Paint - Racing Stripe

Before anything can happen I have to remove all the gloss from the car otherwise additional coats of paint won't stick.  I wet sanded the whole car with 800 grit sandpaper then followed up with several maroon scuff pads.  Every little spot of gloss must be removed otherwise no-sticky.  It's important.

Layout begins with finding the center of the car.  Several measurements were taken over the length of the car then double checked with an eyeball and a thumb.  Over the last couple years I've collected several examples of 1963 racing stripes.  I printed these and used them for inspiration.  I decided to use a 6" center stripe bordered by 1/2" stripes.

The stripe width will remain constant from below the front grill all the way to the rear valance.  It will not taper.  It was after 1963 when tapered stripes became popular.

I used Tape & Drape plastic sheeting from Sherwin-Williams to protect the car from overspray. 

Just before paint is applied I like to burnish the green masking tape with the edge of a credit card.  This helps insure a tight bond preventing bleed through.  I also wipe the surface with a post sanding solution to remove all finger prints, sweat, dust, etc.

Three medium coats of silver metallic paint were applied.  An interesting characteristic of metallic paint is it can't be sanded or scuffed otherwise it will scratch.  That poses a problem because I'll want to scuff the stripe before I apply more Kandy.  The fix is Intercoat Clear, a clear coat typically used to cover graphics.  Two medium coats of Intercoat Clear were applied over the metallic while it was still tacky.  I'll be able to scuff the Intercoat Clear without any issues.      

Looks good to me.

Now the fun begins.

Whoo hoo...

My goodness...

The bright blue and the silver racing stripe will become a lot darker when I apply the final coats of Kandy Kobalt Blue.   The racing stripe will become ghosted.

The racing stripe was fun.  I enjoyed it and I like the results.

Thanks for watching.

Paint - Lapis Blue

It's finally time to start painting.

The car was put on jack stands then the tires and exhaust were removed.

Plastic was hung around the perimeter of the garage, in the wheel wells and underneath the car.  

Two medium coats of primer sealer were applied and allowed to dry for 1 hour.

3 Medium coats of Lapis Blue were applied then allowed to dry for 1 hour.

Kandy Cobalt Blue will be applied in two phases.  Phase 1 is 3 medium coats while Phase 2 is 3 heavy coats.  This picture is Phase 1.  I will stop here and let the paint dry for several days then wet sand any nibs or other imperfections.   After that I will mask off and apply the racing stripe.  Once that is done I'll shoot the entire car with 3 heavy coats of Kandy.  That will ghost the racing stripe and give us the dark Kandy blue we want.  

I put the wheels back on the car and cleaned up the garage.  It took about 12 hours to get to this point, most of it wearing a respirator.  It was hot and miserable work.  The body lines look great, the color is interesting but way too bright.  Phase 2 will fix that.    

I hope to pick a cooler day for Phase 2.  It's good to see color going on the car but this is not the color we want.  Can't wait to get that deep dark Kandy applied.

Thanks for watching.