Project 81 Hack Job!!!!!

Nice man...i can't wait to paint my heap. I swear if i had a garage i would've done it myself by now. I've got a few friends who paint and they all tell me that if i can lay down good with rattle can (i'm pretty good with a can :D ) then painting cars is 99% prep work and wet sanding and buffing out your mistakes. Are you gonna do any coloring on the trim or just leave everything yellow?
 
Wow - 1st coat and the color is popping like that? Can't wait to see the 2nd coat sprayed on.
Just out of curiosity, why aren't you throwing clear on it?

:edit: I think you already explained why you aren't using clear....I just can't remember why :D

it's a single stage paint. clear is mixed in.

lookin good man! what front bumper did you end up going with again?
 
Nice man...i can't wait to paint my heap. I swear if i had a garage i would've done it myself by now. I've got a few friends who paint and they all tell me that if i can lay down good with rattle can (i'm pretty good with a can :D ) then painting cars is 99% prep work and wet sanding and buffing out your mistakes. Are you gonna do any coloring on the trim or just leave everything yellow?

Thanks! Yeah, if you can do decent with a can, then spraying with a gun should be easy for you. Just picture painting with the gun without having cramping of your hand/fingers/thumb. Also, picture the smoothest and larges spray pattern imaginable and that is when you now it will go good. Wet sanding will make everything flat, take down the nibs and fix any oppies....:D

I would try it for sure if I were you. You don't know until your try.

Also, yes I am leaving everything that is yellow, yellow, and I am going to be painting all the black trim flat black, and use a low-luster clear coat when I am finished. So....the quarter glass moldings, upper half of door, and all window trim is flat black. It will be like it just rolled off of the Ford assembly line.
 
it's a single stage paint. clear is mixed in.

lookin good man! what front bumper did you end up going with again?

Correct, the clear is mixed in.

Thanks a lot!! I am going with the stock 87-93 LX front cover. It needs sandblasting, because it has been painted about 100 times and it is all flaking badly. When I get it back from that, I need to fix 2 licence plate holes, and then prime it, seal it, paint it!! :D
 
So is it still a 4 eye car or are you going aero with it? How about the quarter glass? (oops you answered that just as i was asking)

Eventually it's gonna come down to me painting it myself because i'm almost certain i can do it. I've watched some guys do it who can really do awesome jobs and laying down the paint seems to be the easiest part for me, it's doing bodywork that i'd need help with. If only i had a garage :(

If it's keeping the '81 nose, it would look really cool with a GT scoop like mine has :D
 
Correct, the clear is mixed in.

Thanks a lot!! I am going with the stock 87-93 LX front cover. It needs sandblasting, because it has been painted about 100 times and it is all flaking badly. When I get it back from that, I need to fix 2 licence plate holes, and then prime it, seal it, paint it!! :D

nice...i just got a free GT front bumper thats the same way. it was on my buddy's 8 sec track car and it had a crazy ass tear-away paint job he put on it (he's a body man), so there's like 1000 layers on it. i've just been rubbin at it with 180, OMG it is a pain in the ass! i didn't even think about sandblasting it! i have access to 2 so i think i'm going to try that. man, i can't wait to see your car together, it's gonna be a really slick ride! there's a guy around here with an 86 coupe with a 4.6 out of a lincoln mark VIII in it, his isn't any where near as clean as yours is going to be though!
 
Thanks everyone.

ss Coupe----Yes, it is an 81 notch, and I am using everything 87-93. The bumpers, moldings, trim, hood, quarter glasses, lights, everything. I kept all the 81 parts and I have been making many people around town pretty happy by selling my old parts to them. So far, I have sold:

Trans, rear bumper cover, 4 fender moldings, 1 quarter molding, left tail light, headlight trim, alternator and that's all so far. I have made close to 400 bucks from the stuff I sold, which was nice, because I just threw that money back in the car for other parts. So, even though I converted it to an 87-93 car, I helped others restore their 4-eyes! :D I just perfer the 87+ look, because at 10 years old, that was the car I absolutely loved!!

Cenok..Thanks again. And that car with the Mark motor must be sweet. I would have loved to have a 96-98 Cobra drivetrain in it, but I built what I could get my hands on. It should still move along pretty well, but I really didn't build it to race....but the extra 40 horse would have been a plus!
 
looks sick man...i've been quietly following along with this project. You have done some really nice work.

Now its time to tie it all together. Whats the wheel/tire package going to consist of?
 
Looks real good. If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose a single stage over base/clear? Was it cost? I've never sprayed single stage before. If you have some time, write-up the pros/cons you found from this experience. I'd appreciate.
Side note - I know that usually with bright colored single stages (red, yellow, orange), they tend to oxidize pretty quick. However, I imagine this will be a garage queen.
 
ninety15.0--Thank you. I just bought this 95 GT convertible that came in with 97 Cobra wheels on it. I am going to use those for the time being. I will get the bugs out of the car with them, and if I decide to change them, I will go with Chrome Bullit wheels or Chrome Pony R's. With the 2001 axle the 17X8's are right out at the edge, so I welded bumpr stops on the frame rails. 17X9's stick out 7/8" pass the edge, so I might need to go with 17X9 with a 45mm offset. (S197 wheels)

5L5--This is the first back room at work. All the parts/motors/shelves in the background are parts we have off the car. My Dad is just one hell of a nice guy and lets me work on my stuff there since we don't ever use that hoist anymore.

Paisu---Non HVLP. It is just a regular Gravity Feed Devilbiss gun. It is an older one....my painter supply store said all parts are now obsolite for it. I just installed the rebuild kit, so it works great. And the universal fan control knob, worked better than the correct one that came with that gun....haha. I haven't ever used an HVLP. Thanks for the compliment!

GT_Rich---I chose the single stage because my Dad painted my coworkers 78 Mustang II with a GM yellow last winter. It turned out so good, and my Dad swore up and down about how good it layed down. I wanted to try it on this car since it was a solid color. I have heard it fades easy, but my friends car still looks great. I'm sure it has improved over the years since Ford used it on their old foxes. The original yellow on that car was single stage, and it still looked decent for being 27 years old.

It was cheaper as well. I got 1 gallon of paint, 1 pint of catalyst, 1 quart of reducer, 1 quart of the sealer and 1/2 pint of that activator....and everything was 283 dollars my cost. Retail would have been 473. I get hella discounts from my supplier. Here is your write up you wanted.

IMO...Pros of single over base/clear are: No cleaning gun until you are finished. Cheaper. Seems to shine way more than clearcoat. My supplier said it is 40% harder than clearcoat...(which resists rock chips)

Cons: You have to wait longer between coats, or else it will run. It runs WAY easier than clearcoat. It leaves a sreally sticky residue on your eyelashes...hehe...I will wear glasses next time.

Basically....anything black I paint...will always be base/clear. I would love to try a single stage, but I got really good painting black...I don't want to mess with it.
 
Dude that thing looks killer :nice: I am really impressed with your skills :hail2:
Dad got impatient waiting for you to finish so he bought a Termi yesterday :drool: