Finally painted

[Aussie Mike]

Brilliant work Dale. I reckon you'll be providing the inspiration for a bunch of us to have a go.

Even if you have a go and stuff it up haven't blown a huge ammount of money. You could then take it to a pro and get it done. But if you give it a go and have a win you not only save a heap of cash but you gain the satisfaction and bragging rights of having done it yourself.

Cheers

[Plums]

I agree with Mike.

I painted mine myself and spent a grand total of $500 on materials. I bought the cheapest 2 pak paint and primer I could find. Mine is far from perfect (I painted it while it was too green, only 3 months after getting the car) and to be honest if I was keeping it I would paint it again. I reckon I could do it again and get it very nearly perfect, knowing what I know now.....

Good on you for giving it a go

[damo]

Great job mate, just another thought i was recently quoted $1500 to prep and paint my cobra if I supply all paint and primer by a guy who operates a business called " The Touch Up Guys" I think this is a national franchise. He also has all the gear except a spray booth so if you can make a dust free environment you could save a packet ,I think this option could be worth investigating a bit further by anyone looking to paint.
Cheers.
Damo

[stumpeater]

Dale, Another "Thumbs Up" from me too! I'm curious to know what you've painted before to achieve such a professional finish, (What colour is the dog kennel) did you do a course, or just watch and learn from somebody else?? Is that a 2 pack paint and if so, how hard was it apply compared to acrylic. I'm with Mike, I'll probably give it a try too, and get a pro to fix it if I stuff it up! I may do a course, if I can find one.
Peter.

[cobbindale]

It is worth while having a go yourself as mentioned by a few of the guys and if you do stuff it up, your've done a grand or so. I'm sure we have all wasted money on buying parts for our cars just to find they don't fit or look crap, so whats a bit more going to matter.

Damo, I would look into that quote a bit more as it sound good.
I have sent over 200 hours working on the body getting it ready for painting but it was my first attemp and I have tried to get it straight. This is a conservative estimate and does not allow for beer breaks and the endless visits from family and friends.
Just one tip for anyone having a go themselves, don't do it in the middle of summer as the beer breaks are endless.

Hi Peter, it is 2 pak clear over base. I used U-Pol 'Reface" as the high build, Dupont 1040R Universal primer, DuPont Centari 6000 for the base colours and DuPont 696S clear. All are simple to use and are at the top end of the paint market for quality.
I had only ever painted a bonnet before about 27 years ago (**** I'm getting old) but nothing else.
May pay to look into a 10 week TAFE course. The courses in Geelong offer the use of spray booths which could be handy.

Cheers.

[Tenrocca]

Dale - I reckon I would have spent that many hours on prep also, but think I could do it in half that next time. If I never sand again it will be too soon. I have developed sanding RSI in my right arm.

[Pecal]

Dale,

You have done a fantastic job - one that puts many "Pro's" to shame. By all the comments so far you have sure fired up some enthusiasm for us to have a go. You mentioned AFS sanders. How useful were they?

Peter

[cobbindale]

Andrew.
Could not walk for the last 2 days so went to see the doc and had xrays and he now tells me I have a thing known as house maid knees from kneeling so much.

Pecal.
Thanks. These sanders are great to use and I do think for someone with limited experience, they help acheive a much better job,
Here is their website and if you hunt around a bit, they have some video clips to watch which show how they work.

[ledge]

Cobbindale
Thats a great job .
This people is how you save money on a paint job. Suck up some courage and give it a go yourself.

Put heaps of clear on so you can block it back for a peal free finish.

Did you have the doors , boot and bonnet on the car for the color ?

Normally with a metalic you would have these panels on the car because when you paint the seperate the colour will be different when you put them on the car.
It has to do with the way you paint each peice will depend on how the metalic sits and also how much colour you put on each panel . When the car is together you paint along the whole side of the car as if its one peice.

Regards
Paul

[cobbindale]

Soory Pecal, heres the link, hope it works.
http://www.adjustflexsand.com/about.html

[cobbindale]

No Ledge, all other panels off but sprayed at the same time using same gun, mix, coats and setup. Never thought about what you mentioned. Will find out next week when I start putting panels back on and roll it out of the garage.

Fingers crossed.

[ledge]

Dont worry to much sometimes you can get away with it .


Great job and good on you for having a go.

Regards
Paul

[Rob. Smith]

Most small cars are painted in different places. ie the trims, spoilers,bumpers etc are painted at another factory and the general match is good....until someone tells you this and you look harder..ha ha ha ha. Don't worry it'll be OK.

[Mando]

Hi Dale, what made you decide to re-do the door hinges and did you get any overspray on any part of the car?
Stunning work, congratulations!

Regards.

[cobbindale]

Hi Mando, I re-did the hinges because there seemed to be a lot of up and down flex with the doors which allowed the door to hit the body at the rear closing point. Also due to the arc of the hinge. it protruded into the leg area a little, the new hinge is almost level with the steel upright that supports the dash.
I made them out of 6 mm stainless initially with two straps at 50 mm wide. After they were made, they still had flex so then joined the two straps together to stiffen them more. It did not matter what they were made from as they can now be covered and become part of the internal panels, perhaps carpeted. This pic might explain better.



I have a slight bit of overspray under the front section inside the drivers wheel area (primer). This was my fault as I did not tape correctly, the rest is ok from what I can see. I'm working full shifts for the next few days so its not seen daylight yet which will give a better indication. I have now found 3 small runs in the clear which were starting to form. Easy fixes.

Cheers.
Dale.

[Tenrocca]

Ive said it before - but that work onthe aluminium dash is amazing.

[stumpeater]

Originally Posted by cobbindale

Soory Pecal, heres the link, hope it works.
http://www.adjustflexsand.com/about.html

Thanks for the info on the paint Dale, certainly an excellent first effort!, and thanks for the link to the AFS sanders too, did you use all or just a few of them. Also, I "Aussie Googled" them and nothing came up, did you get yours from the "States"? I am not ready for paint yet, but as sanding and filling is such a big job, if I do a little bit at a time, it may make the whole job a little easier. Thanks again, Peter.

[cobbindale]

Yes, US purchase and may pay to consider grabbing some adhesive paper at the same time. Cost around $460 for kit, 3 rolls of different grit and postage when dollar was at around .60 cents. Would lend mine but already booked in by two mates for their toys.

Cheers.

[sambo]

Originally Posted by cobbindale

I have sent over 200 hours working on the body getting it ready for painting but it was my first attemp and I have tried to get it straight.

Dale, about those 200 hrs... does that include all the body mods or just preparing the surface for paint? Even if I could manage 10 hrs per weekend that's nearly 5 months duration... kind of puts me off, despite the obvious savings and sense of satisfaction.

You've certainly got me thinking though! This is thread of the month for me.

[cobbindale]

Hi Sambo,

Hard to give a true indication, as I would have intensions of a big day in the garage and end up spending up to 6 hours on xbox live (suckers game).

I did take 4 weeks leave in Feb were most of the body straightning/bogging work was done and some of these days were up to 10 hrs.
Once the body was close to were I wanted it, the high fill was a day to mask, a day to shoot and 2 days to rub. I now know via a spray painter, I probably should have built it up much higher as I did spray a few areas up to 4 times that I was not happy with. This would have waisted up to a week as I worked on one area at a time.
The primer was a day to mask, day to shoot and a day of sanding.
Colour was a day to mask, under colour coat and base colour coat were done at the same time.
Stripes took almost a day to mask, this was added to the masking used to paint colour and sprayed same day.
A day preparing and spraying the clear coat.
I have not blocked it back. I'm waiting to get it outside before making that decision.
There was a lot of waisted time because I was unsure and wanted it straight and it was my first big job so I didnt rush. But it is worth having a go I think.

Best thing I did which put me at ease with the finish was to spray areas of the car with prepsol/wax & grease remover which shows what the panel would look like from the reflections to check straightness, curves etc.
Oh, to answer your question, the body mods were done earlier and not included in the prep work.

Cheers.