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Nova is painted !! Pics !! :-)

10K views 53 replies 24 participants last post by  novafreek6872 
#1 ·
Hey guys... been a long time (3 months ) since I've been on here... had some personal crap going on and the Nova went on the back burner for awhile... not to mention its been friggin hot and humid here for 3 months!!!

FINALLY got back on it last weekend and finished her up today. All thats left is minor polishing in some areas and stick the wipers on.

THANKS TO THE PROS HERE WHO REALLY HELPED ME GET A CLUE WITH MY FIRST START TO FINISH SOLO PAINT JOB!!

All done at home in the garage. :) Check 'em out... :beer:

SLIDESHOW HERE>>>9/14/2012






Andy
 
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#4 ·
Thanks so much Brian, you were so much help to me and I truly appreciate you and all the other Pros on here that are so giving with your time and knowledge to help out complete strangers. Hotrodding is truly a brotherhood and I am so grateful for this website and the people on here.

I can't wait for my next project, it will be a piece of cake because I made all my mistakes on this one and nothing teaches better than do overs!! ;)

Andy
 
#7 ·
The paint job looks out standing.

I congratulate you for a job well done.

What brand of paint did you so?

Jimbo
:) Thanks.

Summit Racing Single Stage Acrylic Urethane and Summit Racing 1:1 Epoxy primer. I also used some of their 2K High build but mainly just the epoxy, I liked how it laid out alot better and it was still pretty easy to sand. I think I just need more practice spraying the high build... gun sets, distance, etc.

Andy
 
#11 ·
Heh, Thanks. :) The pics are actually at my neighbors house, he assured me the cat was not a jumper...:) I cant figure out if he was sniffing the fresh paint or saw his reflection...

It was a lotta work, but being able to say I did it all and in the garage to boot, makes it all worth it! Cant wait to try something else... I have a 98 vette that needs the rockers fixed and resprayed... that might be next.

:thumbup:
 
#17 ·
Sure...try this out, I think you'll like it.

2000 wet on a "glazing block" to knock the "peel" down don't be stingy with the paper, when it dont cut, toss it, , Then Meguiars "Ultimate Compound" and a Yellow buffing pad... Very fast AND effective... and I've tried many different buffing compounds and this one ROCKS.

If you are super anal about swirls, you will want to follow up with a swirl remover and polishing pad. I didn't do mine yet because I havent had time for that step. It looks good with just the process I mentioned above.
 
#19 ·
Cruise Night

Took my Babys (cars 'n' girls) to the last Cruise-In of the year last night. Got some great feedback on the Novas...





My friend Sonny came with us in his 71 SS 4spd he bought new. It was also painted recently. It has hand buffed base/clear and its amazing looking. (Pro Job)



Andy :thumbup:
 
#21 ·
Yep, can't believe how well that stuff works... I don't think I'll ever go back to that harsh, gritty, 3m compound. It really brings the shine up so fast... It's a wonderful product.... guess it would have to be for them to brand it the "Ultimate"...:thumbup:

Andy
 
#23 ·
Heh, good eye! I actually have a set that I cleaned and painted up real nice in cast iron paint...trouble is they were always stiff. Since i took these pics, I have had the dirty ones off the car and "spray painted" them with WD40 and wiped em down...they look much better and operate very smoothly. I was also able to fix an issue I was having with the hood adjustment. I'm sure people with sharp eyes caught that one too...

This set of pics was taken literally right after the car was put together. I still have adjustments and detailing to do before its truly "done"...well "done" for now anyway.

Andy
 
#24 ·
Yes I do believe that the "Ultimate" compound is the best by leaps and bounds! Honestly, by leaps and bounds!

Your car looks spectacular and those three Novas together make an awesome photo. :D

Brian
 
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#26 · (Edited)
Thanks. The body was in decent shape to start with overall, but the quarter panels were an absolute mess (no big dents but... ripple city)

I was able to fix them by simply blocking the existing paint down thoroughly with 180 on a paintstick till they looked like this:



then 2 or 3 heavy coats of epoxy primer, block w/ 320, i think i used the paintstick again. Then 2 or 3 more coats of epoxy and block with durablock and 400 then 600 then paint. Used zero bondo (other than over a small rust hole repair)and zero high build primer on the quarters (hardly any high build on the car actually, I preferred the epoxy)



Many, many sanding hours on this car, not to mention the do-overs, BUT, I really had no choice because its black. It had to be right. I'm really glad I did this project, very happy with how it turned out. Can't wait to try again on something because of what I learned on this one.

Andy
 
#30 ·
Thanks John. :) They are probably as good as GM slapped 'em together in '70... I had a little trouble getting the back of the hood to lay down in the back at first, but solved that the other day after reading MARTINSR's post on shimming hood hinges. Still having a minor issue with the cowl not wanting to lay down all the way in the back, but I think what is causing that is the windshield molding clips that it it slides under must be a little bent or sprung... will be on the lookout for some new ones. But, like I said its pretty minor. Apart from that, everything went back together like it should.

Youre right, Virginia is hot/humid as HELL :evil: in the summer as I'm sure TN. is too!! I'll probably boil in this thing, but I'll be "cool" while I'm pouring sweat!! Haha I better get all my rides in during the fall/winter/spring !! Last winter was nothing here... I love cool rides in a "hot" car. :)

Andy
 
#32 ·
Thanks! :) I'm very happy with how it turned out, but it was alot of work and alot of doing things 2 and even 3 times before they turned out. Its worth it though when I look at the car now. I love working on the Novas anyway, just more fun when they are all done and I can enjoy them.

If I can do this in my garage, anybody with a garage can do it. My biggest expense was $500 for a good 220V air compressor and regulator. I used 2 guns from HF, the $35 "purple" HVLP and a $30 old style 1.8 primer gun.

Snapped a few pics this afternoon, it was getting dark but these turned out ok, a little grainy maybe, my camera isn't that great.








Andy
 
#37 · (Edited)
Cant edit the post above, but to clarify, the fan was on the left side wall... down low, not visible in pic.




Pretty easy actually. Stapled plastic to the ceiling. Fresh coat of paint on the walls. Taped up all outlets. Air intakes and fan were down low near the floor. I would wet the floor down good before painting. Most importantly I kept entering and exiting the booth while the fan was running to an exteme minimum... I would wait for the cloud to clear, turn off the fan and leave the room between coats.

I got some dust in the paint, mainly when doing a piece on sawhorses, but I knew I was going to cut and buff the whole car anyway. There is no dust at all in the finished product. Honestly, it turned out as good as something from a real paintbooth. I cant spray paint well enough yet to get by without buffing anyway.

This vid shows the hood after I painted and before buffing.

1971 NOVA HOOD AND COWL FRESH PAINT - YouTube



Andy
 
#42 · (Edited)
No problem. I just used very thin painter plastic and a staple gun, went right over top of my flourescents on the ceiling. Took probably all of 20 minutes. In the beginning I would shop vac the whole room out the night before I painted because I did alot of sanding primer in there too, which people say is a big no-no, but towards the end I would just wet the floor down with a hose the night before and squeegee the sanding mess outside. Then the morning of the paintjob, I would wet the floor again.

But yeah, I did notice a huge difference after I put the plastic on the ceiling. As you can see in the video a few posts up, there is hardly any trash on the hood when I painted it.

I'd say in my case at least, the biggest things I did to control dust were the plastic and not opening the door when the fan was running. I may even go buy a cheap painter suit the next time I'm doing something that has to be real nice...

Tomorrow I am going to prep an old farm truck for a guy at his place. He just wants a super quick and dirty job to stop the rust for a year or two. He want to use rustoleum (oh yeah!) and he has one of those super cheapo turbine sprayers... we are going to paint it in a big barn type building... should be interesting to say the least!! He's paying me by the hour and he doesnt expect anything special. Should be fun. :)

He has 3 old Ford trucks he wants painted this way, who knows maybe they will turn out halfway decent. All 3 are VERY rough, so I definitely can't hurt anything, I don't even know why he's bothering, but I'm not going to talk him out of it!!! LOL

Andy
 
#45 ·
Thanks!!



Thanks! Means alot coming from a Pro. I really enjoy your videos! :thumbup:

I was going to say earlier that you wont have to worry about your next project ,it'll be your nieghbors car or someone at works car and you'll be busy doing THEM from now on. Thats how I got started back when I was a teen...
You have the eye for it and you definately are a painter I only wish the painters I hire could paint like that right out of the can.:thumbup::thumbup:
I cant believe how straight that is ,fantastic job..
THANKYOU to another Pro! I am in the process right now of trying to drum up side work in addition to trying to get hired at a body shop. I got laid off in June after 24 years with the same company building houses. Restoration has always been a hobby for me ever since I took my first car apart (happens to be this one) in 1993. I definitely would love to try my hand at body n fender work, doesnt have to be restorations.

I REALLY appreciate your kind words !! I think I could eventually become a pretty good painter, I'd love to have the opportunity to try.

Andy :thumbup:
 
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