To Paint,...or Not To Paint

It don't look like this anymore. All that s hit that didn't belong was pried off. Under the Cobra emblem was cut paint, and once it was lifted,..the paint chipped the size of a dime.

The hood is peppered w/ at least 25 rock chips on the front leading edge, as are the two rear side scoops

There is touch up paint from Ford, and I bought it,..but the color mismatch is almost as bad as leaving the chips exposed. So here is the question.

What about flat-blacking the tail light panel and the hood like I did w/ the other car?

I know that I gotta repair that bumper,...and that paint may, or may not be any better of a color match,...so this may be the way it is w/ that stupid shade of yellow (Zinc Yellow) The horizontal surfaces have faded evidently. Truth be told, the whole paint job is showing it's age.

I'm not even remotely considering a total repaint,...just a way to bandaid the obvious w/o hurting the resale of the car..( remember.....there are chips all over this thing).

85_SS_302_Coupe said:

I think the average middle aged guy who's going to buy this car would prefer a solid color over a blacked out hood. If you did the hood Mach 1 style with just the center section blacked out it might look ok, but the whole hood looks like you replaced the hood and didn't get it painted to match the body.

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I cant do the hood that way,...that would require me to leave the outside edges body color,..and the front leading edge is covered in rock chips (guy had to have lived on a gravel road). I've already touched up all 25+ chips in that touch up paint, and have to wetsand and buff the hood to see what it all will look like,..but I'm thinking the chips will be staring back at me like so many mustard colored specs on this pale yellow car.

95BlueStallion said:

What he said. ^

I am not opposed to flat blacking the rear panel between the tails though, I really like that look. If my car wasnt already black, I would be doing it. I know you didnt suggest it, but for the love of God, please dont black out the side scoops. Nothing looks tackier than a colored car with black side scoops.

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I have no intention of blacking out the side scoops, so you can go to sleep tonight knowing that the world still spins in the right direction in Alabama.

The more I poke around this car, the more I think the guy that owned it before was a lazy turd. He ran off a curb and crushed the rocker pinch weld on the driver side and the whole urethane lower side molding was folded flat right along with it.

What did it take to fix it? Remove the molding, and use a crescent wrench to unfold the seam, hammer and dolly the seam flat, heat the bent-assed molding w/ a heat gun to restore it's shape, and replace it w/ approx 25.00 worth of new fasteners.
Now I removed both of them because they too need painting,..so they are slotted for The same yellow that I'll buy (base/clear) for the rear bumper,..and that'll have to happen soon,..as the day is fast approaching that this thing becomes the daily driver.

85_SS_302_Coupe said:

It sounds like any option you have is going to be a bandaid fix. The only real solution is painting the whole car unless you know a painter who is skilled enough to mix paint to match the faded color that the car is right now. My mother used to work in a high end body shop when I was a kid, and she would do paint touch ups like this. It took a lot of skill to match the paint on older cars.

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I'm gonna take the gas door to the paint supplier that provided me w/ all the stuff to get the car ready for paint the last car. They have some scanner thingy that will account for the fade when they mix the paint. As for skill in blending,..I have none.

But then I never did the fab stuff I did on the Fox until I started on it either.

95BlueStallion said:

Whew, Ive been sweating all day in anticipation that you would keep those chipped side scoops body color. You know, there is one more solution to all your paint problems... Rattle can it either flat black, or grey primer. Fixed.

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Uhh no.There'll be no rattle can for this car.

I'll have to live w/ whatever mismatch ends up being the deal when I get to that project in a couple of weeks.

hoopty5.0 said:

I think 85_SS said it best. It needs a repaint and knowing you, if you touch up, you wont be happy with it. I know I wouldn't be. A day later, a thread will get made detailing the complete tear down of the car to be repainted.


But def paint the tail light panel flat black. I was gonna do that to my '99 before it slipped away.

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This isn't a project car. I cannot afford to have it sitting for a prolonged time,.. so there'll be no total strip down and repaint in this car's future. "Knowing me",.....(and I know me pretty well).....what'll end up happening if it turns out less than acceptable to me,.....it'll slowly eat my ass up until I sell the thing.
I do have to admit,.....I am really growing to like the body style. For years,..I wouldn't even look at one unless it was one of the bad-ass three: Mach1;Bullitt;Cobra, and even then mostly for the engine that was under the hood.
I coulda traded the red car for a really nice mach1 straight up two years ago, but
I was still out of touch w/ what the red car was worth at that time too.

Am I pretty sure I'm gonna flatten the tail light panel though.

RacEoHolic330 said:

Just Plastidip the entire car. It will cover everything and when you are ready to paint the whole thing, you can just peel the plastidip off.

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No,...I think I'll pass on that suggestion...BUT....I have been trying to get it nice where it doesn't matter, and I have you to thank/blame for it.
The wife comes out on Saturday and my T shirt is spotted w/ grease spatter, my hands and fingernails stained w/ grease for the next week,..my face splattered w/ various chunklets of wet sludge, and she asks: Why in the hell are you scrubbing the wheel wells where the tires go?...And why are you doing the same to the underside of the floor?

"Go back inside woman,..you know nothing of the sense of accomplishment one takes when even the underside of the car is cleaner than most folks topside.......Now do as I say,..make me a sammich and fetch me up a beer before I come over and rub up against you!" "Besides,...someday,...I may meet Scottbi-Wan-Kenobee of Klean,....and I have appearances to keep up".

RangerJoe said:

Repainting hood, rear bumper, side skirts, rear sail panel.... Just repaint the whole thing. You will be happy knowing you did it right.

Joe

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Well Joe that may be the way it is,...but this time around,...I'm just gonna have to make the best of it.

Old Skooler said:

If I was going to paint anything on that car, I'd paint the entire thing. I'm sure it's not in the budget but when is it ever? Being that you got such a great deal on the thing you'll still be ahead of the game after 5k in paint and a month of prep.

You will never be happy with that color!!

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Where were you, when challenged the last time over whether or not I'd ever be happy w/ that color, and I went on a tirade detailing the multiple yellow cars I've had in the past?

I'll be happy w/ the color as long as it doesn't show up as badly as it does now.
I really wish there was a way to compare "standards" as we all come to accept them.
The car I'm bitc hin about for me may actually be somebodies dream car as is,....I am the king of band aid when it comes to making 100.00 look like 1000.00,...so before we go jumpin' to "paint the whole damn car" conclusions, let's just wait for me to post a defeatist thread when I get it all done.

I was a little off on my count of the number of chips touched up last saturday. Tonight I counted 79.
SEVENTY NINE!! Seventy nine damn little specs of mismatched color just on the front edge of the hood. Oddly enough,....nothing on the bumper, or the same leading edge of the fenders. Dude must've repainted the hood in some cheese bag paint,..elsewise,..the airflow over the hood makes that front 7"...a magnet for rocks.