new paint comes home

[azruss]

Picked up the car today. gave it a thorough bath as it was covered with fiberglass dust and other assorted paint destroying particles. Washing the car is a good way to see all the detail of the paint and give it the critical eye. Here are my observations.
In general, the body is not as flat coming out as it was going in. This is not a surprise as the shop decided to prime, paint, clear, cut, buff. I knew they wouldnt use the same stringent standard for sanding as me.
There are no glaring spots of poor bodywork. This is actually a surprise
Several little glitches here and there is the paint. I couple should have been removed by the detailer.
The paint chip was repaired pretty well. only evidence is it wasnt buffed out......too new to do that.
The detailer was working in a very hostile environment next to a fiberglass shop that did a lot of sawing and grinding. because of this, many areas lack the really deep shine. This will be cured in 6 months with a different detailer
The detailer did not block out all the orange peel, but left a ripple. I'm ok with this as it means there is still plenty of clear coat for me to abuse over the next decade. The most blatant of this is on the drivers door. you can see it in one picture.
In general, I got what I paid for. It will remind me that this is a runner and not a garage queen. repeat the montra....this is not a garage queen, this is not a garage queen, this is not......
If i had painted it myself, it would have been 2 giant steps better. It also would have added a couple of more years to the project and wouldn't have saved me any money.
Next set of pix will be full dress as i have all the ground effect panels in one of the bedrooms much to the irritation of the wifey. I know i wont hear the end of the nagging until they are outside. Motivation enough, eh, boys
Lucked out as the end of the day was overcast which gives my pictures the best color definition and clarity.
Finally, the color combo is growing on me

[PininF]

I'm a sucker for blue, always have been she will come up looking beautiful mate.

Cheers on the great job

[RRoller123]

as we say in Boston, wickhud pissah lookin cah.

[davery]

I am getting ready to go through the same thing. Did you the have the car stripped of paint? I am getting conflicting opinions on doing this. How extensive was the body work? Did you get a guarantee on the paint? How many coats of paint? Clear coat? Would you do anything differently? Sorry for so many questions.

[johndemar]

Looking good! Take advantage of the weather while you can.

[spidernut]

I'd recommend waiting a bit and doing a cut and buff on the driver's side if you don't like it. By the time my paint was hardened enough on my car to do something about the orange peel, I was really ready to remedy the problem. I was extremely happy with the result after sanding and buffing it.

I think with your car re-assembled, it will look amazing. Congrats on getting her back!

[azruss]

I am getting ready to go through the same thing. Did you the have the car stripped of paint? I am getting conflicting opinions on doing this. How extensive was the body work? Did you get a guarantee on the paint? How many coats of paint? Clear coat? Would you do anything differently? Sorry for so many questions.

I did the bodywork myself. took me over 3 years. I stripped to metal only where there were dents or rust. The car had only one repaint on just a portion of the car. It passed the "acetone/lacquer thinner" test. (soak a rag with either of those solvents and let it sit on the paint a few minutes, then wipe. If the paint got soft or blistered and your rag picked up lots of color, then it needs to come off.
What i found was that the later spiders did not have flat sheetmetal and fiat used some type of filler to get it flat. Reproducing that process is expensive and time consuming. I used nearly 3 gallons of epoxy primer to build it back to flat. Most of the expensive full on restos remove all the paint and treat the metal. Because I was able to work on the car an hour or 2 each night and the car was outside, i wanted to shorten my bare metal exposure to the elements.
I did not get a guaranty on the paint. I had a commercial shop do it, so i don't think i will have an issue if i have a problem. I'm not sure what a guaranty buys you as there is so much out of the shops control, it would be easy for them to blow you off.
Coats of paint have no meaning. this goes back to the old lacquer days where coats were layed down thin and often. My painter had a heavy hand...the same way i used to paint. The object was to lay on the thickest coat possible without a run. The heavier that coat, the smoother the finish. (this is a simplistic explanation of paint application). With modern 2 stage paints with low pressure application, cut and buff is normal as it is nearly impossible to lay down a smooth finish. If you want lots of clear, tell the painter you don't want any orange peel. This requires them to put on double the amount of clear, so they dont sand through.
Time taken is a good indicator of painter skill. My car was in the shop a month. If the car is primered, that needs at least a week to cure before sanding. the paint needs to shrink up or else the body scratches will broadcast through. On the application of color and clear is they need to be done at the same time. The bond between the 2 is chemical. If the color has dried to long, then you lose that bond. again, another week minimum before cut and buff. I wouldn't have a problem waiting a year before cut and buff. this gives the paint lots of time to cure and shrink up.
If I did anything different it would be having a shop do the bodywork and save myself that 3 years and it would have been cheaper.

[kmac33]

Looks good! That will look great once the car is back together.

[davery]

I am getting ready to go through the same thing. Did you the have the car stripped of paint? I am getting conflicting opinions on doing this. How extensive was the body work? Did you get a guarantee on the paint? How many coats of paint? Clear coat? Would you do anything differently? Sorry for so many questions.

I did the bodywork myself. took me over 3 years. I stripped to metal only where there were dents or rust. The car had only one repaint on just a portion of the car. It passed the "acetone/lacquer thinner" test. (soak a rag with either of those solvents and let it sit on the paint a few minutes, then wipe. If the paint got soft or blistered and your rag picked up lots of color, then it needs to come off.
What i found was that the later spiders did not have flat sheetmetal and fiat used some type of filler to get it flat. Reproducing that process is expensive and time consuming. I used nearly 3 gallons of epoxy primer to build it back to flat. Most of the expensive full on restos remove all the paint and treat the metal. Because I was able to work on the car an hour or 2 each night and the car was outside, i wanted to shorten my bare metal exposure to the elements.
I did not get a guaranty on the paint. I had a commercial shop do it, so i don't think i will have an issue if i have a problem. I'm not sure what a guaranty buys you as there is so much out of the shops control, it would be easy for them to blow you off.
Coats of paint have no meaning. this goes back to the old lacquer days where coats were layed down thin and often. My painter had a heavy hand...the same way i used to paint. The object was to lay on the thickest coat possible without a run. The heavier that coat, the smoother the finish. (this is a simplistic explanation of paint application). With modern 2 stage paints with low pressure application, cut and buff is normal as it is nearly impossible to lay down a smooth finish. If you want lots of clear, tell the painter you don't want any orange peel. This requires them to put on double the amount of clear, so they dont sand through.
Time taken is a good indicator of painter skill. My car was in the shop a month. If the car is primered, that needs at least a week to cure before sanding. the paint needs to shrink up or else the body scratches will broadcast through. On the application of color and clear is they need to be done at the same time. The bond between the 2 is chemical. If the color has dried to long, then you lose that bond. again, another week minimum before cut and buff. I wouldn't have a problem waiting a year before cut and buff. this gives the paint lots of time to cure and shrink up.
If I did anything different it would be having a shop do the bodywork and save myself that 3 years and it would have been cheaper.

Thanks for the info!

[spiderrey]

Interesting paint job. I ;like the front wheels. Cant wait to see it done.

[azruss]

I have a fresh set powdercoated a few years ago and never mounted. Let me know if you are interested. I moved up to 15" rims.

[spidernut]

I can tell you put a lot of time into the bodywork and I personally know your pain.