Painted my car, it's finally one solid color!

[blue72]

I haven't really said anything over the past four months about the hundreds of hours of prep work its taken me to get to this point, so.. uh.. Ta-Da!

 

 

That was last night at about 9:30 p.m. when I ran out of hardener. It still could use a full coat on the driver side fender and a light spray over most of it to help even out the metallics. I have enough paint and reducer left, but the employee that sold me the materials skimped on this most key of ingredients. I'll have to track down a compatible product this week because I've found that they discontinued the paint I was using. In case anyone is wondering, this is Datsun color code 072, a dark blue metallic (poly) sprayed over black primer. It is a single stage paint, no clear coat. This is basically the exact same color and finish my Z left the factory with, slight orangepeel and all.

 

Here are a couple of closer shots in the daylight:

 

 

My air/water filter had a pressure regulator built in, but it didn't work correctly and I had to make a complete guesstimate of the air pressure exiting the gun, dialing it in by hand. It was about 55Ëš in my makeshift booth (a carport with big tarps covering three sides) instead of the more desirable 70Ëš F. Oh, and I was working with every droplight and shop light I could find but still painting halfway in the dark.

Despite those setbacks, I am very pleased with what two coats produced. I managed to restrain myself and not shoot too much on each pass, so I have no runs anywhere, only thin spots that'll be covered with the eventual third coat. Also, this was my first paint job.

 

I don't have any sort of build thread here on HybridZ yet, so here's one picture of what it has looked like for roughly the past two and a half years:

 

 

I had already peeled off all of the paint from a past respray using razor blades.

This is what it looked like when I bought it:

 

Edited November 9, 2010 by blue72

[greghassen]

what is the name of the paint you used? if you can't find any more of the exact same hardener, i would not

use another manufacturers hardener. if you're daring you could but i'de try spraying a fender or headlight bucket

first to see if you've got any chemical reactions.

 

things you could do...

 

1. spray the remaining paint without hardener... yes it won't be as hard and will dry slower but you're not

risking a chemical reaction to another mfgs hardener..

 

2. wet sand down everything and respray with another paint.

when i worked in an auto body shop we almost always did a "base" coat and colorsanded then resprayed.

this did 2 things. it covered bodywork sand scratches better because over time paint shrinks up

and some sanding scratches even fine start showing up in the paint. just overall the paint jobs

looked smoother with this base coat and it seemed to come out with less dirt when resprayed the 2nd time.

 

3. try respraying with another hardener. might work might not work...

I once knew a guy that sprayed refrigerators with centari enamel. i was shocked

to find out he used gasoline as the thinner. they looked ok but durability was not

there probably.

[blue72]

Oh yes, I'm definitely not going to try using another paint manufacturer's hardener. That just seems like a potential disaster based on everything I've ever read.

Doing some quick research it seems like this same company (Sherwin Williams Automotive paint) makes a universal hardener which has been used successfully with the products I used (Acrylyd line). I'm also going to check with my local paint shop and see what they recommend. It's a little far now for me to drive to Space Age Paint in Mesa, AZ where I bought this stuff a year and a half ago.

I kinda figured I'd be doing a light sanding with some very fine paper over the whole car before I spray the last coat or two anyway. Had the usual dust and a bug or two (more tarps and a tighter seal next time). I've just gotta wait for a day with decent temperatures now. Friday was probably about the last day in the high sixties here until April.

As a last resort I'll consider spraying sans hardener. I've done it with this paint before but it takes a couple of months to feel decently solid.

Edited November 8, 2010 by blue72

[blue72]

I got it figured out yesterday. Apparently the closest distributor who supplies Sherwin Williams Automotive paint is in Northern Utah, a good four hour drive from me. My local Sherwin Williams rep did help confirm something I'd already read about, that Martin Senour is a division of Sherwin Williams and that it is carried by most any NAPA store. I went online and downloaded the .pdf instruction sheets for the Sherwin Williams Acrylyd paint and also the Martin Senour Acrylic Enamel paint. They are both exactly the same. Line for line, word for word. The only thing different between the two documents are part numbers because they're sold under different names.

Here in a few minutes I'm driving to my local NAPA store to pick up the pint of Martin Senour 8850 hardener they ordered for me yesterday. I only had a half pint to begin with and the whole pint was apparently the smallest size NAPA could get me, so I'll now have more than I could ever need. I still have enough paint to spray the entire car at least once over. Today I'll start on removing bugs and dust with a quick pass of 600 grit (as recommended to me to promote adhesion of the next coat of acrylic enamel instead of finer paper which might not give enough bite). Then I've got to wait for a day with decent weather. Last Thursday the high was 72 degrees and now this morning there is a half inch of snow on the ground. Next Tuesday might get above 50!

[blue72]

Finished, done, finito. I'm out of paint and all panels have complete coverage. 1 gallon of paint was just barely enough for the whole car.

 

 

The outside air temperature today got up to 57Ëš and inside my now fully enclosed carport (aside from the vent for the fan) the temperature reached 65Ëš from about noon to 2:00. I put up three more tarps to cover the remaining openings and wetted down the floor before each coat so dust and other contaminants were much less of a concern. I can't wait to peel off all of the masking tape, put the wheels back on and roll it out in the sun. I've only seen it under artificial light so far.

[datsun723]

Looking good! Can't wait to see how it turned out!

[GOTHALOSISM]

Nice to see, what part of Utah are you in?

[blue72]

Looking good! Can't wait to see how it turned out!

 

Thanks!

 

I probably could have played with my gun settings a bit more. If I sprayed a thicker, more even coat then the metallics would start to group up and look funky, but it laid out smoother. I wound up spraying a light mist coat over the whole thing to help even out the metallics, but it left the finish a bit more orange-peely than I would have liked. Still, it's shiny and one color. Those were some of my main goals, so I'm happy.

 

Nice to see, what part of Utah are you in?

 

North of St. George a ways. About 2.5 hours from Vegas.

 

I actually am not totally done yet. I've still got to paint the underside of the hood and the back side of the rear hatch. I've got some of this same color in a different brand and it should be enough. I really want to start putting it all back together now that the paint I've already sprayed has hardened and gassed out on the surface. I should be completely done with the painting this weekend.

[CarolinaTZ]

Awesome job and beautiful color! You should be proud of yourself. I am currently prepping and plan to do my first paint spray on my engine bay.

[datsun723]

Thanks!

 

I probably could have played with my gun settings a bit more. If I sprayed a thicker, more even coat then the metallics would start to group up and look funky, but it laid out smoother. I wound up spraying a light mist coat over the whole thing to help even out the metallics, but it left the finish a bit more orange-peely than I would have liked. Still, it's shiny and one color. Those were some of my main goals, so I'm happy.

 

I'm sure wetsanding could get a lot of the orange peel out of it

[blue72]

Thanks for the compliments.

 

As far as color sanding, I'd love to do it and really smooth out the car but since this is a metallic and it doesn't have a clear coat, everything I've read says not to do it. Apparently it can really wreak havok with the appearance of the metallic flakes. I do have my test panel (the old hood from my Suburban) that I will probably try it out on anyway, just to see for myself.

 

On Thursday (12-02) I finished up the last of the painting. I had used my whole gallon of Acrylyd on the parts that would be most visible but I had to wait until the paint hardened some then do what was left. Luckily I had a pint of BASF Limco acrylic enamel in this same color code. I only had the paint and some general purpose reducer, but not the Limco specific hardener so I decided to experiment. I mixed in the proper quantity of my Acrylyd hardener and did some test spraying on the old hood. Everything looked good and it didn't crack, fisheye or craze after flashing, so I went with it. I also bumped up the pressure at the gun a bit and got it to spray nice and smooth. The Limco's metallic flakes didn't look all goofy if I sprayed a bit much in any one spot, unlike the Acrylyd had.

 

All in all I had to spray the:

 

underside of the hood

 

 

underside of the hatch

 

 

and the underside of the passenger door

 

 

The Limco was just a smidge darker than the Acrylyd, but no one would ever notice unless I pointed it out to them, plus, it is on the underside of the panels.

 

On Friday everything was hardened enough to let me remove all the masking tape on the rest of the car and not ruin the parts I painted the day before. I immediately started putting stuff back on and aside from driving to California and back this weekend, that's what I've been doing since.

 

 

That was on Friday. I've now got the fenders all bolted down, all the lights back on, the tailpipe, headlight buckets, inspection lids, front valence pieces, hood, cowl, wheels, quarter windows, drip rail trim, side mirror, side emblems and headliner in place.

It had been up on jackstands for so long that I'd completely forgoten how low the car is until today.

[280z4me2]

I think I found a new favorite color for a Z. Great work!

[zman21]

Blue72

I've been battling whether or not to perform my first paint job on my own Z, not having a paint booth to paint in. I'm very impressed with the outcome of your paint job. It seems you were able get great results painting yours in the carport. (make shift paint booth) You have given me the confidence to attempt this on my own now. I'm going to attempt to paint mine in a garage. Hope mine turns out as good as yours did. Good job brother! Look forward to seeing the final pics.

[blue72]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty pleased with the results for this being my first full job on a car. The bumpiness has sorta grown on me too. I'm almost tempted to do my 510 now before it has a drivetrain. I've even gone as far as researching paint brands and reading up on urethane paints but got stuck when it came to isocyanates. Until yesterday I didn't even know that the hardener for the paint I used was 65% hexamethylene diisocyanate by weight. It might be a while before I paint another car now, probably until I can afford a supplied air system with full hood to avoid any future contact with the stuff. I haven't ever felt any ill side effects (I had a full paint suit, head sock and half mask organic cartridge respirator but nothing protected my eyes or hands), and my booth was well sealed against dust, yet also properly ventilated, but based on everything I've read about that stuff I'm going to avoid any exposure to it in the future.

 

Right now I've got most of the interior in on the back half and most of the weatherstripping glued down, working my way forward. There has been a lot of glue application, waiting to tack, sticking together, pinning in place and waiting to dry. I'm now fully stocked up on clothespins for the rest of my life.

 

The other day:

 

 

The paint looks darker under direct sunlight. That spare hood I was using as a test panel is now outside on my Suburban again. I had it listed for sale the entire time I'd been experimenting on it. A guy called me up on Monday looking for one and I wound up selling him the primer gray one that had been on my Suburban. He helped me put the half blue one back on, and it is a bit starling for me to see color on a vehicle that has been primer gray for the past ten years.

 

As an example of all the small stuff that eats up your time, here is one of the emblems I repainted.

 

Before

After

 

I've also had to spray vinyl dye on all the interior plastic pieces to get them the right color. As far as I can tell this car was originally dark blue metallic on the outside with a white interior. All my interior pieces were black or had been re-dyed a dark blue. I bought a whole new vinyl kit from MSA and took a piece with me to the local paint supply place. I got lucky and found a color that is very close. It is SEM's Color Coat #15103 Super White. The weather this week has been quite warm for December and the interior panel painting has gone smoothly.

 

This is about where I knocked off this evening:

 

 

Maybe next week I'll tackle the windshield and rear hatch.

Edited December 16, 2010 by blue72

[Marine1342]

How did you restore the emblems? Just painters tape and an exacto knife?

Cars looking great btw! Same plan I had (have?) with mine, except what started as a simple engine swap and rebuild ended up being a full 'frame-up' restoration.....

Lexus Pearl blue with white interior is my goal

[blue72]

I actually just used a small, cheap paintbrush (Crayola) and a steady hand. Any excess I wiped off with the tip of a finger.

I know what you mean with the "while I'm at it" syndrome. This was just supposed to be "Hmm, wonder how far I can get with a $900 car and a $1500 budget" then a little interior refreshing led to a little mild rust repair which in turn became an engine rebuild then an R200 swap and eventually morphed into "What!?!?!? I've spent how much time and money on this thing?"

Edited December 16, 2010 by blue72

[zman21]

I think you'll like the SEM interior paint/dye. I used the same stuff on my interior parts and it turned out great. It's been quite a few years now and it still looks good. I even bought some of the black and sprayed it on the rear piece of slightly faded black carpet and it all ended up looking brand new again. Good stuff. It's an inexpensive way to make you interior look new again. Believe me I know, I got lots of plans but no money. Keep up the good work.

[GOTHALOSISM]

You have to bring that badboy down to vegas one of these days!

[240zttv8]

Paint job looks great on the computer,hope it turned out good in person. Do you still have the cowl hood that was on it when you bought it? If so I would be interested! Where in southern Utah do you live? Monument Valley is my favorite place in the world. Awesome scenery in southern Utah. Good luck with the rest of the assembly process.

[blue72]

I do like SEM products. I've used this vinyl dye before on a shift boot, door panels as well as some interior plastic and it has held up really well. After I removed all the interior I also repaired the dash (foam, bumper repair epoxy, texture coat) and painted it with the black SEM Color Coat.

 

I'd love to bring the Z down to Vegas sometime after it's done. That'd be the closest drag strip to me unless the locals get their financial game together and finally pave the Hurricane Raceway.

 

I'm on the western side of southern Utah. As far as the hood goes though, it is long gone. I wound up making a partial trade with it to get the metal hood that's on my car now. The setup was kinda ridiculous when I bought it, L24E engine block with an E88 head on it and a broken fiberglass cowl induction hood that had been reinforced with a piece of wood. If me and the car ever wind up back down in Phoenix it'd be funny to take it by the house of the guy I bought it from. He definitely wouldn't recognize it now.