Camaro SS Bandit Conversion

[hesster]

Back painting. Sanded the Deck Lid, Shaker, and Engine Cover (yet again), and reprimed them. Then BC & CC.

Took some steps to address the paint issues:
1. Replaced the Compressor and Paint Gun Hoses with new high quality rubber as the old hoses had decomposed and were probably adding fine particulate getting past the ARO filter.
2. Replaced the ARO with a much better THB 3 stagge Filter with a dessicant stage.
3. Used more clear poly sheets to cover stuff in the barn and reduce crap in the air.
4. Bought auxillary Light from HF as it is difficult to see Black Shiny Parts as you are attempting to get wet coats.
5. Used a mix of Medium and Slow thinners to address any solvent pops and allow the paint to flow better.

Results are way better, a sigh of relief when the BC turned out good. That is the critical step, as you should not sand it, and throw on the Clear it shortly after. If it is bad, no sense shooting Clear over it.

Only issue is it is "fuzzy" time, and the cotton wood or garbage trees are spewing the white crap, and it is everywhere. So the key is to reduce the fans from 5 running at once down to one to minimize air movement. Helps, but it is a big barn and hard to keep any floaters in the air off the panels. So the plan is to wet sand the 3 coats of Clear flat and then flow on a final CC to make the cut and buff process easier. I did this on the Rocker Panels and that worked great.

The Engine cover "Wings" will get a few coats of Gold Pearl mixed in Clear and sprayed over the Gloss Black for a subtle effect. I was going to go all Snowflake Gold, but it would be a little gaudy. Same on the little Flapper Door.

Next come the bigger panels - Hood, Fenders, Fascias. Had some Primer left over from resealing the Deck Lid, Shaker, and Engine Cover, so shot the underside of the Hood again. I found the BC will not like sand throughs on the primer, and attacks the substrate (fiberglass).

I will paint the large panels one at a time to minimize air movement and overspray on any adjacent part.

[hesster]

Front Grille, Engine Cover, and Flapper Door Painted.

Had just enough Snowflake Gold Paint (4 oz trial sample) to paint the Grills, but not the Engine Cover Wings. They took all of (3) coats for the Gold to cover the Black Primer.

The Grills are superb, and the Gold Pearl in the first and 2nd Clear Coats is just killer.

So I had a idea to dust the Engine Cover Wings also with Gold Crystal Pearl in CC over the Black Gloss BC/CC for a more subtle effect instead of all Gold or all Black. This really pops under lights or the sun. This came about when I had dusted the "Car Puck" earlier hanging on my spray board when I painted the Fender Scoop inserts, so I went that route, and it is not so much Gold in your face on the Engine. Well, somewhat.

The challenge was to get the tape off the parts w/o peeling away the Paint. The Paint does not like to stick esp to the Engine Cover, even with Adhesion Promotor, so I went slow, but it went well. The CC wets sands and buffs easy, and with (3) coats there is plenty of Clear to avoid sand throughs.

I also reshot the Deck Lid, it came out glossy, and I cut and buffed a section to see if the "floater" crap in the paint is visible. It buffed out like glass and all of the tiny "nibs" can be sanded completly out dead flat, but BC/CC black paint is absolutely unforgiving for any paint issues. You are spraying up to (6) coats, so that is (6) chances of crap in each coat. So this morning I put it in the sun to assess. I am amazed that it looks great given all of the crap that was in the paint. So I will cut and buff the whole panel to see if it is acceptable, if not I will do it all over again until it is right. The gloss - look at the last Pic - that is a mirror! The swirls are the clouds and reflections, the Black makes the part almost invisible as everything is a reflection.

I realized I cannot get the Barn clean enough to stop floater contamination, and spraying the large parts with the IWATA moves ton of air (unlike the Mini Gun), so my plan is to use poly sheeting hung from the rafters to wall off and create a much smaller "spray booth". Like 150 sq ft. versus 1500 sq ft.

Hope that helps as I am about to throw alot of Paint to the Hood Inner/Outer, Fenders, and Fascias.

[hesster]

Built a "Spray Booth" to help reduce the floaters in the Barn. Works pretty good.

Sprayed the Shaker Scoop for what seems the gazillionth time, and still have some minor stuff in the paint, but that is easily sanded out and polished. Scoop will get sanded and a final flow coat of Clear.

Note the overspray clinging to the Plastic Sheeting, better than that all over the Barn.

[Mr Twisty]

That panel alignment... and gaps... beautiful

[hesster]

More Painting, this time some big stuff.

The "Prototype" Paint booth did a good job of reducing airborne contamination (GD Cottonwood fuzzys), and the Hood Inner turned out quite well. Still had some minor stuff, but it is a Hood inner. I realized the fans were just blowing too much air out of the barn, and in the process sucking unfiltered air right back in at the top of the door.

So I decided to build a more substantial Booth, and framed it in and hung the clear poly. Also ditched the 5 fan set up as that really moved the overspray out, but at the cost of too much air moving around with all the crap in it. So stuck a fan in one side window blowing out, and a filter in the other side window. Did not move much air, but that was the intent.

So I figured this set up was as good as it may get trying to paint in a barn. Then spent 3+ hours wet sanding and preparing the Front Fascia, and figured let's paint a large difficult part with alot of contours.

Layed down (3) nearly perfect Base Coats, no runs, drips, or crap in the paint. Once that was done it was a sigh of relief as again, you really can't sand it, and if you do, you have to throw on another coat.

By the end of each coat there was a serious cloud of overspray in the booth, my new resperator was put to the task. I also wear a full hazmat coverall, as the fumes will put you down in a hurry.

Then (3) coats of Clear, have some OP but it will get cut and buffed to perfection. It is a fine line to get the paint wet enough to flow out right before it will sag or have runs. Got zero of that, so that is a good thing. CC runs can be sanded out, but it is difficult not to burn through to the BC. Then you get to do it all over again.

Thinking Fenders next, then Hood Outer, and finally the Rear Fascia which will be a challenge like the Front.

[acutron42]

Looking great! I really like the gold flake treatment.

[hesster]

Deck Lid Paint Fixed, then Cut and Buffed.

Amazing I could save it, as it had a number of very miniscule "Fish Eye" Craters that either could be fixed, or abandon trying. These were evident when I buffed out some of the DL, and I knew leaving them was a compromise that I felt was unacceptable. So if I couldn't fix them, it would require another BC/CC round. That would probably require stripping the part, because there is LOTS of paint on that thing.

To fix it, I put a tiny dab with a pin of BC mixed with CC in each one, then wet sanded the crap out of the part until they were not visible. This was a fine line cause I expected to burn through to the BC, but didn't surprisingly. Then 3 hours of Buffing it out until I could not see any "no-go" imperfections and sand scratch's. Again, Black Paint will show EVERYTHING, esp under flourescent lights.

It aint absolutely perfect, but good enough that I am NOT gonna repaint it.

Killer Mirror like gloss, evident by the reflections.

[hesster]

Rear Fascia Painted today.

It has been sweltering here all week with a ton of humidity, so this is not good weather to paint. But started early and done by noon, and used slow cure Clear and Hardener.

The Rear Fascia is a "rough" part, a decent non-production level RIM molded part, but lots of stuff to finesse before throwing paint on it. Flex additive is mixed into the CC.

Like the Front Fascia, it sits on a Fixture as it is a floppy part, and deforms easy.

A little OP on some surfaces, but enough CC to Cut and Buff.

So it is done, and will dry for a week.

[hesster]

I ordered a molded stripe Kit from Phoenix Graphics. Plan is to use as much of it as possible, and cut and splice as required.

No way am I painting any stripes, as I would be in Diapers before I could get it done right. Too much chance for issues.

[hesster]

These arrived today.

Had Forgeline machine cut the center cap so the correct 1977 SE Trans AM Wheel Hub Inserts I bought from from Year One would fit. Not a perfect fit, but it works.

Sure hope they fit my Camaro without issues, Forgeline said the same size wheels and configuration fitted special build Camaro cars that Berger Chevy had built.

We will see soon, then I will buy Tires and get them mounted.

Got to sort out if I will get TPMS sensors, there seems to be way too much confusion as to what the correct TPMS part number is on the 2010's.

They are just awesome. Even the back side of the wheel is stunning.

[Ashen 6.2]

Originally Posted by hesster

These arrived today.

Had Forgeline machine cut the center cap so the correct 1977 SE Trans AM Wheel Hub Inserts I bought from from Year One would fit. Not a perfect fit, but it works.

Sure hope they fit my Camaro without issues, Forgeline said the same size wheels and configuration fitted special build Camaro cars that Berger Chevy had built.

We will see soon, then I will buy Tires and get them mounted.

Got to sort out if I will get TPMS sensors, there seems to be way too much confusion as to what the correct TPMS part number is on the 2010's.

They are just awesome. Even the back side of the wheel is stunning.

Damn those look great!

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Damn man excellent progress! These parts looks really really nice

[hesster]

A cooler day so shot some paint.
Did a Fender, these are much more friendly to paint than a Fascia, came out great. Wanted to do both at the same time but best outcome was to focus on one at a time with great results.
The less OP, the less cut and Buff.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by hesster

These arrived today.

Had Forgeline machine cut the center cap so the correct 1977 SE Trans AM Wheel Hub Inserts I bought from from Year One would fit. Not a perfect fit, but it works.

Sure hope they fit my Camaro without issues, Forgeline said the same size wheels and configuration fitted special build Camaro cars that Berger Chevy had built.

We will see soon, then I will buy Tires and get them mounted.

Got to sort out if I will get TPMS sensors, there seems to be way too much confusion as to what the correct TPMS part number is on the 2010's.

They are just awesome. Even the back side of the wheel is stunning.

Man, those wheels look great and are really going to look amazing on the car!

For the TPMS sensors, a few years ago when I was in the process of getting new wheels for mine, I tracked down GM Part# 13540601. However, after finally locating a place that was able to mount and balance the tires, I ended up returning the GM sensors. The shop was going to install them but offered their own version that they knew they could program to the car. Unfortunately, I don't know which ones they used but I haven't had any trouble with the tire pressure readings in the car.

Anyway, I just thought I would mention that in case you wanted to talk to whomever you were going to have mount and balance the tires on yours.