Dave240Z Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 I've finally had some time to start giving my 240Z the attention it's needed for so long. It's been somewhat neglected for the past 2 years, although never forgotten. I just didn't have the time for it between falling for the girl of my dreams, buying a house, graduating college (finally!) and wedding plans. The wedding isn't until August, so that is technically ongoing but that's the only major thing other than work nowadays so I finally have some time to get back on the Z. Anyway, enough of my life story...on to the show. My Z basically had two coats of paint it's entire life. Problem is that the second coat was a cheapie re-spray. Once rocks and such hit it, large chunks would fall out which left little craters all over the place. On top of that, there was a little rust here and there that needed some attention. So, since I was tired of a faded orange paintjob that was flaking and oxidizing along with some minor rust blemishes I decided to take the old rattlecan to the car. This is a temporary paintjob just to make the car presentable to the public and at the same time allow me to take care of any minor rust problems before they become serious. The final rattlecan color will be a satin black, as shown on the recently installed airdam. Here's a pic where I sanded the paint enough to remove any rust and/or scuff up the surface enough to let the primer adhere. Hard to tell what's rust and what's paint with that color. A few days later, most of the car is now primered. Another angle Just for reference, here's what the car looked like when the paint was in better condition, but still not great. It looked good from 5' away, but when you got close you could see all kinds of blemishes. More pics to come once the black satin is put on. If all goes well, I'll be attending the blackhawk show as well, so if you're going to be there, drop by and say hello. http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21583 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 The weather has finally agreed with me and I was able to get a couple coats of paint on the car. It's not going to win any concours events anytime soon, but at least it's all one color and looks half-way decent if I do say so myself. Best of all, I was able to take care of the rust, make the car all one color and it cost me less than $100 in materials to do it. Anyway, here are the pics....the color is "Satin Black" although my friends like to call it "Radar absorbing black" Front 1/4 View Front View Rear View I still have a bit more wetsanding to do and then cleanup and re-install the chrome and badges, then I should be done. If all goes well, I should be on the road in another week or so, I can hardly wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zrl Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 great job! wanna see the final work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zachb55 Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 That satin has a very odd, but really awesome effect on the appearance of the car. i did some "backyard paintin" too, but due to my lack of experience combined with bad weather conditions, it turned out a little unlike i had hoped, atleast all i did was the interior first... -Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 looks sweet man 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 what kind of rattle can paint did you use? I was thinking of doing mine in rattle can flat black. but geez...whenever i really (if i ever) want to paint the autoX car....You would have to strip it down again. makes my stomach turn just thinking about sanding another car! looks cool though....very midnight racer/ mad max-ish. where is the clutch driving super charger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 what kind of rattle can paint did you use? looks cool though....very midnight racer/ mad max-ish. where is the clutch driving super charger? It's just plastikote satin black. Not the greatest paint in the world, but I had no intention of putting tons of $$$ or hours into this since it is meant as a temporary stopgap until I get the funds and permission to get the car painted professionally. The best part is, if any portion begins to fade or gets chipped, a fix is just a rattle can away. What sold me on this color was a 911 Le Mans car which I saw painted in satin black at Sears Point. It just looked so menacing and above all, low maintenance that I thought what the heck, that'll be a great temporary paintjob. I agree though, it does have a midnight racer type feel to it. Sort of like a secret weapon that you only take out on weekends, whoop some street arse and then put away until the next Saturday. Not that I do this BTW, it's just a metaphor. I have to upload some more pics, with everything bolted back in place. I'll do that in another day or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zachb55 Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 Well since were talking about rattle-caning and flat paints I want to tell my story here; I wanted to do the "trim" pieces (mainly the things that were silver on the car) a flat black to give them a plastic-like effect or something. So what I did was bought black single stage lacquer, hardener, reducer, and a flattening agent. I got all this crap in like 4 ounce bottles for the small amount I would be using, and it still cost upwards of $50 (flattener was most). Then I painted the pieces and realized I didn’t have quite enough and didn’t really want to go through the hassle of buying all that crap again, and especially to mix it just exactly the same and not come out with the same finish as my flat paint because the more flattener the flatter the paint gets and vice versa... So I went and bought some flat (satin I think actually) lacquer spray paint from the paint shop for 5 bucks a bottle, sprayed it and it dried almost instantly (other stuff took forever) and the finish looked twice as good as the other stuff. So I guess the lesson to this is something, I just know I wasted 50 bucks for nothing really... oh well, just though I would share my irony with you guys. I’m glad the spray paint did the job for you, and hope it holds up for a while at least in both our cases! -Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boobala Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 My first 240Z was rattle can flat black. (bought it that way). I called it either the "Stealth Z" or the "Moonshine Runner." Kind'a liked it that way. I never re-painted it. I just touched-up the fading spots occasionally. How many cans did it take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gtmattz Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 I recently obtained 78 280Z for a couple hours work on a guys tranny, it is good ole 'rattlecan black' but this last coat is like the 9th time its been painted and over most of the car the old paint is starting to bubble up from one of the many crappy paint jobs. I dont have a shop and it isnt financially feasible to rent a space so ive started stripping it in the yard. Im new to stripping a car like this and dont want to ruin the metal, so what I was planning was to strip a section of all 9 gazillion layers of nasty paint and when im done for the day just spray on a quick coat of flat black and wrap it up in a tarp. I live in northern Nevada, so for the vast majority of the time I dont have to worry about moisture. Is this an acceptable method? I am planning on using those 3M paint stripping wheels to do most of the work and a spot sand blaster for all the little corners and such. Any advice or tips would be helpful, I dont want to get too far into this project and mess it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 I would recommend using aircraft paint stripper. to get the majority of the paint off. You could use the scotch wheels to get the stubborn stuff, but it would take forever to do the whole car. not to mention cost more money. Paint stripper will not ruin the metal. You just have to rinse with water to neutralize the stripper when you are finished. As far as primer, I would also suggest getting a cheap air paint gun and buying a gallon of automotive primer with activator or hardener. In the end I think you will spend alot less time and money on the car. It takes alot of rattle cans to paint a car. and most of them are not compatable with true automotive finishes, so it would have to be stripped again. I personally would hate to spend all of that time stipping the car down just to put on more paint that is going to need stripped. If you use true automotive primer, you will be that much closer to you final objective. Not to mention, if you get a good sand and fill primer, you will be able to block and sand the car to get that much better of an end result. You also might find out that you really like painting with a professional style gut and decide to do the final color coat yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 I hate to break it to you, but unfortunately, there is no real cheap and dirty paintjob you can do to protect your car. Even this backyard rattlecan process I used took quite a bit of time and effort on my part, much more than I estimated. I certainly saved a lot of $$$ compared to having it professionally done with professional products but it still took more than a few bucks. To give you some perspective, my whole reason for undertaking this project is two-fold. First, I wanted to take care of some minor rust spots that were starting to appear. I wanted to "nip these in the bud" so to speak to prevent them from becoming major problems a year or two from now when I will have the car professionally sprayed. Second, I was tired of driving around in a car that had faded paint, chips, rust spots and mismatching panels. I used the following in my project: - (6) cans of primer - (12) cans of "Satin Black" paint (non-lacquer) - (3) packs of tack cloth - Naval Jelly to convert the hidden rust I couldn't grind out. - pack of 80 grit sand paper - pack of 200 grit sand paper - pack of 1000 grit sand paper - pack of 2000 grit sand paper - cup and round wire wheels - various power tools (sander, drill, etc...) - lots of elbow grease and patience. As you can see from the pics, I didn't strip the car down to bare metal, there was no reason to. This saved me a huge amount of time and effort. If you plan on stripping down to metal, you are going to be undertaking a much bigger project. Stripping the entire car down to bare metal also dictates that you take much more time in protecting the now exposed metal. If you don't do this properly, you can cause more problems than you will solve. If I was you, I'd do the following: - Only strip to the bare metal where there is a rust problem. Simply surface sand all the other areas. This will save you gobs of time and will allow you to take care of your immediate rust problems without adding new ones by grinding all the panels down to metal. - Apply a surface primer to the car to fill in any rust areas and to provide a good even base for which to apply your desired color. Primer also has the ability to help prevent rust a lot better than just paint over bare metal. - Apply at least 2-3 coats of color on top. Most rattlecan paints are rather light and don't leave a very deep coat. - Wet sand the entire car when done to get a more even finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gtmattz Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Im pretty sure I have to strip about 80% of the car to bare metal, there are tiny little cracks all over the car where rust is coming out, all the places that I have stripped so far are just minor surface rust, but this is over something like 80% of the car :. So how should i protect the bare metal? what i described above is just what i am doing till i am done with the stripping process (strip what i can in one session and spray on a quick cote of paint to prevent rust, i am not going to operate the vehicle till i have a real, final cote of paint). I am working outdoors, so I also have to take this into concideration. Another question, is this 'aircraft stripper' good at removing many layers of paint? i am noticing that in some spots there are up to 9 layers of different colors of paint (some are primer coats of course). Anyway, the paint on this baby is so bad that i dont think i can really get away without stripping it all :. I am working on my website and will get some pictures up fairly soon so that you all can see what im talking about. <edit> man i should learn to proofread..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boobala Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 Here's another rattle can job. The flat black does have an intimidating look about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigWhyteDude Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 Heck man why dont you just leave it rattle canned?? It looks bad ass with the flat black paint on it. I know its cheap and all but it just looks good to me. Then again i do have some really bad tastes in some stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted June 19, 2003 Author Share Posted June 19, 2003 Heck man why dont you just leave it rattle canned?? It looks bad ass with the flat black paint on it. I know its cheap and all but it just looks good to me. Then again i do have some really bad tastes in some stuff It has this sort of purposeful look about it, as if the car is not meant to look nice, but rather mean and more attention was spent on the performance of it rather than it's looks. Sort of a Saturday night special or something like that. Of course, this is now my 2nd black car so the color is growing on me. My daily driver has a much better finish to it though. Here's an obligatory pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 You're driving around in an M coupe? You bahstahd. I am officially green with envy. My old boss had an M Roadster, and it was TONS of fun. He'd let me drift it around corners occasionally, while he was hanging on for dear life, chanting "Go faster! Go faster!" I'm putting around in an e28 535i. My engine may be bigger than yours, but yours is faster!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zachb55 Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 *Drools* very good tastes my friend, wanna let me borrow that? ill wash it for you -Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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