She is painted--for now, pics inside

[69MyWay]

Here is the deal. After hours and hours of painstaking work TZracer's 71 (I have nicknamed Bruiser) is now dressed in base coat clear coat jet black.

Now, we are doing something a little different here. I had to shoot the jams anyway, and have had some concerns about the overall "straightness" of my body mod work on the rest of the car (flares, fitting the nose, aftermarket hood, etc).

So, we wrapped up the rough work, wet the floor down, papered up the car and I shot it in the garage last night. Temps were dropping fast so we had to work quick. Of course it has runs and trash in it, but we laid up two pretty wet coats of clear.

Why you might ask? Well, now the car can go back to Dave's house and little by little get fitted with the new engine, etc. etc. Basically he can go ahead and assemble most of the car. The paint won't absorb grease while doing the engine work, etc.

However, the biggest gain here is we can finally see what other work needs to be done to make the car perfect. So far, it looks darn good. Almost a shame we were not in a booth, because this might have been the final paint job.

Now, it will all get blocked back down with 500 and 600 wet dry after it is running and driving, less the trim parts. We will go back into it with a booth, and lay two more quick coats of black base, then two more heavy coats of clear considering 3/4 of the current clear will get knocked down during the final blocking phase.

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ this thing is shinny!

 

[resto75]

Chris,

It looks like your becoming a pro vette painter (at least in black). Have you painted many others.

If you need more practice I have a black 94 that could use a new paint job.

Roy

 

[a69vette]

Hey Chris, Let me know when you want to paint another '69! Looks great.

Rick

 

[Black Thunder]

Bruiser is lookin BAD already with its final color and all the muscular bulges.

Something about bad in Black is very true, and think Dave will be happy with all the finishing touches installed!

Can see the logic in the paint decision and seems to give an incentive to finish the project. Killer and Bruiser sitting side by side will be a statement to say the very least.

Sounds like Dave is planning quite a motor for Bruiser! You guys will be ruling up there in Jax at the shows with your nasty Sharks sittin side by side and terrorizing the highways together!

Great job Chris! As usual!!

Posse Bro

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Hey Chris, Let me know when you want to paint another '69! Looks great.Rick

He's got the metal bumper's down pat. I think he needs some practice on my rubber bumper.

 

[Yoda]

Chris,

I hope you don't mind, but I put a little more light on the photo It sure looks sweeeeeet :J

BudD

 

[sscam69]

NICE!!:cool

 

[Eddie 70]

Looking good guys. I have been thinking about black for mine for a while now. The wife has even came around to my way of thinking, she didn`t want black at first. I also like the Deltron Torch Red pretty good too.

 

[TZ Racer]

We took a couple of pictures outside today. This should give you a better idea of Chris' 'rough' paint job. In person, it looks awsome! We had some trouble taking pictures because of all the reflections in the paint.

 

[TZ Racer]

Here is a shot with the doors on. There are a few more pics at http://www.tropiczoneracing.com/Street-Vette.htm

 

[Black Thunder]

Dave lookin good!
You know you have shine when the sky and any reflections ruin a shot LOL!

Notice the clouds on Thunders nose messing up the shot!

Gotta love an L88 Hood and flares to make room for the goodies goin underneath

John

 

[TZ Racer]

Thanks John.

Chris' body work/paint has thrown down the gauntlet. I MUST now make sure the handling and engine power are equal to the looks. They will be.

 

[sscam69]

You have got to be kidding, thats a "rough" paint job!!:eek

 

[Black Thunder]

Dave you can do it!
You can do it
You CAN do it

 

[69MyWay]

The pictures look better than in person. There is no way this paint job would ever pass for a "finished product" in my opinion. However, what the black shinny stuff has done for us is multi fold.

1. We can now clearly see the overall quality of the body work and prep work. There are some things that are showing up that I did not know where there, and most everything else is dead on like we want it.

2. It is going to seal the body in tight. It may be some time before it is running and driving under its own power, so if a wayward greasy hand, spray from something greasy, etc. gets on the body, it won't impregnate the finishe like it would to raw primer/sealer

3. It still gets warm in Florida during the winter, and black attracts heat. In the absence of a baking booth, Dave can roll this out in the sun as much as possible over the next couple of months to make sure it cures really well and all the gallons of fiberglass, body filler, and resin that we have recently applied shrinks to the full shrink rate.

4. The car will be black through and through, so he can start installing the interior, glass, trim (except bumpers and emblems) after a light scotch bite treatment.

5. Finally, when this thing gets wet block sanded one more time with 500/600 and goes in a booth, the final finish will be ultra glass smooth with little to no shrinkage, or sanding scratches bleeding through.

 

[groovyjay]

Just got your email Chris, That looks absolutely FANTASTIC!!! That's gonna be a helluwa pair of black beasts! Keep us posted!

 

[c4ever]

Very Nice Chris:cool :cool :cool

There's just something about a Black Shark

Carlo

 

[Black Thunder]

Chris,

You have followed a wise course with very logical thinking. After all the possible bumps and scratchs that are inevitable you can repair them and look for any shrinkage, at the same time.

You can't get it all out but with a second chance you can hit any waves that the Black will emphasize.

Bottom line is I wish I had done mine the way you did, perhaps the end result would have been far better!

You are correct about Fl sun killing a Black paint job with heavy clear. Over time it turns gray and the shine diminishs. I keep mine out of the sun as much as possible.

You forgot how the paint being applied has probably inspired Dave to press on harder

Posse bro

 

[69MyWay]

Chris,

It looks like your becoming a pro vette painter (at least in black). Have you painted many others.

If you need more practice I have a black 94 that could use a new paint job.

Roy

Roy, I have either painted myself, or been heavily involved in the paint process for Vettes six times. I have personally painted another 15 cars. I do learn something each time. There have been another dozen or so different types of cars that I have been directly involved in either sanding, priming, fixing dents, or actually spraying the paint.

I could always you some more practive, but I think you might fare better with a pro-shop! (beleive me, I have messed up a few cars as well!). There is usually nothing sandpaper can't cure.

 

[RLP]

Now you have a show car. You can only drive it on Sunday. Looks good.