Proposed driveway paint job questions

DeeVeeEight

Fast Pedalphile
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
2,284
Location
Southern New Jersey, USA
I am hoping to soon strip, repair, prime & paint my '79 'Vette. If there is a type of paint defect my car has it, all sorts of long & short cracks, spiderwebs and so on in the paint & probably in the FG too.

I have a friend who is pretty good with a spray gun, he's done a few of his own cars so I am not totally alone on this but what I want to achieve is this.... I saw a black Box Nova several years back that had a gorgeous paint job, it was a black base coat with dark red metallic effects that were mostly noticeable along the edges of the body lines. I would like to attempt to achieve a similar result. My assumption is that after prepping and priming that I will shoot 2-3 coats of black basecoat followed by 1 or 2 coats of clear that has the red metallic paint mixed in it, followed by 2-3 coats of clear.

Now I'll admit that I do not know WTF I am doing but I am willing to try. How would you go about it? The paint was referred to as Black Garnet Pearl but that is NOT to be confused with the Toyota/Lexus color of the same name.
 
are you plnning to strip it all the way to fiberglass? If your paint is decent i don't reccomend it. It is much esier to fix only the defects that you currently have without adding new ones. Now, if the paint is flaking off in large places then maybe, but for most issues i would say no. Sand down the defects, correct them, then sand/scuff the entire car and shoot it with a good quality high build primer like PPG 2k primer. It is a great primer for this and will yield a great result. Shoot everything with 2 good, heavy coats and start your wetsanding. Use a guidecoat to help you( a mist of black paint applied over the primer to tell you when you have wetsanded everything evenly). Let your hands tell you when to stop. If it feels smooth when it is clean and wet, then it probably it. Knock the top of the primer off with 320 and remove the 320 scratches with 400 and then 600 grit. Remember this will determine what your paint job looks like. When you get everything wetsanded , sheet water over the clean surface to tell the tale. If you mess up, no big deal. Apply more 2k primer and continue. get your paint guy to help you on this as he will know what a finished and prepped surface should look like. Shoot your base, then clear and wetsand if you have to remove anything in the paint. Get the surface as smooth as it was using the primer. the end result will be excellent.
 
I guess I will have to pretty much strip it all the way down. Here are some pics of what I am dealing with. I am removing the rear spoiler, I also have front & rear replacement bumpers if needed.
Snakeater - your welcome to my old bumper if it fits your time frame but be warned, I move slowly at first....
Anyway, here's the pics.
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Amazing that such dead old paint still reflects my image....
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And finally the EGG damage from the little BASTARD down the street from my old house.
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:sos:
 
WOW! yeah, ok..........well you need to strip that beast. If you didn't I feel like the repairs would all bleed together anyway. LOL I am planning to use a daytona style rear bumper on mine, but thanks for the offer. You have alot of work ahead of you for sure. Go slow and take it a piece at a time. Don't go crazy with the stripper. Strip a fender, then prep and prime. Small jobs, small goals will make the job seem easier. It will get overwhelming quick if you try to do it all at once.
 
WOW! yeah, ok..........well you need to strip that beast. If you didn't I feel like the repairs would all bleed together anyway. LOL I am planning to use a daytona style rear bumper on mine, but thanks for the offer. You have alot of work ahead of you for sure. Go slow and take it a piece at a time. Don't go crazy with the stripper. Strip a fender, then prep and prime. Small jobs, small goals will make the job seem easier. It will get overwhelming quick if you try to do it all at once.

I kinda figured I was in for it but better done once and done right.
Thanks!
 
...Now I'll admit that I do not know WTF I am doing but I am willing to try. How would you go about it?...
Hard question. How would I go about it - which part? Did you mean the repairs or the metallic effect on the edges of the body?

Assuming you mean the metallic part, when you're spraying the clear with the metallic in it, If you spray dryer (gun further away from the job) on the body edges it will leave the metallic closer to the surface and more noticeable than the metallic sprayed "wetter" (the metallic will sink). Does this sound like the effect you're after?
 
...Now I'll admit that I do not know WTF I am doing but I am willing to try. How would you go about it?...
Hard question. How would I go about it - which part? Did you mean the repairs or the metallic effect on the edges of the body?

Assuming you mean the metallic part, when you're spraying the clear with the metallic in it, If you spray dryer (gun further away from the job) on the body edges it will leave the metallic closer to the surface and more noticeable than the metallic sprayed "wetter" (the metallic will sink). Does this sound like the effect you're after?

Yes. At first glance the Nova looks black, then the deep red metallic catches your eye as you walk past and the angles change, most noticeable on the edges of the body lines.

As far as the body repairs go - I am sure that there will be lots of pics and questions along with them. I am counting on you all to walk me through this!
 
Sounds like you're describing a red pearl. You need to be very careful with pearl in an intercoat (not a 2K clear coat, but a clear you mix the pearl into). Then yes, you spray 2K clear over that. If you spray too much pearl, the car will look sparkly red, not black. You want to mist only a coat or two over the black base. And I would use a fine satin pearl to avoid a glittery lowrider effect.

Check out paintwithpearl.com I think the red ghost pearl is what you're looking for. Don't use too much! Don't get carried away!!!
http://www.paintwithpearl.com/
http://www.paintwithpearl.com/pearlstore.htm

Those cracks need to be ground out and filled with Evercoat Fibertech, adhesive filler or epoxy resin and matte. Check out my body thread for pics.


Imagine this red sheen over black instead of purple.
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As far as doing it in your driveway, use a tack cloth before you spray and before that, blow compressed air in all of the seams to get the dust out. Otherwise it will come out when you spray. Then wet the floor and any nearby walls just before spraying to lock down the dust. Careful not to get the car wet.
 
I agree with your opinions - especially as the color was referred to as black garnet pearl.

So now the next question - chemical stripper or a mechanical method?
And any tips on removing the crossed flag emblems? - I have to admit that I haven't even looked at those yet.
 
I agree with your opinions - especially as the color was referred to as black garnet pearl.

So now the next question - chemical stripper or a mechanical method?
And any tips on removing the crossed flag emblems? - I have to admit that I haven't even looked at those yet.

I used the razer blade method to get down to the oem primer , then sanded, primed, and blocked on my 87.

P1000382.jpg

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I agree with your opinions - especially as the color was referred to as black garnet pearl.

So now the next question - chemical stripper or a mechanical method?
And any tips on removing the crossed flag emblems? - I have to admit that I haven't even looked at those yet.

I used the razer blade method to get down to the oem primer , then sanded, primed, and blocked on my 87.

P1000382.jpg

phonepictures414.jpg

That REALLY looks nice!
 
So now the next question - chemical stripper or a mechanical method?
And any tips on removing the crossed flag emblems? - I have to admit that I haven't even looked at those yet.
I stripped mine with a razor blade. I nicked it in a few places but I preferred that to the thought of leaving stripper somewhere.

The emblem should have two locating pins 2 1/2 inches apart and be held on by double sided tape. Use a fine piece of fishing line under the emblem to cut through the tape.
 
heatgun stripping with a putty knife works great to. Paint comes off real easy and the putty knife wont damage the glass. This was on my 82 vette some years ago

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heatgun stripping with a putty knife works great to. Paint comes off real easy and the putty knife wont damage the glass...
Yeah, I used a heat gun too - some of my paint came away in sheets!

Took me about two days to strip mine down to this point with that method but never have to worry about chemicals comin back to haunt the new paint when it is done.

I used a (diffusor) I think is what it is called on my heatgun anyways it spreads the heat out over a larger area and you can use like 6 inch wide putty knifes too strip large areas in a single pass.
 
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