress it enough! These gloves lasted maybe 5 minutes while I was wiping down the panels with pre prep. Do your self a favor and get a good box of gloves! Your hands will thank you!
The epoxy primer is good for use on bare metal and fiberglass. I ended up using the last 10 ounces (mixed with 10 ounces of catalyst for a 1:1 ratio) I figured I'd have enough to coat the fiber glass body gfx.
I started on the back side of the fenders to completely seal them. Again, I don't want any surprises down the road.
Coated the top of the hood. I didn't have problems with it but a extra coat of protection for down the road.
I made sure to get all of the edges real good too.
I started on the back sides of the doors. Corners are the easiest place to chip, so make sure you get good coverage there.
Flipped the fenders and coated the outside of them.
At this point, I ran out of epoxy primer and didn't get to spray the fiberglass. I could have mixed up a batch of Evercoat high build filler to start on the unpainted stuff, but ended up deciding not to as two wet paints of a different type is a recipe for disaster.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-01-2019 at 08:25 AM.
Layed down some high build 4:1 evercoat primer this weekend. Before I layed it down, I hit it with the DA and 320 grit to help it adhere to the epoxy type primer. This also smooths out any high spots and will hopefully give me a better finish down the road.
I'm gonna need a milk crate next time I do the roof - My pattern started to get a little thin.
Layed down a good thick coat on the doors
Hit both sides of the fenders.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-08-2019 at 03:45 PM.
The hood I could have been a little more thorough on, but there's always the next coat. Atleast there was no tiger stripes!
After laying down the hood primer, I noticed a wet spot on the hood. Looks like a bandana around my forehead may be in order. Nothing a little sanding and spot putty wont fix. Lesson learned.
Next day I found all the slight flaws with the gfx and other panels. Hit them with spot putty and called it a weekend at that point as there was still plenty of wet paint in the garage. Next weekend, I'll sand them, hit the bottom side so I have complete coverage and hit the front also.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-08-2019 at 03:52 PM.
Nice work, all that attention to detail will surely pay off with the final result.
Thanks. I hope so. The paint bubble on the passengers side of the roof put a damper on taking it to car shows a few years back and I feel I lost alot of pride in it at that point. Hopefully this year it will feel like a new car again.
Didnt get as much done as I wanted. Thirsty thursday kinda boned me for the early Friday start I wanted.
Anyway, I went over the car friday with the DA and 320 grit. I then went over all of the gfx/bumpers with 320 by hand. Really no way to block it evenly with so many curves.
Here is the rear spoiler. It may look smooth but up close its is porous. Sanding with 320 smooths it out and will give me better adhesion for the next coat, and a better finish.
After a light sanding:
Touched up a random gouge on the rear bumper with some spot putty.
By the time i was ready to shoot the second coat of primer Friday, it was 3PM and temperature was dropping fast. Ended up deciding to wait until the next day to shoot.
Saturday was for the most part a wash, though it was almost 70 degrees, the humidity in the garage was 85%! I opened up the garage, let it breather, and turned all the shop lights on. I took the time to vacuum the garage and get it as clean as I possibly could. I covered the bench and hung the fenders with a couple of nails. I got my chance at 2PM. Layed down another solid coat, this time using my dads Porter Cable HVLP gun (to get the hang of using a HVLP) Again, a cheap gun that will be used for primer only!
Now, With everything in the garage all at once being panted it made it a little tight. So, after some careful consideration, even though it will put me a week back - I'll be shooting color and clear on the body/bottom of the hood and the doors one weekend, and the rest of it the following. I bumped the GFX twice with the air line - REALLY don't want that happening with base and clear coat, Nor do I want to rush it like I found myself doing on Saturday. "Nothing good ever comes from rushing"
Sunday was a clean up day. I pulled all of the paper off the car as it will be retaped next weekend. I don't want any sanding dust under the tape to come out when I spray red. I took the pressure washer, and pressure washed the ceiling, walls and floor. Despite being vacuumed, it was still covered in red paint dust! I let it dry out, and i hit the upper half and ceiling with white dry-loc paint. One to prevent moisture from coming in through the concrete walls, and two to help reflect light off it.
Cool! Looks great. I started in on the doors off my car this week.
I prefer to paint cars in pieces, but with your limited space, you might be better off painting the jambs and doing some reassembly, then shooting the car as a whole. I hate tape lines in jambs but I also work at a shop with 2 booths.
I prefer to paint cars in pieces, but with your limited space, you might be better off painting the jambs and doing some reassembly, then shooting the car as a whole. I hate tape lines in jambs but I also work at a shop with 2 booths.
Im gonna do the jams and the body at the same time, with the doors offset between 3 saw horses. That way theres no paint lines, and I can get complete coverage everywhere. I'll throw the doors on before I assemble anything else. At this point in the game, rushing will do nothing but set me back and base coat is the last thing I want to mess up, so I really don't think risking draging a air hose over a door or fender on accident is worth the risk. My biggest fear was colors of panels mismatching, but my dad said he did his GTO's victory red one piece at a time over like a month and you cant even tell so I feel a bit better splitting it up into two parts.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-18-2019 at 07:27 AM.
Calm before the storm!
I went over the car with a soft "drywall sponge" I covered it in tape so i didnt rub it (the sponge itself is 120 grit) I used the sponge because its very soft and flexible. Follows the contour of the car well.
Use plenty of water! I soaked the doors and went in a circle pattern. Wet sanding cuts FAST so because to only do what you need to smooth the panels.
I checked the crease in the center of the door with the shop light. Looks pretty straight. Reflection in the lower half of the door makes me hopeful they will come out good.
I ended up finding some black stuff on the roof of the car (again) despite pressure washing and painting the ceiling. At this point i opted to cover it as I'm not willing to risk having this crap fall in the base or clear coat.
I also taped up all of the doors and windows for the final time. I used a was infused type paper to help stop bleed through. Base coat and clear coat is alot thiner than primer, so it will bleed through more easily.
Touched up any spots with primer (I rubbed through in the drivers rear wheel well) I'll need to wet sand these next weekend.
I think most of the debris was from the door itself.
I also found dirty on the hood, so that ceiling got covered too.
The old man cannibalized a old oil burner that had a big old fan in it. He fit it to a 5 gallon pickel bucket, and picked up some 6" duct work at the local Lowes when they were closing/on sale. Next friday well open the door a foot or two, stick a window fan in it, along with the blower and run the piping in the garage to help evacuate the overspray that floats in the air. I have to put the screen in the two windows to the left of the garage, and do a final sweep/vacuum. Then, weather permitting, Saturday is go time!
The nearest PPG dealer quoted me $1215 for the deltron I originally intended to use, but he said the "Shopline" brand is a good alternative from PPG and thats only $260 per gallon. He suggested i stay with the shopline clear for $100 per gallon but I think I might go with the Deltron DCU2021 clear as its a better clear and lots of people seem to use it over the Shopline basecoat without issue (my buddy uses Sherwin Williams clear over Shopline basecoat without issue) I also noticed the Shopline brand clear has a European style clear available which from what I hear is really nice, and levels out really well according to their description.
Big leaps and bounds this weekend!
Wet sanded everything with 400 grit, retapped it all with wax infused paper, Gave the floor a final vacuum, moved everything out! We wet down the floor to prevent dust.
Thoroughly mixed up the PPG shopline paint, gave it a stir and loaded it into the gun!
Factory "Bright red" paint - Code U81, AKA PPG 3794.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-29-2019 at 10:02 AM.
I cut out all of the edges, lips, and jams first, along with the center line of the roof.
My old man took over for the first full coat.
Its kind of odd looking in its bare form. Looks more matte red than anything.
Layed down the first two coats of clear and it started to come to life!
I ended up opting for the Deltron clear coat - The more expensive, top of the line clear. The clear and hardener alone were about $470, not including the reducer my dad had left over from his car. Clearcoat is very important for overall chip protection, UV protection (to prevent fading), and gloss of the paint job.
Pictures dont do any justice. I expected it to loose some of its gloss when it dried out, but was exactly the same the next day.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 04-29-2019 at 10:00 AM.
When we sprayed it on Saturday, it was very cold out side, so we chose to not use the ventalation system inorder to maintain heat in the garage. Because of this we had alot of overspray floating around. We decided to stop after the second coat of clear, let it settle and do the third coat. We exceded the time between coats so we let it fully harden (16 hour cure time) and I wet sanded it the next day with 600 grit and VERY light pressure. This is to help the next layer adhere to the body and smooth out the surface even more.
Unfortunately mistakes are a part of life, and I made one on the top of the drivers door. I rubbed through the base clear and base coat to expose the primer.
I also found two dust nibs in the door that exposed more primer unfortunately.
With that being said, my dad is experienced in painting and knows a thing or two. Hes going to sand it back down to the base coat, blend in more red, and then clear coat it twice on Friday. At that point he will shoot another coat of clear coat over the entire car. Except this time (original clear coat mixture is 4:1:1) hes gonna add more reducer to give it less orange peel effect. This next batch will be 4:1:1.5 and the shine should return, this time with less orange peel.
Congrats on the progress, Dan. I bet you're psyched about getting the color on!! Those minor setbacks can drive you crazy when you're deep in the project, but truth is no one but you will probably ever see whatever minor imperfections remain.
I kind of like the matte look of the base coat. Reminds me of the old rat rods of yesteryear.
I just prefer the shiny stuff ;D
Originally Posted by JimInMiami
Congrats on the progress, Dan. I bet you're psyched about getting the color on!! Those minor setbacks can drive you crazy when you're deep in the project, but truth is no one but you will probably ever see whatever minor imperfections remain.
Beyond psyched at this point. My father is very confident blending will not be a problem and you will not be able to see it. They are very minor to begin with.
On a side note - I completely forgot to mention that all of the repairs spots on the body came out flawless and show no sign of ever being rusted, damaged, dented or welded.
Nice job! No need to "sand the clear off", just level it out, spot in the areas that are sanded through, and a couple more coats of clear. Then comes the fun job, reassembly!
After a 600 grit wet sand, My dad went over it again checking any other spots I may have missed. He belded the door and other spots I went crazy on and we laid down another two coats of clear. First was normal mix, final coat was with a little bit more reducer. Let it dry for about 3 hours, and we pulled all the paper and tape off!
I stuffed the seats in the car before I threw the doors on. I then pulled the antenna out of the passengers door frame area, ran it through the dash, and put a plug to occupy the hole. I taped up the spots on the antenna that touch the body/metal so I don't run into any radio interference from it grounding out. Fits almost like it was meant to be there!
Checked the hardware for the doors before I put them on and they were difficult. Ran a die over the bolts and they thread in beautiful.
Drivers side door has a fix bolt hole in each hinge. For some reason, since day one, the gap at the rear of the door to the body has been a slight bit larger than on the passengers side. Took the door off, ran a 3/8 bit through the fixed holes and it gave us enough adjustment to close the gap to match the other side.
Starting to look like a car again.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 05-06-2019 at 08:25 AM.
Very nice Dan, great color!! What are your plans for the interior??
Thanks. I love it, its so much more vibrant than the old, faded 10 year old paint. I cant wait to see it in the sun if it pops this much in the garage. Camera does no justice to the depth of it.
On the interior, its all stock with the exception of the 4th gen cloth seats, gauge pillar and the radio (which is going to be used for a round of skeet shooting soon - Dont ever buy a pioneer from walmart)
I might end up doing a harness bar or 4 point roll bar but that's down the road - I just wanna drive this biatch.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 05-06-2019 at 04:32 PM.
She's looking excellent! some 1500 wet then 3000 wet Trizact on a DA and buff 'er to a mirror!
3000 huh? I didnt even know they went that high to be honest. I'm a little bit hesitant to take the DA to it at this point honestly so I might do it by hand.
Originally Posted by Billgluckman
Good stuff.
I gotta say though I’ve had great luck with Walmart pioneers.
Ive had nothing but problems. It was replaced twice under warranty, and the third one doesnt work if its been sitting in the car on a hot day with the windows up. Annoying.
".....and the radio (which is going to be used for a round of skeet shooting soon - Dont ever buy a pioneer from walmart)" TOO FUNNY, I'll keep that in mind.
FWIW I'm happy with my RetroSound 1.5 DIN head unit that also looks kinda period correct in the 3rd Gen dash.
I like that alot. Ive been tossing around the idea of mounting a tablet above the HVAC controls and below the vent. Car uses a Megasquirt ECU and i wouldn't mind being able to pull up stuff like fuel trim, correction, idle count and other stuff along with having the ability to change stuff on the fly vs having a laptop on my passengers seat but I'm not sure how I would intergrate a radio and tablet into one. Next years winter project.
I like that alot. Ive been tossing around the idea of mounting a tablet above the HVAC controls and below the vent. Car uses a Megasquirt ECU and i wouldn't mind being able to pull up stuff like fuel trim, correction, idle count and other stuff along with having the ability to change stuff on the fly vs having a laptop on my passengers seat but I'm not sure how I would intergrate a radio and tablet into one. Next years winter project.
Check out Soundman on youtube. He has kits to add about any tablet to a dash. Good video of how to also. https://soundman.co/
"I must say, that RetroSound unit looks better installed than in pictures." Thanks, I'm happy with it and after over a year my only real gripe is that the USB port in the front doesn't put out enuf juice to really charge my iPhone, it just keeps the charge form going down.
Took Friday off and had the windshield put in by a local guy. Really happy with the quality of the install, so if your in around the lakes region of NH/Maine give chris @ Hands On Auto Glass a call.
While he was installing the windshield, I redid the felt window guides with some new felt I got from Michaels. Its got adhesive on the back side so it stuck right on, and only cost me $2. (vs $24 per guide @ hawks)
After Chris left, I layed out the hatch and sprayed the glass trim, and the third brake light.
Took off the old hinges and replaced them with Hawks billet hinges. These correct the bent hinges that cause the spoiler to not align correctly (from what I hear) I'll get pictures when I throw on the spoiler.
On a side note: if you pull a part off and its got stickey butyl tape on it, put new stuff back on. it prevents water leaks.
We threw the hatch on to get it out of the way - Starting to look like a car again. Ofcourse with the new gasket in place, i gave it a test close, trunk motor bogged down and I heard a snap. Didn't get to turn the key in time. Trunk motor housing cracked.
Painted the hood louvers.
And the front window guides. Everything on the cars gonna look new - Might as well!
The next day I moved the car out, cracked the window, put two fans in the garage door and laid out the front bumper, rear bumper, front valance and trunk pieces (After a light 400 grit wet sand). Cleaned everything with preprep, positioned it accordingly.
Red! Shot everything in basecoat.
We had a bit of a run on the rear bumper with the first coat(Oddly enough you can only see it in the glare of light its so small - Straight on its invisible). A piece of rolled up tape, flattened out and dabbing it helps suck up some of the run. Blowing it lightly with the air only helps spread it out after touching it up with the tape. Letting it sit and cure a little longer helps prevent the run on the next coat. When spraying, set up a routine, ex. start in one corner of the room and work clock wise. We started with a very light coat on the run, then started our normal routine, again covering the bumper with the second whole coat. I didnt go back after we cleared it, but you cant see it after 2 additional coats of basecoat, and 3 coats of clear. This is where experience comes into play.
"Hey Dad sign the rear impact bar" "Grumpy old man 2019"
Let it dry overnight, threw the bumper on (One less thing to move or possibly scratch) and that's where I left it. Had to return home for family birthday.
Only got the top of the hood, fenders, door fx, and rockers fx to shoot next weekend, then its completely painted.
Last edited by 86CamaroDan; 05-13-2019 at 09:15 AM.
After a 400 grit wet sand, I laid the last of the stuff out to get painted.
Dad: I'm done painting, you're doing it all this time.
Welp.
Laying 3 coats of base coat.
03-18-2019, 07:36 AM
Nothing a little sanding and spot putty wont fix. Lesson learned.
I just prefer the shiny stuff ;D
