Originally Posted by FatCat

Thanks brother! I was able to pull it off with no rims or sags so now I have to figure out how to get the orange peel thing out. In. My mind, if its there you can't sand it out glass smooth but I have never wet sanded before either so I may be surprised. As for the sanding and buffing materials I do not and that is next in my list. The guy at the paint store said a buffer is gonna cost $100+ so I wasn't thinking it would be that high and will have to get one.
Orange peel observation: the curves and rounded areas seem to be less likely to have a problem than the larger flat surface areas. Any input on why that is or is it just me?

Originally Posted by AirborneSilva

The pictures do look good, if you put enough paint on it you should burn through with wet sanding. You can get a variable speed buffer from harborfreight cheaply, I picked one up but haven't done any paint buffing with it yet.

Originally Posted by 1974ta

Just put enough clear on and any orange peel will come right out with some color sanding. Then buff to a mirror finish.

Looking good!


Bill

Originally Posted by FatCat

Thanks brother! I was able to pull it off with no rims or sags so now I have to figure out how to get the orange peel thing out. In. My mind, if its there you can't sand it out glass smooth but I have never wet sanded before either so I may be surprised. As for the sanding and buffing materials I do not and that is next in my list. The guy at the paint store said a buffer is gonna cost $100+ so I wasn't thinking it would be that high and will have to get one.
Orange peel observation: the curves and rounded areas seem to be less likely to have a problem than the larger flat surface areas. Any input on why that is or is it just me?

Originally Posted by birdsmith

Scott, you're not gonna get all the orange peel out. Cheapo paint shops deliver paint jobs without color sanding and buffing, the good shops buff out their work. I have shot a few panels where the peel was minimal, but normally you're always going to have it to some degree. So color sanding and buffing will be part of the program if you want a decent result. You can buy a perfectly good polisher at HF for around $50, and you will need a foam polishing pad and a wool buffing bonnet, along with buffing and polishing compounds. Before you can polish, though, you need to get some 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, and 3000 grit sandpaper. When you get the orange peel sanded out and the overall finish to 3000 you can begin polishing. Enjoy...I'll be watching, bro!

Originally Posted by FatCat

For my first run, I think it turned out ok, this bumper is just going on my garage wall as an ornament anyway. I learned a ton today but I have to get the whole orange peel issue under control. Next! Wet sanding what I did today. Oooooo more sanding! I will make a finale push this week to try and finish the body prep!

Originally Posted by SuperBuickGuy

believe it or not, that will eventually flow out - let it be and let it flatten itself. I've gone both ways on this advice, I cut and buffed the day after I shot (because Acrylic enamel is a tough mf'er when it's dry), and cut and buffed a couple days after (thus, my knowledge about it's f'edness). I also left it alone.... it's pretty flat now, and more shiney than it'd be if I cut n buffed.... single stage does not like people who put buffers on it.

and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever waste your money on a buffer from HarborFreight. They work the 1st day, and won't work the 2nd day (did this 3x before I finally got smart and bought a makita)

Originally Posted by SuperBuickGuy

believe it or not, that will eventually flow out - let it be and let it flatten itself. I've gone both ways on this advice, I cut and buffed the day after I shot (because Acrylic enamel is a tough mf'er when it's dry), and cut and buffed a couple days after (thus, my knowledge about it's f'edness). I also left it alone.... it's pretty flat now, and more shiney than it'd be if I cut n buffed.... single stage does not like people who put buffers on it.

and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever waste your money on a buffer from HarborFreight. They work the 1st day, and won't work the 2nd day (did this 3x before I finally got smart and bought a makita)

Originally Posted by Cygnus

I think that the anticipation is killing a lot of us (me especially). I can't wait to see it done and on the road.

Originally Posted by FatCat

Hahaha! It is killing me to but never having done this its a slow process! If for some reason I could get the paint done in the next 2 weeks, I will have rebuilt the engine and stripped/painted the car. Wow! Working alone with some great help from all of you I would say that is pretty quick! It won't be long brother!

Originally Posted by AirborneSilva

You are doing a great job, I wish I had your energy

Originally Posted by birdsmith

Pete, these cars don't have gelcoat under the primer. The bodies were made out of a fiberglass material called "SMC" (Sheet molded compound) that is composed of glass fibers and epoxy resin. As a part of the manufacturing process the resin would tend to flow toward the outer surface, leaving a reasonably smooth outer finish.

As far as sanding away the factory primer, if you're gonna go to all the trouble and effort to strip all the other paint you might as well take it all the way to the surface. That primer is 35 years old...why put new wine into old wineskins, eh?

Rogman used gallons of lacquer thinner and scotch-brite and hundreds of rolls of paper towels along with his Most Excellent Wife to strip the primer off of his '73. I used the somewhat more draconian but environmentally-friendly method of wet-sanding the primer off with 320 grit paper. I then scuffed it lighly with 120 grit paper to give a bit of 'tooth' for the body filler and primer to bite onto. After that I washed the car with Palmolive Oxy-blast dish soap.

I have noticed on these pages that 20 different people can paint a car 20 different ways. The way I did mine worked well for me, but I did benefit quite a bit from the advice of others. Some of it I used, some not. At the end of the day the paint job you put on your car is going to be the result of decisions that you made along the way, and that will be your signature.

Some will get this..."Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord". If you follow that counsel, you can't go wrong.

Originally Posted by augiedoggy

the SMC compound didnt replace the regular fiberglass until the late seventies or early 80's I've read....
I painted my c4 and am working on a 74 I have now this will be my third paint job in my garage at home...I painted my 84 chameleon color changing green to blue to red ...learned a lot from mistakes made.but it came out pretty good until I found out the 20 minutes was too long between coats of clear on the third coat and the paint lifted..paint manufacturer took some of the blame for not stating time limits and sent me replacement paint for practically free
.. had to repaint again and this time I was rushing to get it done and had a lot of paint already on the car..It was ok but bothered me because it wasnt perfect...

BTW evercoat makes a product called "Vette panel filler" "for smc and fiberglass"
I got it on ebay.... I have three layers of paint to remove from my 74 and its a mess but I cant wait to get some progress done. this thread is inspiring as I was considering soda blasting to remove paint and the razor may work better for the majority of the car.
I also have just built my first engine for this car that I have yet to swap too...

Originally Posted by birdsmith

"Don't mean to be disagreeable but I will my HF buffer is still working great after several days use but I have heard of them crapping out after one day."

I have an old Black & Decker buffer that I used for years, but it was always noisy and lacked power. Being a hobbyist and not someone who uses a buffer every day, I went and bought a $50 HF buffer and used it to buff out my Vette on this last go-round. The speed was a little erratic on the slower settings, but once it is running at higher speed it's fine. There is definitely false economy in a lot of the stuff they sell, some of it just plain doesn't even work at all right out of the box, but some of it does and the quality of many of their products are improving. I get irritated at some of their labeling-"Ohio Forge"..."Chicago Industrial"...blah, blah, blah

If I was a professional bodyman I would invest in professional quality tools. When I do go to HF and buy their stuff I try to get it when it's on sale so I'm not giving TOO much of my $$$ to China.