Just in time

Today we were all hands on deck to get this slightly bent Nissan 350z finished as soon as possible.

In the first photo Chris and I are sanding the car to make it ready for paint. The new front fender is installed and I am sanding the clear coat on the door while Chris roughs the factory rust preventative on the new fender with a Scotch-Brite pad, an industrial strength pot scrubber.

The second and third photos show Chase cleaning the car with a pre-paint cleaner. This cleaner removes any dust and oils that may be on the car. If the car isn’t über-clean you run the risk of the paint not adhering properly.

The next two photos, numbers four and five, show the results after the car and bumper have been sprayed with the base coat. Like most body shops, JMC AutoworX uses the two stage paint system. You can see in these pictures that the new paint has almost no gloss. This is because the two stage paint system separates the color, the base coat, from the gloss, the clear or top coat. The base coat, the first of the two stages, provides only the color and dries to almost a flat finish. It is the clear coat that provides not only protection to the base coat, but the luster as well.

The last two photos, numbers six and seven, clearly (no pun intended) show the effect that the clear coat has upon the paint. Going from drab to dramatic, the clear coat causes the paint to leap to life while providing a tough protective barrier for the base coat underneath.

Now that Chase has the car painted, we will get it assembled and back to it’s owner … just in time for a little top down driving weather.

Now wouldn’t that just frost ya?

This Nissan 370z arrived at the shop today for a little touch up. The owner put their car in the garage but didn’t quite get it in far enough so that the garage door would close without touching the car. The closing door left behind this nice little reminder.

I’m sure this must have frosted somebodies shorts, but after we smooth up the scuffed place and paint the bumper, you will never know the car had been anywhere near a garage door.

I knew it would come to this

Today we began the preparation work to paint this 1970 pro-street Camaro. Weeks ago the car was delivered to the shop for a little rust repair, touch-up and a wet sand and polish. Then the owner wanted to repair bolt holes and repaint the inner fenders to better show off the beast of an engine.

Next we, meaning the owner and I, were discussing a new stripe color to reduce the contrast between the vivid blue and the white as the owner prefers solid color cars. Now, as you can see in these pictures, we are performing a full on repaint. This car is in fantastic shape and all it really needs is a good sanding to get it ready for the new paint.

The first three pictures show the car after we have buzzed over the car with the DA (Dual Action) sander. Doing this roughs the paint slightly so the new paint has something to get it’s teeth into for good adhesion. The quarter panels are primed where the spoiler has been removed for painting.  Because the glass is out of the car we masked up the opening to keep the sanding dust out.

In the fourth photo we are baking dry the primer we sprayed on the deck lid where a spoiler was removed. After painting the spoiler will be reinstalled. The spoiler is removed prior to painting so that we can paint the spoiler as a separate piece which will allow the spoiler to be removed in the future, if necessary, without damaging the paint.

The last two photos are of the car after it has been rubbed down with a Scotch-Brite. The Scotch-Brite, basically a very tough pot scrubber, along with a soupy abrasive, further refines the paint after sanding. This leaves the paint rough enough to allow the new paint to adhere but blends away any sanding scratches on the car.

Now that the hard work is done, the next step is to roll the car into the booth, mask it up, and shoot some paint.

Arrow straight, tack sharp

After much pulling, pushing, sanding and painting, this Ford Ranger is finally ready to be returned to it’s owners, arrow straight and tack sharp once more.

This little truck took a solid lick in the right side, necessitating the replacement the bed side and both doors, not to mention some time on the frame machine to untwist the structure of the vehicle around the doors.

Looking at it now, though, you would never know anything had happened to it. It really was built Ford Tough.