Camaro SS Bandit Conversion

[SlowLS1]

Originally Posted by hesster

Right idea, but not safe, even with filter media over the intake. That is coming out and I bought a Explosion Proof fan and ducting made for paint booths.
On hold for a week until that shows up.
Plenty of wet sanding to do in the meantime.

Wise move. Don't need to blow yourself up!

[hesster]

Finally got the Paint Booth updated with the Explosion Proof Fan and bracing to keep the flimsy Visqueen panels from being sucked in too far.
Sealed off the top with more Visqueen, and added filter material sections at the top and side to allow a clean air intake.
Keeping the Barn Roll up doors shut, and built a removeable panel for the Entry Door where the discharge hose is mounted. I have filter material over a Barn side Window to allow air into the barn. The result is excellent, the fan is extremely powerful and pulls tons of air - it has one setting on the switch, which is crank. I got like Zero overspray when I reshot the Fenders with Black Primer. The Primer overspray is really "dusty" where ever it lands, but now it is all going out the door.
As with any significant air movement comes the risk of airborne contamination, and got a few floaters, but was not very concerned since I was just shooting Primer. I will lay down fresh Visqueen on the floor and mop clean everything when I shoot the BC/CC.
First thing I noticed is I got great flash off on the Paint. Primer flash's quickly anyway but is faster with the air movement. I stayed put in the Booth until the Primer flashed off, as opening the entry panel let's in a woosh of outside air with the Fan cranking away, and risks contamination. I can't turn it off as it is outside the Booth, and want to keep the air moving anyway.

Will probably need to use slow Reducers and see how much Extra Slow CC to use, as I have regular Glamour CC and Extra Slow - I need to get the CC to FLOW and not flash off too quickly.

I was not sure if I needed to Prime/Seal these panels (Scoop/Fenders/Hood/etc) but glad I did as I could see it took at least 2 wet coats of Sealer to cover the sand through's, and BC will not do that as it will lift and wrinkle on the different substrates. Found that out way earlier in a painting session when I tried to respray the Scoop, and don't need to waste more Paint. Got both Fenders Sealed yesterday, and they came out great even though my Primer gun spit out a Trigger O ring in the middle of painting. Man, it is always something trying to FU up.

So I will probably finish wet sanding back the other parts and shoot them all with sealer. The Hood and Scoop are ready for Sealer, the Front Fascia is almost prep sanded, and need to assess if the Rear Fascia is OK to cut and Buff or is also Solvent Popped and needs to be resprayed. Then wet sand the Primer on each part right before shooting BC/CC.

This whole process is maddening, and has tested my patience to the limit. And I am a very patient person. As I said before, I always used single stage paints and even Lacquer's, and stayed away from BC/CC, except for a few panels on my other Camaro. There are (8) chances of screwing up BC/CC - 3 coats of BC and 3 coats of CC w/o runs or contamination in each coat, then wet sanding them flat w/o sand through's, then Buffing them out w/o burn through's.

I am hoping I have finally put things in place to get improved results. Not gonna give up until I get it right. More to come.

[hesster]

Update on what seems the never ending journey to get the larger parts painted. I must say the whole Paint issue thing left me pissed off and killed some motivation, but I am soldiering on.
Spend a good deal of time researching. The experts say the main issue was water vapor contamination getting past the small 3 stage dessicant filter, and the cheapo HF Oil/Water seperator at the Gun. Water Vapor in paint shows up as these tiny white specs that can't be sanded out.
Essentially my smaller compressor is OK for the air supply volume, but when it runs alot while throwing lot's 'O Paint it is heating the compressed air and the water vapor cannot cool down and condense enough going thru the 50' of Rubber Hose, and it go's right through the filters and HF POS filter at the gun. I believe it cause I would never see any significant water to drain, but I DID see water vapor in the HF Filter and figured it was doing it's job. Nope, the air was not cooled down enough and was too hot to condense and allow the Filters to seperate the vapor. So WTF, I had to solve this and hopefully I am on the right track with my latest progress.
The Web is our friend, and there are a few methods I found to cool the compressed air to condense the Water Vapor. One is a Compressed Air Dryer which is big $$. The other is a matrix of copper and black pipe with drain valves. So I went that route, and also added a big ass dedicated (1) Qt Dessicant Filter at the end of the 3 Stage Filter.
It was a total PIA to sand down everything and RePrime the parts, esp the Fascias cause it is like sanding a flexible wet noodle. But got it done, and the Primer never sprayed out so well - it almost looks like topcoats. So I knew things were looking better.
Then the plan was to start with a Fender and take it to completion and verfiy satisfactory results. The challenge now is to minimize the floating contaminents as the Explosion Proof Fan moves a TON of air. No leaving the Booth until the part flash's off cause opening the plastic sheeting flap with the fan on just allows any crap from outside air to rush in. I realized there was going to be some inevitable floaters which show up so easy in Glossy Black Paint, so I shot (2) coats of Basecoat, waited a day, sanded that flat and all of the crap out, then cleaned the part and booth the best I could and shot a final coat. That came out nearly perfect.
Then 30 minutes later shot the first coat of Clear and it came out WAY better than previous results and flowed out like glass. But had a few more floaters, so shot a second coat and will let that dry. Then like the BC, sand it, clean it, and lay down a final CC flow coat for Cut and Buff. This will no doubt be the process to sand the final BC's & CC's to get best results
I am quite optimistic things are way better - no dry spray and rough texture, solvent pop, and hopefully no white specs from any Water Vapor when I cut and Buff. Previous paint sessions did not have the Paint flow out anyway near like it is now doing.
After all the paint issues, I am in no hurry, and if the Fender indicates everything is good to go I will complete one part at a time.

[hesster]

Today I sanded the minor nibs out of the Fender's 2nd CC, sanded it dead flat with 600 and scotch brite, and cleaned it real good. As I anticipated, all the nibs were able to be totally sanded out. And cleaned the booth, and put a fresh poly sheet on the stand.

The good news is I saw no evidence of any contamination like Solvent Pop, Vapor craters, or the like. I'm thinking that would show up under a sheen of soapy water after wet sanding, as it acts like a clear coat until it drys.

Wet the floor a little, cracked the drain valves, mixed up a small batch of Clear Coat, and shot the final "Flow Coat". Stayed put in the booth in an airtight Paint Suit and Mask for another 20 minutes and was sweating like crazy. I did not want any floaters landing on the Fender by moving around or opening the Booth Entry Flap and disturbing the air.

Other than a very few nibs that will polish out, the result is stellar. Almost a Mirror like Glass finish, and the crisp reflections in the Black Paint says the Paint flowed out well. Also probably real easy to cut and Buff as there is hardly any Orange Peel.

I will let it dry 4 days, and buff out a small section to verify there are no issues. Based on the results so far, I'm thinking there won't be any.

[Nailbender]

WOW great job! I’m glad you got it figured out you’re doing amazing work, I know I would have thrown in the towel by this time �� Keep up the great work I can’t wait to see the finished results.

[SlowLS1]

Your progress is amazing. What is your target for being done?

Going to be doing any motor work?

[hesster]

Progress is inching along - slowly. At this point I just want to get the larger panels painted successfully, and am not going to rush it, because I am tired of re'do's.
So are our modded project cars ever really "done"? I would like to certainly get the painting part done so I can get back into assembly, but I will not throw paint when the Temps and Humidity are so high as they are lately here in MI. Like 85% humidity all day. Regardless of all the Water Traps and Filters I have I now know not to Paint when the Humidity is this high, as it causes Fish Eye's, which I got on my last Clear Coat on the 2nd Fender. That really PO'd me cause I am not sure what caused it since the process and part prep was the same as the 1st Fender. Fish Eyes are Environmental - surface contamination or more likely water vapor. The difference was I Painted it in the later afternoon and it was Hot and Humid in the Barn. Not doing that again. So I was able to sand them out and will clean the crap out of the part (Pro's say use Windex), and reshoot the last CC yet again until it is as good as the 1st Fender.

To that point, since I am holding off Painting until I get days where the Temps and Humidity are right, I decided to Cut and Buff out the 1st Fender and see what the final result would be. I was certainly hoping there was no contamination like I got the first time.

So having done this before, again you start by wet sanding it dead flat. On a Black Painted part, ANY O-Peel or surface imperfections read out clear as day in the Buffed out part. So before I had a ton of OP and started with 600 grit, but this time since the Paint flow out was so good I started with 2000! Keep sanding until everything is "dull" when the part dries, and all the "Nibs" are sanded out. So that went well, then hit it with 2500, 3000, and 5000 grit. (Ref 1st Pic, Brewski was for motivation).
And used the Blue Tape for edge protection when Buffing (2nd Pic).

Then buff with a heavier cut Pad and Heavy Cut Meguiers, then a Finish Pad and Fine Cut followed by Meguiers Swirl Remover.

The result? I am Geeked and now know this is the "Benchmark" for the rest of the Parts. I would like to get the same results as this Fender, which is just killer. There is ZERO contamination like I had the first round, and the finish is almost flawless - and it is not even final polished. Any specs in the Pics are just lint or compound dust. It is almost hard to "see" the Part since it is a perfect Mirror and everything is a reflection.


So I know I can get great results, will just have to battle on to get there.

Next is the last CC on the 2nd Fender, then the Hood, and then the dreaded Fascias.

[Ashen 6.2]

Damn that looks great! How do you handle the edges since they are taped off?

[hesster]

The tape is removed after the more agressive buffing and either hand polished, or with the buffer speed turned down and being VERY careful. It can burn through in a instant if too agressive.

Today I went back over that Fender with the Corse Cut Pad and Compound as it was somewhat sunny for a bit and I could still see some sand scratch's. Then I removed the Blue Tape (1st 2 pics) and did a combo of good old hand polishing and used the Buffer carefully. So the Part is Buffed out, but not the Final Buff and Polish as I expect the part will continue to dry over at least a week, and there is usually some "dieback", although probably very little given the other parts I painted over a month ago had very little of that. It looks fantastic for now.

It is now ready to install on the Car, but of course I will wait to finish the Hood and Fascias 1st. I can't wait to get these parts installed, final buffed, and then start applying decals. Patience.

I did get the final Clear Coats on the 2nd Fender this morning, ref the last (2) Pics. That Fender was more of a challenge as I said in the last post because there were some Fish Eyes for whatever reason. I sanded it back the best I could without burning through to the BC, but was concerned that it is real difficult to totally sand them out and bury them with paint and not have them pop up again. So I sanded the part with 800 again, washed it, Windex wiped it, and then Final Solvent Wipe in hopes of eliminating any contamination. I still got some, and made a judgement call to lay on another wet coat, but this time with a splash of Fish Eye Eliminator additive. Whew - that WAS a good call and the flow out and finish is much better, and there should be plenty of clear to sand it flat. At least that is the plan.

Hood is next, and need another day like today even though the Humidity was still a little high. I will shoot (2) BC's and determine if I will stop and sand it so the 3rd BC is smoother, then followed by at least (2) coats of Clear. I'm thinking that is the best process - more time consuming - but produces the best finish as the Fender can attest to that.

Man this is a process......

[The_bald_eagle_machine]

Originally Posted by hesster

The tape is removed after the more agressive buffing and either hand polished, or with the buffer speed turned down and being VERY careful. It can burn through in a instant if too agressive.

Today I went back over that Fender with the Corse Cut Pad and Compound as it was somewhat sunny for a bit and I could still see some sand scratch's. Then I removed the Blue Tape (1st 2 pics) and did a combo of good old hand polishing and used the Buffer carefully. So the Part is Buffed out, but not the Final Buff and Polish as I expect the part will continue to dry over at least a week, and there is usually some "dieback", although probably very little given the other parts I painted over a month ago had very little of that. It looks fantastic for now.

It is now ready to install on the Car, but of course I will wait to finish the Hood and Fascias 1st. I can't wait to get these parts installed, final buffed, and then start applying decals. Patience.

I did get the final Clear Coats on the 2nd Fender this morning, ref the last (2) Pics. That Fender was more of a challenge as I said in the last post because there were some Fish Eyes for whatever reason. I sanded it back the best I could without burning through to the BC, but was concerned that it is real difficult to totally sand them out and bury them with paint and not have them pop up again. So I sanded the part with 800 again, washed it, Windex wiped it, and then Final Solvent Wipe in hopes of eliminating any contamination. I still got some, and made a judgement call to lay on another wet coat, but this time with a splash of Fish Eye Eliminator additive. Whew - that WAS a good call and the flow out and finish is much better, and there should be plenty of clear to sand it flat. At least that is the plan.

Hood is next, and need another day like today even though the Humidity was still a little high. I will shoot (2) BC's and determine if I will stop and sand it so the 3rd BC is smoother, then followed by at least (2) coats of Clear. I'm thinking that is the best process - more time consuming - but produces the best finish as the Fender can attest to that.

Man this is a process......

Starting to look like Glass... Coming along nicely.

[Ashen 6.2]

That is impressive!

[hesster]

More sweating in the Paint Booth today, but it is much cooler and less humidity recently so good weather to paint.

Got (2) BC's on the Hood, and sanded it flat for final BC and CC's.

Then Finished the Hood Scoop, it already was Primed and (2) BC's and sanded flat. Layed on a final BC, and then 3 wet coats of Clear. Pics show coats in order, coat1, 2, 3 and then dry after 3 hours. Just sat in the booth between coats of clear to keep the crap off of it. Note the Hi Tech Time Log to let me know when to lay out another coat.
It came out really nice, minor cut and buff and it should be ready to have the Flapper installed and then put back on the Motor. That will let me start the car which has not happened in a LONG time (it's on a tender).

Also, for yucks, cut open a HF Merlin Gun Filter Bulb to look for water/moisture and contaminates - ZERO. Probably changing them too often.

[hesster]

Good Day. Tackled the Hood, which although it is a big flat part, it is maybe one of the more difficult parts to paint.
Reason for that is few things - compressor is running hard and Hot keeping up, dialing the gun in correctly to throw enough paint to flow out and laying it down quick enough before it flashes where you started, solvent pop potential, etc.

This was the 2nd try to apply the final 3rd BC, then followed by (2) CC's. The previous attempt had the BC having way to much dry spray, and although you can clear over it, you won't get the same deep finish.

So I sanded the BC, cleaned the part, dialed in the gun to throw lot's of paint, and hit it. I layed on the BC HEAVY to keep it wet as possible but it worked. Was worried about solvent pop, but waited 30 min before the Clear, that is plenty of time to flash and dry.

The 1st Pic is Coat 1 of Clear and had me concerned with it not completly flowing out and filling in the miniscule surface imperfections. You can see it in the Pic. But your supposed to not lay down a real heavy 1st coat, so waited in the booth for 30 min killing time and reading the Forum stuff.

The 2nd Pic is the 2nd coat of Clear - that is more like it. Layed down a nice wet coat, and other than the inevitable minor crap in the paint, it filled in everythng and is good to sand back flat and the apply the final 3rd Cut/Buff Coat. A little Orange Peel, but that sands out.

This is a relief, as now I know I can have success on the real big parts, and hopefully the Fascias will follow with similar results.

[hesster]

Baking the Hood's 2nd coat of clear in 90+ degree heat for the 2nd day - too hot to touch. Will sand it flat and lay on the final CC when the weather cooperates.

Passenger Side Fender initial Cut and Buff. Almost as nice as the Driver's Side Fender, and required a little more sanding to eliminate the imperfections as there were more in this part for whatever reason.

Hood Scoop initial Cut and Buff, turned out nice. Tough to Buff out with all the contours, and used my Mini Polisher which can get into small areas. Need to be real careful not to let the arbor get away from you and burn into the paint.

These parts are turning out really nice considering they are buffed out with the really agressive Meguiars heavy cut compound and pad. Buff until you cannot see any sand scratch's in the flourescent lights. I imagine they will get only better when buffed out with the finer cut compound's and pads. And then Black Wax, but the Paint TDS says wait for 125 days until you wax it. Obviously it must still be "breathing".