Secret experimental 1964 GX 455

[schlepcar]

I know what you mean as far as that base coat coverage. Some colors come right in with a couple coats and some are more transparent. If you think it may be an issue,you could always hit a local body shop and tell them what you?re doing. Maybe they would have some dark blue base wasting away on the shelf. One decent coat of any dark blue would help. I have not had any issue spraying base over base using R-M,PPG,Omni,autocolor,matrix,Sherwin Williams,etc....as long as it is a base-clear,and not lacquer or enamel. It sometimes helps to get two decent coats on and just reduce it a bit more,turn up the pressure a bit,and go crazy with different patterns to straighten out your metallic and avoid that tiger striping. You got all the work done now,so if you are not totally happy with the way the base has covered just stop until you are. I think that color will come in quickly over gray,and you also can reduce that primer and just spray a little over any sand through areas(probably not necessary if you get it down to 320-400). That metal will probably have to be 65-70 degrees so it will take the night before you spray to get it there. Read the clear coat directions and let us know how it goes. If you put your finger on a masked area and it does not stick or string,it may have to wait a bit before next coat. If it gets too wet....it will take off on you. Dan

[schlepcar]

I was thinking again(It happens)
I also think you should paint whole car,shut doors,trunk,etc...clear outside of car until you are happy with coats/coverage. Let dry for an hour,then clear trunk,jambs,under hood.....because that clear overspray will be wet sanded off and your jambs will be clean with no tapelines or overspray to mess with. It?s been awhile since I bit off a large project so I had to at least mention it. So EVERYTHING is covered with the blue base,but the clear in jamb areas is the last to be covered. You may think it looks a little crappy with the overspray on the body,but don?t worry about that....it all gets smoothed up before polish and looks like it was never painted.

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks for that Dan! Thats thinking outside the box; I like that! Its like masking for a white strip on a black car; after its masked, paint the stripe black first. That will seal the edge with the cars color and not have any white bleeds under the tape. Theres only one issue Ive encountered so far and thats the very upper door corner rubber weather stripping ribbing on the primer by 1/2" or so. I may have to pull that down with a strip of duct tape! Of course the primer hadnt cured yet either, but still... The only foo-foo on the whole job that Ive seen. My eyeballs were pretty blurry by the time I came up for air haha.

So the procedure went well yesterday. The worst part was nothing to eat after 6 p.m. the night before and  the procedure didnt go off until 3 p.m. yesterday. That twilight anesthesia is the best thing since they put Coke in Bottles LOL. I was awake and ready to leave in 10 minutes. It was 45 minutes before all the liability BS was over tho.. I was up at 0300 and feeling GRRREAT this morning. Gotta go run the blower this morning before going out to sand that primer!   Bill

[TrunkMonkey]

Well, Bill. In spite of all the hard work Pat has put into this car while you sat in the chair, watching and telling tall tales on the interwebs, I think the door jamb shows that you should just scrap the whole project and take up eating paste and licking windows.

Such a sad end.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Just keep the tongue off of aluminum flag poles when is zero F outside LOL.  Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

Well; got outside this morning after running the snowblower just to putz around. I feel like a brazillion after that procedure yesterday. Thought I'd try a little ruffing in on the sanding job. Loaded up the long board with some fresh 120 to gingerly rub the overspray off. Turns out it was too aggressive. It went through the edges and a few other spots before I stopped. Actually I was more concerned about scratches showing through.

I was going to step that up to 320, but alas, I'm out of the in-between stuff. Being the cheap azz that I am, I rarely throw any old sandpaper away, so I grabbed a well used piece of 220 and glued it to my sanding sponge. That along with a free hand piece for the edges and tight spots and we were off to the races.

The overspray was as rough as 150 paper. Nothing like sanding sandpaper with sandpaper LOL. A quick swipe with the sponge reduced that immediately something that resembled a primer coat. Working in a 3 foot long stride, I was back and forth a dozen times and L&R at at a 45* angle, then finished off with a broad circular motion. Wiped down with a dry towel it was impressively smooth. Even Stevie Wonder could feel the wide range of textures. Any spot I happened to miss was not only evident to see, but the towel trick pinpointed it. I got the entire job done in about 3 hours. The worst one was doing the cowl vent. That was pretty tedious. I think the next step is going to be at 400 with water. Judges??

Theres a few rub throughs that Im not going to bother with primer on. You can see them, but you cant feel them. Im pretty confident that the BC will cover them with no problem. Thoughts on that please! So I'm off to the gas chamber to make some mud in the tub LOL. Now I know why most real body men are alkies!

Tune in for more adventures tomorrow!  Bill in dusty Two Rivers.





 

[Dr Frankenbuick]

I would take the time to re-prime the rub-thoughts. How long would it take compared to repairing the area if the base coat lifts in those areas?

[schlepcar]

I was curious as to the primer base....Did it sand hard and create a dusty panel or was it clogging up the sandpaper? I would guess it would be fine for a final 320 or 400 as long as it is hard as it should be. I might even suggest you put two coats of blue on all of it,then take a day break. Go back in a day or so, take an air hose and a green scotchbrite pad (you can buy em at Home Depot cheaper than the paint store) and gently clean whole car with a light palm wet sand motion(dry at this point)on the scotch pad. You are just cleaning the surface for a final light two coats of reduced color.....Then clear the color. This puts a gap in your job to get silly inspecting for anything you are not happy with. It also allows you to be sure your material is adequate to complete the project. Lastly,it gives you a time to clean again before clearing,with less actual blowing of fumes around in the space from color to finish. Good bodywork does not create allkies.....alkies just have to be good at something or they get dry. Sorta chicken-egg kinda stuff.

[TrunkMonkey]

...Good bodywork does not create allkies.....alkies just have to be good at something or they get dry...

Wait... I always thought, all painters were alkies...

[yachtsmanbill]

I can mix up a small batch of primer to hit those spots; I hafta paint the louvers anyway!  The stuff sanded like a dream... one or two swipes and all the overspray was gone, and an additional little muscle work it was smooth as can be. ZERO orange peel or other issues. Two 5" well used 220 discs did the whole car by hand. Car, hood, trunk, roof, and door jambs inner and outers. No paper cloggage at all.

I hafta get a handle on the dust today to see what I have. I am hoping a wet sand with 400 is gonna do the trick. Im in for the long haul on this job, but doing a show quality paint job is beginning to not be so much fun anymore. Gotta stick with it to see it through!   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

What a hand I was dealt... FOUR KINGS! Yesterday I had a bad mix and the stuff went off as it was airborn. That and it was light on the thinner. Thats the reason for the excess overspray.  Hmmm... Need new quadrafocals for the ratio cup! Yeah, the stars aligned today; the 9.99 gun, compressor, and the mix/applicator all got on the same page. I was hesitant to go over the bare spots, but had this thing going and I felt like Leonardo Da Vinci. Aside from the hassle of having to THOROUGHLY clean the gun when finished (way more complicated than a syphon gun), it was a breeze. I figured out the plug and play and throw away mentality. Every connection, all requiring chinawrenches had locktite on everything. Nice. Wiped the entire car down with a wet towel in water. The heats on and the cieling fan in the rafters moves a lot of air. It was drying right behind me.

Spent a few hours cleaning the louvers. Really hard marine epoxy paint that's 40 years old was a botch! Sanding got me barely anywhere, stripper laughed at it, so out came the propane torch and stainless wire toothbrush. They both look swell. In primer even better.

I impressed myself with the way the stuff turned out. Now confidence is building. The chinainstruction book sucked. Thats now in the garbage can. "You makee refty roosy. lighty tighty" didnt get it. I have now reaquired the Pacific Rim. Tomorrow I'm gonna clean the shop and try some wet sanding with 400. If I can get a handle on that (haha), I'll get some color going.

Big swap meet this Sunday at West bend Wi. Be there at 0800!!   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

I HATE you guys. I sanded that bastard again today with the same single piece of worn out 220 and the sponge with another worn out 220 and think it turned out good. I used a stepladder instead of the milk crate to reach the roof. I can sand 60% from each side, but the primer still left a tiger stripe up the middle.

I hope the color and clear wont do this! What I've seen and read about says to get the color on, and then give it a dust coat to blend it all in. Is the clear when thinned gonna self level/blend at the seam? The boat paint Ive used (AwlGrip and Interthane plus) is pretty hot stuff. Ive had the happenstance(!) to slap on some paint and have a drop come of the brush and land on fresh wet paint, and it immediately absorbed itself. It was literally invisible. So when I clear the roof, should I do the whole roof and try to keep a wet edge? At least thats flat and horizontal, then blend in at the quarter panels? I need some advice please.

"Hey Faddah, can ya help an old altar boy?..." A scene from the Exorcist; remember that one? That movie scared the crap outa me when I was 17; now its almost campy/comedy.

Got the louvers sanded and they look perfect. That primer is actually nice and sandable, yet hard as nails. Dries to touch in about 2-3 minutes. So far, Ive use about 1-1/2 quarts out of the gallon can. It goes a Longgg way for sure.

Had the .45 ACP in the shop today, just goofing around. The TRUNK MONKEY showed himself and he's whats' for dinner tonight. I fixed his scratch marks when he was on the way down. Hahaha Mike!!

So all in all, I think the primers' ready for some wet sanding now. Just water or add a few drops of dish soap to the bucket? While doing the roof today with no gloves, I touched the roof to steady myself on the ladder. Went to wipe the car down with a damp towel and there was that one fingerprint, bigger than sheist. Its gone, but I was surprised as dry as my hands were from sanding all morning. Next time Im gonna use some spray glue on my Boston Terriers' feet and stick some 220 on their paws. Ill let them handle the sanding LOL. I havent had to use a nail clipper for 2 months now; WHEW! 

Got the chinagun cleaning down to about 15 minutes. I dont recall if I mentioned it, but all the nozzles and pieces were done with locktite. Youd have to scramble for special wrenches  to dis-assemble it to clean it while the paint is going off in the orifices. Much easier to just toss the 9.99 gun. Not me pal(s). I'm one up on Wun Fun Gun this time. Darn Chinks!     Bill

[TrunkMonkey]

 

[elagache]

Dear Bill, Michael, and 65GS.com "observers" . . . . .

I HATE you guys.  . . . .

. . . . What in the name of heaven for?

After all, . . . . to quote Jerome K. Jerome:

I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. . . . . 

Seriously, you are making the climb of the automotive finish learning curve.  Some of it is recalling the past and some of it is getting used to the new technology.  However, BADLASS is already looking really nice at this early stage of the work.  So at the end of the day grab yourself a cold one and give yourself a well deserved pat on the back!   

Cheers, Edouard 

[option B9]

  Hi Bill, As Edouard said "you deserve a cold one and a pat on the back"  for your daily posts on your ongoing project. Most of us in the rust belt states have put away our Buick's & restoration projects for the long winter. But like that energizer bunny you keep on working in your heated garage making at least me envious of all the work you have done.. Keep up the great work ! We are all watching you... And please do have a cold one 

                                                                              Thanks.
                                                                               Tony