The GTX (1969 Plymouth GTX)

[Rich H.]

Same process as everywhere else, epoxy, block, mud (barely any needed), epoxy, surfacer, block again and maybe block a few more times.

(Then multiply X2 to account for the other door)

 

[Rich H.]

Maybe I missed it, are you going to paint it A4?

Yes, that is correct. Parts of it already are.....previous post of the door jamb w/black interior also give it away.

 

[ckessel]

I was baffled sometimes when the body techs would piss and moan about some minor shipping damage on a new replacement panel. Sometimes they would want many hours for a simple rough up and fill dent. Would tell them fine, I'll send it back and in a week or so you'll get another one. They didn't want their pay on that job held up so they capitulated. Would give them an hour extra on their time sheets to take care of it. Generally took them less than 10 minutes and used up some filler they would have disposed of. There were times when the panel looked like a FedX/UPS delivery commercial. Worse than what was getting replaced. When I worked parts, it was funny how some customers would bitch about the condition of a package when the item inside was fine. I asked one guy if the part was fine, he said yes. Asked him what are you going to do with the package. "Throw it away" was the answer. Then I said why are you complaining when you are just going to throw it away. He shut up. People are weird sometimes.

 

[Rich H.]

My plan was to get the whole tub sanded to 220 and with couple coats of surfacer on top of that for final prep,
Refine the jambs out to 600, shoot the jambs, and then evaluate for the next steps.

Soft masking is an art unto itself and I learned some ground floor, super basic things about it here on the jambs.
Getting the jambs into base/clear was another huge bump. Having something shiny to look at after a couple years of effort
really helped.

After that, repositioned the car for final prep. Although I am not sure it's necessary anymore with modern materials, I decided I wanted the ability to "walk the car" (really:the sides) for orientation coat. This being only my second metallic job and only third ever paint job, All the work towards making it possible to "walk the car" is really towards avoiding the failure mode where the metallics aren't laying quite right.

Turned the car to allow that. Decided this would definitely be preferable to having the hoist in the way during the process.
It does make it much easier to get around it, everywhere except the lower body
(It was alot more enjoyable doing bodywork on the lower areas, standing up with the car in the air) ....

Between the problems I had with the prior metallic job on the Polara (which I still remembered better than you'd think after 16 years), the couple test panel shots I'd done + doing the trunklid underside in the silver, and now having shot the jambs, in those experiences there is a wealth of learning facts about reducer and activator speed, gun setup, types of spray guns, spray technique, speed/distance/overlap/finer points, flash time, prep of the work area, air supply and air quality, and the list is almost endless.

Follow process to achieve a goal, 100%.....However, the human side of it that has to be physically learned is:
The underlying goal, for me, is to develop "feel" and intuition in the moment and not require constant active thought.
I could probably wax philosophical and compare it to being a musician and other things in life, because this is where the Industrial ART part of the work comes into play....maybe someone else out there understands what I'm talking about....

Tape used to block body lines, guide coat at every step/no exceptions, I found Mirka powdered guide coat to be a game changer compared to the rattle can lacquer I used to use. I tried SEM dry rattle can guide coat on this project and didn't like it.

Quick process description followed so far, all using P grits:
Bare metal sanded to 80 before epoxy
40 used only for hardcore rust removal (trunk lid), and for hogging down over applied filler, and not much else
Lead seams same as original
Whole shell to bare metal/80
black epoxy, 2-3 coats
Polyester filler, block 80/150/220 (sometimes 320, I did the doors out to 320 when they were removed)
Epoxy again
Surfacer, block 150/220. Make sure 2-3 more coats are added after 220.
(then the jambs were refined and painted)
Assemble the shell, align panels (Thanks for coming over, Todd)
Block the entire shell to 320
That's where the project sits in these shots.

@320 I found a couple problem areas to address, but overall it was looking pretty good.

 

[Rich H.]

Some of the work in the jambs. I'm pretty happy with how the rust repair in the right jamb came out, but at the time I did it...it seemed like second nature because I'd do so many bigger repairs prior to it.

 

[Rich H.]

Hand blocked in 320 dry. Some areas needed it 2 or 3 times to be right.
Previous areas were blocked to 220 and had 2 additional coats of surfacer applied to give enough material to work with.

After that, blocked with 400 wet. Wet check revealed a high spot on the trunk lid that needed to be repaired.
Addressed that (you can see the lighter colored epoxy in that area), and blocked to 400 wet again in the areas that needed it.

Then blocked 600 wet.
The car was really looking great at this point.

Decided to go one more step to help ensure metallics could not lay in a directional sand scratch,
so I refined the whole thing to 600 dry on an interface pad.
It gave me the surface I was looking for.
There was just enough difference between wet and dry, hand and machine, directional and random to do what I wanted.

I built the temporary booth which was an adventure in itself...almost deserves its own thread.....I got pretty creative with ceiling structure! Seems to hold just fine. Already have fans set up and will hopefully do lighting soon.

I pulled no punches sanding the car, EVER, but especially at this point: this is the last chance to get it right.
As a result there are enough cut throughs to bare metal, one good sized gray epoxy repair on the trunk, and cut throughs to
older epoxy (the black areas) that I want to seal with reduced epoxy per the SPI "perfect paint job" instructions, thankfully I'd planned slightly ahead and ordered gray epoxy for the end game.

Epoxy before basecoat is not the only way, but it's a way that I know will work.
How do I know? Because I did it on the Polara already, 16 years ago.

On the GTX, several areas in the jambs that are pictured were also surfacer that
was sanded through to metal in spots, then epoxy/base/clear.

So:
Now................FINALLY after all that.............We are up to date.
Yesterday was spent masking and cleaning, and the pics below are how the car currently sits.

I was mad I got a little too aggressive cleaning up, and put a scratch in the right fender with the mop handle while cleaning, but it sanded right out with 600.

 

[Black_Sheep]

I was going to ask what grit you planned to use for the final sand, now I don’t have to. Solid work from start to finish, the GTX will turn out really nice. I have no doubt…

 

[ckessel]

I found that some metallics like to show sanding scratches. Many times the painter had to go with more than 1k grit to stop that. Never any ryme or reason for it. Before you lay the color on, you'll want the current base of the car to be without primer sand throughs. They can show up under the color base. Again not always. Some paints are transparent and show the flaws of what's under them. If you put down a sealer, which is a good idea prior to color base time, see if you can get it tinted to be close to your chosen color. This will help if the paint is transparent. When the painters were doing a repair/panel shoot, they would use up some leftover base that was similar in color giving the correct one a fighting chance to match plus the benefit of using up leftovers. We did see several times when the clear got put on that the color under was blotchy etc. It was a split between operator error on technique of application and not putting down the manufacture recommended clear base coat first. Clear base stops that many times so that the actual color coat allows the metallic flop to lay correctly. Your desire to do the shoot from end to end is very beneficial here. Panel painting with a metallic can be easier space wise but the edges and other areas can show flaws. Also many make the mistake of laying items flat because its easier to shoot that way. They should be shot in the installed position otherwise the flop of the metallic is wrong, once installed and can look like the color is off. Look at a vehicle with the plastic bumper covers on it. Notice the cover is different compared to the rest of the car? Doesn't matter what brand the car is.
What's happening here are a few issues. The cover was not painted in the installed position. The covers can also get painted in a different booth that the main car. And being plastic, it has a different drying rate compared to metal. Add on to that, if the paint is not getting sucked out of the same container, it will be different. Yes you can get it made to a formula but there are always differences in the make up. There can be a bump of too much of a given toner which will change things. The toner mix can be off. If you get your material in multiple containers, for the base, dump it in one big one. Mix it up well and put it back into the smaller containers. This will help ensure any variances in the batch don't show up.

 

[Rich H.]

Very productive working day today. I can't describe all the little things that were done but highlights are......Hooked up additional lighting, cleaned the "booth" out, Wiped with water/alcohol based wax and grease remover, wiped with solvent wax and grease remover, tacked off and Laid down a coat of reduced epoxy. I don't see any sand scratches so that is a big relief.

Tomorrow: seam sealer and basecoat.

I made the mistake of killing the fans + 3/4 of the lights when these pics were taken, and will take some more with the place lit up all the way.

 

[Black_Sheep]

Best of luck today

 

[Rich H.]

Unexpected things happen during paint jobs, and a person has to be super flexible and go after anything that needs it, and you have to know what to do. Everything including a huge hornet buzzing into the shop outta nowhere, threatening the job (He's dead now, RIP Hornet. Swatted him with the SPI Tech Manual LOL!)

Had to compensate for many things today but got the basecoat laid down and I am pretty pleased with it. Pictures do not do it justice. There were of course unexpected things that popped up that I had to adjust to on the fly, probably the biggest one being weather conditions, as I previously didn't have experience spraying in high humidity....But, I do now.

 

[Rich H.]

Tomorrow, the magic happens.

 

[ckessel]

Waiting to do the clear top coat, like you are doing, helps prevent solvent popping in the clear.

 

[Black_Sheep]

Well?

 

[Rich H.]

I have a tendency to ramble and post too much text.
I am not going to do that this time, and will let the old GTX do the talking first.

Then, later, I will ramble endlessly lol.

 

[Black_Sheep]

That looks great from here, are you happy with how it turned out?

 

[Rich H.]

Overall I am pleased with it and an excited about the result.

As with every other paint job I have done: "Expect the unexpected, be prepared" is probably the best rule to follow.

Monday...other than very few dirt nibs and insects, the reduced epoxy/sealer went down great, and was easy to
nib out.

Independence Day Tuesday was another story. I was a little concerned as the temps were supposed to hit 88F, a little higher than I had ever sprayed the product in before, and humidity was super high, 90%, and I was not sure what to expect with that. Overall I was confident the basecoat would not be all that super difficult and I had it figured out well enough. Wrong on all counts. Got an early start in the shop at 5:30a to attempt to beat the heat and thought I had a chance of being done with base by noon. Tacked off, masked for seam sealer. Started working on seam sealer. What I didn't know was the high humidity sped the seam sealer up so much, that I could hardly pull the tape fast enough as it set up too quick around the edges, and that caused alot of problems and clean up.

So, after all those slight messes were cleaned up (a couple hours at least) I cleaned up stringers and small amounts of stray seam sealer and started mixing base. Thankfully I'd seen it one time before and was prepared for the sight of opening the can and seeing what appeared to be Orange/Brown basecoat (something lighter floats to the top...binder maybe?). I was also prepared for the big sticky clumps of what seems to be aluminum at the bottom of the can. This A4 color has to be mixed until you can't stand it anymore which I did.

A half hour later I was ready to spray. The car looked like it would never be any more ready than it was. Fluid, fan, air pressure adjusted, check the fan pattern, hit it. Laid down the first wet coat, and it looked absolutely horrific in the areas I had just spent a ton of time on seam sealer. Great big streaks in the base, and not because of technique or mixing error. The solvents that I had wiped the car down with, even a half hour later, were still coming out...in spite of the car looking perfectly clean and dry. I admit I got a little emotional but got past it, waited 15 minutes or so and decided I would try to fix that before continuing. It was a little early for an orientation coat but I laid one down.....it looked much better and could then see the end of that issue, which calmed me down and brought me back to where I personally needed to be, from a confidence perspective, to do this.

Why didn't the wipe down solvents fully evaporate in a half hour?
Because the humidity was about 93%. It didn't matter that my improvised booth fans were running full blast the whole time.
At that point I knew in my gut that this is also why the seam sealer sped up...it is actually designed to, it is a moisture cure product. I had just not experienced it first hand until that point. High humidity: Seam sealer speeds up, basecoat slows down.

By now I had been in the shop about an hour longer than I wanted to be, it was getting hotter, and was in the mid '80s.
It is no big deal but working in a non-breathable spray suit made it much more uncomfortable, adding to the difficulty.
Wasn't feeling good at all and just had to get past it. I know most guys working at home would probably not bother with the moon suit, but I found a couple cat hairs and clothing fibers in the very first item I sprayed, and after that went to the spray suit, $14 on amazon, and problem solved.

Waited 15-20 minutes (10 minute flash was adequate in low humidity, I took a guess at doubling it based on appearance).
Laid one more wet coat of base. Still looked good except a couple minor inconsistencies in pattern. Had coverage by that point.
If I was skimping on material I could have done orientation coat at that point and been done (as I had done 2 wet/1 dry in the trunk and it worked perfect.) Decided with wear and tear + UV exposure, a few more mils would be smart.
Laid down another wet coat, was getting physically tired at this point and it showed in the spray pattern...there were lots of inconsistencies and I wasn't too happy with it, it looked pretty bad. Intuitively I then raised the air pressure 5psi higher, laid down two orientation coats and it looked fantastic. I do know most pros lower the air pressure, but that is not the effect I wanted.

Nothing you can do about insects, dirt, and human error except fix it.
I did have to stop and do a few repairs during base which slowed me way down, but I'm glad I did.

I understood my products and worked with them previously, but did not understand exactly how the products would perform in high humidity and that's really what caused the struggle. What got me through it was staying flexible mentally, and also there is a confidence that comes with purchasing plenty of extra material, knowing you have way more than enough to repair any problem that comes if you just learn, right there on the spot. I learned, now I know, and I still prefer to work in lower temps and lower humidity! But there are a few repaired areas that are undetectable which I admit I am pretty proud of.

Walked out of the shop 10 hours later at 3:30.
Near total exhaustion, could have went to sleep right then but
didn't want to mess up schedule too badly, but was in bed at 9p.

In hindsight:
I am so glad I did not use activated basecoat, which would have potentially risked trapping solvents that may have caused
really big problems later on.

 

[Rich H.]

July 5th.....Woke on my own at 2:30am, thought "ridiculous, and that's what I get for going to bed too early.
Whoa there....It's clear coat day. Hit it."
I took my time getting ready with a small meal etc, I definitely took a few minutes to get psyched up for the job, and was out in the home shop at 4:00am. It was already ridiculously humid.

After the base, clearcoat was much more fun with only a few exceptions.

Remember the old C body Polara? Remember my philosophy "every vehicle is a test vehicle, every day is a school day?"
It does not show up in the old pictures, but My #1 biggest error on the Polara was being in a rush and taking instructions too literally. Not only did I wait the minimum time between base and clear, but because of the "spray it how you want it to look" instructions given, I laid the first coat of clear down way too wet, ran it, and "pulled" the metallics out of position. This was a major disappointment 17 years ago.

I was determined not to repeat that error on the GTX and the new strategy was successful. I laid the first coat down a little on the dry side to lock down the metallics. The second coat went on very wet and the car looked fantastic at that point.

I really could have stopped there/production is 2 coats and works fine, but......this isn't production.
All along I had planned on adding plenty of extra material to work with for correction.
Initial plan was 3 coats, then decide whether to either flow coat later, or lay down more material.

After the third coat I decided I did not want to flow coat, and decided I would lay on more material and work with that instead.

Not surprisingly the more coats I added, the more errors and insects stacked up on me.

Insects were picked out with tweezers midstream during and after every coat, but I couldn't get them all, there are a couple that will be embedded there, or be sanded out later. On the fourth coat I created a few runs and sags. I'd previously deliberately ran it on test panels and knew how easy the product was to work with, so it was really not a worry and I didn't care too much as long as the metallics were still locked down, which they were.. I went over those areas with a little extra material to sand off later/ "repair coat" so to speak, and gave a short flash time. Near the end of the 5th coat I found one group of ugly drips low on the body that was still moving, I sat there and added a little material at a time until it ran completely off the panel on to the floor masking.....now it looks like glass, except for a small, easier to work with sag.

I neither demanded nor achieved perfection, but I did exceed the target of "really good".

I make it sound terrible don't I?
This is why I didn't want to say anything at first. Because the critic in me is dead wrong.
NGL: The car is stunning!
If it was someone else's project, I would be super impressed.
The color alone has more class than I do LOL.

The more chrome, stainless, and black is added to it, the more amazing it's gonna look.
It's going to take some effort to get there but we will make it. I'm stoked!

A4 silver is not an easy color to spray, especially in high humidity.......It really takes a ton of skill to make it look right....but when you do, it looks incredible.

The best is yet to come

 

[ckessel]

Nice. After a day or so, scuff it[ especially where the hangers are] to help the solvents vent and the clear to cure. Periodically roll it outside to catch some UV for a couple of hours. In a month or so you should be good for shrinking back so when you color sand and buff, you'll be groovy. You have the advantage of it not being a production job, so you don't have to be in a hurry if you don't want. Some companies insist that a catalyzed product does not shrink but they do.

 

[Rich H.]

It's nice to slow down and just pick away at the little repairs now.

This might sound strange for someone who seems to tear into everything, but years ago at the previous paintjob/Polara, the whole job kicked my butt and I was fearful of making the problems worse, the result is I did not correct everything that needed it. The upside is, I can view all those errors today as a reminder of how the GTX would be different.

So I'm fixing everything that needs it, best as I can but am not going for a totally smooth show car appearance, as I want to keep as much material on the car as possible for future wear and tear. Certain specs and insect marks I am choosing to leave alone, and many of them won't be noticed by most people anyway.

I'm going to have to dismantle the homemade booth today. The whole experience of conceptualizing, building, and working it it was pretty amazing. The plastic is going to be re-used for another spray structure at a buddy's place.

The job is overall quite clean for a garage job and I attribute it to the homemade booth + the spray suit I wore + I actually ran in the house and took a shower right before basecoat, because I was concerned I'd sweat on the car, and that helped alot. The location of the dirt that did get into it seems directly related to the low budget homemade booth setup. I've studied that topic for awhile now and there is a ton of good info online. Most of the dirt is on the tops of the fenders/maybe not too mysterious since that's where my air intakes from the outside are. The two side air intakes that go to the back of the shop (which is highly unclean at the moment), did not seem to pass hardly any dirt at all through the filters. I know the side intakes were functioning because I started with only one 30x30 air intake, and found the plastic was getting pulled inward about 1 foot.......so I added a second air intake until it was very close to neutral, only slightly negative, plastic still pulled in but only a couple inches. 5 box fans below the door + one wall exhaust fan up high. Overall, for what I have in it, I was pretty impressed with the performance of the booth, after I added the second air intake it could evacuate clear coat fog in a little over a minute.

It seems not too bad for an amateur.