Deal on a 94 V6

[TraceZ]

My bro got the tires mounted on the new rims today, and man what an improvement!! Our "laundry list" of tasks is now complete, all but the paintwork. I can see the light at the end of this tunnel. There is no doubt in my mind this car will look like brand new from 3 or 4 feet away. It also drives, sounds and runs like new.

Not bad for 12 years and 185,000 miles!

A couple pics:

[TraceZ]

Update:

Tonight we wet sanded the initial coat of Epoxy etching primer and applied a second coat of the epoxy etching primer.

After that flashed, we applied 3 coats of high build primer. It looks great. Our repairs are now totally invisible. I wouldnt know where they were if I hadn't done them myself.

Next step: lightly wet sand and apply Primer sealer.

This isn't so hard so far. The real task is going to be laying the color on and having the flake in the metallic match the rest of the car. I have no idea what I'm doing with regards to that, I hope I get lucky.

[fastTa]

Tracy, I've watched alot of people trying to paint for the first time, and for what it's worth, more times than they add way too much metal flake. It's deceiving when you mix the metal flake into the paint.

Just thought that would help.

[TraceZ]

Tracy, I've watched alot of people trying to paint for the first time, and for what it's worth, more times than they add way too much metal flake. It's deceiving when you mix the metal flake into the paint.

Just thought that would help.

Wont it come pre mixed? It is a factory paint code.

[fastTa]

Wont it come pre mixed? It is a factory paint code.

I've always seen the metal flake come separately, but if your paint code has the word "metallic" in it, I suppose it might come already pre-mixed with the flake.

[2Fbodcru]

I have painted a few cars, and some major parts of some cars like whole front clips, etc., and from my experience, the metal flake will already be in the paint. You just have to make sure that you have a gun that is designed for spraying metal flake. Now the large metal flake usually has to be added, but you are not dealing with large metal flake. As far as using the base coat and then a clear coat, that isn’t absolutely necessary since you are going to be selling it anyway. Depending on how large a section, etc, you may be able to use a good alic enamel paint, but you will need to paint a whole section and not just the repair area. In other words you would have to paint a whole quarter panel and just tape off and paper the rest of the car. I have had good success with the workability of the alic enamel though. Also, I didn’t have a problem with runs or flow and it really laid out nice. You could probably get by with one coat of paint if you are painting over the old paint, but if you are painting over a large primed surface, then you will need at least 2-3 coats. You can get a smooth shiny finish with one coat, but 2-3 coats will be dull, and will have to be buffed. I have had good success with a criss crossed spraying pattern - in other words cover the area completely in a vertical pattern, and then a horizontal pattern, or vice versa, for each coat and don‘t lay it on heavy.

BTW, I would not use newspaper to paper the car, because it can allow over spray to get through and mess up other areas of the car. They sell good paper in rolls for taping off and papering cars and I would recommend that. Also, I have found that cool (about 50 degrees maybe?) damp weather works the best for painting with the alic enamel. Warm dry temperatures do not.

Anyway, you will have to use your own discretion on this, but good luck

[Steel2686]

One last suggestion - When taping the car, make sure to "tack" the tape across your jeans a couple times. Even masking tape made for spraying cars tends to be a bit too tacky. Running the pieces acroos the leg of your pants once or twice takes off just enough excess to save you a major headache later.

[fastTa]

As far as using the base coat and then a clear coat, that isn’t absolutely necessary since you are going to be selling it anyway.

That attitude really rubs me the wrong way and it's bad advice. How would you like to buy a car, only a year later have to re-paint it because the seller half-ass painted it because he was "selling it anyway".

Alic enamel has a purpose....plastic model cars. And a criss-cross pattern? Are you joking? You always shoot a car in a the same direction on each panel or section that you are painiting.

[fastTa]

Tracy is the kind of person who takes pride in his work, and he wouldn't take shortcuts just because he thinking of selling his car.

I think you're on the right track Tracy. Keep us posted on the progress.

[2Fbodcru]

Good grief dude, I was just offering some additional views for Tracy to ponder - it wasn’t designed to insult anyone or start a flame war. Notice that I said that he would have to use his own discretion. Yeah, this isn’t the professional method by any means, but it does work, because I have done it before on some of my hobby “fullsized” automobiles. What do you say we all get along here?

[TraceZ]

Thanks for all the advice, but I really want to do as close to a professional job on this as possible. I'm saving enough on labor costs that the correct materials and technique should be followed at a small added expense. I'm going to sell the car locally, and want to make sure somebody gets a nice car that they will be able to enjoy for several years without it falling apart. Maybe the buyer will become a f-body freak like us and move up to something with a V8 in it after falling in love with the car.

I actually thought the criss crossing paint pattern was a good idea. It sounded like it made sense. Would this method prouce undesirable results? So, I should continue to paint in strait horizontal rows with 50% overlap then?

[2Fbodcru]

Thanks for all the advice, but I really want to do as close to a professional job on this as possible. I'm saving enough on labor costs that the correct materials and technique should be followed at a small added expense. I'm going to sell the car locally, and want to make sure somebody gets a nice car that they will be able to enjoy for several years without it falling apart. Maybe the buyer will become a f-body freak like us and move up to something with a V8 in it after falling in love with the car.

I actually thought the criss crossing paint pattern was a good idea. It sounded like it made sense. Would this method prouce undesirable results? So, I should continue to paint in strait horizontal rows with 50% overlap then?

You definitely want to overlap, probably about 50%, give or take, but any more than that and you could get some runs. The criss cross pattern has given me a good balanced coverage of paint whenever I have done any painting. It works very well when painting a hood for example. What I always do is paint around the outside edges of the area first, and then begin to fill the rest of the area in. Also, you want to start from the top and move your way down to the bottom.

[Steel2686]

I actually thought the criss crossing paint pattern was a good idea. It sounded like it made sense. Would this method prouce undesirable results? So, I should continue to paint in strait horizontal rows with 50% overlap then?

Absolutely. One minor thing to remember... keep the nozzle completely even with the body panel as you spray. It's a tendancy to move your wrist faster than you are walking. I learned this the hard way.

[fastTa]

You DO want to overlap 50/50, but you do NOT want to criss-cross. Ever. If you criss-cross you will have more accumulation of paint in the spots where the criss-cross pattern intersects and not to mention uneven distribution. It will not be drastically noticeable, but if you look closely it will look like crap. Even if your just painting a daily driver.

Start at the top and work your way back and forth side to side horizontally. Some people can hold the trigger whenever they transition from the end of their horizontal "swipe", but most will let go of the trigger momentarily at the end of the "swipe" so as not to unevely accumulate the paint at the ends.

[2Fbodcru]

I just realized where some of the confusion is on the criss cross pattern thing. I would really only recommend this technique when using alic enamel, because of the nature of that type of paint. On the type of paint that you will be using, you could end up with runs, and you certainly want to avoid that