Today is FRIDAY.....let's see that BLUE!!!!
YAY!
Bob.
Today is FRIDAY.....let's see that BLUE!!!!
YAY!
Bob.
95 Caracus Red Spyder VR4 (sold 6/12/21 )
Cianci FG Viper Hood/Aerocatch Pins
Quad Carbon Fiber Tipped Borla Catback
Stock 18" 6 Spoke Chromies
K&N FIPK
Indiglo Gauges
JimVR4's Remote Start/Top Op Computer
92 Wheat Beige Metallic Stealth TT (sold 6/14/20 )
OhioSpyderman Short Shifter (in both!!!)
SBC-iD Boost Controller (in both!!!)
Oldest son - 94 Danube Blue VR4 (sold 10/19)
Middle son - 93 Panama Green VR4
Things didn't feel right today. Something was just off and I went further with wet sanding and prep. I am all set up to spray tomorrow though.
[06-05, 19:29] OhioSpyderman: Brian, finding a woman is NOT the answer, you need to shop for a good VACUUM
Brian, hurry up - Bob is about to lose his mind...
Ranked No. #1 in initial quality
Idiots, simply by being idiots, seem capable of achieving randomly bad things that are beyond the imaginings of sensible people.
So things have been so all over the place I have lost track of what happened when. As I mentioned previously I initially sprayed last Friday but I wasn't happy with the results. I spent an entire week wetsanding and doing further prep.
Before I did that though since the engine bay was already painted I masked things and painted the headlight buckets.
So back to this timeline. I did lots and lots and lots of wetsanding. The pictures might be confusing because the car is already in color before I start, but remember it wasn't up to snuff. I took pictures when I first painted it of it in sealer, but my phone freaked out and I never uploaded them. I have access to them, but figured there isn't much point.
Anyway, I spent several hours for final prep this morning and started like this
Once finally ready I mixed up a cup of sealer to do some spot sealing.
I let the sealer flash then started laying more color. Everything was going really good, until it wasn't. I started to fight with the gun on the second coat (which is more like the 4th coat when you include the paint from last week) I wasn't getting hardly any material, just air. No adjustment was helping so I dumped the paint back in the mixing cup and tore the gun apart thinking something hardened inside. Nothing looked bad, but I cleaned it anyway. Put it back together and it was fixed.... for all of 30 seconds, then same thing. I tore it down again and changed the cup filter, and it was working again.... for like a minute. My frustration levels were starting to rise. I found the regulator was on a different PSI than I started so I adjusted it back. It was still being finicky and I finally swapped to my regulator because it locks. I battled some more, but I finally finished the paint.
I tear the gun down again to clean it well before clear. Walk inside to take a break and let the paint flash for 30 minutes. Come back out and am starting to feel good about things. Mix my first batch of clear, get everything set on the gun and move to the front to start. First few passes look great, then same freaking issue. I kept getting it work, then it wouldn't. I am fighting so hard and I am so frustrated at this point. I finally decide I am going to swap guns and just use my cheap HF gun. I dump the clear into my cup and start doing a quick clean on my cousin's gun. I dumped lacquer into the cup then put my finger over the tip as I pulled the trigger to pressurize the cup and push any material in the tip or on the needle back up through and the cap goes flying off....
This leads to a moment of clarity. I grab the cap and sure enough the damn vent was plugged. I cleaned the vent out, put the clear back into my cousin's gun and it sprayed beautifully again. I probably lost over an hour fighting with the issues, but we'll call it a learning experience. I called my cousin to tell him what happened so he knows if the same thing happens to him.
Anyway, clear laid nice. Of course as soon as I sprayed the last coat of clear a bug landed right in the middle of the spoiler...
I let it tack up for a few then unmasked everything so I could finally go home
It is not a perfect paint job. I found a few things I am not 100% happy with, but for the most part things like the bug and few pieces of dirt should buff out without issue when it comes to that. This has been a LONG, LONG process and today was a LONG, LONG day. I probably spent 12 hours on this today (including breaks and waiting for flash time).
This was definitely a learning experience. One thing's for sure if I ever do another 3s I'm probably going to buy 6 qts of paint if it is a transparent color like blue. Also learned to CHECK THE VENT when everything else checks out. Lastly, learned you have to have patience, and you have to go slow sweeping motions. Trying to move too fast will give you a dry finish.
Tomorrow plan is to get it back on its wheels and assemble it enough to drive home. The interior is still stuffed full of parts, but I can go through that at my own house and slowly reassemble the inside. I still need to paint the "vents" that go in the side skirts so they can go back in, but that may wait a few days so I am not as worried with handling the side skirts.
I'll probably try to do a "photoshoot" once its all back together.
EDIT: You may notice I didn't finish the center panel. That is because I got a weird reaction so I am going to sand it back out and hopefully get the paint to lay on it.
Last edited by stealthee; 06-27-2020 at 11:52 PM.
I think it is PRETTY DAMNED SPECIAL!!!!!
Great job Brian
Sorry if I was a bit hard on you over the years, but I knew you could do it and wanted to see it done as much or more than you did.
Had I lived closer I would have offered to pitch in now and then, but then again, who needs an OLD guys help?
Looking forward to more pics of the progress.
I LOVE the BLUE....
Again, great work, you should be proud....
Bob.
The. First. 3S. To. See. Paint. In. Here. In. YEARS.
Way to go, Brian!
She's about 90% back together
Probably try to respray the center panel tomorrow so I can get it back in the car. Will get the headlights back in, make sure the sail panels have nuts on them etc. I'm going to have to respray the spoiler. The underside is really light on paint and that is 100% my fault. It's fine for a few, but I don't want to leave it that way.
WOOT!
Looks fantastic, Brian!
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