I like the way you set up the garage for the paint. I've painted about 10 or so cars in the garage and all I've even done is moved everything out and hosed down the floor. I always end up with some small trash in the paint but almost all of it sands/buffs out so it works out ok. I'm wondering how much doing all that to the garage before paint helped as apposed to what I do. I'm sure it saved time with sanding and buffing.

As far as the specs in the paint, I was wondering if you used the same spray gun for primer as the base and clear coat. I had a similar experience with primer specs in the clear and found out I didn't get the gun cleaned out spotless after I primered with it and when I ran the clear thru, it must have freed up the primer and there it was........ had to do the same thing, sand and repaint... I usually use the same gun for both and over clean it to get everything out but I must have missed some that time. Needless to say, I use a different gun for primer/sealer now...

 

Thanks Randy, me too!!!


Thanks Bud!!! I use the plastic to keep all the overspray off of everything else in the garage... If that is causing my dust nibs, then I will just live with them... The base and clear really adhere to everything they touch (except dust nibs)!!!

I use two separate guns... I use an el cheap TCP Global gun for priming and a SATA for base and clear... I clean the air cap after I empty each 24oz Dekups liner fill-up... I completely clean the SATA after each full coat of base and clear... I just hate to have base and/or clear sitting in the gun for 15-20 minutes while I'm waiting for proper flash times!!!

I have always sprayed down the floor on all previous paint jobs... Surprisingly, I had just as many nibs with a wet floor as I did with a clean/dry floor... It is so dry in Vegas, I would have to wet the floor after every coat of product... I would spend more time wetting the floor than spraying product...

99.5% of the car would've buffed out and looked like glass... I'll give it one more go and I should be more than okay, and will feel better about putting in the extra effort...

Thanks for commenting...

Rogman

 

Roger,
Hello from Pensacola. I know this has got to be an exciting time for you as well as a lot of us on the forum since we have been watching your progress for a while now. The car is awesome. Your'e obviously are a perfectionist which would be a good guess as to how you earned your promotion. Can't wait to see it rolling.
Bill

 

good luck,looks good

 

Thanks guys!!

Rogman

 

Rogman... never thought of putting up the plastic to keep the paint in.. haha.. I should have done that !! Last car I painted was my son's 3000GT and we were wiping red paint off of everything in the garage cabinets for weeks. Maybe I'll do that next time.

Your work looks great. I give you a lot of credit for how your staying on the project. I've restored a few cars and am currently doing an old Harley and there are times when I don't even want to look at my shop let alone getting back there and working in it.

Last thing I want to Thank You for your service. My son is in the Air Force also and was in Vegas a couple months back for about a month. Only thing he didn't like about Vegas was he didn't have his bike or car with him.

Good luck !!

 

Your welcome... I couldn't imagine doing anything else for the past 28+ years... We've been stationed in some really amazing places and met so many wonderful people... Don't really know anything else... Think we have another 3-4 moves (7 years) left before I hang the uniform up... Everyone always tells you "that you'll know it" when its time... Not there yet, so we keep pressing and very pleased/proud to meet and work with these young and energized young men and women in our Armed Forces!!! While I don't always "relate" with some of the generational gap things, these youngsters are truly amazing...

I take a break every now and then from the vette, but certainly have some serious motivation "to finally drive her" as I didn't even take the chance to at least drive her around the block when I first got her... I want to cruise so bad, I can taste it!!!

Can't wait to get back home next week, as I really want to get the paint done, so I can put the doors/hood/hatch on for the final time... Then my focus will turn to getting her ready either for a stint in storage or for a slow ride to Belgium...

Tell your son I said "Hi" and thanks for his service!!! Everybody in the Air Force gets to come to Las Vegas for a TDY (temporary duty) except for me... At least I got to be stationed there... I would probably just get in trouble if I ever came to Las Vegas TDY and stayed downtown on the strip... Way too many easy ways to get in trouble!!!

Thanks for the compliments...

Rogman

 

Can't wait to see that in person, wow! I'm sure alot of paint shops can't even deliver what you accomplished in your garage.
Strange, i was so used to the car in 'white' as your avatar.
Nick

 

After I painted my car and buffed it out I came across a couple of spots like you described. I touched them up then wet sanded and rebuffed. If you get half inch away from the paint you can see it. Otherwise you can't see them. I toyed with the idea of reshooting the base and clear but figured I may end up with worse than what I have now.

Remember we are painting in a garage. You will always have a small problem.

 

Thanks Nick!!!I can see why shops charge $10-$15K to paint these beasts... Thought those figures were way too high until I did all this work... Now it seems like a very good deal... Especially if they could do it in 4 weeks or less...

Yepper, all that came into my thought process... I know I'll have issues just because of shooting in my garage... What I'm betting on is that I won't get dust nibs in the exact same place as my 5-6 specs I have now... If I do, then I'm sure I'll be pissed, but what can you do... Either way I have a good base of black and clear on 99.9% of the car now, so any nibs should come out okay... I also had a couple of dry spots on the door jambs and convertible hatch drain lip... Everything I've had to do twice (or again) on this car has usually come out much better (and easier) the second time around!!! Things that come to are the parking brake install, glassing in the seams, reshooting the hood, etc... The other tidbit that made this decision a little easier is that I still have a couple hundred dollars worth of product left... If I would've had to buy more base and clear, it would've made my decision a lot more difficult...

Rogman

 

We also had tiny imperfections in the new paint which at the time were a big deal to me, but now I don't even think I could find them.

 

Yepper, when it comes to "my" mistakes, I have a memory like an elephant!!!



Rogman

 

Roger

I have been on this forum for years - mostly C5 and C6 sections as I have owned one of each. But lately been lurking in the C3 sections because I have also owned a 70 and 71, and hope to own a C3 again sometime in the future.

Have read and followed a ton of threads, but your's takes the cake.

Your sign off "Thanks for looking and commenting" speaks volumes about you. No, THANK YOU for taking the time to take and post all of these pics - you are taking each and every one of us for a dream ride.

Hats off to you man

 

Thanks Jack!!! Appreciate the comments... Flying home today and should get back to work on her tomorrow... Some of the best comments I've rcvd have been through IMs telling me when I've done something wrong and someone did not want to broadcast my mistakes (thanks much guys)... Appreciate the knowledge base on the Forum and the feedback I have received... This site is awesome!!!

Rogman

 

Finally got back from DC "late" Thursday night... Very glad I do not have to fly back as I am done with school... Have 3-4 weeks now to work on Vette and get the house in Vegas packed up...

Unfortunately, I have been slacking off for the past three days as I have not got too much done other than do some cleanup on the 600 wet/dry... So not a lot of "progress" pics... What I do have is getting the garage "ready" and "primed" to work when I got home...

Here's where I usually have to start with:









Once I get the "chaff" moved out, there is a lot of floor space...





Push car under the lights to the middle of the floor:



Uncover:





On jack stands and ready to work on:





She has been bathed several times with water and dawn... Touching up small spots that need just a "Wee" bit more of sanding...

One thing that I decided to do was to "fit" all the new emblems into their respective areas... GOOD thing that I did that... All the new emblems and parking lights would not fit into the original spots... I had to drill and file all the old holes out a smidge... Glad I did not have to tackle that after the final color and clear...

Tomorrow I will pressure wash floor and tape the car up... Should be ready to shoot Tuesday morning first thing!!!

Thanks for looking, commenting and following along...

Rogman

 

Wow, can you say another "setback"!!!

As I was wiping her down in preparation to tape her up for a morning shoot, I noticed something a-miss with the headlights... The right headlight would "catch a little" when opening... After further investigation, the U-pol liner I shot on the underneath of the headlight assemblies was a little bit too thick... I tried to adjust the assemblies, and they would, but the gap in the front was way too small and the back gap was fairly large...

I decided to see if I could pull the lids out so I could remove the U-pol from the problem areas... After a little massaging, I was able to pull the lids out without damaging the paint...

Getting the U-pol off was another story... Using a combination of an air grinder with a scotch-brite pad, a razor blade, 100 and 220 grit sandpaper, I was able to get it off after several careful hours "in surgery"...

Spent a little while reading/watching the Willcox video and Brett's (Mooser) adjustment threads... In no way did I have the headlights adjusted correctly the first time... They are in much better shape now even though I lost a day in my painting process and the bezels fit now as well...

Here are some photos:

Starting position...



Tape'em up...



Remove the 4 bolts holding the assembly to the car, the pivot bolt and the springs...



Set the assembly down on the vacuum tank...



Remove the 6 bolts holding the bearings in place and maneuver the lid out...



Rest of assembly still in the car...



You can see the thick U-pol liner I have to remove...







Here they are cleaned up...









Spray a little semi-gloss on the bare pot metal...



Headlights back in, adjusted and bezels in place...

 

Better to fix it now rather than after you shoot it again Otherwise you might be tempted to shoot it with a different gun

Lookin' good

Jim

 

Thanks Jim... I know what you mean about the other gun!!! Seems every time I take one step forward, something will make me take a step backward... Guess I am taking dancing lessons from her...

Rogman

 

Ready for bc/cc PART II tomorrow morning... Wish me luck!!! I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done... And yes, the Dexter's walls are up!!! Just didn't get a pic after the walls were up... You'll get to see them in the pics tomorrow...



Thanks for following, commenting and helping me through this...

Rogman

 

Best of luck Rogman! Like you, I can't wait to see the finished product, it looked amazing the first time and will be that much better this time I am sure. After paint, the rest should be a cake walk. Amazing work.

Greg