Dt86

I agree. Nice job! Looks great!

929nitro

Make that 3 positive votes. Very nice.

DUB

LOOKING VERY GOOD!!!!!!!!! BEAUTIFUL color. You laid it out really well...the texture is tight and the shine is very good. You should be happy with that.

FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH TO OTHERS WHO READ THIS:

Using nothing but plastic to mask off your car can be DANGEROUS as some come to find out. IF I use plastic..I always make sure that the edge of whatever I am masking off is done in masking paper/tape.....so nothing can fly off when it dries and then air pressure hits it again.

ALSO..plastic can be bad...because it can flap like a flag in the wind..so any and all of your overspray that lands on it will now be able to be put back into the air and land on your finish.

98% of the time I do not use plastic...I prefer paper because I can apply it with very little to no creases or pockets in it that can hold oversprays.

DUB

augiedoggy

Thanks guys.
I have the front cowl/hood all wet sanded and ready for 2 more coats of clear tomorrow and then it on to wetsanding and buffing. I was able to get tall the trash out of the bad spot.
Considering I cleared the car at night with lousy lighting and a $60 harbor freight paintgun (the new nickel ones which are the same gun TCP Global sells) I am very happy with how it came out.. I tried to improve the lighting but still had areas of the car where I wasnt able to see well at all and put the clear on a bit dry I did get three coats on everthing but the front though so shouldnt have issues cutting and buffing. also I managed to not get any runs this time!

Dub,
Question for you... My clear coat manufacturer says in the instruction sheet for the clear that it can be thinned with reducer What are your thought on reducing it to get a wet "flow coat" so I have less work wet sanding and buffing? maybe 10-20% reducer? I have the medium speed activator (70-90 degrees).

DUB

YES...you can..but shoot a test panel to see how it reacts....so you do not go in and then have so many runs you get sick to your stomach. NOT 'saying' you will...but it is best to get a feel for it and know how to possibly re-adjust your volume control of your gun due to the viscosity of the clear is now a bit thinner.

Just be careful that you stay in the 'window' so you do not possibly get 'solvent pops'...depending on how many coats you plan on applying.

ALSO...keep in mind the body has been sanded dull and your first coat of clear you DO NOT want to apply too heavy....or it may run...so TEST IT FIRST.

On another note....if shooting at night is your only option...i guess it is what it is...but...you are aware that the atmosphere goes through an 'inversion' at night time....so...if you paint at night...the fumes and vapors WILL NOT go up into the atmosphere....they WILL stay down at ground level.

And if you are in a neighborhood...depending on how much you are shooting..the neighbor hood can look like there is a heavy fog lingering. AND...a persons house that I went to, to see what he had as a problem one night...the exhaust he had set-up was doing fine...but it was blowing the exhaust out the side door of teh garage... along the side of the house next door.... where it was going back to the INTAKE filters of his 'booth' was sucking it right back in the booth.

IF you can paint during the day...it might be better for you...if this overspray gets out of hand.

IF anything I can offer you is to TRY.....at all costs....even if you have to carry a flashlight with you...so you will be able to SEE the surface that you are applying the clear on. Just pulling a paint gun trigger and NOT knowing what is happening is a recipe for DISASTER...and I do not care how many coats were applied. IF the coats are not even and there is a lot of dry-spray...when these 'dry-spray' areas are being prepped....JUST BE CAREFUL and DO NOT assume that you have enough paint on that area.

I am glad you did not get any runs....but like I told the guys I trained: I would rather you have a run than dry-spray....because a run... is possibly an overlap issue and at least you got enough on the panel...DRY-SPRAY...is not acceptable becasue that is telling me you were not looking and watching what you were doing. The guys I trained learned right away where I would go in and check when the car was dry. I would vector in on some specific areas and if they were 'dry-sprayed'...BOY...they would get an earful.

You have done an outstanding job...you should feel proud...and these minor 'hiccups'...are a part of the learning curve you are now embarking on. I HAVE BEEN there...know it all too well. When it is done....it will be a paint job that many wish they could do.

DUB

augiedoggy

I just finished spraying the rest of the gallon of clear. I put the first coat on without reducer then added a bit for the second coat. I did manage to get it on nice and wet this time and yes I do have runs this time around but like your said thats better than too dry since I can sand and buff them out... I did get dust and a couple bugs which once again landed in it but im hoping since there are now 5 coats of clear on the car that even is I have to sand through a couple layers to get the bugs out I should be ok Or will I cause issues if I sand through the new clear down to the original clear?

I also discovered why I was having some issues getting the base to atomize good... The more expensive descant filter I put at the base of the gun was a LOT more restrictive than the red one I used with the primer guns so I thought it was my gun sucking too much air till I read about others having the same issue on an autobody forum I googled.. with the clear and the cheap red last chance filter I was able to spray at 28psi with the trigger pulled which atomized much better... again Live and learn.

Thanks again! even with the runs I have a lot less sanding to do now with the flow coat which looks very wet and slick at the moment..

I set up my exhaust blower along the front under the garage door which is otherwise blocked with cardboard and pulled fresh air through a furnace filter taped oer the window screen opening in the back ..Still good to know about the fumes/vapors.

augiedoggy

got my new wheels installed today... once I paint the side pipe heat shields I think it will all tie together nicely. I eventually want to lower it an inch or 2.

DUB

Very nice color choice!!!! Looks good.

Dub

augiedoggy

I dont have pics ready to post but I got the clearcoat sanded and cut over the last two days...Even though it wasnt too bad before its MUCH BETTER now.... Tomorrow I should be done with it and can polish and start reassembly.

DUB

For me....the wet sanding of the clear and buffing and polishing IS the BEST part of the entire job. I get into a ZEN state of mind and literally get lost in focusing on what I am doing. I loose the concept of time.

DUB

augiedoggy

Kinda tough to see but the reflections are a lot cleaner now without the orange peel...In the first pic the bottom part was sanded and buffed not the top.

I still have some sanding scratches though? I used 1000 grit followed by 1500grit should I have used 1200 between or 2000 after the 1500? im using the megiurs ultra cutting compound that claims it removes 1200 grit scratches.
Im using a foam cutting pad and have noticed they need to be cleaned after a short time or they loose effectiveness.

DUB

I do not use a foam cutting pad. I have them but do not use the because I can use my wool pad and get done a lot faster and NOT effect the end result. I still use the wool pad...it will take out those fine scratches left by teh 1500. I do it like that most of the time....and then I follow up with a foam pad and glazes and so on to get it right.

I can see the 'slickness' in my your photos...it really looks good.

DUB

augiedoggy

Thanks,
I haven't polished yet hoping to get more of a wet look once I do but I will address that after assembling the rest of the car... needed a break from the paint because I found myself rushing things. much of the car looks great but there are a few areas I will revisit before polishing. funny how new paint makes things like the original lights looks worse... I tried using the cutting polish on the taillight lenses but it had minimal effect it seems. being a 74 with 1 year tailights limits my replacement options too

bmfvette

augiedoggy

finally got her together for a local car show this week.

Dt86

Nice job looks great!

DUB

Looks really good...you should feel proud of this one.

DUB

augiedoggy

Thanks again.
I do have 2 spots where the paint has sort of bubbled... they are very hard to see but they are on the tops of each fender... Not sure what happened maybe some moisture got trapped under the paint somehow. they havent grown or bubbled up but the surface reflection is messed up just enough for me to know they are there and if I press on them I can see theres an air pocket there.

The guy next to me at the car show yesterday said he had the same issue and used a pin to release the moisture... should I wait and see if they actually bubble up? like I said they look flat now. not sure if thers an old trick for this like a syringe and some paint or glue to inject under them... that might make a bigger mess. right now they are so minor no one but me has even seen them.

DUB

I have used a hypodermic needle to do the same thing in popping the bubble . I do it on the low side so water will not flow into the pin ***** when it is rained on.

Back in the day of doing candy paint jobs with speed boat metalflakes, etc...sometimes the paint would do this and due to it being lacquer...I could inject lacquer thinner and get the bubble to go down.

I have injected 'super glue'...so I had pin ***** on the bottom side and went in on the topside and pumped super glue into is and then pressed it down and allowed the super glue to squeeze out. Then I could carefully clean the super glue off the paint with acetone VERY CAREFULLY.

DUB

Dt86

Dumb question here... I've got one small bubble under the lip of my halo panel. After popping it with a pin do you just leave it be and let it settle on its own? Or is there an extra step you take to help flatten it?

Never mind I just read where DUB said he presses it down.