Woohoo for desert pics!

With the new lenses on and everything all nicely cleaned/waxed up right for once, I took a drive on down to Tortilla Flat and snapped a few pics along the way this morning.

Still amazed how the rolled-on Rustoleum holds up a shine. (That's gloss black VHT Brake Caliper Paint for the wheels, btw.)

Many thanks to those who offered input on the tail lenses. I'm still scheming to do some striping of some sort to 'em, just thought I'd give it a few "before" pics before I do anything later.

EDIT: GAHHHHH!!! Crap. I meant to post this in Talk. Sorry.

Yeah, traffic here is fuggin' insane. It's bad enough, having to deal with all the old geezer snowbirds that start pouring in at Autumn (it's already starting, actually ... ugh), so just getting around AJ and Mesa can be an adventure of sorts. But now that my commute takes me all the way downtown past the airport, running along the Loop 202, I have at least two or three near-hits every time by psychos tailgating me, cutting me off, and/or trying to switch lanes without looking. I'm not even sure what the real speed limit is on the 202 - I'm starting to think it's closer to 85 MPH, given the way people drive...

Many thanks for the compliments. I rolled the Rustoleum on sometime around spring. The only adhesion problems I've had were the spots around the edges and on the front fascia that I didn't prep well enough (I shoulda' sanded it down more and primed it, I just gave it all a light scuff and rolled 'er on). Until I thoroughly sanded the front end and repainted it, the paint kept flying off horribly every time I'd drive through a hard rain. It's alllllllll about the prep work, as I've learned the hard way - the paint, itself, is actually pretty darned good for what it is. I was careful not to allow any runs or drips, but aside from the lame prep work, the only major goofs I made were that I should have done the hood all at once instead of halfsies (there's an ugly raised seam now in the middle) and I laid it on a bit too thin on the roof. I'm also starting to think I should have just body-colored the trim around the middle instead of spraying it OEM flat black.

Here's a couple of close-ups so you can see the texture. Looks fine from a distance, but of course, when you get up close, you see all the ugly details - looks like a really bad case of overspray. Oh well ... for $25 a gallon (of which I only used 1/3 for two coats), I can't really complain.

Someday, when I've got the time (and a second car) to do it up right, I'm going to sand it all down to bare metal, fill in the dings n' dents, prime it, throw on a pin-on cowl hood, and run it down to Maaco for a squirt of simple enamel. I'll never throw a whole lot of cash on strictly appearance details on this car, being that it's got so many miles and all, so I just do what I can to make the most outta what little I can afford to put into it.