Body work, Prime and Paint

[kmathis]

Well, after over 6 months of body work, skim coats of body filler, sanding, primer, blocking, primer, blocking, primer, then wet sanding, it is finally time to go into the paint booth. Saturday morning, we see if all of this hard work pays off. I will post the results Saturday night or Sunday morning. Oh, I chickened out on doing the spraying myself, I did all of the other work, but the final color, I am leaving to a professional...luckily he is a friend of mine, and works for tips. If this turns out like I think, it will be a big tip.
I have a new respect for body and fender guys, I never knew how much work it is to get these body panels straight, and the blocking technique must be aquired to have a straight panel, took me a while to figure that out, but I am happy with the results, so far.

 

[socorob]

What color are you painting it?

 

[SoCalpine]

Congratulations Kelly. I hope it all goes well. I think that Wimbelton white is going to show off nicely. I remember the old dent and sagging metallic green paint. Soon enough you'll be back on the road and it will all be worth it.

 

[Series6]

I look forward to "inspecting it" next trip.....

Good on you Kelly.

 

[gordonra]

You guys wouldn't believe how well Kelly has done on the bodywork. The panels are incredibly straight and smooth. I can't wait to see the top coat!

 

[Gitnrusty]

Cant wait to see the final result Kelley.
Now that you have all this experience,!...... Im only an hour away! But about two years not ready.

 

[kmathis]

All went well today in the booth; will post pictures tomorrow, we left it in the booth to cure overnight. I am looking forward to seeing it in the sunlight. I am very satisfied with the way the panels turned out, very straight and very smooth due to some painstaking blocking, priming, guidecoat and blocking again; I can't tell you enough how important that is, and I had no clue before starting this particular project...once again it is learn as you go.

We did three coats of paint and they got smoother each coat,(when I do it, it starts out smooth and gets more orange peel with each coat, must be that 40 yrs of experience thing) anyways, I will upload to webshots some of the video that I shot and the pictures from start to finish for those interested.

By the way, my painter uses a Harbor Frieght HVLP gun $50 bucks...he says it isn't the gun, it's the guy using it. My gun is way more expensive, and my results are less than professional to say the least. But, getting better.

 

[pcmenten]

Congratulations Kelly. Wish I were a little closer to see the end results.

 

[kmathis]

Hi, So maybe you can't see it in person just yet, but with a camera and video, here is the next best thing...the webshots site. I took a few videos of my car getting painted. Pretty cool.

This turned out very well, we will do one session of color sanding and buffing, I could probably get by without it, but there are a couple of things that I would like corrected, so we will do that in a week or so. Overall the results are outstanding.

http://community.webshots.com/album/583076844PlcYKt?vhost=community&start=0

 

[Series6]

Ok Kelly...You're hired to rehang the doors on the blue car, prep the red, and anything else I can con you into.....

Nice job my friend.

 

[V6 JOSE]

Kelly,

It´s gorgeous! I can´t wait to see it in person and take a ride in it.

Jose

 

[gbinckes]

Kelly,

The car looks fantastic! I can't wait to see (and hear it) put back together again!

Garet

 

[kmathis]

Yeah, me either, Garet! The V6 project was the most fun I ever had on a car project and I can say that this has been the hardest work that I ever did on a car project. However it is most rewarding as well. I just sat in the garage yesterday afternoon on a lounge chair and stared at it.

I went by the powdercoaters today and dropped off the windshield frame and a bunch of other stuff, then to the chrome shop. The re-assembly starts soon.

 

[SoCalpine]

It really does look great. I am looking forward to seeing the finished project.

 

[Hillman]

That's going to be one pretty car.

 

[birdfan56]

Looking GOOD!!

Kelly, an UNBELIEVABLY SWEET transformation! The new paint looks great! The bodywork is outstanding... A job WELL DONE! Can't wait to view your "how-to" video. Congratulations.

 

[gbinckes]

Yeah, me either, Garet! The V6 project was the most fun I ever had on a car project . . .

Kelly, anytime you want to come over to have more "most fun ever" you just let me know, I got plenty of fun fun fun to go around!

Once I start feeling better (have had bronchial pneumonia the past week and a half) I am gonna finish up the front brakes. Little by little I am getting there, but it is great to see your pictures and progress as motivation!

Garet

 

[pcmenten]

You know what's going to look good is that Ford blue engine in a white engine bay. That will make the blue color really pop. Food for thought about engine/body color combinations.

I had my mind set on a black painted engine with chrome valve covers (a la Sunbeam Tiger) but now the photos of Kelly's car and engine have me thinking more carefully about engine color. My car was originally poppy red, so maybe if I saturate the red a little more, the black engine will stand out more. Some years of Mazda had a very saturated red.

Beautiful job Kelly.

 

[bulldurham]

Kelly, your car looks great! Something about a White Alpine.. and those door gaps look extra good. What wheels are you going to use?

 

[kmathis]

Thanks for the nice words you guys; I am not sure what wheels quite yet, however I am leaning toward the Panasports 14" front and 15" rear...we will see.
You are talking about the engine compartment, the paint on this car was sooo bad, and when I did the engine, I painted the engine compartment the same color as I was going to paint the car, but now the car looks so good that my rattle can paint job on the engine compartment looks a bit crumby. I will detail it at the end of the re-assembly and if I am not quite satisfied with it I will pull the engine next winter and give it a real paint job.
I am seriously concidering pulling the valve covers and having them Ceramic Coated a high gloss black and then sending the Carb up to the Carb Shop and getting it powdercoated high gloss black as well. If you haven't seen some of the powdercoating from the Carburetor Shop, you should check it out on their websit...pretty nice. Now all I need is more money.