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.

 
 

 
 
 
 

I think I'm ready.  I may buy a quart of paint to replace what I wasted, just to be sure.  I feel confident that this time, it will turn out great.

Next episode: base coat, stripes, and clear coat.  I hope.

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Steve's House of Paint, Take 1

It's been a while... but I've been working on this for a while.  I wish it were done already, but it's not.  It is getting there, though.  This is the story of my first attempt.

First things first: This is my friend Ray.  He's helping me with the paint job.  He knows his stuff.

Day 1: March 10th

We started around 10am, getting everything ready.  We started with epoxy primer, 2 coats.  It came out ok.  I mean, it's primer.  What else is it supposed to look like?

 

From there, we moved on to the surfacer primer.  Again, it looked pretty good to my untrained eye.  Two more coats.  It seemed a little scratchy to me, but it did smooth out after going over with a scuff pad.

 

 

 

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Let me tell you, there's a lot of surfaces to paint for such a small car.  We sprayed inside and out, top and bottom.

We didn't get as far as I'd hoped--I was hoping to get a coat of base color sprayed too.  But again, it's my first day.  I also found a couple of defects to fix with spot putty--more on that later.

Day 2: March 11th

Day 2 started out well, but quickly went downhill.  Why? Because of an accident.

I had built these hanging racks to hold the parts to make it easier to spray.  They held up ok, but started sagging quite a bit over time.  Still, they were working... until we moved things one last time to prepare to spray the body.  Then: disaster.  One of the racks separated on one side, and the passenger's front wing and the front valance hit the floor, hard.

 

I was crushed, just like them.  But it could have been insanely worse.  The damage ended up being minor and easily repaired.

After a few minutes with my head between my legs, we moved on to base coat.  This didn't go nearly as well as we had hoped.  We sprayed the doors, bonnet and the undamaged wing with a couple of coats.  It did NOT cover well at all.  Here's a couple of examples.

  

After two coats, it should have been pretty much the right color, but it was splotchy.  I also found what must have been a million pinholes and scratches that the base coat magnified.

I will say this, though.  In the few places it covered properly, the color is beautiful.  It's going to look great.

Boy, was I disappointed.  All that work, and it looked terrible.  And I had stuff to fix, too.  I was depressed for almost a week, and I couldn't bear to write about it.

Fear not, it gets better--stay tuned for our next episode!

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Dashboard Work

It's almost painting time, but I managed to solve an interesting issue with the indicator lights on the dashboard. So, I went ahead and took care of it.

The dashboard indicator lights attach to the back of the panel, and are made up of a cardboard tube with a green plastic lens and a rubber sealing ring.  Mine are shot.  See?

So I had to come up with an alternative.

I figured out how to make the tubes--it's easy and instructions are all over YouTube.  Craft paper and a glue/alcohol/water mix (one part glue, one part alcohol, two parts water), rolled around a dowel do the job.  I made tubes that matched the existing ones, but better.  They're 7/8" outer diameter, 3/4" inner diameter.  The challenge, though was the rubber sealing ring.  They look like the eyepiece on binoculars, but I couldn't find any that would work.  So I made some.

I took a bicycle tube and cut a section that would wrap around the cardboard tube with a little bit of stretch.  Then, I sliced it lengthwise right at the point it curls around (the tubes come pretty flat and have a memory), leaving a little bit of the 'curl'.  Then I cut the remainder down to a bit less than the length of the tube.

I stitched the tube together with some thread and put contact cement over it to give it strength, then rolled the curly part up onto the tube.  It looks like this:

When I installed it in the dash, I rolled the tube back down and it made a nice seal against the metal.

I glued the lenses into place and installed into the carrier, then bolted it to the panel.

From the front, I get nice clear indicators!

 

I installed the badge and we're all set except for a polish and some gauges.

I paint this weekend.  I can't wait!

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Totally Spoiled

The last thing I needed to do is fit the spoiler...

Mission accomplished.

 

As you can see, the spoiler is flush with the bottom of the body.  I'm not too worried about road hazards (at least, no more than I would be otherwise).  I just have to prep it for paint and buy some nice hardware when I mount it.  I'll line the part where it joins the body with felt to minimize paint scratches.  I may coat it in black bedliner instead of painting it body color--it is supposed to help it hold up to curbs.

All I have to do is finish sand the body in 220 grit, scuff and wipe it down.  I almost get a week off!

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Ready For Paint

I've finished all my touchups, including a few last minute metal fixes, and it's time to put some paint on this sucker.  I have to clean everything and wipe it down, but that is all.

I have paint, too.  ADCO Painting in Glendale is the best.  I've got everything I need. 

They color matched to the original paint sample.  It was a process...

First attempt: Close, but muddy.

Second try: Kermit the Frog Green.

Third go: Like Baby Bear, it's just right.  The blotch in the upper right corner is the matched sample.

Here's the formula:

I've even built a paint booth (or at least the frame):

Now, I wait.

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Upgrades

While I puzzle out the paint situation, I decided to install some engine upgrades I've been collecting.

First and foremost: A rear main oil seal kit from Gerard's Garage. This kit will properly seal the crankshaft and keep all the oil inside.  I'll almost miss the nostalgic oil drops on the floor.  Almost.

 

Second: A plate that applies even pressure to the front timing chain cover, to stop those leaks too.

And last, but not least: A high-ratio, nitrided rocker arm assembly all the way from Mini Spares in Merry Olde England.  The 1.5 ratio increases valve lift (and adds a little duration), and is recommended for the cam I installed.  The old (1.28 ratio) assembly is on top, and the new one is on the bottom of the left side picture below.  On the right, you can also see the arms line up well over the valves... A little shimming did the trick.

 

I also checked the cam to make sure it was turning freely--when I first installed it, I wasn't satisfied.  I found a little high spot in two cam bearings, and smoothed them down.  Now, it turns smoothly.

Everything's back together and I just need to set the valve lash.  Now, I've really got something.

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To Paint or Not To Paint...

All along, my plan has been to have my neighbor friend paint the car.  He owns a collision repair shop and has done full restorations, so he's definitely qualified.  There's just one hitch in that plan, though--it's quite expensive.  A good paint job is on the order of $5,000.

While I have managed to scrape up that money (over a long time), it just hasn't sat right with me.  I mean, I've done everything else on this car--why shouldn't I paint it?  Aside from the fact that I was told the paint fumes would kill my dogs and my neighbors, that is.

A new friend at work saw a photo of the car on my desktop and asked about it.  When I told him what I was planning, he said "Hey, I paint cars.  I'd be into doing this with you."

Really?!?

Given that ray of hope (pun intended--his name is Ray) I started doing some research into paint.  It appears that with today's low VOC formulations, priming and painting wouldn't be toxic as long as I take precautions.  The price is lots, lots better--about $800 for top quality materials (primer, sealer, base, and clear).  The car's not that big--a gallon will do the job.  It just means more work, but I'm into that.

I can build a paint booth in my garage out of PVC pipe and sheet plastic.  With a good in line air filter and drier, I have a clean supply.  Ray's got the guns and the know-how.  I'll build a frame to hang the doors, hood, etc. for paint, and a frame to elevate the body so we can paint underneath.

I even took the sample to a paint shop and they color matched it to a Valspar paint code.  It's amazing what technology can do.

So I'm going to do it.

I can do this.

It will be great.

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