well after all this BULL **** ....i think its time to paint ....any one have any tips or tricks i would love to here them ... fun stuff

 

Sounds like fun man, what color are thinking of painting your girl?

 

Tip #1: Don't do it outdoors. Bugs, dirt, snot nosed little kids. You name it, if it can happen, it probably will. Trust me. Tip #2: Paint it one color. Unless of course you have a two tone scheme planned. Just dont take the Project Zspec route and grab one of every color. Or run out of Black Primer half way through and then get busted by the land lord and told you can't finish painting. That's enough for today. I'll let someone who has some real advice for you take over.

 

Oh $#!^ I almost forgot, Good luck. And above all, have fun. That's whats all about. And we want pics when you're done! Oh, one more thing, are you doing it yourself?

 

ok heres my plan.

. i have removed every thing seats ,skirts,maker lights some trim. iam starting rust repair and bondo fixing , sanding down with 3500 ,2500,1500.i think i have a can of bondo here some where .A buddy of mine is going to bring his welder down and weld my holes where my SIDE trim was installed. i got some of the back done today after... i will get the body as flat as i can ..i will make a paint both in the back of the car port.... i have the wood and the pastic and the room i also have a sick heater i have been keeping it for a long time just to do this with the land lord i have never seen him he is my room mates famliy what i really need to know is ...wet sanding when where and how ....as for color ...you will just have to wait and see

 

when you get ready to paint do not exceed 320 grit your paint will not last. whe you have all of your painting done wet sand wit 2000 - 3500 nuthing eals then use a sieries of rubing compounds then polish and you will do just fine. if you go to your local paint store that sells you the auto paint you can tell them about your project and they uasaly will talk you throu it all step by step thats how i lernd i have done 5 cars and one copper.im not the best but we all have to start some where. good luck.

 

Just a quick tip, guide coat where ever you've done any work on the car, I mean everywhere. It'll make your final project come out much straighter. You may end up doing it several times, its okay.

Don't **** your DA to an angle, keep it flat at all times or else you'll end up with ******** all in the paint.

Once you're done, wipe it down with a cleaner of sorts (I use Final Klean) and look at it from the side and use the glare of the cleaner to see if it looks straight. It'll give you an idea of what it looks like once you apply clear to the car.

Also, for rock chips and such on the hood as well as the fenders I use a paint dabber (Plastic toothpick) and apply glazing putty to the areas, it sands down really quick doesn't give you the oppurtunity to take the paint around where you placed you putty down quicker than the putty itself which will leave you with lumps all over the panel if that happens.

Also, you can wet down the floor in the area you plan on painting, keep the dust down. Unless you're in a booth you're going to get trash in your paint, its inevitable. But try to clean it as best as possible, wet the floor down and good luck!

BTW, just took a look at the pictures you have posted, make sure you put something in the jambs, they make foam tape, or else you can just use tape itself and fold it back inside the jamb, try to keep the tape evenly away from the edge as well.

 

The House of Kolor site also has a lot of good info for people wanting to paint their own cars. Most of it has already been said here, but the more you know the better you'll be prepared when you hit a problem. Body work is the pits, but stick with it and take your time to get everything perfect. Mooney had some good advice for prep and thats far more important than actually applying the paint. A bad prep job will make even the best paint job look mediocre at best. I'm in the midst of getting my body up to par, just started this morning. Man it blows being out there with the sander in the heat. I started at 9am cent. and it was already hot. Taking a break right now to eat some breakfast and catch up with you guys. Good luck Red.

Oh yeah and what buddah was getting at is if you sand to smooth, the paint wont adhese to the surface too well. That's what he meant by wont last. Definitely stay out of the thousand grits until you already got the paint layed.

 

i did some more bondo and sanding today ...i think iam going to the library tomarrow to see if i can fined step by step book on car painting . iam going with a red and black two tone idea.... .... behide the doors the top and hood and skirs will be black the the front fenders ,doors and door jams will be the same i will try get the same color as they are now ...i really dont want my firewall and jams to not match.... hopefully i can fine a good match

 

That will look nice Red, a 2-tone red and black. Kind of similiar to my blue and silver, I am doing. You see the red on your Z is the same red my '81 came from factory. Until I painted it, screwing around 3 years ago. With spraypainting him blue and silver. Your red is kind of a cimarron, burgundy, maroonish color. I am not for sure. I think Burgundy is pretty close, just from experimenting. But anyway sounds great man, it should look pretty sweet, when you are done. Good luck to you, and keep up posted.

 

I FOUND THE HAYNES BODY REPAIR AND PAITING MANUAL AT THE library today... ...Iam stoked ....i learned alot of stuff .. this book is a good read ...It has alot of good do's and don'ts .. i have alot of work to do so iam off ..
...late

 

i say you should go for a deep red or black... compliments the red interior

 

yes deep style red for sure ....i have been lazy i need to get up and go do some more sanding..................

 

I feel ya. I took a lazy day today too. I'm trying to motivate myself right now to get out there and pick up the sander Keep it up red. I used to have that book back when I had my Mustang. That's what I used to get through the body process on that thing as it was my first stab at it. Over the last few years I've learned it's more of an art than a skill (you are using paint after all ) to massage a car body back to shape and shining her up real good with some purty paint. Just keep picturing the end product. That's part of what keeps me going.

 

Well i changed my mind and iam going to go with all black ....I got the back half sanded and bondoed sanding takes sooooooooooo long.....Tomarrow i will sand out the front....Then work on the bondo some more ...I got alot of plastic and tape the crap out of her tonight ....Seems to be going well ...
After i get her sanded i will clean the carport out and build a make shift pait both... ..Wash it all down one more time ....Then put the frist coat of primer on it ..I think as long as i keep it really really clean and get the body as smooth as i can and wet sand inbetween coats then it will turn out looking good .....I still need alot off stuff though.....A friend brought me some nice sanding blocks hopefully i can fined a paint gun ...I mite just go rent one ..What is a nice black paint going to cost and clear coat ??? I still got alot of work to do so iam out ...

 

Lookin' good Red, can't wait to see more. Keep it up!

 

If you want the best of the best at a reasonably affordable price, go check out the House of Kolor site. There are better(though more expensive) paints one the market. And cheaper ones that will get the job done at your local automotive store in a can. House of Kolor has very nice paint that is easy to work with and gives really good results. Just make sure you perfect your technique with the primer before you start with the real stuff to save yourself extra sanding and waisted money. But the most important rule about buying paint: MAKE SURE YOU BUY ENOUGH TO FINISH! Oh, and don't forget that clearcoat! Black without the clearcoat is like a car without a motor. Miserable

 

WOO all black!!! damn that will look sexy! and it will go very good with the red. i believe one can buy enough black for like 3 good coats plus clear for 500 if i am not mistaken.. but it depends on how much you use per coat.. i havent gotten all into the body aspect of cars.. i prefer to go fast than look good but damn that car will be lookin mighty spiffy when done

 

welcome...to the dark side....

 

The day I picked up "Darth Z" from the body shop with it's fresh black paint job, I put in the AC/DC "Back in black" CD in my car stereo and cranked it all the home...!

Black is beautiful.

Rod.

 

i got it sanded with p220... sanding frist coat sanding and some some of the frist bondo laryer on ...man my wrists hurt ...but the plan seem s to be comeing together very well people keep giving me stuff for the project left and right... i got a tight paint gun and sand blocks hook up for free... i called the paint store and they said that they had a eazy to use paint for about a $100.00 high gloss black ..i told him my plan and he talked me though a few things ..

 

DAMN! Did you sand it with blocks before the paint went on? I tried that before and it took me three days to do what I do in a couple hours with an electric sander. The only time I don't use the electric is when I got concave areas that it wont fit into. Of course, once I start laying paint, I switch to a handheld sanding block so I don't sand right through the new paint So my wrist may not be sore, but my hand is still numb from yesterdays sanding

 

Owh, and you used 220! I took my bad paint and rough spots down with a 60 grit. Start my bondo with a 100 grit. Then move up to like a 180+ for pre primer. Then once the primer goes down I move into the 200's for sanding by hand. Then I get finer for final layer of primer, and even finer for base coat, and even finer for clear (1000's). All wet sanding once I start putting paint on. I'm not trying to knock ya, but I think you've been putting in more work then you had too. I got to admire your dedication though Keep it up.

 

i wish i had a sander but i dont the book says that block sanding is the best way,and i will get the smoothest job that way ....i dont know if thats true but i think its smoothing out well ... i got all the wheel wells grinded out and primed up .... i painted the calipers red and painted the wheel wells with a truck bed liner...now that i have looked at the pics i mite got back over them with the liner one more time ..i need a better light looks like i messed a few spots mabe i will just hit them with the black paint when i spray the paint on... i will mask them off during the primer stages.... its really time for clean up and last bondo coats ,some light sanding ...after that i will build the paint room so mabe by monday day i will sparay the frist primer layer on ...i looked into my paint room setup it sould only cost me $50 bucks and two hours to put it all together ...well of to work i go

 

try this link for a good article on how to paint your car at home

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/24820/

Good luck and we're staying tuned!