Well, the sanding has begun! I am going to attempt to change the color of my metallic red 1987 GT to Millineum Yellow, as seen on late model 'Vettes. I have never painted a car before so this should be interesting. This was the car before I started sanding:

I currently have the nose, hood, rear bumper, and taillights removed. All but the taillights(of course)have been roughed and chips feathered with 80 grit. I will post some picks of my progress tonight.

I am curious about what brands and types of primer and finishes you guys prefer. I am planning base-clear but am open to suggestion. Cool little techniques you guys have figured out would be cool too. Thanks a lot. More pics to come......if I did the PIP thing right.

Guess what the edit was for? Yep, PIP.

[This message has been edited by 87GTSleeper (edited 05-12-2003).]

Well I know the guy that painted my car ussed a white primer under the yellow and he told me the white primer makes the Yellow paint come out brighter than if he used a grey primer. I'd have to say it's pretty bright since every time I try to photograph mine on a sunny day it comes out almost white. Oh and it's Viper Yellow by the way.

Hope this helps,

Dan

edit: We never get tired of these types of threads, it's how we all learn from one another.
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[This message has been edited by DanFiero (edited 05-12-2003).]

That yellow doesnt cover real good, so plan on extra coats or paint it some cheap white first.

Dan, you musta beat my post by 30 seconds, lol

I just switched brands after about 10 years. I now use R&M basecoat. Then over that I use their cheaper brand 'Limco' clear #LC4000 and hardener. I can color sand the next day if I have to and buff it. Greatest thing is its only $10.50 a quart and the hardener is $25 a quart (enough for 4 qts). Most colors are under $30 qt. I only use laquer Primer/Surfacer, but will use catalyzed primer if I expect a problem with the old paint.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 05-12-2003).]

R&M, huh? I'll have to look it up. Not TOO pricey, I hope. Thanks.

I saw a couple threads where guys were using white under the yellow. I think it'll depend on how light I can get the primer. Probably still have to go with white, though.

Anyway, here are some progress pics:

In lieu of plastic rivets, the previous painter chose good ol' wire(pronounced "wor").

There were some cracks and some peeling:

Goodbye, luggage-rack!! Gotta fill those holes. Spoiler, anyone?

The hood is ready for a little glazing putty.

Got some more work to do on the bumpers:

I also started removing the mirrors and door handles last night. Somebody PLEASE tell me I don't have to take off that inner door door panel to get those things off. Well, either way, they're coming off. More later. When I'm able, I'll give you guys some good ratings. Thanks.

quote Originally posted by 87GTSleeper: Goodbye, luggage-rack!! Gotta fill those holes. Spoiler, anyone?

I would leave it without a spoiler... I LOVE the 'wingless' GT's... Keep us updated on the progress!

quote Originally posted by 87GTSleeper: I also started removing the mirrors and door handles last night. Somebody PLEASE tell me I don't have to take off that inner door door panel to get those things off.

Yes, I believe you will have to remove them.. sorry!

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SmoothFieroGT@Yahoo.com

Good choice of a color. I painted mine a custom yellow awhile back. I did it in my parents garage when I was still living there. It was a great experience and look forward to repainting it again since the front bumper got bumped and spidered out and the side mirror got knocked off when I side swiped the back end of a suburban during a downpour and I was on a cell phone. I'll never do that again. Anyway my car now sits like this:

Until I can afford to repaint it I am taking time to prep the chasis by getting rid of rust and repainting everything a gloss black. I plan on doing a 3800SC conversion and re-painting it a color I will keep a secret for now. One thing I would give advice about is the sanding. On the front bumper I had a lot of rock pits and just sanded them down until they were flat with out sanding the surrounding areas to the same level. When I finished painting with the clear coat every one of those places I sanded stood out like a sore thumb. I said oh well and left it like that not to mention I had a bra to cover it up. Hope this helps out. My signature is what the car looked liked when I first repainted it. I did use a white based primer before I applied the basecoat and clearcoat.

My sig is not working so here it is:

[This message has been edited by 87FieroGT (edited 05-13-2003).]

Looks cool! I know what you mean about the rock pits. A guy at work was tellong be to be careful of flat spots when feathering those. Sorry to hear about the mirror incident. Hopefully mine will turn out half as good as your looks in those pics. Thanks for the tip!

Dang ol' bump, man.

Well, a little progress has been made. At this point all the sanding scratches are filled with flexible primer/filler prior to the actual primer coats, which I have yet to do. Hopefully next week. In the meantime I rebuilt my door hinges. There is a write-up on that in Technical. Here are a few pics of the progress:

Fixed fender.

I still need to sand the rear area.

I also painted my decklid vents. I read a post where someone said they use BBQ paint on theirs. What the hell, let's try it:

I can't remember who posted that tip. Come forward and be recognized because they look awesome!

Since I am going Millineum Yellow with black trim, I was wondering what to do about the moulding. This LEAPT off the shelf at me:

Has anyone ever used this? Dang, it even has a Fiero on the can. I haven't sprayed any yet.

I'll probably post again after I spray some color. Like I said, hopefully sometime next week. Till then..

I use BBQ Krylon on lots of stuff. It has just enough gloss to look nice and finished.

Block sand your primer with one of the 1/4" thick rubbers too help level out all those different layers of paint using #400. Id advise you to use real waxed masking paper instead of the newspaper for your paint. Its not expensive, about $10 for a large roll 18" wide.

Thanks Roger. I used the sanding method you described on my hood, decklid, etc. Looks and feels really smooth and even. There is one small flat spot on the right rear, less than the size of a dime. Everything else looks good so far.

I will indeed be using masking paper and good tape from here on out. The newspaper was for the rattlecan primer/filler. I appreciate your good advice. That's a "+".

Also, I will be putting it up on stands after I roll it out and wash it. Stay tuned for brake and suspension upgrades while it's off the ground.

Hey Sleeper , I used the Mar-hyde Black spray paint on my mirrors , engine vents , and all the moulding . ( The sray can with the Fiero on the front ). Was not impressed with the product at all . The mirror paint crinkled , the engine vents look like I din't even paint them , and all the moulding is flakeing . I've got to re-do all of them .This all occured in less than a year's time . I don't reccomend the product !

Galen Smith
Red '85 Sport Coupe
Founder of Suncoast Fiero Club
Florida Fiero Council

Gave you a + rateing for your write up and pictures .

If my advice has been helpful , then please give me a positive rateing .

Dont make the mistake of not taking ALL of the clearcoat off before painting, i know its alot of work but i'll put it this way: If you dont and the clearcoat starts peeling under the new paint your new paint will come right off.

As far as the trim paint goes... I had a problem with the trim paint when i painted my 86 GT. I didnt sand the trim. You want to sand the trim to remove anything that could be lurking on it, and also to give the paint something to grab onto. I painted the trim first on my car and taped over it. When i pulled the tape off half of the trim paint came with it . I would just sand them with like 120 grit sandpaper and prime them, make sure that it fills all of the scratches and paint over them with the stuff you have. After painting 2 Fieros I still dont know everything..

One more tip.. newspaper works fine for masking off, at least it always has for me. I would refrain from using plastics or anything tha the paint would flake off from. I would hate to have you end up shooting something and have plastic ripple on you with wind from the gun and have paint chips all over your wet paint.

cheers!
Jeff

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REMEMBER: If you cant win the race you loose the argument!!

www.geocities.com/j_depies

The reason for treated masking paper is paint will not soak thru it like it does newspaper. ie/if you paint car then use it to mask for painting trim, the paper will stick permanently to fresh paint or on plastics like the quarter windows the paint will craize it

Thanks guys! I'll not spray any of the "Black Satin" on the trim. I think I'm gonna go with what I did the grilles with. Good old BBQ Black.

I believe the previous paint was a single stage paint. As soon as I started sanding, pink dust everywhere. I did spend a LOT of time on prep-work. Every little nick and chip is fixed, even on the inside edge of the fenders. Hopefuly, I won't hose the deal when I spray.

Great thread, soaking up info like a sponge, eyeing my 86SE seeing it either very red or very yellow, ummmmmmm. Anyone out there tried any of the portable hvlp spray rigs like the one available from TIP or Campbell Hausfield? I would really like to know how well they work.

Whew! OK, it's yellow. I'm dog tired. Here are some pics. I have a little error correction to do but basically it's ready to reassemble. If only the guy from Fiero Warehouse would e-mail me back. Anyway, here you go:

I like the color. It's by no means a show paint job but I got a lot less orange peel that I expected for my first time. Wish me luck getting it back together.

lookn good!! i think i was the one who reccomended the BBQ paint, i use it all the time its one of my fav. shades of black!!

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Rich
white '86 se: , 2" drop, coil overs, KYB's. CRX intake, ported manifolds

Gold '86se: ,350 bored .030 over,World Products s/r Torquers, ported, Manley valves, edelbrock 750cfm, carb sanderson cc90's,4:10,Spec stage 3copper puck clutch , adj.Koni's, Eibach's,polly. and lots more!!

'92 BMW 325i : borla exhaust, ST brace, cold air intake

sorry.. testing my sig again.

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Project : 1984 Fiero SE

-Justin

AOL/AIM : Xxdefxt0nesxX
Yahoo : lpm5kl

looks great! want to do mine?

Thanks guys. I'm so jazzed about my car being painted.

I bareley mustered up the motivation to do my own, much less anyone else's.

congratulations!

Dont worry too much about the orange peel, just so that you dont have any runs, their a b*t*h to sand out! Now, about the orange peel, just use a block and 1200 grit wet/dry and a nice buffer and very good buffing compound. I hope you put enough paint on where you wont burn though, so just keep and eye out for thin spots. If you mess up a panel you can always either take it off or tape off the panel and re-spray it. When you soak the sandpaper put some dish soap in the water with it, it'll keep the sandpaper from clogging once you start sanding with it. As far as buffing compound goes, i used cutters time release compound. Its great stuff and will take out any scratches as low as 1000 grit. Besides it smells the best of any buffing compound and is easily hosed out of cracks even though i usually tape off in the cracks so that i dont even have to do that. It's easy to get a home done paint job looking like a pro one with a little elbow grease!

jeff-wa!

quote Originally posted by fieromadman: It's easy to get a home done paint job looking like a pro one with a little elbow grease! jeff-wa!

got any extra Elbo-Grease layn arround ? im running low ( im say'n im lazy)

im with ya on the laziness!

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-Blaine/FieroAudio

I've been doing a little work getting it back together. This is where I am so far. Right now I am waiting for drilled/slotted rotors and stainless brake hoses to show up. You can see those rotors ain't looking too good. That tired old suspension is next.

This is pre-wet sanding and buffing.

looking good, and what i meant to recommend for buffing compound is wizards turbo cut, not cutters lol, sorry i was tired!!

now get it finished!

And no i dont have any extra elbow grease layin around, i used it all up, i buffed 3 cars this week!!

Wow, looks great. Can't wait to see the finished product. Free Bump!!

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Do you have lote of dust in the paint?I had lots of problems with dust when I painted my Car,although I wetted the walls and the floor

I didn't have much dust. I cleaned my garage well before starting and duck-taped old bed-sheets over the door openings and a box fan I used for exhaust. I did have to pick a couple mosquitos out of my clear. That sucked. Never paint after dark under a light.

OK. Here are some progress pics. I got my brakes done and wheels painted black. Ceramic gloss engine paint.

I brought the car out for a few pics. I am still waiting on quarter glass.

When those quarter windows get here I will be a lot happier. The paint turned out OK. I'll probably re-spray after the first of the year. What do you think so far?

It is a very good paint job and a good looking car!

oooooooooooo, shiny

if it goes missing, I will assure you now that it wasnt me What was your address again? hehehehe

very very awesome job, looks extremely sharp. any engine mods on it?

[This message has been edited by yashmack (edited 07-02-2003).]

Thanks for the comments! No engine mods...yet. Actually, I'm saving for the RCC tubular suspension with front and rear coilovers and THEN it's getting a 3800SC. Dang, I have a lot of work to do.

WOW, That looks like it was a factory color combo. I know yellow was only 88 monochrome. Somethnig about that looks like it should have been factory.I like it.

I was a little torn on wether to go monochrome yellow or do the trim in black. I went with the "I'm gonna be different" approach. I had never seen a yellow with black so I Photoshopped a pic of a yellow '88 to have the black trim. I liked it (thought it looked factory, too) so did that. I'd like to see a white one with black trim and black lace wheels. I think that would look awesome.