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Sunday, May 29, 2011

First Color - Lapis and Cobalt Blue

The paint on our Corvette will be House of Kolor, one of the finest custom paint manufactures in the world.  Check them out here:  http://www.houseofkolor.com/hok/index.jsp

Several weeks ago we started working on the door jambs preparing them for paint.  The doors were sand blasted, rust was removed, weld repairs were made then several coats of primer were applied followed by lots of sanding.   This green 2 part primer is KP-2CF-A (yellow) mixed with KP-2FC-B (blue).  Just before this picture was taken the primer was scuffed with red Scotch Brite pads to help with adhesion.


Black Ko-seal II was applied next.  This is a high quality primer sealer intended to increase the bond between the primer and the top coats and it prevents the topcoats from soaking into the primer and reducing gloss.  Ko-seal II comes in black or white.  We chose black because we want our blue to be as dark as possible honoring the original color of the car which was Daytona Blue.


Lapis Blue base coat, BC05, was applied about an hour after the last coat of Ko-seal.  Lapis Blue was chosen from the House of Kolor color chart several months ago by Ty, Gerri and myself.  3 medium coats of this metallic blue were applied then allowed to dry for 15 minutes.


5 coats of Kandy Apple Cobalt Blue, UK5, were applied next.  Candy colors are very difficult to apply without streaking.  One of the ways to reduce streaking is to apply candy color over the same color base coat, which is exactly what we did.  After the candy, 3 wet coats of UFC35 clearcoat were applied.  UFC35 is an ultra-high gloss, chemical resistant, flexible clearcoat that will resist minor stone brusing.


So how did it turn out?  Gerri and I think it's absolutely stunning.  We could not be happier.

The following pictures do not do the paint justice but they are the best I could photograph.  In the sun the metallic is dazzling, in the shade it's a beautiful dark blue showing no metallic.  Cruising at night the car should look black.  Lester, you and Jacquie NEED to come to Cool Desert Nights to see this.


Double click on the pictures to see the metal flake.


Too bad this gets covered up with weatherstripping.


It's beautiful!

The paint will dry for several days before we start the color sanding process.  Color sanding will eliminate any orange peeling, nibs and/or blemishes.   After color sanding I hope to buff and polish the paint to perfection.  Wish me luck!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Odds and (Rear) Ends

Two years ago this week we took delivery of our 1963 Split Window Coupe.
Oh my...


Today...

Preparations are being made for Cool Desert Nights 2011, a local car show we've attended the last few years.  The engine compartment is mostly stock now, even the gauges are gone..


Gauges are now in a temporary dash cluster.  The starter switches have been moved as well.


All repairs have been made to the drivers door and it has it's first coat of primer.


Sand blasting removed some of the fiberglass matting.  The voids left by the matting have been filled with primer as shown.  Although this looks rough it's actually very smooth.


The green ribbons of primer are filling shallow depressions left by the grinder.  As above, this area is very smooth.  One final heavy coat of primer for the whole door then a light sanding and we are ready for color.


Several months ago we had a poll asking which rear end we should install.  The choices were 1975 (the one in the car), 1965 (one on our shelf), or go buy a 1963.  The 1963 won by a huge margin.  After months of looking here it is.  This differential was assembled late 1962 and is perfect for our early 1963 Corvette.


Here are the date stamps (upside down).  The majority of fuel injected Corvettes in 1963 were sold with 4-11 gears and that's what we have.  This differential is perfect for our fuelie.

Thanks for watching.