I think the biggest thing I learned this weekend was though I had no sags or runs, I painted it a little too dry. I am going to do the jambs next and will turn up the air just a few lbs. hoping that will do the trick!

 

more air without more paint will just make it spray more dry.... dry is ok for basecoat I found the metallic blue I used on my jeep came out nice and even that way...

 

That makes sense, so let me ask this! If you get some orange peel on the base but lay the clear nice and wet, will that cover the base orange peel?
Thanks!

 

as that fuel line goes FC, the supply line is 3/8" rubber hose and the return line is 1/4", you can buy them from anywhere. My hoses were rotting out so it might be a good idea for you to change them out too. Routing them shouldn't be too tricky, you might just need a long hose. Also that steel line is somewhat bendy if you need to position it a different direction.

 

I changed them when I put the engine back in but the supply line was a real PITA It was so tight it ended up being kinked a little which I guess as it warmed from running heat, it must have kinked closed. I'll just have to look at it and see what I can do. I was thinking if I could see a picture, I could save some headache.

 

I think there is a preformed "S" shaped hose for later C3 Corvettes. It goes from the supply line to the fuel pump. I have read about it here on the forum that if you don't use that hose, you will have a problem with the hose kinking. Check the Corvette vendors, you'll find it.

Pete

 

Yeah I think I need that same line, here is a link...

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...roducts_id=559

 

Good call AS! I am on my iPad, and it's not as easy to jump around in the browser when typing - you loose what you typed. Thanks for the link.

Pete

 

Just helping a brother out

 

Thanks! I looked and that will work! Hahaha started to just order it but they want more to ship than the part costs! Lol

 

it wont smooth out the paint job completely but it helps ...and you can always buff the clear smooth later. main thing is not to shoot the clear on real dry.

 

Agreed!! The base "should" go on so lightly that it "barely" covers with each coat... I sprayed jet black over a light grey primer and it took me at least 3-4 coats to get full coverage... While I'm no pro, I would guess the mixture is off a bit or you are spraying on too thick to be getting peel in your base... My base turned out very flat and smooth, just not shiny (until I sprayed clear)...

Good luck...

Rogman

 

So, what if you took the time to sand the primer, base and clear? Would it be good or a waist of time?

 

Anyone got input on that?

 

I asked the question once if you could sand the base coat to smooth it out prior to clear coat, the painter said that you get the orange peel in the clear coat I think, and i'm not a painter mind you, that it wouldn't hurt if you put enough base on to smooth out... Our painters here would better answer that question though.

 

So of I am reading this correctly, your orange peel problem is in the clear and not the base? If that is the case I guess just putting the clear on a little wetter should solve the problem. I do know u get OP in the primer too just unclear on the base. Thanks AS!

 

Yeah he told me that you don't get op in the base but that don't make sense to me, I guess if you put on medium coats and not too light or too wet then you should be ok... Again, I am not a painter by any stretch.

 

sand between base and clear.... that said, you can sand it smooth with a DA and 500 or 600 grit sandpaper (with water, of course)

and it really doesn't take long to sand it because all you're trying to do is get it flatter


or

you could do like a friend did, not sand the orange peel - then sand through the clear to the base so the car looks dull no matter how much you wax.

 

Scott, you may want to try reducing your base a little more than the standard 100% or 1/1. This will allow it to flow out a little better than what you saw with your test panel. If you're getting orange peel in your base it's either because it's insufficiently reduced, the tip is too large, or you're applying it too heavily (gun too close/ dwelling too long/too much material) It also won't hurt to soak your gun tips in acetone for a day or two as well as cleaning the needle off real well. It has been my [recent] discovery that reducing (thinning) the material slightly more than what your paint vendor might recommend is generally beneficial when it comes to getting a nice smooth surface, that and using a 1.3mm tip while spraying color and clear.

Understand that with extra reduction comes extra likelihood for getting runs and sags, so when shooting vertical surfaces you don't want to lay the paint on too heavily, with the first coat being light. This gives successive coats more of a 'tooth' to grab onto, so it's less likely to run. ESPECIALLY with clearcoat, it's IMPERATIVE that the first coat go on as no more than a fog coat. Every time I've tried to lay a full wet first clearcoat down I got a ton of solvent pop, and you don't want that because the only way to fix it is to sand it out and reshoot it, which is a total waste of expensive paint. It's tempting to rush out a blow down a gallon on the first coat, but you have to resist that temptation if you're going to get a good result.

My own experience is that it's not necessary to sand basecoat even if there's a little peel in it, but the best finish I had with clear was to apply it (3 coats), let it cure for two or three days, sand out the peel with 600 grit wet paper, then lay on two or three more coats. It then flows on almost perfectly level and requires very little color sanding to get to where it can be polished, and it polishes up to an absolutely stunning finish. But to do a whole car that way would require an absolutely insane amount of HARD work...



That's what my wiper door looked like after this process...I wasn't about to do it to the whole car. Too much farkin' WORK!

 

good morning guys. not trying to steal fatcat's "novel",just wanted to say this is a awesome thread i jumped to the end to add my 2cents in about 25 pages in and seem to learn a bit each time . as a new owner of a older vette i am sure some of this is gonna save me headaches in the future keep it going ,good job fatcat, thanks to all that helped !