Gerry--

It came out "okay"... Somehow I got some trash in the clear, so when I cut and buffed, there are about 6-8 little white "specks" in the area... I am just going to live with it for now and figure out a way to improve the look sometime down the road... If the rest of the paint job was perfect (which it is not), I would be worrying about this a little more... While I was shooting for a "6 inch" paint job, in reality, I probably will end up with s 3-4 footer which I am quickly learning to live with... After all, I did this in my garage, I am certainly an amateur, and these Vettes are very difficult to work on and get perfect... The car looks great and I'm happy with the results, should've done a better job of managing my initial expectations as I undertook this project... I probably needed another 3-6 months of body preparation and a professional paint booth to get the results I was initially expecting... Enough of the morning rant and feeling sorry for oneself... Let's see some pictures of the bonehead mistake and getting back out to the garage to start working on the car...







Rogman

 

Know exactly what you mean Zwede... Even some of the new repo parts don't look (and certainly don't fit) as good as what we expect...

Rogman

 

AMEN !!

Especially interior plastic parts.......


The car is looking incredible !! Keep up the great work, You are an inspiration !

TCT

 

Extraordinary!

Excellent pictures and documentation that will help, encourage and inspire others for years to come...

 

Wow, I spent about 3 hours last night reading the thread from start to finish, you have done an amazing and inspirational job on that car.

 

Thanks TCT, appreciate it...

Rogman

Mike--

Thanks for checking in on me and keeping me straight!!! Appreciate all your advice you've personally given me... In addition, I've spent many hours ready your "documented" tools, tips and tricks... "I" appreciate how you always take time to talk us through our projects and are there for us... Really appreciate your mentorship...

Rogman

Thanks CG!! You guys will never know how much it inspires and uplifts just to get little comments during the project...

Thanks to all that have provided comments and advice throughout these "almost" 2 years of working on the Vette!!!

Rogman

 

Rogman,

You are certainly an inspiration and you have done an outstanding job.
I have done everything on mine myself so far, but I would never attempt
the body work and paint that you have. I know that you see the imperfections
and it bothers you even if no one else sees it. I am the same way, but it still amazes
me the work you have done.
I can hardly wait to see the finished job.

Donnie

 

Thanks Donnie... I am going to enjoy following your restoration...

Rogman

 

As I searched all my wrapped-up painted braces and supports, I could not dig up my rear bumper braces... As I looked and looked, I found them buried in another pile... Somehow, these slipped by the sand blaster and POR 15 stations...



Off to the sand blaster, and to the POR 15 station... As I go through the shelf in the garage refrigerator that contains all of my POR 15 colors, I was very surprised to find out that most of the cans were "dried up"... Really, after only a year!!! Good thing I had a brand new can of silver and one of the Black Gloss cans was still "fresh"... Here's Tass laying on the silver...



Got a few things put on the rear of the car... Actually starting to look like a car, at least from the rear...





Thanks for looking, commenting and following...

Rogman

 

I think your right in keeping this in perspectos that this isn't your job it's your hoby and you did it to say I did it. That's a huge thing to say and respect awesome job its a huge job to take on solely yourselves keep up the good work.Looking forward to more posts.Gerry

 

Looks great Roger Look past the little imperfections, more will pop up as you drive the car and the paint finishes curing. No paint job is perfect or stays as good as it comes out of the booth. Especially on fiberglass...

Drive it and enjoy the ride.

One of the first things I did before reassembling the car was to put a scratch in the paint where only I know... Figured it would happen anyway so I'd get it over with and avoid the swearin' & cryin'

Jim

 

The car is looking great from the rear Rogman

 

Appreciate it Gerry!!!

Yepper, too funny!!! When we picked up our new BMW X5 last week told the wife to get the hammer out so we can make the first door ding to break her in... Either that or go "curb" a wheel... It's gonna happen!!!

Rogman

Thanks Roger... Now got to get to the front, so I can put the doors and hood back on!!!

Rogman

 

Hey Rog, Everything is looking really great, 98% of the people on here would love to have a paint job half as good as your car, including me. So when is moving day or shipping day for the car? Are you going to be able to put it in a container, and do the blocking and bracing yourself or at least inspect to make sure it meets your approval?

I sold the SB vert, so now I have room in the garage to pull the 502, clean up the engine compartment, new oil pan and oil pump and sump, drill the Z-Bar boss on the block, most importantly check engine for any oil starvation due to the dented and leaking oil pan. I'm thinking on sending my carburetor to Lars to rebuild and maybe changing the cam out. I do want to paint the engine block Chevy Orange.

I just found out I will be deploying Oct 11th for 9 months, so I want to get this done now and be able to enjoy the car a little.

Great work as always, keep it coming. Later Randy

 

Thanks much Randy!!! Sorry to hear about your upcoming deployment... They sure are keeping you busy!!!

Believe it or not, we are still struggling with family medical clearance stuff and have not rcvd "official" orders yet, and our Belgium move is in jeopardy... The lateness of getting orders is probably going to make me have to put the car in storage because I can't get ANY information from the medical folks!!! Driving us absolutely crazy!!!

If I do get to ship the car, I'm sure it is going to be very late in the process and I won't have the time to follow and "inspect"... Will just have to "trust" the shipping company... Kinda sucks big time all the way around!!!

Rogman

 

Your car is looking great! Most people will never notice the imperfections you see. You would have to point them out. Another thing to keep in mind is your car is probably way straighter and closer to perfection than is was when it was brand new. These cars were far from perfect still sitting on the showroom floor new!

It depends on what your white specs in the paint are, but sometimes that cheesy colored wax that is supposed to cover up flaws will color those specs and make them virtually disappear. Get it in black, it's worth a try.

 

This thread is great!! Gonna have to go through it all. Have a 73 vert also @ Holloman. Looking for someone to paint mine... Thinking maybe I should take it to you!!! Awesome paint job! If nothing else, you have me thinking maybe I should give it a try and paint mine.

 

Thanks guys, much appreciated...

Rogman

 

I lost all of Thursday to our house closing... Always nice when you sell and close on a house, but hate losing a day in the garage...

I found something on the car I hate "almost" as much as putting the parking brakes together--installing and adjusting the rear bumpers!!! When I did my test fitting I used my old bumpers that came with the car... Pretty sure both of those were cheap, well-used repos... Bought new USA-made bumpers from Willcox (thanks Ernie), but that was too late in the process to use them for my test fitting!!! That was a big mistake... You want to talk about a delicate surgical operation by drilling and carving into new paint, I was a nervous wreck... Finally got the bumpers on, need some fine tuning on the adjustments, but they are good for now...





Started cutting the front end, and will finish the cutting and buffing tomorrow if I can stay in the garage long enough... It's been smokin' hot for the past couple of days...







Thanks for looking, commenting and following...

Rogman

P.S. Don't be hatin' on Spiderman!!! He's keeping stuff off of my hood as I work on the rest of the car...

 

The plan for today was finish buffing the front clip, install pass door and install hood... Work on the car was put on hold today as we rcvd the bad news that my family was not approved to travel to Belgium...

Due to downsizing and reduction in forces overseas, the small medical clinic at our location in Belgium decided not to accept my dependents... I appealed, and yet again, lost my fight... Spent most of the afternoon with my assignment guy trying to find out my options...

The first step is to ask NATO to release me from the Belgium assignment... I should find out tomorrow morning if I get released or not... If I'm not released, I'll have to do two years in Belgium unaccompanied, which would suck!!! In addition, since we just sold our house, meaning we will have to scramble and find them a house to rent here for the next two years... Lot's of stuff going on and it is very stressful time for the family...

If I had to guess, if I get released from NATO, my assignment bubba is going to try to find us an assignment stateside... Really sucks as the family was "really" looking forward to living in Europe for a couple of years... Guess everything happens for a reason, just wish I knew what the reason was!!!

I did get the right half of the front clipped buffed out yesterday... Hey, it is wearing the Stingray badge once again...





Thanks for looking, following and/or commenting...

Rogman