71 Firebird

3 coats of House of Kolor KD3000

17626382_976311185801978_7314904686616534523_n.jpg


Making the vents look nice

17634760_976311179135312_2537146893888281961_n.jpg
 
Accumulator said:
xtremekustomz- No worries about any sanding artifacts showing up later?
Click to expand...

Nope. This primer doesn`t shrink. The initial 180 was covered by the slick sand which is a polyester primer surfacer. It was then blocked again with 180 and covered with the kd3000 high build primer surfacer. You can actually prime over 80 grit filler scratches with it. I like to leave the parts in the sun for a while to cure as well. I`ve been told a day in the sun is equal to a week in the shop.
 
xtremekustomz said:
What have they been doing/not doing?
Click to expand...

They haven`t been doing *anything* as I`m a bit displeased by their work these days (both of the places I use).

Eh, I`m just whining....some time I want to have work done on the Tahoe and Crown Vic..and maybe my wife`s A8..but it`s nothing critical. All oughta be pretty simple stuff, nothing tricky IMO.

Biggest gripe is prep marks/sanding scratches appearing later. Been happening on-and-off ever since they switched to water-based paint or at least it seems that way and the shop`s new owner (oh get me going on that guy..) won`t let them redo things the way they used to. (My "good" guy only works on stuff like the Jag and he had an "oops!" that`ll have me [ticked] off for a while until I get used to it.)
 
Accumulator said:
They haven`t been doing *anything* as I`m a bit displeased by their work these days (both of the places I use).

Eh, I`m just whining....some time I want to have work done on the Tahoe and Crown Vic..and maybe my wife`s A8..but it`s nothing critical. All oughta be pretty simple stuff, nothing tricky IMO.

Biggest gripe is prep marks/sanding scratches appearing later. Been happening on-and-off ever since they switched to water-based paint or at least it seems that way and the shop`s new owner (oh get me going on that guy..) won`t let them redo things the way they used to. (My "good" guy only works on stuff like the Jag and he had an "oops!" that`ll have me [ticked] off for a while until I get used to it.)
Click to expand...

Well when I mentioned sanding with 180 and priming over it keep in mind that is over primer and filler and not paint. If I prime over featheredged paint I always sand it all the way down to 320. If I`m repairing a dent of something like that I will remove all of the paint with 80 grit and only put the filler on the metal portion. After all the filler work is done I will featheredge the paint with a minimum of 180. Usually 220 and apply a glaze over the whole repair area onto the sanded paint. After that start with 80 and finish up with 180, 220, 320 and then prime. The problem with using a coarse grit on the actual paint and priming over it is that you can get a halo effect once the vehicle sits in the sun. It actually reacts with the sanded paint and takes to it differently than primer, steel or other surfaces. I`ve had to learn this the hard way before. I use guide coat on filler, glaze and primer so I can make sure all the deeper scratches are gone before moving on to prime. I haven`t really done it but the best protection is to use epoxy primer and then do filler on top of that. You don`t have to sand it if you do the work within 7 days. A lot of shops nowdays only do insurance work so it`s getting harder to find someone to really do anything other than that.
 
Good stuff man! The 70-73 bull nose is one of my all time favorite cars. I am eventually going to pick one up at some point. I am wanting a Formula with a 4-speed.
 
KMG- Yeah, I have a soft-spot for those Formulas too.

xtremekustomz- Yes *yes* *YES*... my issues are over (old) paint and what you posted is what I *told* them the last time. Haven`t been back since then. These guys aren`t the usual, cut their teeth in a *VERY* highly regarded Porsche restoration shop so I have limited tolerance for issues, NO WAY should I be able to tell them how to do their jobs! Eh, I still blame it all on the new owner, who`s utterly trashed things IMO...lucky I have my good Audi tech that they leave alone ("whatever, just do what he wants and bill him..." now if they`d just run the bodyshop that way).

EDIT: in all fairness, some...OK, most.... of the work they did previously is still 100% OK after many years. Zero complaints until recently. And at least they don`t [screw] up the areas they`re not working on. And sheesh...I genuinely *LIKE* those guys! My wife and I have known `em for decades and they`re good people.
 
Got a guy in another group telling me that his guy can sand with 1500 and 3000 on a da and then buff and polish a whole car in 2 hrs. Somebody`s on drugs!
 
I`m a little disappointed in the overall finish of the quarter replacement. I was expecting everything to be done on it but it is far from it. Not sure if every shop would have left it like this but it is what it is. The total labor charge for replacement was $1025. I thought that would have included finishing it out but I guess no. I`m left going behind fixing it of course...

18034170_993992154033881_7922440858669958452_n.jpg


18056850_993992284033868_5708086039060626059_n.jpg


18033155_993992367367193_3069691540195533111_n.jpg


18034228_993992487367181_196582528569016932_n.jpg


18057923_993992587367171_4622868084646716173_n.jpg


18056710_993994884033608_2162401283083262062_n.jpg


I`ve had issues with primer lifting from ecoat (not sure if anyone else has) so I don`t really trust it anymore so I stripped it all off. I re-worked the seam because it wasn`t as smooth as I wanted and removed the unknown primer used. Also the body line on the new quarter was a lot sharper than the one on the rest of the car so I used a little filler to round it off some to match the other.

18300806_1008210042612092_8905074697799199776_n.jpg


Went ahead and sprayed the jambs since I am doing this all by myself. I don`t mind having to touch up a door jamb if I scratch it but I didn`t want to risk messing the outside of the door up trying to hang them again. I know it would have been better to paint apart but these doors are extremely heavy and awkward for one person to install. I am using foam and probably transition tape in the jambs when I do the outside so hopefully I can get a nice finish.

18301222_1008210419278721_4568541662819459284_n.jpg


18341720_1008210512612045_3062943061201163877_n.jpg


Still have some alignment to do but getting it ready for paint. Hopefully I can go Sunday and get it done. I will spend the rest of the day getting everything else ready.

18402757_1011169158982847_5967042777272170661_n.jpg


Hood and bumper after final sanding

18342029_1011169288982834_2270237084082566079_n.jpg


18403104_1011170115649418_9055129844051790916_n.jpg


Wet sanding. Panels are looking really good

18402662_1011169845649445_2953626881416283105_n.jpg


18446573_1011169725649457_8911476023898310762_n.jpg


18447063_1011169848982778_757243737822994759_n.jpg


18402947_1011169795649450_7510812839308498853_n.jpg
 
coming along very well ... are you going to paint the doors, fenders, hood and trunk off the car .. mine were done that way and came out really good ...
 
Poorboy said:
coming along very well ... are you going to paint the doors, fenders, hood and trunk off the car .. mine were done that way and came out really good ...
Click to expand...

No it is all going to be on the car. I work by myself and the doors weight about 150 lbs each and are a paint to get back on without messing something up.
 
xtremekustomz said:
No it is all going to be on the car. I work by myself and the doors weight about 150 lbs each and are a paint to get back on without messing something up.
Click to expand...

yes, I`ve done quite a few of those (Camaro/Firebird) .. and yes with double reinforce steel in the doors they get heavy but can take a t-bone :)

It`s a shame that you have no one to help lift and fit them after painting ... a padded floor jack would work too .. we used them for helping to align
 
Poorboy said:
yes, I`ve done quite a few of those (Camaro/Firebird) .. and yes with double reinforce steel in the doors they get heavy but can take a t-bone :)

It`s a shame that you have no one to help lift and fit them after painting ... a padded floor jack would work too .. we used them for helping to align
Click to expand...

I bought a door dolly that goes on a jack and a new jack just for this. The door has a lot of slop in the fixture and the jack has a tough time staying upright with the weight. I was going to buy a jack that was really heavy duty to use for other purposes but the way the dolly mounts to the jack I was only able to find a few that would work and they were smaller ones. Either way it isn`t a big deal. With a little care a seamless transition in a door jamb is possible.
 
xtremekustomz said:
I bought a door dolly that goes on a jack and a new jack just for this. The door has a lot of slop in the fixture and the jack has a tough time staying upright with the weight. I was going to buy a jack that was really heavy duty to use for other purposes but the way the dolly mounts to the jack I was only able to find a few that would work and they were smaller ones. Either way it isn`t a big deal. With a little care a seamless transition in a door jamb is possible.
Click to expand...

good luck .. keep us updated :)
 
That`s an impressive finish in primer! At least from what I`ve seen before. Is that in part due to the type of primer you used or just from really careful wet sanding?

Even though I don`t think that I`m a fan of the color choice, I look forward to seeing the progress and can`t wait to see the final finished product!

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top