Base to VR4 Swap + Complete Restoration

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Originally Posted by Uniuno

Autobody is one of those things I have to research every time I do it. There are so many dos and don'ts I just can't remember them all. Most of the time you'll get conflicting advice and it makes you want to tear your hair out.

I'm not sure how SPI paints lay out, I've never used them. PPG is the brand my local store carries. I bought their spray gun kit for 250, it came with a base, clear, and a touch up gun.

I don't have a dryer on my compressor at home so I tried painting on dry days. I also haven't painted a full car in my home garage, so the compressor wasn't running all that long at a single time.

After you get the dents removed and the body sanded down I like to use polyester filler. It is very easy to work with and leaves the panel perfect. It is good for filling very small scratches and dings. Pros shape with bondo then finish with polyester.

It is something I enjoy and want to do more of, but the weather keeps me from doing as much as I want at home. I'll enjoy watching your progress.

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I felt the same way about the conflicting advice until I found some autobody forums where every one seems to say basically the same thing. I have read nothing but great things about spi's epoxy primer and clear. It seems to have converted quite a few ppg people. I wish spi made base coats so I could keep it all in one system.

I was going to wait and see how the body turned out after pdr to see if I needed to go with body filler and polyester primer. I will definitely be guide coating but am confused about what sanding blocks to use. The body is pretty curvy but I also know I need a longer block to get it straight so Im just not sure how thats going to work out yet.

How is this going, updates?

Sorry for the delay, I just finished doing a set of wheels and a Harley tank for a guy to help fund my car. Work has also finally picked up so you will be seeing more progress now that I can actually buy some stuff. I have also been putting off an update because this new layout photobucket is pure garbage. They literally made every possible thing worse, almost unusable. I need to find a new photo hosting site. For the

Not related to my project but I am proud of it so here is the stuff I just coated for him. The wheels were disgusting, they have been sitting outside for 30 years, lots of corrosion but not too much on the faces luckily. He just wanted a plain silver look. The gas tank looks amazing, I did a wire wheel finish on the entire thing and then put 2 coats of clear powder on it to prevent rust. The pics do it no justice, out in the sun, it is just awesome. Definitely very unique, he said he is going to give my info to his friends. Here are some pics.

Wheels Before:
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps4f6f057b.jpg
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps799ddf87.jpg

Blasted:
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps33ab80f7.jpg

Coated:
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps507b7411.jpg
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps9ba0fe4c.jpg
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps97f1b461.jpg

Harley Tank:
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps00cee6cb.jpg
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps83cf7a5d.jpg
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps7df5a83b.jpg
http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/y...psaa87338e.jpg

And here is some stuff from my car. I disassembled the alternator, cleaned all the internals, painted the center section of the stator black and powder coated the housing black chrome/clear. It is my new favorite piece. I sat in the garage staring at it for a half hour when it was put together. It is loosely put together in the pics because I need to get these bolts plated and I still have to coat the pulley when I do my next batch of black. I left all areas bare where it attaches to the alternator bracket so I don't have to run a separate ground cable like most do when they powder coat it.

Before:
http://i.imgur.com/ZVcYPEe.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QYk6koD.jpg

Blasted and masked:
http://i.imgur.com/G6PEiZL.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BrP3HHS.jpg

and After:)
http://i.imgur.com/Wc01pmG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BU3YqnC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WOoHVvG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1IJFWge.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ibgiwVw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3eOgMci.jpg

I powder coated the oil pan, but have decided to sell it because I found out that GZP stocks brand new 1st gen oil pans, and even though it won't look as glossy, I like the idea of brand new for anything that touches the oil. This pan had some pitting from rust so I filled it all in with jb weld(can be heated to 500degrees) and sanded it all down smooth. Something that I found out while doing this pan is that Glad Press n' Seal works perfect for masking. I literally laid a sheet over the oil pan and pressed it down around the edges and cut the excess off with a scalpel, huge time saver. It melts easy in the oven though, so as soon as the powder starts to stick, I pulled the pan out and pulled off the press n' seal, then did a full cure on it.

Before:
http://i.imgur.com/aBziU1I.jpg

Prep:
http://i.imgur.com/4YvWs4P.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1cuqt2y.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W31de1P.jpg

After:
http://i.imgur.com/KDZaOnp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zSrFrSe.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/o8GceFX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xc9O7uR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IgfwuhN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dJiEO6V.jpg

Here is a couple of misc. brackets, nothing too special.

Headlight rings and brackets:
http://i.imgur.com/pNQvYBm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9Wn5seI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6qrCEHT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6pZt7b1.jpg

Rear tow hooks and steering column support:
http://i.imgur.com/eApcIIf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sYiD7Iq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SrrHtSG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zlYeAir.jpg


Fuel filler tube shield and fuel pump cover:
http://i.imgur.com/WYanWAM.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9LaZ7ps.jpg

Cont'

Door & Hatch Strikers, I did the bolt heads too since these are not a common item to remove and reinstall repeatedly.
http://i.imgur.com/QRW7emU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6G76JYG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zxJ9fkX.jpg

Crash bar mounting brackets:
http://i.imgur.com/wzWoqKo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/KfpMgjo.jpg

That's all the pictures I have of powder coating, but I'm hoping I did more than that in almost a month's time..
Here is a ghetto spray booth I made up to keep powder from coating everything in my garage(terrible pic):
http://i.imgur.com/OPdEUW7.jpg

Also, polished the turn signals, although one will need replaced since the corner chipped and is glued in place.

http://i.imgur.com/AQYFfbh.jpg

Nice, which black chrome are you using? I got the type that is a base coat for my wheels but I imagine the top coat version applied over chrome would look the best.

After a bunch of crashes using Tapatalk 1 & 2, I finally checked out your photos on the laptop...All I can say is that the black chrome over blasted metal looks stellar!! I am thinking my upcoming powder coating job should really pop coating over my polished parts!

Keep up the awesome progress, man!!! Definitely update this thread as you can 'cause this thing's going to be awesome when you have it all back together.

This thing will be amazing when done.. Don't forget about how much fun you're having building it though!