So if i leave the windshield molding intact (just mask it off )) while i spray the roof and pillars will i have a noticable buildup of paint and have a paint line there or will it be just marginal (that would be ok for me)))...

The paint i am going to use is deltron then obviously clear it afterwards...

pc..

OH once again thanks to the creator of this thread... i owe you one...

I like cash...hahaha

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

I dont take out gas cap, I mask off the inside black part and just open the door to spray it, then close it to spray outside. I wouldnt advise taking out the quarter windows unless you putting it new ones. Almost a guarantee your going to break both. If you take off the side moldings, order all new clips beforehand, your going to break most of them. If your doing a normal basecoat/ clearcoat, your only going to have about 4 or 5 coats, thats not that big a deal. Just mask the windshield molding as close to perfect as you can. better to get color on the rubber though (you can clean it off), than leave a paint line on the roof. I lay clear plastic over the entire engine bay and front trunk too when I mask, especially in the now open headlite area.

thanks for the advice..

pc

I was just rereading this thread and I have to say its a great thread for the do it yourself guys! Thanks again for everyones input and help!!!

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

DITTIO..

thanks to all ONCE again....!!!!

pc...

Well I started do the body work this week so I am looking forward to do this. There was alot of good info posted here so this should be as hard as I was thinking, at least not now!

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

for painting around the windshield a trick I learned from one guy (if your molding will allow) is to run a peice of string under the molding to lift it off the body - remove after the paint cures - this allows the paint to get underneith the molding.. may not work for some old fiero molding tho

I'm going to have to try that. I have a Fiero in the garage right now that I'm getting ready to paint, and the owner doesn't want to replace the windshield trim. I'll try this when I paint the roof and I'll post pics and results.

Thanks for the tip. I hope it works! ( you learn something new every day )

Mark

Why not keep a good thread going..

I am very soon going to paint the roof. In examining the roof i noticed that the part of it thats attached to the rear clip isnt that bad except for a few spots in the center. I figured thats where i will blend it instead of at the sail panels on my 86 GT

Next question for the experts is this:::: I need as detaled as a process as you can type here to explain to me the ART of BLENDING which includes how far to tape back, trigger control of my DeVillibis siphon feed gun when priming, painting, and clearing, and ANY and ALL other pertinent information...

Ive been documenting all good information in this thread and typing myself up a check list before i begin... Youve ALL been a GREAT HELP....!!!

Thanks a million.. (not dollars though Im broke thats why im going to try this myself instead of paying someone to paint.....))))

pc...

quote Originally posted by PCGamer: .......I need as detaled as a process as you can type here to explain to me the ART of BLENDING which includes how far to tape back, trigger control of my DeVillibis siphon feed gun when priming, painting, and clearing, and ANY and ALL other pertinent information......

You need to remember that painting is an art.....not just something that anyone can do just by reading. There is practice involved, along with understanding how paint flows, how the paint covers, how much you can polish before burning through, etc......

But, I'll do the best I can.

Ok. First off, you need to understand that blending a base/clear usually doesn't work well. I don't blend unless I absolutely have to, and I usually refuse to blend a customer paint job unless there is a special circumstance. When painting with clear, you usually blend the color base so the repaired and repainted area blends into the existing faded color without notice. But, even though you blend the color, the clear should cover the entire panel. Blending was much more possible with lacquer, but that's old school paint and you don't even want to try that stuff. It's not worth the extra hassle.

If you are going to be repainting the entire roof plus just the upper section of the rear clip, mask off everything except the sections to paint plus the sail panel areas. Scuff the sail panels like you would if you were going to paint them, but just use a Scotchbrite.....or nothing courser than 320 grit paper. You'll end up with a little overspray on those panels, but you are going to be wetsanding and polishing them anyway. Use primer only if you need to, which would be to prep bare SMC. Otherwise, no primer should be necessary as long as you have good paint surface to spray over. There are other threads about paint prep.

When you spray your color base, spray your entire roof section, but spray as little as possible on the sail panel areas. Keep the overspray off of them by using a piece of cardboard to deflect the overspray. Don't touch the car with the cardboard, though. Dust the top edges of the sail panels with your color, but don't get too much on them. The idea is to transition from the new paint into the old paint so you can't tell the difference between the two. Usually I blend across a 2 foot section, so at one side of the blend you have a full color coat and at the other side you have no new paint, whereas the middle has 50% coverage. You are trying to blend within a section that's less than 6 inches, and that's not easy. When you spray your clear, spray your full wet coats on the new color base according to directions, then make sure that your ' blend ' is covered also and blend your clear about 6 inches down from your color blend. One other thing to keep in mind is that when you spray the clear over new paint, the clear ' binds ' with the new color base giving it a better grip on the surface so the clear won't run. When you are spraying the clear over the blend, the clear doesn't adhere to the old base color as well, even though it's scuffed, and the new clear will tend to run very easily. Make sure that you let each coat of clear dry enough between coats, and that time will vary depending on temperature, humidity, thinner/reducer types, mixing amounts, and paint manufacturer. The PPG Deltron I use will sit pretty well after about 20 minutes at 70 degrees, but your time will vary depending on those variables.

Before you try doing this on your car, I'd suggest trying it out on a practice panel first. You need to get a feel for the paint and how it flows, and after you wet sand and polish you'll get a better understanding of what you are trying to do.

I still recommend clearing the entire rear clip.

Mark

Mark You are God sent!!!

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

I don't know about that......

I'm just worried that this isn't going to turn out for him.........it's not the easiest thing to teach without a lot of hands-on practice.

Bobby....when are you painting your car?

I have to do alot more body work and then some prep work. I hope to have that done within 3 weeks, I will then get my paint a week later and hope to have it and the car done by March?

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

well i do have an old friend i speak to a few times a year who use to paint for jack rousch racing for a number of years.. maybe ill just have him do it... I just wanted to try this out for myself...

pc..

thoughts on Rayflex?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4524236780&cate gory=42611

just curious - I'm leaning towards white right now

ooh there is a yellow fiero in this ad
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4523723665&category=63702

[This message has been edited by Kohburn (edited 02-03-2005).]

They do make a special foam tape that you can use to raise up window moldings too, I just usually dont. You can also use another one especially made to go around inside door jams, hood and deck lids to keep them sealed from overspray.

Mark, you ever try R&M Diamont UBR200 ? Its a special spray on agent that you can use to blend urathane clear into a rubbed out panel, like a sail panel into the roof. It buffs out great and makes a good blend. Its not available to general public and you have to get the info for using it from your paint rep. It officially dont really exist

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 02-04-2005).]

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Mark, you ever trie R&M Diamont UBR200 ?

Haven't heard of it. Since it's R & M, it won't work with PPG. But, I've got to go pick up a couple of quarts of Ferrari red to spray this weekend so I'll have to find out if PPG makes something similar.

Thanks for the tip. Another plus for Roger.

Mark

Heres a body work question, I applied body filler and mixed up right this time. However as I am sanding a am finding small air holes or pockets. At first I thought I was sanding to hard or fast and making the holes. But then realized there air pockets in the filler. I thought I pressed rather hard when I applied the filler and there isn't alot of pockets but enough were I think I may have to add another coat?

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

Sounds like your just not mixing it properly. You will get tiny bubbles that you just skim more on till their gone. Primer and spot putty will fill any little ones. To mix filler you need to scoop it out of the can and put it on a flat board or piece of cardboard. Add the hardener and take your spreader and mix it by squeegeing it, flipping it over, and doing it over again untill its all a uniform color. Dont just mix it like cake dough or stir it. By doing it like a squeegee, you will press out all the bubbles as you mix it.

There you are Roger "My knight in shinning armor" haha, that is what I did. It worked out good with the fiberglass filler but the plastic is alot softer. The plastic body filler was like spreading something out of a nose?!?

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

The product used to enhance the area where one blends paint/clearcoat is called "Blending Clear Solvent" by a company called EVERCOAT...

It says it provides an invisible soft edge where you blend.. Right from the can it mentions that it will melt into the original paintwork requiring little or no processing once the clearcoat has cured..

I got it at painters suppley which carries PPG products as well as a host of others... The people there said they swear by it..

In looking at my roof today and what is happening is the clear is just flaking off but the base coat/color coat seems ok.. On the roof section thats part of the rear clip its peeling in the center.. I am just going to spot paint in that area and try this blending material.. I guess ill have to keep my fingers crossed firefox...

out of town till super sunday.. ill check back with you guys then... thanks for everything...

lol..

pc...out

I may have missed this somewhere but what is easier to get a good finish with - acrylic laquer or enamal ?
and which one is best in the end?

OK Firefox ive found a (( good..?.. ))) painter... He says as long as i provide the materials (i.e. paint, primer, clear, flex agent) that he'll do the minor body work i have, plus all prep work and paint for $1000.00... Is this a deal??????

Also i know weve mentioned this before about painting the fascia but he recommends that a flex agent be added to the paint when doing the WHOLE car... He is NOT taking off the body panels to paint them either....

NUMBER ONE ======== Does the fiero come from the factory with a flex addivitive on the body panels???? He'll be spraying this with OMIN primer and factory red PPG Deltron color coat and OMNI Clear....

NUMBER ONE.5 ========= Do I want the flex agent added for the WHOLE CAR and if not do i want it on the front or rear bumpers only or not at all on anything since the body panels are not coming off.......

NUMBER TWO =========, i mentioned to him about all the trim running down the sides of the car and the fasteners used to secure them down and he said not to worrry cause he'll just leave them on and mask them off when painting.. I mentioned about the fact i didnt want any paint lines visible and his reply was that the design of the molding allows the paint to go in the recessed area of the groove that which the molding sits in so NO paint lines would be evident upon his completion. I told him im not looking for a show finish but a nice finish and he guarenteed that it would be BETTER than that which the factory provides....

And NUMER THREE ======= He will be doing this in his heated garage so the paint will not be baked on... IS THIS A PROBLEM since im paying someone GOOD money to do this???? He showed me many pictures of cars he's done in the past and i kinda quized him and i would say he appears to know his stuff......

Replies immediately cause im shipping the car out tomorrow for paint...

thanks a ton members..

pc...

PC....sounds like you have found a decent deal, as long as the job comes out great. Not all painters pull the panels, so just make sure he understands what you want out of your paint job.

I'm not going to tell you that your painter is wrong, as adding the flex agent isn't going to hurt anything. I don't use it at all, but I'm not spraying OMNI.....just Deltron and DCC 2042 clear. It's more than flexible for just about any flexible cover. I've never sprayed OMNI clear, so I really don't know.

Number 1: I believe GM used flex agent in the paint from the factory since it was lacquer, but I really don't know.

Number 1.5: That's up to your painter.

Number 2: If he isn't going to remove the trim, I'd suggest pulling it yourself. The car can be painted with the trim on it masked off, but I prefer to pull the trim and let the paint cover everything under the trim. Yes, the design of the car allows you to mask off and get paint under the lip of the recess, but the thing that I worry about is that it's hard get a good scuffing into that recess and over time the paint will begin to peel if not scuffed enough.

Number 3: I paint in a heated garage and don't bake on my paint, and the newer paints are designed for this type of painting. That's not a concern.

Good luck, and don't to start a seperate thread with pictures!

Mark

I know a company in Ohio that did all the bumper covers for different makes, so the factory dont use flex agent either, its a whole different process that they use on those. Their not ' painted ' in our sense of the word. Either way, flex evaporates out of the paint just like thinner/ reducer over a week or so. It dont ' stay ' there forever. Its only meant for after manufacture painting to keep the brittle laquer and older enamels/ urathanes from cracking when you assemble it. I paint parts without it now and can almost bend them double without cracking because newer paints are so flexible by themself.

Just something to think about...if you primer the part (primers state you CANNOT put flex in it), wouldnt that crack whether or not you put it in the following color coats anyway........

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 02-13-2005).]

Is there a good way to take off the side molding on my GT without breaking those darn clips??

and does anyone know how many of those clips per side (door and quarter))...

pc

I bought new clips through my GM dealership and they were still available. They will not come off in one piece. I believe that you can get them through Rodney, if I remember correctly.

Mark and Roger, Joes uncle told him about this website and had a few good things to say about it. I called them and found out its seems to be easy to use and can be cleared with just about any clear out there. And its as strong as the clear can be. I was just wondering if you guys have seen or heard of this?
http://www.autoaircolors.com/index.htm

Also for clip and a few other parts you can try here:
http://www.ardeldistributors.com/category.html?UCIDs=414669%7C656537

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

I haven't heard about these guys specifically, but I've heard about the newer water-based paints. I have no experience with them, and I'm going to try to get a hold of some paint and see what happens. I don't have a dealer near me, so I might have to wait until my next road trip through Appleton.

As for the guns, They look like they should do the job.

Mark

well i dropped off the car this past thursday... says itll be a couple of weeks.. cant WAIT.... SO excited.

pc...

GM tried water bourne paint back in the 80s, generally on Oldsmobiles. They had so many problems, they discontinued it. Most aftermarket urathane parts use a black water bourne primer that they say just needs scuffed but NOT to sand thru before painting.

The more I look into using these paints the more I am finding they are great for custom work like flames and graphics. If you make a mistake it is easy to remove and start over. I do see that there color book has alot of colors. A few have me thinking I should try to use it for a complete paint job since the price of an over all job would be alot lower in price. The best thing is the reds are not more, all same style paints "all candys all bases" are the same price.
I just don't know how well spraying a candy with all very light coats will look or coat the base?

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

I think he can get a little closer to spray it ..........lol. And I thought I painted unusually close to the panel.

All the information I have read over it all lists that a 10" spray is needed and the candys and transparent colors need even more. For you paint guys that maybe hard to do.

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I think he can get a little closer to spray it ..........lol. And I thought I painted unusually close to the panel.

That's what I was thinking....