haha, If only I could trade my "collection" for one good car .. but then again I'd probably end up bored

got the trunk lid, and driver rear quarter primed ..

then blocked out the trunk lid and primed it again .. its REALLY straight, should be the first thing to get painted next week

the sherwin williams guy is mixing up my paint this weekend, should have it monday




The black stuff is guide coat powder, it sits in the low spots .. blocked it with 240 grit untill its all level / smooth .. then I primed it again (pic below) .. and tommorow it will be blocked with 240 again and then wet sanded with 600 grit



I used etching primer to cover up any bare metal after sanding





Also mixed some black into the gray primer to darken it up a little .. makes it easier to see flaws, and should help the black cover better

 

got the trunk lid blocked out and wetsanded with 600 today .. looks amazing, nice and straight .. no dents, dings, filler or anything

my paint, clear, and flexible black primer (for bumpers / sideskirts) is coming monday

I'm painting the trunk lid monday ..

body should be painted wednesday .. still need to primer / block / prime / block / wetsand the pass. side quarter

then the door jams, rear quarters, and trunk jams will all get painted

the driver side rear quarter needed a tiny bit of metal glaze (really thin bondo) in the corner of where the tail light goes .. it was a little low there (probably where the panel was stamped at the factory, there was no bondo there previously and the other side is straight)



ready for another coat of primer monday, block and wetsand with 600 grit, then the black will be sprayed

(black is etching primer for spots where I sanded through the primer during blocking first coat of 2K primer)

 

I am sorry but I don't see any cars in the third pic?!?!

 

thats wierd b/c I didnt either


and whoever took the first picture needs to be shot b/c it looks like the smurfs built a corvette .. looks nothing like the real color

 

keep updating , i love threads like this .

 

oh ill keep it updated .. only have college monday through thursday .. so friday - sunday there wont be any updates, unless someone has questions


been thinking that the accident happened was in 1995 for some reason .. but just checked the carfax and it was in 7/28/2002 in florida .. has had like 3 owners, but came to georgia when I bought it last year

found a picture of what probably happened to mine in 2002, the hood that was on the car was a reproduction hood (rusted out), and the passenger side fender has been straightened before and bondo'd a little .. other than that I have fixed all previous repairs correctly now , and got a new bumper and hood

 

yes you should well worth the little money it takes

 

whats involved? and approx. how much would it cost?

im assuming its would be front and rear ..

anyone got a link for a write up ..


EDIT: found a write up, anyone got more info on the conversion ... like how much and where to get parts

 

theres a "kit" on ebay for $75 .. guess its just the caliper mounts ..

but it says I can either use the camaro or zo6 brakes (14" rotor)

i'd love to have the z06 brakes all around w/ some boyd coddington rims

 

Well,I can't help with a write up but,I'm sure you've seen Neils car.
Perhaps if you read through that post you'll find the answer you're looking for.
BTW!Adrian,going in for BLACK tommorrow correct?
I don't know why but I also love black thirdgens!

 

I bought my C5 kit from http://www.bigbrakeupgrade.com/ it's only $779 for the kit and it's completely bolt in and everything is brand new (except the spindles). The kit was worth every penny and they got it to me quickly too. I also spend the extra $70 for the Earl's SS lines. They also sell all the parts seperately if you want to do it yourself.

 

I wish you lived closer. Id have you weld on my new 1/4 and rear body panel.

 

was supposed to get my black today and paint the trunk lid, but the sherwin williams delivery truck ran late or something .. so hopefully I'll get it first thing in the morning

got my passenger side quarter ready for primer .. so I am aiming to paint the body (rear quarters and jams) either thursday or next monday

I think i'll leave the brake upgrade for another day, dont have that much $$$ right now .. need to get emmisions legal and paint first

as for your quarter panel, yea if you lived close I'd give you a hand .. got some friends that want my awsome body work skills used on their cars .. haha

also took off the convertible cover / lid .. the plastic trim was a huge PITA to get off without breaking it .. it was glued on with tons of glue .. and then I stripped every piece of hardware off of it .. so get that sanded and primed by the end of the week too

 

ok .. got my paint yesterday and painted the top of the trunk lid

the black layed down AMAZINGLY .. really really really flat, never seen a base lay so flat .. the Sherwin Williams guy said they reformulated it just recently so its thinner and goes through our IWATA hvlp guns better .. so the base is awsome ..

its a ford mustang "ebony" black (I know .. stay with me ) .. BUT .. the white is not put in, and instead a very small amount of "red shade blue" which darkens / deepens the black .. so its a really nice black .. I'm very pleased with it

now for my clear .. we got two new IWATA guns .. top of the line right now, I got sherwin williams 5020 clear coat (one down from there best) .. the clear came out yesterday with a bunch of orange peel and "dimples" in it .. I was pissed off, never had this problem .. turns out that the booth was tuned up 20 degrees to high for the reducer I was using .. OOOOPS .. so im sanding it back down right now and it will be re-cleared with two good coats, wetsand with 1200 meguiars unigrit, three more coats, wetsand with 2500 meguiars unigrit .. then buff

today got the drivers door stripped down, and the two quarters primed again .. body should be in paint next week (monday or tuesday)

took the windshield out .. EASIEST one I have ever taken out .. haha .. whoever installed it last put the wrong glue, some black butyl crap .. so didnt even have to cut it, just pushed it out









painted the bottom today ..

thats what it SHOULD look like .. haha .. but doesnt (look below) .. the temp was too high in the booth .. camera makes it look good when it was upside down


orange peel and "dimples" in the clear due to temp being too high in paint booth .. it didnt "flow" out smooth like it should

no problem though, clear can be fixed .. the base cant once its cleared

 

oh ..forgot one .. took all the trim around the windshield off, and the old dashpad (got a new one waiting to go on when im finished)

 

In the last picture what tool is that, Ive been looking for one and have yet to find one. Isnt it like a flexible block?

 

just a block .. dont know the exact name or brand, but its not flexible ..

its not rock hard, but probably pretty similar to any wetsanding block like the meguiars block .. there cheap .. less than $5

went back during the night class, turns out the dimples went all the way through the clear on the trunk lid .. so I have wetsanded it all back smooth with 800 grit

I am going to re-paint the top of the trunk lid since I went through to base in a few spots .. then I'll do two coats of clear, wetsand with meguiars unigrit 1200, three coats of clear, wetsand with meguiars 2500 unigrit, then buff (might be 2000 grit, cant remember which one I ordered)

also got the passenger side rear quarter blocked out, and ready for a second coat of primer ..

should have the body (quarters / a-pillars / and all jams) painted tuesday next week

clear should turn out good tommorow, I will set the booth to 65 degrees instead of 85 .. that caused my clear to not "flow" and develop a bunch of small "dimples" or "pinholes"

 

good news and bad news ..

Bad news is I went to respray the trunk lid, the previous clear started to lift / peel up .. so its gotta all be sanded back down

Good news is I think I can just fix the two parts it is doing it on .. just going to sand it down and re-prime those spots .. then paint will probably go on monday night

Today I sanded down the drivers door (part of it)



theres a small amount of rust in the middle of the door, and a small ding that was filled with bondo .. so I ground it out, pulled the ding out, and will have to borrow my friends sandblaster and get the rust out monday






untill monday, anyone think I should shave my door handles .. dont want to do poppers b/c I had a truck with them and there junk .. they freeze up all the time .. so was thinking of getting the viper alarm system so I can roll down the windows with the remote and then just open the door by reaching inside (both the drivers / passenger window)

OR .. might be able to use the stock door solenoids to operate the door latch ..

heres a picture I messed with .. look alot better I think, and I'm leaving those strips that run down the middle of the doors off

 

Question - Why did you tape up the tops of the rear quarter panels? Looks like you have a nasty ridge there now where the primer has built up over the old paint...

 

naw .. I taped them up so the primer wouldnt build up in that corner .. there is a trim piece on the vert's at the top .. guess its where they chopped up the car

taped it up just to prime and block the quarters .. those trim pieces will get one coat of primer of there own .. but there are no tape edges or build up, believe me

i'll get a close up picture monday, if my explination wasnt clear

EDIT: there will be no primer over old paint, its either sanded down to the first layer of blue (oem) or metal .. the respray that was done in 2002 wasnt done right and started to flake off, so now im doing it the right way and hopefully it'll last more than 6 years this time

 

Leave the door handles on, these cars don't look right without them. However, definately leave the door mouldings off.

 

Keep handles - 1
Shave handles - 0

 

Thats actually 2 now Adrian!HAHA!
I also vote to leave the door handles and ditch the side moulding!
Have you checked out my T/A in the photobucket album?I did exactly that on my car and am very happy with it!
Sorry to hear about that peeling issue!!!That sucks.Totally easy fix but,
STILL SUCKS!!
On another note,I can't believe that a nice shop like that doesn't have a
FRIGGIN SANDBLASTER??!! WTH?
Good luck man!If she turns out nice I am still lookin for someone to trade my 81 z28 for a thirdgen vert!!Interested?
Probably not,seems noone is.

 

ok .. guess the handles are staying .. and I wasnt going to put those mouldings on anyways ..

that T/A looks nice .. im hoping my vert comes out as good as everyone elses' cars ive painted .. haha

its going to suck if my own car isnt the best yet .. but believe me it will, or it wont come out of that shop ..

its the college I go to .. got everything BUT a sandblaster .. haha .. my friend has one, so i'll just grab it monday .. dont really want to paint over that little patch of rust, then I'll really be asking for trouble

haha .. that 81 looks clean .. any details (pm me)

 

lots of details on the 81!!around an 11 sec. car on 100 octane(NO NOS)
Like 7-up and caffiene! Never had it never will (at least as long as I own it)
Anyway,we can pm each other if there is interest.I will sell her outright for
8,000.
Back to topic!
I think you'll do a mighty fine job on her!! You have already proven that IMO!

 

yea, same with the NOS here .. I wont run it unless I'm trying to kill that motor (my turbo mr2 when I get the new motor ) .. haha

sounds like a really nice car, and fast ... wouldnt mind having it and stick a blower on top since gas is getting cheap again .. then again my vert gets over 20 mpg by some miracle and still isnt tuned yet .. was going to use it for my daily driver since im in college and its almost fully rebuilt now (motor, suspension, paint, guages, etc)

but yea, back to topic .. I hate these three day weekends off college, kinda want to work on the camaro and get it done .. its killing me waiting to see what it looks like in the sun

and the trunk lid is playing games right now .. haha ..but hopefully i'll get the body done next week (im going to go day and night classes to get it done)

 

woohoo .. monday

another 4 days of workin on the camaro ..


this morning I was going to get the rest of the body cleaned up and ready for paint .. but had the sudden urge to shave the lock cylinders

they didnt work before (drivers side) .. and definitly wont now ..

welded in a little piece of metal .. swipe some bondo .. shred most of the bondo back off with the "cheese grater" .. then block it the rest of the way with 80 and 180 grit .. then throw some etchin primer on it

ready for 2K primer and blocking the whole door

going back in a minute to sandblast that rust off the drivers door .. then maybe get the rear pass. quarter in its final coat of primer (allready had 1 coat and blocked)

 

should have the body in paint on thursday .. that will give me plenty of time to get it ready

 

Ok,lock cylinders are gone.
Now what do you do if you lock yourself out?
Is it still possible to lock the doors?
If so,and the locks are operated by an alarm keyfob,what do you do if one morning the battery decides to crap out on you?

 

haha .. I knew someone would ask me that

I will be getting a viper alarm system to operate the door locks, windows, remote start, and eventually trunk release

I still have the trunk lock cylinder (its hidden by the tag plate)

if the battery goes dead, I can either get in though the trunk .. or most of the time the back of the convertible top doesnt latch down all the way (shh .. dont tell anyone )

haha .. or I could just slit the roof open

dont worry, got it all covered ... plus it looks a whole lot slicker without them and its one less place for wax and crap to build up in .. haha

 

HAHA! Yeah it does look a little neater.
And don't worry,I won't tell anyone about that top corner!LOL!!

 

haha

its not the corner .. the back of the top latches down with just a center "pin" and most of the time it doesnt latch .. crappy design if you ask me, think mine may be missing a spring .. wont know untill I get a picture of a good working one later


I was really tempted to shave the handles, but really dont want to go through the hassle of the damn poppers again (had them in previous cars .. cool .. but get old after a while)

plus the handles are going to be nice and shiny black to match the car ..so they wont look out of place like a chrome lock cylinder does (the drivers side didnt work anyways)

 

Adrian, I feel for ya! I am repainting my black 89 Formula and painting black takes more time because it shows every flaw. I was wondering are you using any paint sealer before the base coat? Or are you just painting over fully primed panels? Are you just blocking down the primer with 600 wet before spraying the base?

 

On the top not latching. Mine didnt want to. I greased the latch in the flip lid with lithium(sp?) grease a few times. Works fine now.

 

got a BUNCH done today .. got the doors sanded down, rust sandblasted out, a-pillar sanded down, and found out that those caps on the rear quarters are just taped and screwed on .. so ive taken them off too and primed the tops

I'm sanding everything down to the metal and / or the first layer of oem paint .. then it gets a coat of etching primer .. then a coat of 2K primer .. blocked with 240 grit .. another coat of 2K primer .. block with 240 grit again .. then wetsand with 600 to make it super slick

then the base goes right over that .. I am using the new sherwin williams base coat .. its lays down EXTREMELY FLAT .. never seen a paint lay down so flat .. NO orange peel in the base at all unlike ppg paints

then three coats of base .. two coats of clear .. sand with 3M's 1500 trizac system .. three coats of clear .. sand with 1500 .. then 3000 .. then 3M cutting compound on a buffer .. then 3M polishing compound on a buffer .. then 3M hand glaze

should be super slick and as shiny as a mirror ..

forgot to mention .. I have talked with my sherwin willams buddy and he has hooked me up with the new 3M trizac wetsanding system and buffing system .. a complete kit for $99 .. theres over $400 worth of stuff in the kit

body should be painted monday .. Im making sure every corner and square inch is perfect before laying base ... will give me some extra time .. I also have to help get a dodge neon painted and out of the way (so I can have the paint booth for a while )

 

 

the blue vette is a great color, Love it.

 

Its good your giving it a good treatment. I'm doing the same to mine also.


Have you ever used the viper system? My brother has one and it actually is pretty good. FYI lol.

 

oh yea .. dont know if im going to be able to let this car go .. its going to be extremely nice when its done ..

yep .. used a viper alarm before .. had a bagged toyota tacoma one time with a viper alarm system .. worked awsome .. if only the door poppers were good quality and didnt freeze up every other time .. haha

of course I want all the gizmo's .. roll the windows down, start the motor, and unlock the doors since I shaved the locks

 

Look's like the car is coming out great! Good deal

 

ok just an update ..


that neon is done and out .. finally


so its all camaro now .. blocked the doors with a long block today, filled any low spots (barely low, very shallow low spots) with metal glaze, primed them again, and blocked them out

after two coats of primer and blocking .. they still need a few tiny spots to be glazed over before there perfectly straight .. so they'll be getting another coat of primer .. most of the primer is coming off during blocking .. so in the end its a really thin layer of primer .. but the door is perfectly straight

got someone else to sand down the passenger front fender .. its trashed .. FULL of bondo .. im talking like 1/4" to 1/2" of thick bondo on half of the dang thing .. so I am going to get me a good one .. the whole car has less than a couple ounces of bondo / metal glaze .. no point in putting a fender on with tons of it on .. not half a$$ing this car

I was planning on painting the body tommorow night, but have decided that I want to get the doors, quarters, and fenders blocked out and all lined up .. then I'll do them all at once

I'm going to undercoat the back side of the fenders .. and paint the outside

I need to fix my drivers door bottom hindge (has new pin / bushing but the hindge holes are messed up a little) .. then get the doors lined up with the fenders .. and make sure there EXACTLY straight .. then paint will be sprayed .. Im anxious to see it in black, but theres no way I'm rushing it

so whether it is in paint next week or three weeks, dont care because its goin to be slick as glass once im done

 

FINALLY!!!!

she has some black on her

got the rear quarters wetsanded slick with 600 grit this morning and just had the urge to paint them .. so worked my butt of all day and got it in the booth tonight ..

the pics dont do it justice at all .. its SLICK .. really nice, looks awsome .. but I got my 3M Trizac paint finishing system yesterday .. so its going to be super shiny by the time I'm done

theres 4 coats of base (one dry, three wet) .. and two coats of clear (both slick wet) ..

will sand with trizac 1500 tommorow .. then three more coats of clear will go on .. sand with 1500 again, then 3000, 3M rubbing compound, 3M machine polish, and finally 3M extra fine machine polish

I'm really happy with how it is right now, cant wait untill its all wetsanded, buffed and put back together in a couple weeks (probably more like a month to be realistic .. haha)



doors are being alot of fun to get straight .. there on there third session of primer (blocking in between every couple coats) .. should have them straight this time though





again, the pictures are junk .. I will try and get a bunch of good ones in the sun tommorow before I scratch it all up with sandpaper .. some of yall are gonna say NOOOOO .. but just wait untill I get three more coats on there, wetsand, and buff it

 

just remembered .. my friend grabbed my phone whilst I was painting and snapped some pictures (notice I'm not in any of the other pics, haha)

this was the second coat of base if I remember correctly ..

you can see a reflection off of that, and theres not any clear on it even .. those other pictures .. dont know why there sorta blurry .. makes it look like theres orange peel when theres not, sit back a little and it looks more like what they do in person

 

Looks really good and straight.. I cant stand it when you look down a car and it isn't straight, good job.

 

This car is going to look fantastic when you're done! This is the kind of work I wanted to go into my paint job. You just make sure you do a good photoshoot when you're done!

 

got it sanded this morning, and three more coats of clear on ..

I LOVE this car now .. hahah .. its a camaro shaped mirror now ..

the sherwin williams guy that mixed me up the paint came by this morning and loved it .. and when I told him I was going to sand it down and three more coats of clear he started to convince me to NOT do it since it looked so good .. but I did, and its going to look a 100 times better now



those two are this morning with two coats of clear when I took it out of the booth


wetsanded with 3M trizac P1500 on a DA .. I'm amazed how good that trizac system works .. its FAST and ALOT better than hand wetsanding .. gets all the corners and edges without knocking the paint off (has a foam interface pad)


that is with 5 coats of clear .. still has to be wetsanded again, and then buffed
the video is really good .. so i'll get that up soon

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpKu-_tD1mU


youtube messed the video up some .. its a whole lot better before I uploaded it, might try and upload it on photobucket ..

but if you keep it in normal mode it looks good, just looks all blurry in full screen b/c I took it with my picture camera

 

Looking mighty fine Adrian!!!
Appears that your planning on painting her piece by piece?
If thats the case,I hope you're planning on some engine compartment recoat!
I don't like my cars to be pretty just on the outside!LOL!!! just kidding man!
car looks nice so far.

 

yea, Ill be doing some of the engine bay again

dont think I can trade this car out after yesterday .. got way to many people looking at it whilst its just in primer .. cant wait untill the car shows start up

its not going to be for sale or trade for atleast 6 months .. want to enjoy it some (unless its the right price )

 

HAHA! Yeah man,I know EXACTLY! what ya mean there.
My thirdgen is now newly reborn with the corvette l98 tpi. including the new alum. heads.Just got her running sunday and haven't even been able to drive it yet!She sure sounds good though!Trying to sell my current d/d (98 plymouth breeze) so I can get the black bird tagged/insured. I can't see having 4 different veh. registered when I only drive 1 or 2 in a weeks time.
Anyway,looking good and keep us all updated!!