View Full Version : Corvette Painting 101
For those who endeavor to paint a car...follow along and see how easy it is....
Here is our subject, one well worn 1980 Corvette ...at first glance it looks to be in pretty fair shape body and paint wise.....further inspection will prove otherwise....
:eek:
259
260
What I found was this car had been painted at a real cheapie shop years ago. The problem with this is that the paint is very thick.Also it is not catalyzed or hardened meaning it becomes a gooey mess when you try to sand it ...There was a repair at the front left corner that was not done correctly, and looked bad....The plot thickens
This pic shows a previous repair I will have to fix;
261
This pic shows where the door hold open spring had broken allowing the door to open too far and allowing the leading edge of the door to hit the hinges and crack....not good ...we will replace the spring and stop and repair the crack
262
Here we have the factory bond lines on all four fenders shrinking back and looking bad.This factory filler will be ground out with a die grinder and filled with short strand glass and resin...
263
Lets start on the fender and quarter seams. GM likes to use a filler that shrinks and looks bad ...I use a long shaft die grinder with a round or tapered carbide tip on it to gouge it all out ...you can tell when your hitting their filler as opposed to glass as it is softer and easier to grind out...
264
Here the filler is ground out...
265
After grinding all the seams out I like to take a dual action sander with a 60 grit disc on it and v out the area we are gonna fill...The idea here is to allow more area for our repair filler to bite into. Typically I will extend the ground out area an inch or so on each side...
266
Air tools make the job easier ...If your gonna paint ....buy some!
267
This is my product of choice for filling these types of repairs Fibral paste is a resin/short fiberglass strand mixture ...It is very thick out of the tube so to make it easier to work with I add a small amount of Extend to thin it slightly..(Polyester resin does the same thing)....This repair product dries very hard, and is not a suitable final filler.
268
This is what the Fibral looks like dry...Tough stuff to sand ...
269
The 8 inch grinder or Bondo Eater ..as its known with a 60 grit disc will make short work of it..
270
Leveling our repair area!
271
A paint stick with 80 grit paper wrapped around it will level out our repair in preparation for a coat of body filler ....The Fibral is a structural filler and is not designed to be painted over and is therefore covered with a skim coat of body filler..
272
Our repair ...levelled..
273
Body filler and glazing putty ....Always use a catalyzed body filler or putty!
274
Body filler applied...80% of this will be sanded off..
275
Now lets grind back this previous repair below the level of the bumper ...we will then build it up to level correctly with Fibral...
276
While we're at it we can grind back the crack at the drivers door leading edge..
277
Fibral on the front corner..
278
After grinding the Fibral smooth and skimming it with glazing putty it should look pretty close to smooth..
279
The door leading edge should also..
280
While sanding the other front fender something didnt look right in the same area near the nose where the other side had been half ass repaired ...started digging a little and suddenly a chunk of bondo popped out and I was looking at the headlight assembly thru a hole...This will need some attention...
282
Filled with glass and ready for a skim coat of filler
283
Ok ...At this point most of the damaged areas are structurally repaired and smooth. The next thing to tackle is the rest of the car although the paint in the pics looks smooth it is in reality very wavy. The reason for this is because the last painter just took a D/A sander sanded the car down and applied a very thick coat of non catalyzed paint...Earl Schieb...ect....Well this usually looks ok for a few months but then things start showing back thru and looking like shit.This car had little 3 or 4 inch half moon shaped indentations all ovet the hood and deck where the last guy did not hold the D/A flat to the surface.Normally in a case like this I would media blast or chemically strip all the paint and start from the Gelcoat and work up...This customer did not have the money for this so I am taking a different route. What we are gonna do is try to level the paint as best we can and then use a polyester filling primer and then block sand till its level....It takes a ton of sanding to do it this way but when you use Slick Sand ...the poly primer surfacer and block it level It will stay that way and never shrink back..I have been doing this for years for customers who didnt want to pay to strip their cars and I have never had one complaint..The tool that works best for this is an air file that has an orbital action...Air files come two ways...straight line where the motion is back and forth and orbital which removes material slowly but levels large surfaces nicely...The Air file in the picture is an orbital version...loaded with 80 grit paper and ready to go...note in the areas sanded the discoloration where the paint was not level....On a Corvette there is alot of hand sanding to be done also bacause of all the curved surfaces...on these areas I wrap the sandpaper around a wooden paint stick and sand
284
Removing the rear window moulding that tool releases the clips and if your careful the trim comes off in one piece...
285
286
When you are done leveling as best you can you can use spot putty..catalyzed of course to fill any small nicks or chips you find ...we had a few...
287
In preparation for primer you must wash off all the sanding dust
288
289
After washing rinsing and drying mask off the car and prime ...I used an entire gallon on this one and it went around the car 3 wet heavy coats..This primer is ok to use on the plastic front and rear bumpers as well its very flexible!
290
291
When the primer is dry I block sanded it dry with 320 grit paper on a block to level everything out This process took almost a week as this primer dries very hard In the picture the right half is sanded and the left half is not ...This sanding is followed by wet sanding it with 500 grit in preparation for our base clear coat paint application..
292
Now we are fianlly ready to paint ...The doorjambs that is ...For this I used a Sata Jet touch up gun...to apply the base and clear
293
294
Ok to the booth we go ...mask the car go over it with a wax and grease remover ...then a tack rag...the I spray on a light coat of PPG dx103 anti static spray...this kills any static build upon the car...then PPG ncs 2004 sealer 1 wet coat...after 20 minutes dry time I apply 3 coats PPG dbu red This was applied with a Sata Jt NR 95 HVLP spray gun...after the base dried I used a Sata Jet RP digital to apply 2 wet coats of PPG 2021 urethane clear these pictures were taken right after the car was cleared...
295
296
297
Back in the shop I wet sanded the car...first with 1500 grit then with 2000 then with 4000 grit paper this removes the orange peel in the paint and makes for a more even much better looking shine I will show you what I mean with the following photos..
This show a sample of the lower fender area before sanding and buffing the white line in the picture are the overhead 8 ft flourecent light reflection in my shop...notice the white reflected line is bumpy looking ...that is orange peel its just the way paint looks when it dries..
298
Next the area is sanded as described above...no reflection at all..
299
Now the buffing process starts I use 3m perfect it 2 compound and then their glaze ....and then I hand glaze when finished with Farecla g10 for a show quality shine... Notice the crisp edges now on the reflection..
300
Ok all buffed out ,washed and ready for re assembly....
301
302
The End....:D
JAY4SPEED
10-04-2007, 12:58 AM
Great write up! The outcome looks great. I need to get one of those orbital air files for my project, I have the straight line file but can see how the orbital would be useful in a fiberglass project. What (if anything) would you do differently from this process for painting a boat?
Jay
Great write up! The outcome looks great. I need to get one of those orbital air files for my project, I have the straight line file but can see how the orbital would be useful in a fiberglass project. What (if anything) would you do differently from this process for painting a boat?
Jay
An orbital is slower for sure....but does an excellent job at levelling large un level surfaces....I use it alot...
I would do nothing different on a boat.....In fact im working on one now...:D
Havasu Dreamin
10-08-2007, 11:25 AM
WOW! You've got some real talent! Looks like a brand new car...
WOW! You've got some real talent! Looks like a brand new car...
Thank you...If it didnt... I wouldn't be earning my pay....:D
RitcheyRch
12-21-2007, 07:39 PM
Looks awesome.
Roaddogg 4040
12-25-2007, 03:54 PM
Looks great Brian... What would that paint and repair job cost ther average customer?
Steve
Looks great Brian... What would that paint and repair job cost ther average customer?
Steve
$2500-$3500...depending on the amount of repair work needed...
DaveA
12-25-2007, 05:33 PM
You cleared up a couple of questions I've had floating around in the back of my mind on Fibral use as well as the PPG sealer.
As far as air files are concerned do you use Hutch equipment? A local guy has a couple of Hutch files/sanders for sale including a 3800 orbital file. Any opinion?
You cleared up a couple of questions I've had floating around in the back of my mind on Fibral use as well as the PPG sealer.
As far as air files are concerned do you use Hutch equipment? A local guy has a couple of Hutch files/sanders for sale including a 3800 orbital file. Any opinion?
I have Hutchins air tools, including their orbital file . The one I seem to use most is the straight line Hustler....Dynabrade is making some very light new stuff too that I like ...Cant' go wrong with Hutchins though.
DaveA
12-25-2007, 07:00 PM
Can't go wrong with Hutch...I agree. I'm gonna make this guy an offer on all his stuff and see if he bites. Dynabrade is really nice stuff, too. I've bought several of their 1/2hp air grinders for my guys to use for flap wheels and polishing buffs. Very well designed and built stuff.
Nice work. Rock on.
Wombat
01-05-2008, 05:54 AM
Great Refurb work on the Vette, had an 80 model myself sold it back in 93 for a 86 Coupe in primo condition. Still have the Vette but had a 2 Pack job done on it in 89 and it still looks great today.:cool:
vBulletin® v3.7.2, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.