Well it's been 8 days since my last post here and reality has pretty well set in. There were problems hidden and we'll be lucky to hace the body work done in another 10 days.

But it is coming together and the work being done is looking good.
I have alotted another 20 hours to to get the body work done and ready to prime.

I was looking it over yesterday and you know this is one nice looking car.
They really don't make them like this any more.

I got a call today and my SLP 5 spoke wheels are in, 17x8.
I'm thinking 255's all the way around, maybe 275's in the rear.

Hopefully in 2 weeks I should have some color on it.
I'll keep you posted.

Ralph

 

Don't push too hard... rushing the process will ALWAYS be visible in the final product. Spend whatever time is required for the job to be done to the very best of your capabilities. You'll look at this paint job for years, don't screw it up by insisting that each step take "X" hours and no more!

 

Do you think a gallon of 2K primer will be enough for a Vette DA sanded with 80 grit?

Is there a place on line that sells Nason paint at a reasonable price?

 

Wow Ralph that price sounds a bit SPICY. I just bought Gal ( 3.5 liters really) of Spies blue black for 352.00 and a gal of HS 8035 clear for 202.00 our prices went up Oct. 1st here..
Ways to keep paint costs down:
Use a sealer of a color that will help coverage for your topcoat
Over the years i have adjusted my spray technique, I use less product.
The right gun is a biggy, conventional guns lose about half your product to overspray but they are easier to use.
HVLP and RP lose about 35%+/- and take some getting used to if your not familiar with them.
LVLP loses 20%, I use an Iwata for base and a RP for clear on most jobs.
I'm doing an overall on 69 vette soon, I sealed in black, I'll put down one or two coats of standard black base, then put one and a half of the $$$ blue black base with the LVLP I'll do the first coat or two of clear (Spies 8035 HS) with the RP, if it looks nice at this point I'll use a Sata JetB for the final coat of clear, it's not efficient but it sure does lay down clear well ( just kidding mister EPA man, I would never use a conventional spray gun..)
If for some reason the job turns out less than "Holy **** that looks good " I'll sand whole car with 800 and re clear, trying to cut an buff a black vette these days would make me go work at Walmart. I did enough of that crap years ago when I was coming up spraying in crappy booths. With urethane it's difficult to sand out orange peal in black, years ago with lacquer it was a snap.

It hard to compare amount of material used from different paint companies on the same job, Spies get's 40-50% reducer in base, PPG DBC get's 100+, PPG 2021/2042 clear gets 4-1-1, Spies HS gets 2-1.
I'm reading Nason instead of Mason. I'm going to use 4 to 4 1/4 RTS base and 4ish clear, thats under 200 for base and 150 for clear. 350.00 plus reducer/hardner. If your price for base was color only I'd tell Mason or Nason to take a hike with those prices.

 

Spraygun I was just reading one of your posts and you said you would not pait a Corvette with Mason that is was cheap dupont. Or something like that.

I'd like to order everything on line so I got everything matched.
And I agree that is a lot of money for that paint.

Thanks

Ralph

 

Ralph, buying auto paint online is not a great idea in my opinion. Shipping solvents is pricey and if your order isn't right or you need something quickly your screwed. Your profile says your in Woodland CA. Jerry's paint and supply carries Glasurit, PPG, Dupont, etc. Nason is Dupont's value line ( fleet, used cars, etc. ) they sell that to have their hand in the low end market. Straight Dupont is of higher quality, Dupont owns Spies hecker also, very high quality.
In my opinion it's eaiser to make sure you get exactly what you need being at the store in person, plus it's cheaper.
Do some research and pick a paint line, the higher quality Euro lines (Glasurit, Spies ) are the top paints, Spies has the advantage of having one line of hardners for all the products you need, primers, sealers, clears which simplifies things.

If you have any more questions, just holler
SprayGun

 

SG makes some very valid points and I'll throw in my 2 cents here. If you are going to all the time and trouble to strip, block sand, re-glue seams, fit panels, etc. etc., why not buy the "best" materials one can afford? After all, Vettes are very special cars!

"Time is money" and time is not something you can buy.

 

Well guys here is the latest update. My 75 is still not painted.

The first guy just stopped working on it.
He worked 6 hours in two weeks, so I went and picked up the 75.

Been waiting for an opening in another paint and body shop.
Start time has been set back 3 times so I got another estimate today.

All the work that's been done plus the paint I already purchased and they still want $2500.00.

They understand the quality of work I expect and said with 2 people on it they can finish in a week.

There is a crack in the body through the Gill on the right side they will fix plus there are still some 40 grit scratches but mostly 80 grit ones.

They are talking about sanding the 75 3 times and 2 coats of 2k primer.
Then painting the car and buffing it out.

Are there any "Must Do's" I should insure they do?

I went with DuPont paint, chrome something another. Every thing was $1009.00. The 2nd guy said it's all he uses.

So maybe by Christmas I'll be driving in style like never before.

Thanks for every ones input.

Ralph

One last thing. Does the 75 need to be sealed with an epoxy primer before and after the 2k primer is layed down?

 

You are working on a '75 so thats a SMC body, IMHO I would seal it with epoxy first. Sand the car with 80 grit, SPI epoxy fills 80 grit no problem and 3 coats has a nice build. I used SPI epoxy on my '76 followed by SPI 2K high build, then the BC and used SPI Universal clear. All gaps were set using epoxy resin and matt, filler was Evercoat 880, and skim coats done with Rage over the epoxy primer.

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been a long hard ride huh scott . looks killer to me . sometimes it seems like you will never see it in color again .

 

I know this post is old but sanding primer with a DA and 80 gritt is WRONG. Never use a DA when sanding primer. Just a block . 80 grit is for sanding body filler , stripping etc. You can feather your body work edge with a DA and 80 but not on primer. All your material will end up on the floor and your car will be wavey.

 

It's not that old, my car still is not painted.
I'm suppose to put it in another body shop after the first of the year.

The first guy claimed he could work wonders, it turned out that it was a wonder if he even worked on it.

Thanks for the tip. It turns out you are absolutely correct.
The new shop is saying 320 grit.

This is turning out to be the longest 8 day paint job in history.

Ralph

 

Well guys this has been one long learning curve.
I got her out of the paint shop on Friday and have been putting her back together this weekend. And the work just keeps going and going.

A thousand dollars for paint and fourth four hundred in labor.
But she is a head turner.
Le Mans Blue Metallic is the color. It was a transparent paint so it had to be painted black first then the color was shot.



This is what I started with:





I'll get some more pictures up when I get the trim,mirrors,wheels and such on her.

Thanks for all the great advice.

Ralph

 

WOW! Arthur Ashe and the Tennis themed hood! What a mural! HAHAHA

Oh By the way, the paint looks awesome now!! Good call on the color!

 

Wow!! Great looking paint... Post some different views when you get a chance...

Rogman

 

I'm putting the interior back in yesterday, today and some of tomorrow.

The seats are recovered in black and a dark grey cloth insert, same as the door panels.

The passengers seat is almost ready to go back in, I have to paint the bases. Almost forgot I need to replace the neutral safety switch before doing the console.

I do see light at the end of the tunnel though.
I purchased her in March 2011 and may be done in February of 2012.

The engine compartments needs cleaning up but it's not to bad.
I rebuilt the engine in May and did a lot of the clean up then.

Ralph

 

Ralph,

Thanks for the extra pic... You should be a very happy dude!!! Looks outstanding...

Rogman

 

I am. I feel like a young child at Christmas.

What's that your leaning on?

Ralph

 

My 1973 Vert that is in the middle of a frame off...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...ble-resto.html

Although your's looks great in Blue, I am either going with Torch Red or Carbon Flash Metallic... Two extremes, huh!!

Rogman

 

I had a 98 in Torch Red and I really thought about painting my 75 that color.
Next to other red Vettes it was no contest.
Torch Red is probably the perfect red.
Not too orange and not to much red

So that is a great choice.

Please post pictures so I can compare the two.

Ralph