Finally some progress...finished Pics 11-8!
 

WOW! It's been waaay too long since I've been here posting. Feels good to be back.

Over the past 1.5 years or so I've been slowly progressing on prepping my SVX for paint. The NM and AZ sun did a number on the original Ebony Pearl.

I chose to sand the vehicle to prep it rather than using a chemical stripper. I did chemical stripper on the sunroof, and ended up getting some small rust-spots. I didn't want the same on the body panels. So, that took FOREVER.

This weekend I finally got it sanded to my liking. After a ton of masking (almost worse work than sanding), I got the primer coat down. Unfortunately I'm away from home for 2 weeks, but when I return I hope to get the primer sanded, low spots filled with glaze, final primer coats, and paint applied. Plan is to do a satin black or titanium color such as...

http://www.tunerzine.com/coverage/230/1.jpg

I'd like to do a gold or bronze wheel like that, also.

Anyway, here's a link to the pics.

http://www.myrideisme.com/Garage/fromSVXtoSTi/699/1097/

Re: Finally some progress...
 

A lot of work, I know. I see you have masked the sunroof area. Is the sunroof removed or are you going to do something different with that area?

Lee

Re: Finally some progress...
 

piece of advice... Remove the following and work with them off the car.

-Door handles
-Mirrors
-Rear window garnishes
-Window weather stripping
-Claddings (all 4)
-Bumpers
-trunk lid

This will save you time and keep you from driving yourself crazy... we are doing a full sprary right now too, I feel your pain and excitement.

Tom

Re: Finally some progress...
 

The sunroof is removed and will be the same color

Regarding removal of stuff...

I took off the mirrors and door handles before spraying the primer. I didn't remove seals because I had bad experience removing them on a parts car I had. Also, concerning the bumpers, cladding, and trunk lid...no thanks!:) Trunk lid I already have setup at a good angle that will allow me to spray all exposed surfaces with ease. If I remove it, I have no fixture to attach it to, so getting the edges/bottom/etc. will be near impossible. Same with the bumpers.

The cladding I really would've like to have removed, but didn't know how, and didn't want to damage the clip mounts in the process. When I removed the rear 1/4 trim things under the windows from my parts car, it took forever to do the 1st one right, and the 2nd one I ended up breaking a few of the clips and clip mounting slots. Could I do that even though it's already primered? I think I could. Maybe you can let me know how to best go about it.

I already drove myself crazy masking the car to accomodate this approach, so I might as well stick with it now :lol: I'm also fortunate to have a black car as a base...that allows lots of flexibility as black sills and black brackets and such will still look just fine even though the exterior is going to be a slightly different color.

Re: Finally some progress...
 

A bit of an update...

The high build primer has been sanded to reveal low spots such as door dings and hail damage...

http://www.myrideisme.com/Garage/fromSVXtoSTi/699/1097/

Also picked up a set of wheels to cram in there. Gonna look nice with the flat black. Rota G Force 18x9 +30mm. No doubt gonna be a chore to get them to "fit", but that's the fun of having a dedicated daily driver...I have all the time in the world. If I can't get them to fit, they'll probably end up on my STi, and the STi's 18x8 Enkei RC-T4's will end up on the SVX.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4...m/DSC01721.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4...m/DSC01726.jpg

Re: Finally some progress...
 

Did you guide coat the car before you sanded it? Also sweet rims.

Re: Finally some progress...
 

yes indeed I did. That's how I found the hail damage and door dings and such. I'll fill them, and to flat again, hit it with 3 or 4 coats of high build primer, guide coat and sand again to make sure low spots are all gone, hit it with 2 coats of sealer primer, 400 sand, color, flat clear. A wee bit nervous about the flat clear...gotta practice before-hand since I won't be able to sand & buff any mistakes :(

Re: Finally some progress...
 

What kind of paint are you going to use? PPG,DuPont? The flat clears are A LOT easier to spray than normal clears just dont tiger stripe them and use a good gun like a Satajet. I need to start doing my car again. Also if you use flexibilizer on all of you undercoats and clear coat, and use basecoat activator in you basecoat the paint will be more chip resistant and will last much longer.

Re: Finally some progress...
 

I was gonna use rustoleum since I don't want the car to rust...

:D:D:D:D

Seriously, though, I THINK it's called Diamont. But that's the line...not sure who the MFG is. It's what my local paint shop recommended. I believe my flat clearcoat is a sherwin williams. I've got 2 guns, 1 for primer, 1 for paint. The primer is a 1.8mm Sharpe Finex FX3000, and the paint/clear is a 1.3mm Sharpe Finex FX3000. Also just ordered some 3/8" ID fittings so my pressure drop from the tank to the gun inlet isn't so bad. Finally, I have a simple inline filter at the gun.

I did some practice spraying with the flat clear, and I did notice that orange peel doesn't show up nearly as clearly, but I'd still like to spray as smooth a clear as possible. I played with the reducer a bit and my last spray was just a little too thin and ran if I didn't have the perfect distance and arm speed. I gotta fine tune it more before I spray the car. Last thing I want is a run after all of this work!!

Re: Finally some progress...
 

Some more progres...it's fully primered now! :)

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...SVX/photo4.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b.../SVX/photo.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...SVX/photo2.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...SVX/photo3.jpg

As you can see in the pics, I did get some tiger striping. How do I avoid that? I have gotten much better since the 1st coat of primer, but still there. What causes it? Spray pattern? Volume of spray? Gun distance/angle?

Re: Finally some progress...
 

Are those vertical lines in the paint?!? I am sure someone can post a more accurate description but broaden the spray of the gun and make sure your transitions overlap equally.

Tom

Re: Finally some progress...
 

What Tom says is right. Turn the fan all the way out for a job this size, do a 50% overlap, and maybe open the fluid nozzel a little and turn down the air pressure a tad bit. Also another good thing to look at is the product data sheet that comes with the materials. Follow that and you should be good.

Re: Finally some progress...
 

Thanks for the painting tips. I did some research online and found the same answer.

I have another questions.
1) Do I need to sand down the "stripes" that are there? Will they show through the paint coat?

Re: Finally some progress...
 

They shouldn't show because your sanding it down, right? Or is that the basecoat? The "stripes" are just atomized particles that dried before it hit the surface. Also if that is or when you do the basecoat I use a sanding sponge by a company called carborundum I think that's how you spell it but, anyways they make several grits of sponges for sanding. I use the 800-1000 grit sponge wet with some wax and grease remover between every coat of basecoat I spray to get rid of dirt that may get stuck in the wet paint.

Re: Finally some progress...
 

Those stripes are in the 2nd (top) coat of primer sealer. I was wondering if I don't sand them down, will they show through as a ripple or something in the final paint?

I don't want to sand it...maybe I'm using the wrong approach, but when I sanded the 2nd to last primer coat with 400 grit paper, it was rediculously slow. The paper was clogging up in about 30 seconds after covering just a few strokes. It was rediculous. So, if I didn't have to sand, I didn't want to.

Right now I'm at the top coat of primer, non-sanded. From here on out, what would you recommend for a process, and for tools (what kind of paper won't clog, wet or dry sand, etc.)

I'm thinking, from what I've read, I need to:
1) sand perfectly smooth with 600-800 grit :mad:
2) spray with color making sure to get a good fan width and keep my gun perpendicular to the surface. I'll probably do my passes lengthwise. It's a bit difficult to spray that continuously, but there are fewer passes and thus fewer chances to screw up.
3) do a 2nd coat of color according to timing in product info sheet
4) spray the flat clear. This part has me really nervous. I did some practice spraying and it would either run or orange peel. i got better with more and more practice...maybe I just need to practice a bunch before the final spray :(

Thanks again for your help. I'm learning as I go and you guys' advice helps me avoid mistakes and get it right the 1st time around!