That's and incredible amount of work. Looks good.

 

Hm.

My car doesn't have to remain navy blue...it could be the metallic silver color i've always lusted after...
interesting...very interesting.

On a scale of one to ten, how hard has it been so far? I don't have any real previous paint experience...

 

Interesting thread. Looks like you've been busy.

What made you want to strip the finish off the body, especially the engine compartment?

 

On a scale of one to ten, it is about an 8. Rebuilding an engine is much easier. I stripped the paint hoping to reduce weight but it was not the best decision I made.

 

As stated in my post above, my spray booth left a lot to be desired for dust and insect control. This pic shows the situation above the spray area:



So I took it upon myself to spend a few hours yesterday installing a ceiling of plastic, nailed to the rafters and stapled together, closing off the box of plastic now surrounding the car:





You can probably tell that I am up to a few coats of paint now because no primer is showing through the color any more. I found harmony with my spray gun FINALLY by leaning out the paint flow **** and spraying fast and close, then slowing down the spray speed until I had no orange peel. Leaning out the paint flow allows more air per unit paint when spraying and somehow helps the paint to not run when it is put down nice and wet. I got some super coats this time . . . show car smoothness. I also touched up all the sanding spots where the primer was showing so I have some random overspray to resand tomorrow.

Here is a final shot showing how the Zinc Yellow changes hue based on the light it is seen in:



Leaning out the paint flow **** made the paint consumption go WAY down. I got three coats on the entire chassis with the gun cup 3/4 the way full. My first time I couldn't even finish one coat with that much paint because of the gun not being adjusted correctly.

So my friends, today's lesson is this: With the gun's fan-shape **** out one half a turn from full fan and paint flow **** two turns out from full closed, spraying at about two feet per second and 10 inches away, makes some sweet looking coats and the paint goes a long way. :sighofrelief:

 

congrats on the job so far. I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Good job 88integra, I can't wait to see it in person, you still going to be in Oregon this summer?

 

i honestly admire the work you have put in it thus far and i respect that but that front bumper just doesn't do it for me :P

Good job though and nice looking paint job!

 

Thanks guys, and I know that the bumper was kind of my own design so it would not be for everyone. What an education this all has been!

J200pruf, yes I will be around for the next five years so we should get in touch and talk composites one day soon. I am always down for a little trip to Portland.

Jeff

 

That does look sweet! I like the bumper too... not too "ricey". The PO of my car didn't have any orange peel but geez, there is some runs in this paint. He didn't even bother to straighten out all the panels, just painted right over the dents

I live in Portland (sorta) and would like to meet up with you guys sometime. Keep your eyes peeled for a bright white '88 GXL in the area. any questions email me at:bobbyriggs@yahoo.com

Nice work!

 

After a five hour slam session cleaning the spray booth, improving the ventilation fan, sanding and painting Friday night, I found myself taking off the masking and rolling the car out of the shop this sunny Saturday morning. Here she is:





The paint job was far from perfect but I'll take it for a first time try. Time to do the doors, hood, bumper and buy some color sanding supplies.

 

how much experience have you had in painting? i'm very effecient with spray paint, but i've only done smaller projects. was wondering if my skills might transfer over to a spraygun powered by an air compressor.

 

Very nice work Jeff I have to admitt that yellow looks good on your car.


Santiago

PS

 

The only prior experience I had was with spray cans on telescope tubes and model airplane parts. If you are good with them you can do it with a spray gun. Just budget about $500 for all equipment and paint. If all you want is a paint job you won't save any money doing it yourself the first time when you consider all the time you must put in. However, if you are like me and love learning new skills and overcoming challenges, go for it! This won't be my last paint job. Even though it was a lot of work and frustration at times, the satisfaction I now have for the car is off the scale.

 

nice work man amazing fob on the temporary paint booth =)

 

big job you tackled there, I was going to tell you to put paper over the plastic with multiple coats the primer and old paint can flake right off the plastic when you paint over it again, not from the paint, but from the air pressure. I am confused though as to why you kept putting one coat on? Was it to get practice or to see if the car needed more work?

Your booth was a good idea considering, but for masking always go for paper because plastic is notorious for static electricity as well as the paint flaking off with multiple coats.

For all those others who may want to paint thier own car, remember its the prep that costs the money, prep the car yourself like he did then give it to a pro, it will cost you less then buying the equipment and paint. You will also benefit from the air flow and baking capabilites of a professional spray booth. Our shop for example buys paint 5% over cost. Plus we can mix the colors as needed versus buying full quarts/gallons. So what we buy a gallon for from our supplier a guy off the street pays double for.

Remember also- You caint paint like that if the garage was attatched to the house, you dont want to kill everyone in the house, lol.

As with any paint job, its not how it looks the next day, but what it looks like a few years down the road

 

Whoa, damn. Nice job! This thread just makes me want to repaint my car even more.

 

Nice work...sure is a lot of work for one person...

 

I kept messing up with runs so that is why I had four spray sessions on the topcoat. I needed to let it cure and wetsand it to get it ready for the next try. The last session was two thick and smooth (for my skill level, lol) coats with fifteen minutes flash time in between them.

As for plastic vs. paper, you are 100% right. I had one of those flakes land on the rear bumper once and I just took a razor knife and carefully plucked it off. The paint had flashed before the flake got there so all was well.


What do you guys think, should I paint the tail light frames and license plate holder or leave them black?





Thanks for all the compliments and suggestions guys, this forum is great.

 

damn dude wanna do mine? what color is ur interior?

 

looks pretty good. did you put any clear coats on it? I bet that would make it shine a lot more

I think you should paint the tailights

 

The interior is gray so it should look OK. Black would be better but the yellow is one of the lighter shades so the gray may work out. This is that total base model with the really simple seats, roll up windows and no options at all, not even a sunroof.

Actually, I would want to do other peoples' SA/FB's and FC's once I got a few more cars done and got my techiques mastered. Painting is really fun, other than the fumes and sanding off mistakes. But once you make less and less mistakes, you sand less and get done faster with less paint. If I had not taken it down to the metal and done the door jambs or engine bay, it would have been a one week job.

I considered a clear coat but my budget is holding me back. I have spent $340 so far on paint and I would like to stop there because I still need another $7-800 for my engine rebuild and port job that I am about to do.

 

I have a question though, after the paint job, do you have to bake it? so that the paint would stay?

thanx

 

did you put clear coat on or you don't need it and i spent like $400 on paint, primer and clear when i did mine and you might need a better gun that has the paint come form the top

 

Nope, no clear coat as this is one stage acrylic enamel and has plenty of gloss without a clear coat. It did not need to be baked because it has a catylist that you mix into it before spraying, sort of a "hardener" for the paint. You can bake it to make it cure out in a couple of hours but I figure I can wait a few weeks for it to fully harden. The paint instructions say to removing masking after 6 hours and deliver the car to the customer after it sits overnight. It is Napa Cross/Fire Acrylic Enamel, made by Sherwin-Williams.

I don't like clear coats for three reasons.

1. Too much gloss. Clearcoat finishes look too glossy for me. I like an old fashioned, deep color shine that comes with lots of polishing and waxing on a thick enamel finish.

2. More difficult to spray correctly. Too thin and it will peel off quickly, which is impossible to fix with color sanding and buffing.

3. More work!

Plus I never had good luck trying it on the telescopes and model airplane parts with the spray cans so I never considered it for this job.