My NEW progress thread. stangnet style ;)

LaserSVT said:

I thought that was e-the-rapists-online.com
But yeah im talking with them right now, im pretending to be Ryan and complaining about my color choice and lack of five speed

Click to expand...

now i dont have either

Saw something on Trucks when they painted their S-10. Had a run and they used a razor blade to cut it down cause it made it more uniform since you are not sanding away the good area. They then went back with fine grit (dont know which) for the finishing. It was a good size run too but looke flawless after he did it.
It was the episode when the painted the truck yellow and the truck is called Hauling S-10, I think that was the episodes name too

ryan218 said:

now i dont have either

Click to expand...

BK-- I wouldn't do the razor blade trick if you haven't done it, or watched someone do it before. Also, watch out for paintless dent removal. I got lucky with the referral I got. I had to wait two weeks for him to come out, but it was worth it. He got it all out. He said he can even get dents, or waves around bondo areas out. I don't know how he does it without it cracking. I have seen other paintless dent guys, ruin the job!!! I would rather have a dent in my car, then have the dent gone, but leaving 7-8 prick marks in the paint that he cracked where the dent used to be.

Just buy some 1000. Put it on a block, wet sand it with soapy water. The soap keeps it lubed. Do a few passes, dry it off, look at it. If you see high spots, just sand those with the 1000 and your fingertip. Then, hit it with the block with 1500 really quicky, then 2000 and rub it.

You won't burn through the paint if you use a light cutting compound, and a YELLOW Meguiars "Finessing Pad" Do NOT use the maroon "cutting pad", or a wool pad. Just keep compound on the car and keep the wheel moving. Don't hold the wheel in one spot, use a back and forth motion and buff back and forth in about a 1' X 1' spot. You'll be fine bro...if you painted it, you can buff it. Just watch the edges of the quarter panels, and front fenders. Watch the door moldings, and wuarter moldings. Don't even touch those with the wheel, because you will rip right through the paint.

Anytime man. While my black 91 notch is nice, there was a lot of body work that had to be done. My Dad does my body work and I painted it. There are still spots that bug me. We missed a TINY TINY dent in the left fender, and an even smaller dent in the right door. It's funny because the only time I see the one in the right door is when Hack Jobs headlights hit it when I pull in the garage.

You can't drive yourself crazy about it man. Every car has imperfections. Hell, I found a dust nib and a rock chip in what looked like a 200,000 dollar 60's Mustang at Woodward last year.

SVT just keeps bringing the good advice. I'll try to add some more...

First, it's funny he mentions the razor blade trick, b/c that's what's I learned with. It helps to slightly bend the blade, so the corners are a little farther from the good paint then they would be if it was flat. Otherwise, the corners can snag on good paint. I think the razor blade trick is worth doing b/c it saves the most flat paint. My routine is the clean up the run with a razor blade, wetsand with 1000, then 2000, then buff.

As for buffing (since you haven't before): I suggest going back to the body shop that let you use their booth and watching them buff a few cars. Once you see it done a few times, you'll realize it's not hard to do. Everyone has their own techinique, and there's definitely more than one right answer. I buff in three steps. I start with a wool pad and a cutting compound. Then I use Clean Cut with a foam pad (Clean Cut is a chemical cut, as opposed to abrasive cut. I've found it's a good bang for the buck compound). Finally, I finish with Finesse-It III or SMR and a different foam pad. For foam pads, I've always had better luck with a waffle pad, b/c it doesn't bounce or chatter like flat pads do. Never use pressure. The weight of the buffer is enough. Let the compound breakdown while buffing. That's what it is designed to do. As it breaks down, the abrasiveness of the compound lessens, and it can keep removing scratches to a finer and finer resolution, until everything's out. Once it's dry, lightly spray it with water and go over it again. That will pull the finest remains out of the pad and hopefully catch the remaining swirls.

1200 rpm for wool and 800-1000 rpm for foam is all you need.

AS SVT said, stay off plastic trim and sharp edges of plastic or metal. These are the most likely spots to burn. Plastic burns b/c it is not a good heat sink, and can't shed the heat as fast as metal. If you have to buff a bumper cover, move about 2x as fast as you do on metal. Keep the pad wet. Edges burn because it's easier to put heat into them. I suggest masking off edges before you even wetsand. Unless there is a really noticeable spot on an edge, I don't wetsand or buff it.

One last thing - this would all be a lot easier had you painted your car white

Rich brought up a good point on bumpers. I actually don't wetsand bumpers because they are difficult to rub. I have done them before though. I only wetsand and rub the top edges, by the fender and hood. Then I move down and do the entire top edge (under the headlights and grill) I don't rub anything else, and I don't get into the grooves. Rich also brought up a good point about moving very very fast. Don't sit too long on any part of the car, but especially on bumpers. They will burn through in a heartbeat. Keep the edge of the wheel off corners too. Just watch what you are doing and keep the wheel flat.

BK_CAULEY said:

ok guys and gal here are a few semi better pictures.

First of all i know it has imperfections and i know it needs work. I just cant afford to have a pro do it. i plan on wet sanding and buffing it after the engine gets in.

I personally think for the money i didnt do to bad. I only have about $150 invested in the paint job. FYI this is my first attempt at painting black.

I figure i can fix all the stuff i missed this winter and redo it.

Click to expand...

looking good BK