Camaro SS Bandit Conversion

[hesster]

Painting the Big Panels.
Final 3rd Clear "Flo Coat" on the Hood after sanding it smooth with 800 grit. That takes almost all day, and is about 10 iterations of sand, dry, look for OP or imperfections, repeat. Then Cut and Buff after a week. It should turn out really nice.

Unfortunately, the Paint Manufacturer told me not to apply any of the Decals like the Hood Bird and Stripes until after 90 days. Or WAX. That is because fresh paint continues to outgas solvent - in other words it is still drying. Supposedly this is a Industry Standard, so you can cut and buff after 5 days, but not seal the paint in any way. I guess sanding and polishing the Paint does not stop it from gassing out, and there is probably some "Dieback". That is why I try to put the Parts out on a sunny hot day to Bake them and help the drying process. So I am OK with this, as I can take my time to install and finesse the Panels on the Car, and do some TBD Chassis/Suspension updates.

Tackled the Front Fascia yesterday, got (2) nice coats of Black Onyx Basecoat on. Got my Iwata Gun dialed in nicely, and the Paint is flowing nicely. This is a Big Floppy part with alot of countours, and a tight fit in the Paint Booth. I could have kept going with the 3rd BC and then (2) coats of Clear, but I am sticking to my more involved process of lightly sanding the 2nd coats to remove any Lint and Nibs. This gives the best finish, and you won't then see that crap showing through in the Clear. So I will sand it, and lay down the final BC, then (2) coats of clear.

I can actually see the endgame of this Painting all this stuff. I know I have a ton of cut and buff on the Car's original Paint to do, because even though it is in good shape, it is nowhere near the finish on these Painted Parts.

[hesster]

Front Fascia - Sanded the 2nd BC flat, and cleaned the crap out of it. Got final BC sprayed on, and (2) Coats of clear. It was hot and humid, but trusted my set up to contain the water vapor. This is the most difficult part to paint - lots of contours, and tough to keep chasing a wet coat. A little OP, but manageable. And the bigger the part, the more airborne crap to deal with.
But got 'er done, looks decent, and enough clear to sand out for a final wet coat.

Also sanded the Primer fllat on the Rear Fascia - the last part to Paint. Ready for a few coats of Black BC.

I am so ready to be done throwing paint.

[hesster]

A good paint day, a little hot and humid but moving forward.
Got the Hood baking in the Sun, it's so hot you could fry a egg in it. Gonna wait for the paint to settle and dry out before Cut & Buff.

Sanded the Front Fascia's 2nd CC Flat (took all day almost) and mixed up a batch of Extra Slow Gamour CC, and slow Hardener. A heavy coat, and stellar results on a very difficult Part with a ton of coutours. Not perfect, but the result is more than I had anticipated. Cut and buff should be easy.

Wow - Rear Fascia is the last part left.

[acutron42]

Looking absolutely fantastic! Can I buy some of your determination & patience lol!

[Ashen 6.2]

Looking good sir!

[hesster]

Appreciate all the comments and support, it has helped getting through this Painting "adventure". Readers can skip all of this detail that follows here, but some may find it helpful if you paint anything on your car. It is my final process for what worked for me in the end to get the larger panels painted with great results.

In my very 1st post, I wrote:
"I will include pics and detail as we go along for your enjoyment, and tips, tricks, Specs, and F-Ups along the way which are inevitable." Well, yeah, the whole Paint thing was a unanticipated excursion that fits that statement quite well.

So it is September already, and I AM ON MY LAST MAJOR PART in the Paint process. The Rear Fascia. But reflecting back when I painted my T/A and the '73 Camaro, those also took all summer, but those cars did not have the paint contamination issues I had to resolve.

Anyway, here are some pics, and a little more detail on the process which I developed to get results.

I made a Checklist of things to do before actually throwing paint, and it helps me to not forget something I shoud have done before closing myself in the Booth. Like not having strainers, extra paint if I did not mix enough, purging all the drip legs of vapor, etc. And a ledger of dates & times logging the paint sessions. And repaint sessions........

First is Panel/Part Prep. Sand the Primer almost dead flat, then clean it with soapy water, and (3) wipe downs with Sprayway. Tack off any lint, and into the Booth with it. The part must be immacuately clean, inside and outside.

For each Paint Session, I turn on the exhaust fan, wait (5) minutes for the air to circulate and clear out airborne crap. Then the part is wiped down with Final Wipe solvent twice, and Tacked off of lint. Strain the paint into the Gun Cup, Tack off the part one final time, and spray away. Stay in the booth in between coats as necessary in a airtight suit and mask, this can be hours for like the final BC & 2x CC's session. Like a sauna, and come out real sweaty and stinking.

Each part first gets (2) Black Basecoats, (1) day to dry, sand it flat, then final Black BC followed immediately by (2) CC's, (1) day to Dry, sand that flat, then the Final wet CC. Wait a week, Cut it with 2000/2500/3000/5000, one day in the sun while the Paint is "Open" (paint mfg recommendation), then Buff with Meguiars Heavy Cut until there are no visible sand scratchs. So this is why it takes ~weeks to paint one part. At least for me. If you have a professional spray booth that is totally free of airborne floating crap, you can paint all (6) coats one after another and not sand between coats. I did that for the smaller parts, but the bigger the part, the more chance of crap in the paint. So I found just sand them out between the painting sessions, then you don't see it in the Clear Coats glaring at you like a bug on your windshield.

So here are some pics of the Rear Fascia, it has the final BC and (2) CC's, and is ready to have the 2nd CC sanded, and then spray the final wet CC.
THEN I SHOULD BE DONE PAINTING. I will not rest or relax however until I cut and buff the Hood and the Fascias to verify results, so I won't tear down the Booth until then.

Also pics of the sand/cut to the final CC on the Hood, and preliminary buff of a small section as a test. Don't see any crap in the Paint, and it should buff out nicely.

I'll finish the final coat on the Rear Fascia, then take my time to Cut and Buff out the Hood and Fascias, and meanwhile uncover the Car and install the Intake system and Engine Cover/Shaker. And start the car!

[hesster]

The day finally arrived whre I got everything painted. Except maybe small stuff that I would paint w/o the booth.

Threw the last 3rd coat of CC Flowcoat on the Rear Fascai. It's OK, a little more lint but that will buff out. A Big Relief. F-ing done, hopefully.

Now having fun.and no more endless posts on Paint issues.

Got the Shaker Scoop mounted and ready for install. This is what I have been waiting so patiently for, - assembly. The pre Engineering Mods paid off w/o assembly issues on fresh painted parts. The Paint is still "Soft' so gloves ae required. I found this out gripping the Scoop .

And, it's crazy, but these C/O's got delivered today. Budget, WTF, what Budget.

Following posts should be more interesting as I assemble parts....

[SlowLS1]

Awesome, now the fun begins. Just about there myself on my project, The excitement is building!

Everything looks beautiful.

[hesster]

Well this is in your Face.
And layed on a Fender in rough position. Need some nice Bolts (Button Heads).

[hesster]

Hood initial Cut and Buff. I went Easy on the Buff, as I did not want issues like burn throughs.
Wow - already has a killer shine and reflections, and that is with Heavy Cut Compound. A few imperfections, but you would never see them if I did not point them out. It's hard to actually "see" the Part, it is one big reflection.
Shame to cover a majority of it with the Bird Decal.

[hesster]

Removed the Paint protection tape and liner from the underside of the Hood, and Buffed it. And cleaned all of the dried Buffing Compound out of the bonding seams. Then Buffed the Hood outer again, and it's now ready to go on the Car at some point.

Then tackled the Front Fascia for Cut and Buff. Sanded it out, and Buffed it for hours outside. Thought I had it really close until I brought it into the Barn, and saw there we still a ton of sand scratch's that needed more Buffing. Funny how they are difficult to see in the sun. So I Buffed it in the Paint Booth where I could see everything under the lights. And Buffed for hours and hours today, and covered with slinging Compound. It is a difficult part with many contours. Buffing totally sucks as you can Burn through the Paint in an instant, and I was concerned I couldn't get the Clear Coat to get real glossy. But it came out pretty darn good.

Time to Cut and Buff the Rear Fascia, that will also be tough as it is a super Floppy Part. It will be a tremendous relief to get this last Part ready for install.

I decided I would install the Coil Overs before the Front End Panels (Fenders and Hood), as that negates the chance of scratching the Fenders, and the Wheel Liner is already off. Ordered new Spindle Bolts, as they are TTY and "should" not be reused. Piece of mind, as reusing TTY Bolts is a whole 'nother endless debate.

Not in a hurry at this point.

[hesster]

And the last major part, the Rear Fascia, is done for now. (7) Hours of wet sanding, then Buffing and it is looking good and ready to install. This was a difficult part to Buff as I had to hold the sides with one hand and the buffer in my other hand as they are so "floppy". A real workout, as it takes at least (6) iterations to buff all the fine sand scratch's out and get a good gloss.

And so the Painting Journey has concluded. At least I hope so.

I will still buff out the whole Car, and final buff all the painted parts, as it makes no sense to final finish the Kit Parts given they must be wresteled into place and gaps/flushs adjusted again.

I can start applying some Decals/Stripes on the car's existing paint after buffing it - that will be fun stuff. I really want to start the car, but am concerned that it might not play well (codes) with the Fascia Harness's not hooked up, so that will wait fo now.

[Ashen 6.2]

Originally Posted by hesster

And the last major part, the Rear Fascia, is done for now. (7) Hours of wet sanding, then Buffing and it is looking good and ready to install. This was a difficult part to Buff as I had to hold the sides with one hand and the buffer in my other hand as they are so "floppy". A real workout, as it takes at least (6) iterations to buff all the fine sand scratch's out and get a good gloss.

And so the Painting Journey has concluded. At least I hope so.

I will still buff out the whole Car, and final buff all the painted parts, as it makes no sense to final finish the Kit Parts given they must be wresteled into place and gaps/flushs adjusted again.

I can start applying some Decals/Stripes on the car's existing paint after buffing it - that will be fun stuff. I really want to start the car, but am concerned that it might not play well (codes) with the Fascia Harness's not hooked up, so that will wait fo now.

Congrats! everything looks killer!

[hesster]

Worked on the Barn yesterday, opened up half of the temp Visquene divider, took down the Paint Booth, cleaned, mopped, and organized in prep for assembly.
Overspray everywhere from initial Paint Sessions w/o the Booth.

Decided to start the car today after who knows - at least 6 months. I had coated the rusty Stock Exhaust Manifolds that looked like crap months ago with a product called XTC, it is a very high temp silver coating I found. You have to send it through (4) Thermal Cycles to cure properly. Looks like fresh Cast Iron.

Hooked up the Rear Harrness and Lamps, and installed the Front Fascia temporarily with (2) Bolts, as the Harness is already mounted to it. Then hooked up all of the Front Lamps. I did not want to start it with all of the connections not made. And fired the car.

Well - I had disconnected the Plug wires to get access to the Manifolds, and forgot that I never connected the (4) passenger side wires back up. Holy Crap, the car actually started and right away I knew why it ran rough. Had a laugh, connected the wires, and she fired up and purred like a Kitten. So you run it until the Manifolds smoke, let it cool all the way down, and repeat (4) times. Got a few cycles in.

Then moved the "Beast" 2SS Camaro into the Barn next to the 1SS Bandit Project. Man that car is LOUD with the Whipple, Blower Cam, LT's, and Borla Atak. Serious Sh!!

The only thing better than owning a SS Camaro is, well, having (2) of them.