My Frist Paint Job - Just Finished My 76

[Unishippers23]

Hey Guys-

I just got done painting my 76 this past week. This is my first paint job and A BIG thanks to Etsy, Charlie Mac, Otis etc. for your help in answering my posts before I started this project. But an even bigger thanks to Dubois. Dubois you might not even remember, but after doing some initial body work (and posting it on here) you criticized my work. It wasn't even THAT harsh, but I got butt hurt by it. What you said got to me and motivated me to do the best job I possibly could do so that one day when I was finished, I could say, "Hey Dubois! SCREW YOU!" ;-) But ultimately, you motivated me to do the best work I was capable of.

Painting a car yourself isn't fun, but I have a sense of accomplishment in it that I haven't felt in anything else while working on the car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9SxRG52wwk

I made a lot of mistakes and it's not perfect. But I've put in a lot of hard work and time into this and I love it. I just need to finish placing the car back together and color sand it in a few weeks. As you can see from the pics. I've got a few runs in the clear I'll be taking out in few weeks too.

Cabe

[ThatGuy]

Looks great!

Doing it yourself gives you an appreciation for how hard it really is.

[esty]

fantastic....

a word to the wise...the longer you allow the clear to cure the harder it'll be to sand those runs out...it's best to tend to them asap after spraying...like the following day....ask me how i know

great job mister

[SkidMarc]

Congrats on the fine work! Paint and body has got to be THE most challenging thing to do well - especially when you don't do it for a living and have the advantage to hone and maintain your skills consistantly.

Wow, RED. Nice color. I wouldn't have thought it was suited for the car. You've changed my mind there.

I'm looking forward to seeing more pics of your car.

Continued success with your project. Yours and other will serve to motivate me through my project.

SkidMarc

[Jim_75Sahara]

Cabe, your car looks excellent. You should be proud. Michael Dubois is a super guy. I don't know what he said to you, but I doubt that he meant to harm. He runs a paint & body shop & from what I saw, it is a very impressive facility. Enjoy your '76 and perhaps you two can be pals. I'd recommend it -- that's my '02 cents.

[dubois]

LOL! it looks great! I am glad I was of some help - that's what's all about, however the credit belongs all to you. Color sand and polish will make it even look better.

Don't worry about the runs, wait till the clear gets real hard so you can sand using a small block of wood wrapped with sand paper. Wet sand the drip from the fat part towards the thin. I always said it, you can never call yourself a good painter if you never have a run - I guess you have graduated my friend!

It looks awesome!

[-=Charley]

Bravo! way to take things into your own hands.. and my favorite color too!

[Unishippers23]

Hey Thanks All-

Etsy, It's been about 72 hours since I finished the clear. You're saying color sand it ASAP? Then do I wait a couple of weeks to take the runs out of the clear so it has some time to harden?

Dubois, yeah I think people took that as me being upset. I'm not, it just became a running joke while I was working on the car. I used it for motivation... especially during the sanding process... ugh... I swear I don't have fingerprints anymore! I'd love to see your cars someday, I'm not far from you (South San Jose off Blossom Hill).

[dubois]

Hey Thanks All-

Etsy, It's been about 72 hours since I finished the clear. You're saying color sand it ASAP? Then do I wait a couple of weeks to take the runs out of the clear so it has some time to harden?

Dubois, yeah I think people took that as me being upset. I'm not, it just became a running joke while I was working on the car. I used it for motivation... especially during the sanding process... ugh... I swear I don't have fingerprints anymore! I'd love to see your cars someday, I'm not far from you (South San Jose off Blossom Hill).

The way we test to make sure is sandable, is to tap the paint with a finger nail, if it doesn't leave an imprint is ready to sand. 72 hours should be plenty enough. Wait a week, my car should be driveable then. The shop address is 1745 san felipe, 95023 (831) 637-2030. We should have something that is in the process of being polished. Quien Sabe Rd is around the block, guarantee to make it worth the drive.

[esty]

Hey Thanks All-

Etsy, It's been about 72 hours since I finished the clear. You're saying color sand it ASAP?

everything that i say is based strictly on my experiences...i let my 1st paint sit for several weeks onj my 76 before i sanded a couple of runs that i had to take care of and the clear was so hard it created a lot of work...

on my 69, i had a run in the rear quarter and sanded it out the following day and it was a heck of a lot easier because the clear was softer....

i'd say do whatever you think will work best for you...but cutting and buffing is a lot easier if done sooner rather than later....imho

[3elements]

Cabe, that's a damn nice job. I'll be using it for inspiration for my 74 (unless dubois says something rude to me too!)

[clc]

What kind of spray setup did you end up using, like compressor, spray gun etc?

You did an incredible paint job!!

[Unishippers23]

This might be more information than what you're looking for but I'm sure it would help anyone else who's looking to paint their 02 out.

Also, I screwed up majorly on this the first time. I've learned a lot from mistakes and doing research. One thing that Esty said was to join a paint forum and do as much searching and lurking as you can. One that I joined was www.autobody101.com

One thing that is extremely important is finding a local paint supplier who will CONSULT with you not just SELL you.

I picked up the following items for the setup:

-1K Low VOC Speed Sealer (Transtar) (gives everything a nice base to start from- no mixing another product in. Just give it a shake, pour, and shoot)

-DUPONT CHROMABASE MIX "KM" (Pricing on Color Base depends on what color you want to paint your 02. Red Pigment is more expensive which sucked for me)

-BASEMAKER MID-TEMP (this is your "mix in" with your Color Base, it's 1 to 1 mixing ratio)

-2.1 VOC ACRYLIC 2K URETHANE CLEAR (Zolatoneaim) (Clear coat that comes in with an activator that you mix in. This is a 4 to 1 ratio)

(total purchase amount for these products was $500)

I have a good sized compressor (Craftsman 33 Gall. 1.6 Horse Power) and had a paint gun that my father gave me. The paint gun was a siphon feed that required a suction to suck up and spray out the product. This gun died on me the first go around during the clear coat.

After about 4 months of prep and hard work I found myself sanding down my entire car again. I sanded the clear coat down with 800 grit (wet) and then re-shot the entire car with clear coat again.

That was after I purchased a decent paint gun.

Here was my spray setup:

-1.6 HP 33 Gallon air compressor

- HPLV Spray Gun w/ 1.4 tip

- Regulator on compressor set to 80 psi

- Cheat regulator on spray gun set to 60 psi

- 15 psi running out of the gun when trigger is compressed

After messing up the first time, the second clear went on perfectly! The gravity fed Spray Gun with a cheat regulator on the gun was a life savor. I picked up a brand new gun from Finishmaster (2 guns, clean up kit, two tips, and a regulator) for $90!

All in all, I am very happy that I did it myself. And although messing up the first time, it wasn't that big of a deal and I was able to fix it.

[allbim]

Fantastic looking job and my favored color.

Please explain what a cheat regulator does.

W. B.

[Unishippers23]

From what I understand, a cheat regulator is an adjustable measurable valve that you screw on to the bottom of the paint gun and that then attaches to the compressor hose.

http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/sjdiscounttools_2049_188917557

The purpose of it is so that you can accurately adjust the flow of product and air from your paint gun. By adjusting this before laying down each product, you can find the sweet spot for shooting that material. Essentially, I set the compressor regulator (same device but on the compressor) to 80 PSI. I then would set this regulator (attached to my gun) to 60 PSI and as you pull the trigger to spray out product it would be at a constant 15 PSI while spraying. I found this to be the most optimal in my shooting.

I hope this helps!

Cabe