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Tired of the rattle can primer and a 1 inch spray pattern. Ordered some real 2 part urethane primer from Restoration shop. Really nice stuff. Feels like a substantial substrate.
Nice to spray out of my gun. Completed all remaining body work and masking on the drivers side, shot the primer on side and back. Getting close! Wont be long now. Plan is to complete all prime, install hood, close off all the openings and shoot the black with as much of a "paint booth" atmosphere as possible. I have the PPE. Dont let me forget my spoiler!
Hey TL,
Yes, you are right however, the mirror fasteners were frozen, and I didn't want to break or strip anything. The door handles are offset so can mask effectively. The rubber window weather strip is the old set and will be replaced after paint. The rest fall into the category of "I am ready to be done with this restore, and drive the dang car".
Last edited by stuartswede; 07-17-2021 at 06:27 PM.
Finally got the tag going on this restore. 1983 Trans Am!!! I was already to spray black on the car, but felt really hot. It was reading 106 F in the carport before I went and got my camera, inside the garage it was only 88 F, but the carport has a dark hunter green roof. Figure that was what was sending the temp thru the roof! Pulled the plug on painting today, I was dripping sweat all over the place, and knew it would not work to paint. Carefully drilled a hole and preyed out the old cracked bird, and put in a new one A huge thunderstorm formed to the north and moved south over me. Temperature dropped from 104 to 81 in the carport, very friendly to painting!
Hey IROC,
Not a cruiser yet, after I sprayed the first full coat of base, I had a bunch of runs (trying to prevent orange-peel) and bug tracks to blend out. I burned thru to primer in a lot of areas, so had to re-shoot the base coat. This was 3 days ago. Some Dude masquerading as a painter! The light helped a lot on the dark side near the boat.
By the time of the second base coat, I had my speed dialed in, as well as the gun settings, including the fan control. No runs, no hits, and no errors! Since you have to shoot the clear coat within 18 hours of shooting the base, and I had exceeded that, I had scuff the base before I could shoot the clear. I hit all surfaces with 600 grit, careful not to burn thru anywhere. Yesterday (my birthday) I shot the hood with 4 coats of clear. Came out really good, still plan to scuff with 1500 grit, wet sand with 2000, then 3M Trizact 3000, 5000, then buff hopefully to a perfect shine.
This morning I put 4 coats of clear on the rest of the car, and will do the same buff sequence probably tomorrow.
Started "cut and buff" this morning. Dialed in and personalized the process.
This is by far exceeding my expectations. I am completely blending out orange peel in the clear-coat with 1000 grit, no burn troughs today! Then 1500, 2000, 3000, and 5000 grit before buff. Then buffing with this and a wool pad with 7 inch buffer, not sure the rpm but I think it is around 4000. So clean, shiny and deep, kinda like a black hole, you could dive in and no one would ever see you again! Love it! Only reached 97F in the shade of the carport today. Left front fender sanded and ready to buff, but this young man is out of gas. Thanks for tuning in. I am so happy with the results. Almost like I knew what I was doing! Psych!
Completed buffing the driver quarter, nose and headlights, as well as sanding all the rest of the orange peel except the rear bumper. Should finish all buffing tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It only got up to 100F in the carport today Love the shinola!
Completed all buffing, still have a few halos to hit with a less aggressive compound and then polish. Looks real nice. A big WHEW! Worried I might have to go to Maaco, with all the runs and orange peel, but perseverance prevailed. Saved probably a couple grand.
Was going to polish my plastic, but first just tried windex and a little plastic brush on my dremmel tool, and cleaned up 38 years of oil and dirt, looks pretty good. Can't wait to install!!!!!!!!!!!
You got a miss-matched set of lights. The left & right taillights are correct for a Firebird. The darker middle section is for a Trans Am. Firebirds had a red middle section to match the taillights.
I am the second owner, the original owner my have swapped for whatever reason. The only change I made was to get a new center section because my old one was cracked and the bird was falling apart. In the picture my old center section is on top. I looked at used replacements this morning, pretty reasonable. I kinda like it like this, but appreciate the input.
Good progress today. I picked up a new battery for my expedition which was blocking the ability to open the 12 foot door directly behind the trans am. Here is a view that I have been unable to see since the restore began.
I began taping to "go for the gold" and wanted to get a good look at the lines. I tilted the floor toward the center of the carport for drainage and then towards the back yard. That is why it is a little crooked. Loving those 295s on the back! Modified my gold "concoction" as battmann named it, instead of equal parts autumn gold, driftwood met, and champagne gold met, I cut the autumn gold in half. Really happy with the shade. Working for me!!! I had accidentally buffed off several places on both side door handles, so used this opportunity to repaint the trim black. Thanks for tuning in again. Goal is to have it on the road for our date night next Tuesday...
Can’t wait to see this thing all done!
Just a warning - I’m slowly learning that having a sweet black car is kind of a PITA. LOL
I’m constantly having to wipe mine down and / or wash it. Looks amazing clean but so hard to keep that way. It’s a lot more work than I anticipated.
Can’t wait to see this thing all done!
Just a warning - I’m slowly learning that having a sweet black car is kind of a PITA. LOL
I’m constantly having to wipe mine down and / or wash it. Looks amazing clean but so hard to keep that way. It’s a lot more work than I anticipated.
Yes, I am finding that out already, having to constantly clean and wipe!
Sprayed a bunch of coats of clear well within the 18 hour window on the base gold met. Looking really nice. After a couple of hours, began the unmasking process. Lines are sharp and clear! Metal-flake came out perfect, lucky I guess. Really dazzling. Just need a windshield and I am "On the road again"! Installed the rear side marker lamps, and the rear hatch seal among other items that you can see. I am so Psyched! It 's a brand new car! Means so much having done it all myself, with you-alls guidance of course. One note, I had masked the struts with plastic, but apparently the plastic destroyed the seals with opening and closing, so I had to get new struts. Now when I hit the hatch release button, it opens completely all by itself. The cart guys will love that. The moment I have been waiting for!!! Going for the GOLD. The lights are on and somebody is home! Yes I ordered new license plate screws already... Thanks for watching
Wind shield is glued in for keeps. My son-in-law helped me this morning, I was really nervous that something would go wrong, but was a piece of cake. Finally!! The drivers side lower windshield positioning stop rusted away years ago, so I used a tap con and a little rubber chunk to get the right position. Also painted the VIN with gold leaf, looking nice!
Finished buffing out the hood yesterday, installed the front marker lenses, and the driver side GE. Took me about a half hour to realize that the lowest fender to nose bolt needs to go thru the GE, Forcing it never works! Mounted the hinges, and my son in law again helped my hang the hood. All was good until tried to close the hood, and the drivers side strut was casing the top of the hood and the side to bulge, almost to plastic deformation. I disconnected the strut on that side and closed the hood to the emergency catch. Looks like I need to adjust the hood forward and figure out the issue with the struts. May just put the old ones back in because they were fine, just that the lower stud on each strut was rusted away. What is weird is that the passenger side was fine. Need to install the passenger side GE, and adjust the hood. Will definitely take a ride tomorrow, Lord willing and the river don't rise!
My engine has been running perfect after I replaced the high flow fuel pump with the stock 100 LPH. I went to go for the first street ride today, and the engine won't start. No fuel visible out of the TBIs. The relay is not clicking on for 2 second when you turn the key on. I purchased a new relay, same thing. Getting almost 40 psi oil pressure on crank, but still no fuel. The pump is brand new. Could it be the ECM? Help!
Probably a dumb question, but did you check the fuse for the fuel pump...
Hey TL,
Yes checked all fuses twice, double checked the FP fuse for continuity too. Shouldn't the FP relay click for 2 seconds when you turn on the key, even if the FP is bad? I know that the oil pressure will allow FP to energize, I think at 4 psi. Do you know where that switch is?
That oil pressure switch is typically located above/near the oil filter or at the back of the engine near the distributor on the drivers side and attached to a brass tee. The location and number of oil pressure switches varies according to year and engine style which can make this a bit more challenging. On my L98 TPI the switch you are mentioning is right above the oil filter while the switch that runs the gauge is right near the distributor on the drivers side. Hope this helps.
Solved the fuel pump issue. The only common factor between the FP relay and the oil pressure switch is a Hot-at-all-times fuse-able link. I had recently installed a new liquid line, in the area of the link, new hoses and a new drier trying to chase down my high pressure AC excursions. I found the fuse-able link wire had pulled out of a crimp connector I installed with the new battery cable pigtails. Must have stressed the connection while jamming in the new liquid line, pretty crowded down there. I corrected and she cranked right up. Last thing now is to figure out why I have no brake lights. Turn signals are working, so all the bulbs are good, need to check the brake switch. Thanks
FINALLY!, got my test drive. After checking steering and braking, drove about 5 miles in the swamp and went from stop to max take-off (WOT) 4 times. Everything seemed perfect with engine and tranny, clean crisp shifts, right at orangeline, fast, fun, and ferocious! Stopped for a photo op at a pretty spot before going home. Now will do the 500 mile city driving break-in.
07-16-2021, 05:46 PM
Looks good. 
