New job in the shop

Here are a few parts that were dropped off last week for a 1971 C10. We will be performing a full High Performance Finish on this truck. There will be several custom touches done on this one. The molding holes and side marker lights have all ready been welded up so we don’t have to worry with that. We did use our stud gun to weld studs to the low places so we can pull them back into shape to minimize the amount of filler needed to straighten out the dents. We also used a hammer and dolly to smooth out the dents as well. The next step will be to sand the bed inside and out and spray several coats of our high build epoxy primer. Stay tuned to this one. It should really stand tall.

Time for some color

Last week we pulled out a few parts for the ’57 Bel-Air and prepped them for paint. Paul blocked out the trunk and the doors to ensure they were straight and smooth. We then sanded these parts all on the inside for trim out. Once the were all sanded up, we cleaned them meticulously to ensure a clean paint job. We then sprayed a coat of urethane sealer on the parts to provide uniform color and increase adhesion of the base color coats. 3 coats of Tropical Turquoise was then sprayed once the sealer was dry followed by 3 coats of high solids PPG clear coat. These parts really turned out nice. Its a great sneak peak of what the car will look like. The finished product is going to be very impressive.

The finished product

Here we have the finished product! The owner has it all back together now and on the the road. He’s got himself a real head turner now.

Tundra

This Tundra is in the shop to get fresh coat of paint. With all of the off roading stickers on here, Im going to assume that this rig has seen a few miles in the woods but now its time to straighten out a few of those dings and scratches and make this thing shine again. We started by removing the bed the handles the mirrors and various other parts from the truck. In trying not to get too out of hand on this one, we didnt completely disassemble the truck like we would for a higher end job, but the finished product will still look pretty good. We then repaired a few dents, installed a new left fender and started sanding the rest of the truck. Since we had the bed ready first, it went on into the booth for painting. We will also be doing a spray in bedliner on here next week. We painted the front of the truck today but didnt get an pictures of it in clear. You will have to wait to see that next week when its all wrapped up.

Paint day!!

Today was a big day! We painted the Ghia today and as you can see, it turned out very nice. We started this morning by masking off the floors, transmission, headliner and behind the area behind the gauges. We do this to both to keep paint off of these areas but also to keep any dirt out of the paint that may be hiding in there. Because the car is now lowered, we had to remove the wheels to and get the car up on stands to make access to the lower front end and the rockers a bit easier to paint. Once the car was wiped down and ready to spray, we applied a coat of sealer and after that was dry, we sprayed several coats of color followed by 3 coats of clear. Because we couldn’t fit the hood and deck lid in the booth with the rest of the car and doors, we must paint those next week.  Once that is done we will start the re-assembly. The color on this car is very classy looking, Its going to look great all back together.

Almost paint day

The prep on the Ghia is coming along very well. The car has been fully block sanded and most of the outside has had its final sand. We do have a little more sanding to do in the trunk and engine compartment before we are ready to pull the trigger. We only have a coulple of small areas to reprime and a couple more hours of final sanding before paint hopefully on Friday.

FJ on the mend

We had sent this FJ out to get some mechanical issues addressed while our work load here at the shop was up. We did get it back last week and today we were able to devote some time to it getting this project started back up. What Cole is working on here is repairing where the lower rocker panels were welded in. We removed the rear doors and used a grinder to smooth up the welds. We then applied a coat of metal filler to smooth up the welds. Once that product was dry, it was sanded smooth. He then went over those areas as well as a couple of other places in the jambs to make sure they  all look smooth. Once these areas a taken care of we will do the same to the seams where the front doors are before priming the new rockers.

Prime time

The Ghia is in its final coat of primer!  Pretty big day today for this little car. For the past few weeks we have been going over this one with a fine tooth comb to prepare it for primer. We started by setting it up in the booth first thing this morning. We jacked it up on stands to get it up off the floor some to make priming the rockers a bit easier. We then masked off the areas that were not getting primed and wiped the car down with wax and grease remover. A full coat of epoxy primer was sprayed first to ensure good adhesion to the bare metal areas. Once that was dry, we applied 4 good coats of PPG urethane primer. We did find about 3 areas that will need a little more work, which is not uncommon. As thorough as we were, we are still human. Luckily, they are pretty easy fixes and wont take all that long. Next we will start blocking this out one last time in preparation for paint

Mirror finish

While Chris was working on the Kia, Chase was busy adding even more shine to the trunk lid that he painted on Friday. Make no mistake, that trunk was beautifully painted and would have looked great on any car. But this isnt just any car. This car is getting a High Performance Finish, so we are going the extra mile. Chase first started off by block sanding the trunk with 1000 grit paper, he then switched to 2000 grit paper. After that he went back over that with 3000 grit paper. Then the buffing process starts. He uses a heavy cut compound first to remove the heavy scratches. Then a mild cut compound to even further cut scratches. After that a super fine polishing compound to ensure a super glossy mirror like reflection. Just check out that picture of Chris. Pretty sharp!

Basic black

Basic black. It looks good on anything. Take this Chevelle for example. After spending a bit over a week sanding our fingers to the bone we are, finally, ready to add some zing! to this car. All the boring stuff is behind us, at least on these parts, so it is time to party.

In the first photo Chase is laying down a coating of the urethane sealer. The sealer, strangely enough, seals all the fillers and primers below it and provides a smooth, consistent color, base for the paint. The sealer is available in seven shades of gray, from nearly white to almost black. The darker the paint, normally, the darker the sealer. The paint on this car is black so this is the darkest of the available colors.

The second photo shows all the parts with the first base coat applied. We will apply anywhere from three to five coats of base to ensure good coverage and uniform color. With all the parts stacked up in the booth like that it is like running a obstacle course in there trying to move around without touching anything.

You will notice in the second picture that the parts look, well, dull … flat even. How can we make a High Performance Finish out of that? The secret is in the paint. The base coat, which you see in picture two, dries to a near flat finish. It’s not supposed to be glossy, it’s job is to provide the color and nothing else.

Photos three through eight demonstrates quite clearly (no pun intended) what happens when the clear coat goes on. JMC AutoworX, as do most paint shops, use a two stage paint system. The base coat is the first stage and provides the color. The clear coat is the second stage and provides luster and protection to the finish.

Black is a great color to paint. When you get it right, as we have here, there is nothing else out there that will provide the gloss and reflective properties of black paint. It become a mirror.

But as good as these parts look now, and they do look very good, we still have more to do. A good finish simply won’t do for a High Performance Finish, we want a great finish and will settle for nothing less. 

Before this becomes the finish this car deserves, a High Performance Finish, we will sand the paint, twice, and buff it three times, to reveal the true beauty lurking just below the surface.

Then … and only then, will you see what basic black really looks like.