The Midget Restoration Chronicles: Steve's House of Paint, Part Deux

When we last left our hero, he was totally bummed about the crappy paint job and the stuff he had to fix because he couldn't build a hanging rack properly. And all of this while hanging upside down over an active volcano. (OK, I may have embellished a bit.)

I also had to wait two weeks until I could pick up the pieces, as I had to go do chores to help my dad.

When I got back, it was time to get to work.

Day 3: March 24th

OK, no more hanging racks. This time, I went old school and built some stands out of 2x2s and screws. Boy, I should have done that first--they work great. They are very portable. I can pick up the part and move it without worrying it may fall or bang into something. The best ones are for the wings--they support the wing upright and let me flip them over to spray inside.

You can see the splotchy paint. I think the surfacer primer wasn't thick enough, and that I should have used the sealer I bought just for this purpose. Also, Ray and I talked and we think the air regulator on his gun wasn't working right--spraying higher than 28psi even though that's what it read. So I'm going with that. It makes me feel better.

After building stands, I got to work fixing the damage. I actually found some damage on the car--I must have bumped it, or the surface wasn't perfectly clean when I applied the filler. So I fixed it all.

Then, I got down to sanding all that crappy paint off. It took me 4 hours to block it down to a smooth surface with 400 grit. I was working into the evening with a halogen light so I could see the scratches disappear.

I still had all those pinholes to fix, so it had to wait another week.

Day 4: March 30th

I took the afternoon off (well, on and off) so I could fix pinholes and respray in surfacer primer. I found a ton of them, clusters here and there, on every panel. One panel was almost perfect (the driver's door); the rest, not so perfect (lots of them on the bonnet).

Two hours later, I thought I had them all. By nightfall, I had finished the respray (two more coats, 24psi at the inlet) and sanded the car to 800 grit. This time, I did it all myself. I bought the DeVilbiss StartingLine 2-gun kit. It's nice. It might not be pro gear, but it did a pretty darned good job. This time, it came out really smooth. There was some orange peel as I sanded, but not bad at all. I'm happy with the job given it was my first time on my own. It also shows my compressor setup is working well. And, I got new tools!

Day 4: April 1st

Yes, I know it's Easter. And April Fool's Day. But I'm no fool. I am just a very lucky guy to have an understanding family.

I was planning to spray sealer, but after reading the tech sheet I held off. It turns out that you have to spray base within 72 hours of sealing, otherwise you scuff and respray. No worries. I'll spray the sealer the day before we try again with base coat.

Anyhow, I spent the rest of the day examining every surface, and finding quite a few more pinholes and defects. This time, I think I got them all. I went over everything and looked at the surface reflections in a coat of cleaner (wax and grease remover). The shine reveals all, and that's how I found the rest of them.

I filled the pinholes with Evercoat MetalGlaze and a razor blade. The stuff is so thin, it flows into the pinholes. The razor blade scrapes it all flat. But it goes off sooooo fast. I got a minute of working time, so I kept mixing quarter-sized blobs so as to not waste too much. As it was, I ended up throwing 90% of what I mixed away.

After re-sanding everything with 800 grit, and scuffing the interior and cockpit surfaces, I think it's good to go after a final wipedown and tacking. Here are the glamour shots.