piston Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) Whats up! Havent made a tread in a while now. Got a 74 260z now and this time doing body work and paint first. I really hate photo sizing and this wireless keyboard cant keep up with my typing so bare with me. I have been working on this since this year of Feb 09. Bought for 500.00 bucks towed her home. I have lots of pics but cant find half of the album of when i bougt it to show how crappy she looked. Ill post them if i find them. It was a dark brown in color with single stage maaco style... Started rippin it apprt the next day and working on it as much as possible. I stripped and grinded it down to bare metal except the doors. I gotta say for 6 months and full time job, i got alot done. Made this thread just for you DIY guys...these pics are half way through the prgress already but you get the idea. had a bunch of bondo on it as i took t down getting ready to wetsand for faster cut already stripped engine bay making sure the side lines were straight heres another view, notice the cut fenders and holes for the zg's rear zg test fit looks slightly forward to me? the primer on here is rattle can just for protection... here are the parts i took off to primer since i didnt want to primer everything on the car and miss corners. I sprayed these in the gargage by the way. This is my first time ever spraying my brand new HVLP 1.3mm spraygun. Hell, this is my first time ever even using a spray gun and actually spraying. pushed it outside to get some brighter pics. I gotta say, this was the first time i seen the z with a solid color and it motivated me to work even more to get her done. So i got my paint already and could not wait to start spraying. I got bored and attemped my first ever spray job. I got a very special clear coat for this one and dont know of anyone who has actually used it. I was told 09 and up nissan has this on ther new models and had to get it. Anti scratch resistant clearcoat! Yep. thats right, scratch it and it will dissaper in 5-7 days without touching. sound too good so i went ahead and got some. after spraying i tstd it and it woks.i nibbed it with a pen and it faded in 3 days ad disapeard the fallowing week. nice..... i got it from work and got a hell of a deal on my spraying equiptment and paints etc... lets just says it retails for 200 plus a quart. working in the automotive business, i got a fat hookup on everything. so far i spent about 600 in paint plus gun, primer etc... really good quality paint too. Martin senoir tec/one...Not too many of you probably knows but napa auto parts sells this line of paint. just dont get crossfire brand. anyays, here are the results of some parts i sprayed... WHO SAYS YOU CANT SPRAY IN TH GARAGE??? THIS WAS DONE WITH NO BOOTH...right on the table...lol.. I was really shocked at how well it turned out the fact that i never even sprayed a real spray gun before. Notice it has runs on the bottom headlight cover on the top pic. it will be cover by the bumper so i didnt care for it. And here are the results i got for my fenders. and heres the cowl... i didnt paint these on the car, i had them laying on the masked table when i painted them. i then went ahead and wet sanded the fenders with 1500,2500 the 3m trazact 3000 grit and medium cut, compound and polished and this is what i saw... Its not too noticeable in the pitures but it was hazzy and had a loss of gloss. i was pissed... cut and buffed over and over. still didnt work. stated looking at everyhing and noticed the hardener was kinda hazzy looking like donut glazz. humm, since it was scratch resistant i didnt think too much of it. I then reorder another hardener just to look at it and aug hah. my friggen hardener was probably open and left open too long or something since it was already white looking. it was like that when i purchased it and the new one was nice and clear. i was angry because i had to resand it all off and redo it all over. i complained and ofcorse got all my paint replaced at free of charge and got another nice bucket of 2009 GTR grey metalic plus 3 qts of clear. Oh well, had to snap some shots of the ZGs mounted anyways since i was impatient and just had to get an idea of how my Zs gonnas look like. Since my paint was on delay, i figure ill go ahead and start priming the rest of the car/body. masked the floor and car, open the garage a foot or two. wet the floors, ready to spray. the problem i had was that my craftsman 6hp 30gal keeps sucking power so i had to hold every now and then for it to pump up or it will trigger the circuit breaker. PITA. then i would have to go ouside and reset it in the middle of spraying. friggen suck. oh well... Primer layed down 1hr ago from pic taken. 4 hrs later.. It dried up pretty decent. its only the first layer to fill the small imperfections so i didnt care to well i layed it down since i will be wet sanding it anyways ad reprime. Its a job but you cant expect to lay down one layer and call it because eventually you will see minor defects here and there and touch it up again with lightweight bondo like i did and reprime it over for a good seal. Since i was waiting for my paint replacement i wetsanded the body down and touched up minor imperfections i missed and i missed alot too. I then recieved my new paint so time to respray again after a 2 weeks of resanding the parts i sprayed prior. This time im using a different type of clear. Im using extreme speed clearcoat which was perfect for my garage application. bugs had no chance on this one since its out of dust in 10-15 minutes at 70 plus degree and lays down smoother. heres how the fender turned out. It has minor orange peel but its not anything wetsand cannot take out. I was impressed at how fast the clear dried and clean it came out. i also sprayed the hatch and this is was the result after wetsanding the clear 1500,2500,3000. cut, compound then polished. It turned out pretty good. i can see the neighbors house accross the street. And this is how my car sits in the garage today...again, WHO SAYS YOU CANT GET A CLEAN SPRAY JOB WITHOUT A BOOTH??? Edited July 29, 2009 by piston REDO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 That really looks nice! I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I hadn't ever heard of the clear that nissan is using. Sounds very appealing! Especially for someone who works on their own car. This really makes me want to get started on painting my car! I'm definitely going to be doing my own as well. What kind of gun are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menzzer37 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 That's beautiful! That's the color I want to shoot my Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meph Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 thats looking great, I actually just finished my 3rd paint job of my Datsun in less than 6 months yesterday (its painting is a hobby i guess, and so if bad body work so each time I just had to fix rough areas). I work on the cheap but splurged for some automotive clear coat and its defintly the way to go verses using tremclad clear. $total Legit base coat = $300+ Legit Clear = $115 Legit total = $415 My job Tremclad base = $30 Legit Clear = $115 Pearl Pigment = $30 Total = $175 Results Just tremclad http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3241776/3 Pearl and clear http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3241776/4 p.s. pictures always hide faults, I have some tiger stripe issues on the hood, and top of fenders oh well live and learn, use more light when I spray from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 You have done an outstanding job for a garage spray! Time, patience, lots of prep work (work area and piece being painted) In a world of $10K paint/body jobs for a good body/paint job, DIY is a huge savings when considering our cars value when completed. A $10k body job on a car that very rarely fetches over $20K resale is just not practical. Most z's are in the under $10K resale range anyways. You can spend that money on other things..(read, go fast stuff) Unless you want a show car.. I also don't cry so hard when I get a stone chip in my $100.00 respray of the back half of my Z. Keep up the good work and keep us posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleakdragonmage Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 hey when you spray the tremclad(which is basicly rustoleum in the states i believe) whats the dilution rate and what do you use to thin it. I used mineral spirits the last time i did it. I think im going to try again though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meph Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I used laquer thinner and got A LOT better results, much less orange peel, no runs, faster dry. 3-4 parts paint to 1 part laquer thinner. Also, go to the discount auto store and get a 30 dollar resperator (for paint fumes). Its definitly worth it. PM for any other questions, dont wanna jack the thread. maybe i should make a post on how to tremclad a car the right way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rolling Parts Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Nice job! Very nice job! When I paint cars at home it's the only time I buy the local newspaper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Use acetone, mineral spirits takes forever to dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Great job, truly an inspiration! Makes me want to do body work and I'm not even there yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 (edited) Cockerstar, im using a HVLP gun with a 1.3mm tip made by sharpe. name of gun is finex3000 Menzzer37, im hoping to be the first 09 gtr grey metalic but im sure someone has one already. prepping is important or any small waves will show on a smooth surface. ill post more as i go. Thanks for the comments. im always jelious of peoples clean ass Z car. I only want a good decent one.. Edited July 30, 2009 by piston typo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 the pearl pigment shows really good on your blue. i sprays piece by piece so pigmets was out of the deal. i thought about it but didnt want to go too fancy. also like your epsilons and 1jz deal. im aiming for 2jz but hope i can still manage to maintain a nice set of jdm meshes and not spin crazy. are you just piling it on top ofeachother or actually sanding it down before the new coat? thats looking great, I actually just finished my 3rd paint job of my Datsun in less than 6 months yesterday (its painting is a hobby i guess, and so if bad body work so each time I just had to fix rough areas). I work on the cheap but splurged for some automotive clear coat and its defintly the way to go verses using tremclad clear. $total Legit base coat = $300+ Legit Clear = $115 Legit total = $415 My job Tremclad base = $30 Legit Clear = $115 Pearl Pigment = $30 Total = $175 Results Just tremclad http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3241776/3 Pearl and clear http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3241776/4 p.s. pictures always hide faults, I have some tiger stripe issues on the hood, and top of fenders oh well live and learn, use more light when I spray from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Wow, super nice work. I'm in the process of a home paint job too. The card was soda blasted, and I primed it a few weeks ago. Been working hard on the body work. If mine comes out anywhere near as good as yours I'll be stoked! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New-to-240z Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 I'm guessing you have had bodywork experience? I'm really close to just doing all the work myself, but am afraid I'm going to mess it all up and end up wasting 6 months of my time in the end. I wish I had a friend that painted or did bodywork that could just teach me how to do the basics. I guess we aren't all lucky right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 well, youtube i your best friend. you can learn alot of stuff from there. anyways, again like i mentioned bfore, body work isnt all that hard, its just time and patience. it takes about 3 layers of bondo or mayb even more to get it perfect. i learn as i go and learn more and more how to spray the more i do it. its all a learning expierience from hands on work. this is my first body/paint job project. it isnt too bad when i come to think of it, just alot of sweeping and cleanning and patience. i like to do my own work and take all the credit for it instead of someone else working on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78nismoZ Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Nice color, I really like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andre2000 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Just wanted to tell you I'm following your thread. Very nice work, and the fact that you are new at this makes me happy. I have yet to use a real spray gun, I can do wonders with a can of glass spray paint though . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diablo Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Very impressive. I wish I had a garage, my car is in serious need of a decent paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 (edited) Just wanted to tell you I'm following your thread. Very nice work, and the fact that you are new at this makes me happy. I have yet to use a real spray gun, I can do wonders with a can of glass spray paint though . Good to hear. I just wet sanded the car again today an got it all ready for the next and last coat of primer before paint. i wont be spraing anytime soon since ill be busy next weekend. but i will be color sanding my fender so pics will beup sometime next week... Edited August 3, 2009 by piston typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimal310 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Good job with your body lines. I am finally at the wet sanding stage but think i might have to hit it with a little more glaze and primer to really get the body line perfect. never thought it would be this difficult but you're definitely giving me hope!! thanks and great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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