Paint - Cut and Buff is (half) Complete

I just finished color sanding and buffing the top half of the Corvette.  The car is full of static electricity so if you click on any of the photos and see something it's probably lint or dust.  Also, the door and hood jambs are full of compound so ignore that as well.

The paint looks spectacular to me and I am very happy with the results.  It's not flawless, but it makes me smile.  Check out the photos and judge for yourself.

My neighbors house.

Next I'll start sanding and buffing the lower half of the car.  The car is filthy but I''ll wait until the whole car is done before I take it to the car wash.

Thanks for watching and be sure to let me know what you think.

Paint - UFC35 Clear

Up until now I've been using House of Kolor UC35 clear.  UC35 is extremely durable, dries fast, is very hard and it can be sanded the next day.  Now I am going to spray UFC35.  This stuff is bruise resistant, extremely flexible and it has an ultra-high gloss.  On one of my motorcycle paint jobs I had rubber cushions from the motorcycle seat leave indentations in the UFC35 clear.  I thought for sure I'd have to respray.  2 days later the indentations were gone.  It's neat stuff.  Self healing. 

Max H asked for a picture of me in my paint gear.  Both of the clears I use are very hazardous and I must use a good respirator, one made for solvent based paints.  I also wear a full face shield while spraying.

To further reduce the amount of debris in the paint I decided to turn off all the circulating fans and remove all the plastic from the floor.  Yes, I'll get over spray on everything but at least it's clear, not blue.  Besides, the garage needs a good cleaning.  This is the first coat of UFC35.  Contrary to what you see, the car is blue.

Four coats of UFC35 were applied.  It's very glossy and the debris in the clear is minimal.  It was a good call to turn off the circulating fans.

There is minimal orange peel but it's there.  Another full sanding will be required.  Note how the color looks like it goes from blue to black between the fender and the split window.  That's pretty much what it does.

You can see orange peel on the roof and top of the door.  It's not excessive but it will need to be fixed.

There is hardly any debris and very little orange peel here.  This area looks nice.

Once I cut and buff the clear we should be able to see my neighbors in the reflection.  That will be a good test.

The first step to a nice finish requires sanding.  I'll sand the clear until it's smooth and defect free.

It will take several weekends to complete the cut and buff stage.  It's tedious work.

More cutting and buffing to follow.  You won't be disappointed with the results (I've seen it!).

Sanding the Clearcoat / Interior Split Window Pictures

My brother Jim asked if I had wet sanded the clear coat yet.  I had not and I thought it would be a good topic for the blog.  Wet sanding, cutting, is very time consuming, tedious, and as Jim Q points out, it's easy to sand through an edge and ruin a good paint job.

I picked a spot the hood as a representative sample of what the rest of the car is like.  As you can see it's shiny but there are dust nibs and other imperfections.  The actual amount may surprise you. 

A quick 10 second pass with the orbital sander tells all.  Lots of dust and lots of orange peal.  I am using 1000 grit finishing film.  It's used dry, not wet.

After a couple minutes of additional sanding you can see the orange peal is starting to flatten out and go away.  The dust nibs are also starting to shrink but they're persistent.

Another 3 to 5 minutes of sanding and it's easy to see that the orange peal is mostly gone.  The dust nibs remain so I need to keep sanding.

This is much better.  It's mostly flat with few exceptions.  The question is, have I sanded through the clearcoat?  That's a good question and one that I check on frequently. 

Every few passes I take a clean cloth and wipe off the dust looking for signs of color.  As you can see the cloth is clean showing no signs of blue.  I am still in the clearcoat.
This part of the hood is now complete and I can move on to another section.  It's very labor intensive and it will take a long time to do the whole car.  Wish me luck.

A new follower to the blog, Steve L, asked for pictures of the inside of the split window.  He's trying to put the split back into his 63 and needs reference pictures.  Cutting out the split window was a common modification in 1963.  In fact, here's a 1963 article from Custom Corvettes magazine on how to make the change.  It was a neat customization until the 64 Corvettes came out with a 1 piece rear window.  This is why Steve wants the split window back.  The 1963 split window couple is a one year only design and it's very sought after.  Good luck Steve.

The brown color is old glue used to hold up a piece of vinyl between the two windows.

Yes, I finished sanding the car.  I was going to start buffing the paint but I had a couple blemishes that took a considerable amount of sanding.  The clearcoat would be thin in those areas.  I decided I would add a few more coats of clear so I'll be spraying the car again.  That will be the next post.

Thanks for watching.

Corvettes of Carlisle - 2012

Yep, Gerri and I flew to Pennsylvania and did Corvettes of Carlisle, the largest Corvette event and swap meet in existence.  Check out the highlights (from my perspective):

Yes, that's Ty, his wife Bonnie and Gerri.  Ty and Bonnie had us over for the weekend.  Visiting Carlisle was one of the many things we did.  We all had a great time. 

Over the last few years several people have asked why I took on such a needy project.  I had never really questioned it but at some point I guess I started wondering the same thing.  That was until I saw this guys project.  Take a look at the 4 before pictures then look at the completed car in the background.  What this guy did is truly amazing.  Now I feel just fine about our project.  I have no second thoughts at all.

Another view of Corvettes of Carlisle.  I took this picture because I was able to get all 3 empty spaces at the show in one photograph.

This is a really cool race car.  I took this picture because it's what Ty is going to build when he retires.

This was my favorite car at the show, hands down.  If I had had these pictures a couple years ago they would have helped with many aspects of the restoration.  A and B pillars come to mind. 

As I understand it, it's the actual vehicle that GM used at exhibitions.  The cut-aways are awesome.  Check out the transparent valve cover.

I wish I had taken more pictures.  This car is super informative, especially for those that might just be starting a C2 restoration.  I bet if someone tried they could get enough information off of the plaque in the picture to find a web page that has more pictures.  That's a challenge for my blog buddies.  If you find a web page let me know.  I'll post it. 

And finally, I thought I'd post another video.  It's much like the one I posted earlier except this one is narrated by Gerri.  I believe she confirms the color as blue.  Check it out by clicking this link.

Gerri Discusses the Color


That's it.  Work will resume this weekend.  Thanks for watching.

Paint - First Sunlight

I've been looking at the car since I painted it and I've been puzzled about what the car would look like in direct sunlight.  Under the florescent lights in the garage it looks blue from one angle then purple from another.  I am not crazy about purple and I fear I might have to repaint.

So, I put on the side exhaust and backed the car into the sunlight just a few minutes ago.  It's blue, it's stunning, and it's not purple.  I am a happy camper.  Check out the video by clicking this link:

Paint - First Sunlight

Ignore the streaks.  They clean up with a rag.

It's in the sun but looks dark royal blue from this angle.

From this angle it's very blue.  Gerri said, "Wow, it's beautiful."

"Oh my goodness."

The racing stripe is really ghosted, pushed really deep.  Leave a comment and let me know if you think it should be more visible.  It's not too late to do so.

Again, you have to ignore the streaks.  It's just dirty.

I see a little purple in this photo but I assure you, It's BLUE!

Although there will be little work done on our car over the next few days, I will publish a Corvette related post that I am sure you'll want to see.  Check back in a few days to see the mystery posting.

Thanks for watching. 

Paint - Clear Coat

It took a couple days to wet sand and scuff the entire car.  When it was done it looked blue with a touch of purple.  This is just before I started painting.  Note that I didn't use plastic or tarps for the "paint booth".  I was getting debris in the paint with the booth so I decided to try it without. 

I added two more medium coats of Cobalt Kandy to push the racing stripe back and to darken the blue.  That was followed by 3 coats of clear.  I still ended up with some debris in the paint but it wasn't any more than I had with a booth.  A big shop fan kept the garage well ventilated.  All in all it worked well.

I am so glad I covered the motor with plastic though.  Note the blue on the underside of the hood.  It wipes away with a rag so it's not an issue.

This is not chameleon paint but it does shift in color depending on the light.  With the garage doors open it does have a hint of purple.  It looks really good.

With just the garage lights on it blue.  A very very deep blue.  It is also very nice.

Other than dust nibs and the occasional piece of debris, the paint is laying very flat with very little orange peel.  Note that the racing stripe is barely visible from this angle. 

It looks great from this angle too.

Take a close look at the front fender.  You can see purple.

I am really pleased with the racing stripe.  It's ghosted to just my liking.  Double click on the photo and see for yourself.

The paint looks dark, dark blue from this angle.  It's sweet.

The garage doors are closed in this picture and the shop lights are on.  The car is almost black yet the racing stripe is nicely visible from the rear of the car.  I like it!

As much as I'd like to start bolting things on the car I need to cut and buff the clear coat.  This will remove dust nibs, orange peel (there isn't much) and debris.  It will make the paint job very nice.  Hopefully I won't wet sand through the clear coat.  If I do I'll have to clear coat again.

The color looks great though!

I'll be preoccupied for the next few weeks so don't expect substantial postings during that time.

Thanks for watching!