46 year old paint.. in progress pics added.

[gipraw]

Check this out..  1962 vette.  Original paint.  this car looks awesome from 10 feet away, but up close it is rough, rough, rough.

The owner has asked me to get it to the point where he isn't embarrassed to drive it for the next 8 - 10 months, when it is scheduled to undergo a complete frame off restoration.
As you can see below .. this car has numerous issues.  There are several places where the fiberglass is cracking and failing, causing several surface paint issues.


Sitting in the driveway.


Playing with the Gilmour:



Close ups after washing.

There are several different places on the paint where some sort of solvent, or other chemical has been rubbed over or sprayed on the surface. This is on the front and hood:



more of the junk all over the front of this car:




Another angle looking at the hood:



The hardtop looks as bad, or worse than the hood does.



Some of the cracking I mentioned previously.




I have this car for most of the week, so I will be able to take my time on it, and see how much I can improve on the current condition.  I would love to make this car looks like it deserves to look, but the paint is just too far gone.  It is a shame that the car's previous owner neglected it so bad.

[guitarman502]

awww sweet!

[Rollingrock]

insert popcorn image here...   I will be watching this will fun to read.

Best of luck but I know you'll work some mojo on it.

[Boss_429]

Gip...

Sweet! Wasn't the paint on those Vett's black lacquer?

[Rockpick]

Gip...

Sweet! Wasn't the paint on those Vett's black lacquer?

You know, I think I've read that once before... Great point, Boss! 

What would one do differently on a lacquer vs. an old single-stage?  Or, is it kind of one in the same?

Can't wait to see what you can do with it Gip.  Glad to see it's finally in your driveway -- we've talked about this one for months now...

[gipraw]

Yes, it is lacquer. Which, I believe, goes along way towards explaining how the finish has reacted to the various chemicals and stuff it has been exposed to over the years.

I haven't decided exactly how I am going to work it .. probably different from panel to panel .. there is so much cracking on the hood, and hard top, that I won't be able to do a lot with it.

[Rockpick]

I am exceedingly interested in hearing how you broach the cracked paint, Gip...

My 1978 Bronco (which is a long long cry from what you're working on) has a LOT of cracking in the original paint.  I'd love to know how you work to correct that -- I simply haven't worked on enough single stage to feel comfortable chasing a solution to this one.

Again, I can't wait to see where you go with this car -- that is a beautiful car!

[gipraw]

if it is lacquer checking, as most of it appears to be on this vette, then there is nothing that can be done for it, other than a repaint.   I will try and get a good picture posted of it ..  my camera batteries died last night before I got a good shot.

Overall, I will start with #80, simply because I have always liked the way it performs on this type paint, and finish with #21, topped with #16.  what I do in between is up in the air.

the only thing I really do differently when working with a lacquer are paying special attention to the least aggressive mantra, since the paint is so soft.

[Rockpick]

Okay... guess I need to get a buzz word or two together here...

Lacquer is the same as single stage, correct? 

Also, Gip... thanks for the referral... I met with him today and gave his Black Firehawk a look.  It's pretty standard swirling --- damn, those things have all kinds of body lines and angles though.  There's hardly a flat panel on the thing...   I see a *LOT* of hand work going in to correcting his paint but, I think I'm going to take it on.  We'll see where it goes...

I need to get my paws on some 151 as, from what I've read/seen, this car is the poster child for what that stuff will do...


-RP-

[gipraw]

there are several types of single stage paint .. Acrylic Enamel is the most common, Acrylic Lacquer, and I believe there is also a synthetic enamel.

you are welcome for the referral..   have fun .. that is some of the hardest clear coat on the planet. they look awesome when they are done ..   get some good before and after pics ..   if he posts the results on LS1tech, you might get run over with requests.

the other thing you will notice about that car, is that it drips for hours ..  lol ..   definately a need for the blower or the compressed air.

[Rockpick]

Ugh.... wasn't aware on the drippage.

Hard clear, eh?  I'm assuming that you've done one or eight of these things -- certainly not trying to hijack the Vette thread thus, I'll just PM you to see if I can get some insider information on how to treat it...

Hard clear with moderate swirling may be a toughy with black paint... :)  PM inbound.

Back to the regularly scheduled Vette' thread.    O0

[hwm3]

Looking forward to seeing this project. 

[gipraw]

have a few new pics to post, of the work in progress.

I included a couple of before shots, for easy comparison.












And now a few afters .. this is after buffing, and prior to applying # 21




















the roof is checked really bad, so this is as good as it is going to get.

[leedriver]

Looks amazing Gip..... NO comparrison to what it looked like upon arrival.

Also, great to have some real Pro's here to help us newbies.....  :thumbsiup: :thumbsiup:

[tdr6874]

the car looks good, but like it was posted on other site, i am not too sure that the owner really knows if it is the original paint...if the removable hard top is checked more, i would guess that it is original and the body is a respray...if is is checked, but not as bad as the top....i would guess from late 70's to mid 80's was when the work was done.  the top i bet was in a lot better shape than the car when the spray was done 20+ or so years ago, so it was left alone (since the top is usually off the car and does not get the sun or heat from engine like the rest of the car has seen for over 45 years). 

the emblem that was pulled (the cross flags) i looks like a respray from the impression left.

if it is an original paint, and a high output 327 or a fuel inj car orig car i would think he should not touch it....

at first thought i was thinking it was a respray since it was a solid color, but in 1962 the solid color option came back...first time since 1953 that your vette was not a two tone only.

the car looks good, and nice work as always...but i think the owner may not know what he has unless he is original owner...they still had a hard time making the seams on the vette up till late 60's then started cheating by putting on the rubber/plastic front and rear nose parts...they made less than 15k vettes in 62....that should tell you they still did not have a real good grasp how to make them.  the seams usually bubble...like alot of 60 steel cars...the seams bubble up from the lead that is used to put the panels together.

if he is doing a full rebuilt he sure got a nice one to start with....