louvers for the 88

[Garrett Powered]

I got this tgp hood I had sitting around for close to 5 years off my old red 89.

 

Adam had a spare set of louvers I bought off him for my 88. so I did some skimming of the rage over the hood and got all the obvious dings out then shot it with some U-tech primer. then I knocked it down with some 120 and 320 on the DA. that combo worked sweet and its already glass. next couple days if I got time I will try to spray it with some base and clear.

 

[GOT2B GM]

sweet, should look great

[Twenty]

Nice, good luck with this.

[Garrett Powered]

I got it all set up for base/clear finish now.

 

going to do it in the back yard. rolled out a drop cloth over the grass and got the paint gun and stuff all ready.

 

just have to wait to see if there is any chance of rain.

 

 

95% if the job is in the prep basically and all that is done now. just got to shoot it.

 

the louvers are all prepped too. that was easy, just scuffed them with grey 3-M pad. no broken tabs or chips. unbelievable!!! there was like 1 tiny scratch that I hit with some 500 paper and that was it.

 

time to just wipe it all down with some prep-sol on a lint free cloth. then mix the activator with the base and pour it through a paper filter cone and start spraying.

[Garrett Powered]

base coat's on and its too bright to take pics up close used almost a half gallon of base coat on it because the louvers soaked up a lot of paint + I did the top and bottom side of everything.

 

 

 

 

now I gotta spray it with about a half gallon of clear.

[Twenty]

It's looking good so far!

[Garrett Powered]

thanks! I am going to need some sunglasses to do the clear now.

 

this is burning my retinas.

[Twenty]

thanks! I am going to need some sunglasses to do the clear now.

 

this is burning my retinas.

My dad once told me that he had to put his sunglasses on one day when he was driving behind me, because the sun was reflecting off of my car's white paint and he couldn't see. True story.

[Garrett Powered]

some more of the base coat after I found a cheap pair of sunglasses.

 

 

 

 

all the chem and paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Garrett Powered]

 

 

 

 

 

as you can see the sheet metal is not entirely flat but I only did 2-3 apps of rage. the sun is starting to get lower so the imperfections are showing.

 

the fast activator is doing better for me and I was able to get a nice thick gel coat on for the first phase.

 

I could leave it or go out there and lay on another gun full of clear. chance of bugs and debris getting in there will increase but same time make it more chip proof. the front of the hood gets all the rocks so I better do it.

 

this is the most successful clear session I have done thus far. that medium activator I used on the black paint job was a bitch.

[AL]

I want you to paint my car!

[GOT2B GM]

I would love to have the equipment / room to do my own painting

[AL]

I would love to have the equipment / room / knowledge to do my own painting

 

edited for me

[GOT2B GM]

well that too

[Garrett Powered]

I had close to 10 hours in sanding on the hood just to get it ready for primer. the red paint was so oxidated and baked on plus had scratches that I just sanded off all the paint.

 

then I had 6 more hours of prep just getting ready to paint: sand down the primer, wash it all down, go a step finer, wash it down, see some more sanding scratches, hit it with 500, wash it down, still see more scratches that might come through the paint, 1200 grit, wash it down. set up all the chem, stirrers,funnels, air lines, guns.

 

then it took from 11 am to 6 pm just to spray the base/clear. so 7 hours. I used flash time to take pics and post them but mostly solid work time. stressful too, if you run into a problem or a bug flies into the paint... you can lose your mind with frustration. there is actually a lot of dirt and bugs in the paint, so the work is still not over. now its time to cut and buff it and get help installing the hood straight.

 

I would not want to pay for all those hours I put in to this. pro's can do it easier and quicker with better equipment, knowledge, and results. and its worth what you pay if you can count on them to do it right. I just have never had that kind of luck or money.

 

good hobby to have though!

[Twenty]

I would not want to pay for all those hours I put in to this. pro's can do it easier and quicker with better equipment, knowledge, and results. and its worth what you pay if you can count on them to do it right. I just have never had that kind of luck or money.

 

good hobby to have though!

It took me over four hours to repaint my door locks due to all of the masking and drying time involved. Did I care? No. It's much more fun, and you can take more pride in it, if you did it yourself.

[Garrett Powered]

are the louvers different from 89 to later years?

 

I got everything all painted and ready to go and the louvers will not go down flush on the hood!

 

either I got to cut the hole wider or grind the lip off the bottom of the louver.

 

I will find out more once I get the louvers off the black parts car and see if they fit.

 

figures

[Garrett Powered]

finally got them in place.

 

1/4" strips of metal had to be grinded off to get the holes wide enough for the louvers to sit flush. I masked off the whole hood so sparks would not burn the new finish. I guess I could have test fitted them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now I am in the process of cutting and buffing it using my new DA 1200 and 2000 grit foam backed hook and loop pads to cut down the orange peel with the quickness. this new process I found even though expensive,can be a good time/labor saving solution. It took me 1/10th the effort to wet sand. I never actually fully cut and buffed the black tgp which has real bad orange peel because it is a huge amount to wetsand by hand.

 

so now I know the smart way to do things.