My ERA visit

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

Thanks for all the suggestions.

patrickt - another tough decision to make!

zoera-sc7xx - there were several cars there that were painted by Tony, and they really did look good. Peter thought that for what I wanted, he would be a good choice, so I am leaning towards him.

xracerbob & Fred - is he the guy that also does the metalizing? I did plan to speak to him.

One of the things I did while at ERA was to look at the paint finish on each of the cars. All were great. Peter was also nice enough to let me know who the painter was for each. After looking at them, I would think that unless one is looking for a special scheme that maybe one painter excels at, one really isn't making a mistake with any of them.

Ray

Yes, Ron does the metalizing. The attached is an example of his work:

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Originally Posted by fkemmerer

Yes, Ron does the metalizing. The attached is an example of his work:

That's pretty wild, especially on the new car with all the aluminum panels.

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by fkemmerer

Yes, Ron does the metalizing.

Fred,

I assume that he gets the hood after it's painted? Then he returns it to ERA? Did you do this thru ERA, or thru him? Looks pretty good to me.

Ray

[xracerbob]

Ray-

Ron painted my car so I had it done while it was there. He can do it afterwards as well if you have one of the lesser painters do your car

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

Fred,

I assume that he gets the hood after it's painted? Then he returns it to ERA? Did you do this thru ERA, or thru him? Looks pretty good to me.

Ray

Ray,

Ron also painted my car and did the finish under the hood and trunk lid. Ron can add this to an existing hood if your car is already painted. If not, you should consider talking with Ron. He does really nice work. Here's a few more pictires of the paint work that he did on my car. Ron does the best work I've seen anywhere.

- Fred

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by fkemmerer

Ray,

Ron also painted my car and did the finish under the hood and trunk lid. Ron can add this to an existing hood if your car is already painted. If not, you should consider talking with Ron. He does really nice work. Here's a few more pictires of the paint work that he did on my car. Ron does the best work I've seen anywhere.

- Fred

I called Ron on Friday and left a message. Hope to talk to him about my car early next week.

I guess in a way, I'm lucky about the wait at ERA as it gives me a full chance to check out things like this.

How long does he take to paint cars? Not that I want to rush him, I'm just curious.

Ray

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by patrickt

... you're going to have to decide between Tony's and Connecticut Custom Car.

Patrickt who did your car? It looks great in pictures!

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

I called Ron on Friday and left a message. Hope to talk to him about my car early next week.

I guess in a way, I'm lucky about the wait at ERA as it gives me a full chance to check out things like this.

How long does he take to paint cars? Not that I want to rush him, I'm just curious.

Ray

Ray,

Ron is pretty quick given the level of work that he does. Alot will depend upon how busy he is but you'll find he'll get the body and paint work done relatively quickly compared to the time for the overall project. He's also a great guy to work with. Tell him I said "hello" when you speak with him.

- Fred

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

Patrickt who did your car? It looks great in pictures!

Connecticut Custom Car, and like everything else, you can have "extras" performed, like rolling the edges, etc. Getting an ERA (or any glass body) in shape for painting is very labor intensive. I can't imagine actually doing it myself.

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Connecticut Custom Car, and like everything else, you can have "extras" performed, like rolling the edges, etc. Getting an ERA (or any glass body) in shape for painting is very labor intensive. I can't imagine actually doing it myself.

See, now this is why I ask questions, as it seems that one question leads to more questions. Can you explain "rolling the edges"? What other options are you referring to and what should I consider?

I do appreciate the tips - I'm already going thru my old tools to see what I kept and what I need to get.

Ray

[DonC]

Ray:
Rolling the edges refers to smoothing the edges of the body where the cured material was cut with a saw or knife to remove casting flash. It makes for a much more "finished" look.
DonC

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by DonC

Ray:
Rolling the edges refers to smoothing the edges of the body where the cured material was cut with a saw or knife to remove casting flash. It makes for a much more "finished" look.
DonC

Yep, and there are other little things that you don't think about but that your painter will, such as finishing the inner back side of the trunk lid, the splash area around the gas cap, red & black colors cost more, silverish colors costs a lot more (mine was not a silver color, but it was close enough so that it cost more), tricolors you need to ask. If you like the hood scoop to appear to be part of the hood (instead of rivets) that'll cost, rondels cost, how they're done around the door split costs more, the inner engine tunnel will cost you, and so on, and so on.... And these are things that I can remember, I'm sure there are a few others that I have forgotten.

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Yep, and there are other little things that you don't think about but that your painter will, such as finishing the inner back side of the trunk lid, the splash area around the gas cap, red & black colors cost more, silverish colors costs a lot more (mine was not a silver color, but it was close enough so that it cost more), tricolors you need to ask. If you like the hood scoop to appear to be part of the hood (instead of rivets) that'll cost, rondels cost, how they're done around the door split costs more, the inner engine tunnel will cost you, and so on, and so on.... And these are things that I can remember, I'm sure there are a few others that I have forgotten.

Definitely sounds like I need to talk further to the painter!

pstrickt, if you don't mind sharing, what did you have done? I'm hoping not to miss anything.

Ray

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

patrickt, if you don't mind sharing, what did you have done? I'm hoping not to miss anything.

Walt & Diane at CCC had a team of elves prepare all the body seams, block the body, align the doors, hood & trunk, round the lips under the dash and behind the seats. Round the inner wheel well lips as well. Spray epoxy gel coating and block to a flat finish, then spray epoxy primer and block to a flat finish, then spray base & clear coat with dual stripe to a show finish. Bake at 140 three different times during priming and painting. Extra dough because of the color. Extra time delay because some of the elves collapsed from heat stroke mid-way through this process (that summer was particularly hot). The result was absolutely gorgeous.

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Walt & Diane at CCC had a team of elves prepare all the body seams, block the body, align the doors, hood & trunk, round the lips under the dash and behind the seats. Round the inner wheel well lips as well. Spray epoxy gel coating and block to a flat finish, then spray epoxy primer and block to a flat finish, then spray base & clear coat with dual stripe to a show finish. Bake at 140 three different times during priming and painting. Extra dough because of the color. Extra time delay because some of the elves collapsed from heat stroke mid-way through this process (that summer was particularly hot). The result was absolutely gorgeous.

From the pictures I would have to agree on the result.

When you spoke to them about painting your car, is this what they recommended to you to have done, or did you tell them what you wanted them to do? Reason I'm asking this is because I'm wondering how much detail I should get into with them. Like everyone else, I want a great looking car and don't want it to look like something could have been done better or that they missed a spot so to speak.

Ray

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

When you spoke to them about painting your car, is this what they recommended to you to have done, or did you tell them what you wanted them to do?

Diane essentially told me what I needed to have done. I kind of knew what I wanted to have done, but she was kind enough to go ahead and tell me anyway and it jived with exactly what I thought I needed. She will fax you a "Body & Paint Work Price Sheet for ERA Cobras" that lists everything they do. It's actually very simple and she's a delightful woman to work with -- I kind of felt like I was talking with my mother each time we chatted.

[Chaplin]

I agree re: Walt & Diane. Very good to work with and I think they did a great job on my car. Like Patrick, they sent me the sheet and we went through it together and they pretty much told me what I needed to do. Couldn't be happier with the result.

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

Definitely sounds like I need to talk further to the painter!

pstrickt, if you don't mind sharing, what did you have done? I'm hoping not to miss anything.

Ray

Ray,

Ron Randall did a bunch of work on my ERA prior to painting. First, he totally rebuilt the edges of the fender flares on my body to get a more athentic look.



Also, it is very difficult to get a smooth finish on a fiberglass body. To do this, Ron sprayed the body with multiple additional gell coats and guide coats and then hand blocked the car to remove all imperfections and get a smooth finish that will not allow the underlying fiberglass to "bleed through". Here's a picture after a gell coat and guide coat has been applied in preparation for blocking.




This step takes alot of work and is one of the major differences between an average and a high quality paint job. This sort of prep work followed by multiple coats of clear with proper color sanding and buffing create a perfectly smooth, high gloss final paint job as shown in the following pictures. I doubt that you will ever see a smoother, more perfect finish on a fiberglass body.





As mentioned in other posts in this thread, its also important to properly finish the edges of the cockpit around the dash, etc. to get an authentic look. You can see the results of Ron's work here in the following picture.



Note how perfectly blended the rolled areas by the dash and the door edges are executed.

Give Ron a call as he can explain these ideas much better than I can.

- Fred

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by fkemmerer

Ray,

Ron Randall did a bunch of work on my ERA prior to painting. First, he totally rebuilt the edges of the fender flares on my body to get a more athentic look.

Also, it is very difficult to get a smooth finish on a fiberglass body. To do this, Ron sprayed the body with multiple additional gell coats and guide coats and then hand blocked the car to remove all imperfections and get a smooth finish that will not allow the underlying fiberglass to "bleed through".

As mentioned in other posts in this thread, its also important to properly finish the edges of the cockpit around the dash, etc. to get an authentic look. You can see the results of Ron's work here in the following picture.



Note how perfectly blended the rolled areas by the dash and the door edges are executed.

Give Ron a call as he can explain these ideas much better than I can.

- Fred

Fred, I was and am quite impressed with the paint on your car. I do plan to speak to Ron about the possibility of painting my car.

Ray

[DonC]

Ray:
Chalk up another vote for Walt and Dianne at CCC. When I visited them prior to deciding on who would paint my ERA I was very impressed with their willingness to take the time to talk to me about what was going to be needed and why. You can put yourself in their hands and relax knowing that their workmanship is top notch. Going into my 4th season with over 22,000 miles on the car and it still gets very positive comments about the paint. They've done enough ERA's to know what the cars need and how to accomplish them.
DonC

First exposure to daylight:




Glamour Shot: