Painting

Actual Painting Starts

This weekend real primer and paint were applied.  After months of body work including fiberglass filler, body filler and endless scrapping of 5 layers of old paint, I was able to start to paint.  As with most, the prep is never done, so there comes a time when perfect enough is good enough.

Plastic drop cloths hung from ceiling, the garage spray booth was ready.

Sprayer of choice - Earlex 5500 HVLP Spray Station

Paint System

Martin Senour Cross/Fire family

1. CE430 LCF Etch Primer on the bare metal and fiberglass bonnet (2 coats)
2. CP440 Gray 2K Urethane Primer (2 coats)
3. 56 Basecoat - Marshall Red 
4. CC5020 Clearcoat
5. Used the CR733 reducer for 55-70 degrees. The garage was between 60-65 during the paint sessions.

All of these were mixed as instructed on the datasheets.
The 1.5mm tip/needle for all of the coats.
16 oz of each primer for these 4 parts.
24 oz of paint and clear to for 2 coats on the 4 parts.  Heavier coats were used to achieve good wetting.

One note, the 3M VOC respirator breathing mask is amazing - I never once smelled a fume.

Here is the progression of the fiberglass hood/bonnet

Raw, unpainted

After the etching and 2K Primer

With 2 coats of base color and 2 coats of clear coat\

Results: There is mild orange peel visible so I expect once the rest of the car is painted, there will be a wet-sanding day along with polishing to achieve the best possible finish.  It will be easier once these parts are back on the car.

The doors and boot cover (trunk) also came out well:

A significant improvement over the stripped versions: