Aaron's 76 Type LT Project

10 minute(s) of a 383 minute read

I got the bumpers re-sprayed with epoxy, the front header and lower valence sanded down and sprayed in 2k and the spoiler pieces sprayed in Slick Sand.  

I had some minor filler work on the fiberglass pieces, so those should be good.

Tomorrow I will sand some more body pieces.

4-6-2015

Main thing tonight was spraying the bumpers in Slick Sand (what's new?). I sprayed 3 good coats so that should give me a lot to work with. I need to address some very minor areas with glaze.

4-7-2015

BTW, my parking space has become my temporary part storage area. I will have some minor 2k touch ups to make and the spoiler pieces and bumpers need to be sprayed in 2k, but that is the main work left before I move to stage "let's get this mofo painted!!"

4-24-2015

I was not happy with the body lines on my shell, especially after getting them dialed in on my doors and fenders. So I sharpened them up and then re-sprayed the entire shell (just the outer panels, not the jambs) after blocking it with 320. I primed the shell first and my skills have improved, so I decided to re-do the roof and quarters. It should sand up very nicely and quickly.

Driver side body line after re-priming.

Aside from sanding the shell, I am down to mostly nit picking and doing a final check of edges, etc. I have to spot prime a few spots on other pieces, but nothing major. I think I can get everything sanded this weekend and then turn my attention to cleaning the garage and getting ready for Paint-A-Thon 2015.

Got the shell (minus the edges) sanded to 400 tonight, so I have 600 grit left to do. I need to touch up some small spots along the passenger side door jamb, which I will do before I sand with 600.  

I also sanded the dash to 400, which is all I am going to do. I sanded the cowl with 400 where I could and scuffed with red pad.

4-25-2015

Brent, you are correct about the color, so your old man brain is working well  Many thanks for that info, that is fantastic.  

While they are all great bits of advice, I especially agree with #9. I'd rather deal with runs and drips than dry spots. Paint can be sanded so I won't be too timid when spraying. That's why I am giving myself over a week to do this because I think I will need it all. The good news is I have sprayed so much stuff (for me anyway) that I am confident in gun control and set up. I am going to follow Barry's advice for setting up my LPH-400. I also have a call into Barry next week for some last minute questions. I will post the results of those.

Here's a fun pic of the roof after wet sanding with 600

4-28-2015

I had a call with Barry @ SPI for some last minute questions. I wanted to post the Q&A in case it helps anyone. Keep in mind I am spraying their 2000 series base coat and their Universal Clear.  

Iwata LPH-400 gun settings per Barry. These are merely STARTING settings, tweek them as you do test spraying ==> trigger pull @ 90%, Fluid backed out 2.5 turns for their base, Fluid backed out 2.75 turns for their universal clear, trigger pulled 20-22 psi at the gun regulator for base, 28 psi for clear.

Spray a foot section in a test area (very bottom of a 1/4, back of the hood, etc, or any test panel) and look at it after 3 min. That is how the clear will look the next day.

LPH-400 gun tips ==> toss the little plastic strainer, silver cap is preferred for base and clear

Additive needed for spraying base/clear over fiberglass pieces? ==? nope

Flash time between coats of base ==> allow 45 minutes between coats

Scuff the panels with gray Scotch pad the night before since my panels are all in 2k.

Base coat #1 - should this be a wet coat or medium coat? ==> all coats should be wet. The first coat should achieve considerable coverage, like 95% coverage.

What is the ideal overlap for base and clear? ==> 50% overlap for both

Cure time between last coat of base and first coat of clear? ==> Two hours is good to begin spraying clear

Flash times between coats of clear ==> 30 minutes exactly

Reducer for the base ==> best to use a slow reducer based on temps in the 85-90 range

5-2-2015

Today was garage prep day and it was a loooooooong day. I got going about 8 am and stopped about 8 pm. The good news is the hard work is out of the way.

I made a frame to fit into the door opening at the rear of my garage that will serve as the air inlet. I will start with two filters (20"x 30") and can expand to as many as four. I will cover the other openings with cardboard.

I made some quickie light stands out of 2x3 lumber. I can spin the lights if I want them positioned vertically.

I made my short false wall for the front of the garage where I will run the squirrel cage fan Dogwater was kind enough to sell and ship to me. I placed an HVAC filter before the outlet to catch some of the overspray. I will cover the areas to the side with cardboard.

I screwed some 2x4s into the ceiling and then tied into those to give me something to hang some new, CLEAN drop clothes from. I create a "hallway" of sorts to the rear door so the air will flow (hopefully) across the spraying area. The last pic shows the spray area I am creating, which will be plenty big enough.

5-3-2015

And I didn't spray anything today. I was dragging after a loooong Saturday and had more prep work to do today in the booth and spraying some pieces. So I am going to hit the grounding running on Monday after a good night's sleep. My first task will be to spray my test panel, which I have sanded to 400.  

I assume I need to spray this the exact same as any other panel, so that will take 4-5 hours from first coat of base to last coat of clear. I have PLENTY to do in between spraying, so that's fine. I am going to spray clear on the test panel using a couple of different pressures so I can dial it in.

5-4-2015

I got the base coat and first coat of clear sprayed on the test panel. Like a dummy I did not blow off the panel in between base coats so please excuse the nibs  Glad I did it now rather than the first REAL panels.

I used 1981gmachine's settings -- fluid all the way out, fan all the way out, 17 psi at the gun regulator. It laid down nicely, but I will see what it looks like after 30 min when I spray coat #2.

I plan on at least spraying base on the trunk lid, hood and spoiler pieces later today. I will see if I can spray clear tonight or tmro.

thanks, aside from the nibs, which was just me not thinking as those are totally avoidable, I am happy with the first test run. The base went on well with no peel. The clear looks nice after the second coat. There is a faint amount of peel but nothing a good cut & buff won't fix.  

I plan on spraying three coats of base and three coats of clear on each panel. I didn't prep this test panel anywhere close to the other panels so the results should be better. I am going to wrap up the garage door opener and the rail to be safe, as I think the dirt may have originated from there.

Here is the test panel after the 2nd coat of clear. I am stopping there as I am happy with the gun settings I use and the speed with which I applied.

I got the hood and trunk lid in color. After the last coat (3rd coat) there were some "lighter" areas when viewed from certain angles (they are somewhat random in shape and location), which is either from me spraying wrong (bad angle, bad speed) or those areas drying at a different rate or who knows what. I definitely have full coverage. In fact the hood looked good after the 2nd coat. I chatted with 1981gmachine and he advised I wet the areas in question with W&G remover to see how they'd appear as if they were sprayed with clear. The "lighter" areas completely disappeared and the color was uniform (which he figured would be the case), so tomorrow I am going to de-nib with 800 wet and clear if the weather allows. Wish me luck!!