We began by disassembling the car.  Removing all the hardware then doors and lids was necessary in order to strip the paint properly

I don’t like using chemical stripper but when the car is fiberglass liquid stripper is needed so that the glass isn’t damaged by sanding.   For the first time we used Captain Lee’s stripper because it’s made for fiberglass and didn’t hurt the glass but did a great job of removing the paint.  The problem with Captain Lee’s stripper was that the fumes were VERY strong and we needed supplied air breathing equipment in order to keep from suffering ill effects.  Of course skin and eye protection are worn as well.

 

The entire car is masked so that the stripper is kept under control and only goes where we want.

 

After paint is removed slight surface irregularities are leveled using polyester putty.

 

The stripping also exposes all the old body work that is re-repaired to perfection.

 

After the paint is gone and the body work is finished the car is remasked and prepped for a spray-on filler. 

In this case we sprayed Evercoat’s Slick Sand over then entire exterior surfaces so that we cold get the surface more level than it’s ever been. We applied SEM Guide Coat before sanding.

We block sanded the Slick Sand using several different Dura-Blocks and 120 grit stick-on sandpaper.

 

After the Slick Sand was sanded we applied a coat of 2K filler primer which is less porous than the Slick Sand.

Before sanding the primer we masked and sprayed the jambs so that when the primer gets sanded we could dress the edges where the jamb meets the outer surface.

 

After the jabs get hard we start wet sanding our primer coat using several different Dura-Blocks and 600 grit sandpaper.  This is a very critical stage where any surface irregularities need to be taken care of because the next stage is top coat painting. 

 

After sanding we replaced the lids but left off the doors for spraying the exterior colors.  If the color had been a metallic we would have also installed the doors but with a solid color it won’t make any difference as long as the paint is stirred well before each application.  We decided to leave off the doors because we could do a better job masking the door jambs.

 

We cleaned the car using a sponge and water then toweling it dry then we sprayed the grease and wax remover and wiped it using a continuous flow of paper towels.  After cleaning we mixed the paint and right before we start spraying we blow the surface using an Ionix Static Eliminator  then tacked the surface using anti-static tack cloth.

Since we were spraying a yellow we knew it wasn’t going to cover well so I tinted my sealer so that it was close to my yellow and sprayed this on first then the correct color was applied.  Notice how the Dura-Block 007 cup swivel allows me to tilt the cup back when I spray straight down.

I then applied two coats of base color and two coats of clear over the entire car.  Some bases and clears may take more than two coats but using Glasurit I’ve found that two coats is enough to cover and give me enough to polish

Before we started sanding and polishing we sprayed more of the flat black behind the grill and in the fender louvers.  We did this now because it was easier to paint black now than to keep the yellow out when spraying.  Also any slight amount of overspray would that got on the yellow would go away during the polishing.

The Dura-Block 007 did a good job of laying down the paint so all we needed to do was to use some 1500 Finishing Film on our AirVantage sander to knock out the orange peel.  We also wet sanded with some 3000 grit Trizact to remove the 1500 scratches before we buffed.

Using our Makita Buffer/Sander and Sure Finish Polish and Sure Finish Pads we buffed most of the surface into a flawless finish.  We use our CP 3” polisher to get into the tight spots where the larger machine may cause problems.

 

One of the main reasons we left the doors off for painting was that we didn’t want to install the weatherstrips then have to protect them for painting.   Mike did an excellent job of installing the weatherstrips.  He cut them to fit where needed then masked the area and applied the weatherstrip adhesive and masked the rubber onto the door until the adhesive dried then the tape was removed.

We then reassembled the car.

Note how the black under the cowl grills makes the grill stand out and makes the background disappear.  The louvers also look great with the inside painted black.

We finished putting it together and pulled it out into the sun for a final inspection.  It looks great.

Dave (the owner) was quite happy with the result and we’ll probably be seeing it at a lot of the local car shows this Summer.