Well im almost done painting my 1987 Fiero GT 5speed so i thought id share the process! Here she is when i bought her early this year for $850, non running, needed a IAC valve!
the front half had been poorly re-painted before, the clearcoat was gone off the roof and hood, the gelcoat was cracking in some spots, etc was still a blast to drive! Im a professional painter by profession so i thought it needed a modern flashy paint job So i decided on Kandy Brandywine over a dark gold, mmmmm sexy!
so first i fixed the peeling gel coat on the roof
removed the wing and filled in the holes
got it stripped down and sanded
feathered out the peeling clearcoat and some did some minor body work and primed it all
got the jambs painted!
sealer on the outside!
3 coats of gold laid down!
Final Product! It looks so nice in person in the sun, the pics are on a iphone so its hard to see how nice it really is!
I love how this project is looking! i still have to strip the bumpers and prime/paint those and paint the ground effects I cant wait to get it all back together and some pics taken with a nice camera!
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07:08 PM
PFF
System Bot
Fiero Thomas Member
Posts: 4669 From: Round Lake Beach, IL Registered: Jul 2005
Looks great from here. True candy is very hard to do to look right. Brandywine is about my fav color. I repainted my new Sebring a month or two ago and thought long and hard about either Brandywine or Corvette Sunburst Orange (is a mild transparent candy color). Since its a daily driver I decided against the Brandy....too hard to keep touched up.
You didnt paint everything at once ? Thats taking a bit of a chance on a match dont you think ? Kandy is very critical as to coats, mix, humidity, etc.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 09-24-2010).]
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11:46 AM
JohnWPB Member
Posts: 5222 From: West Palm Beach, Florida Registered: May 2009
Just remember the base color affects the final color. You can start with white, silver or gold normally. I did a custom for a guy and the base was black with the brandywine over it.
to fix the roof i just grinded it down and fixed it with body filler and glaze like anything else...
as for not painting everything at once, i do this for a living, itll be fine i would NOT suggest this to a DIY person one of the most complicated jobs you can spray i searched all over for other fieros this color and couldnt find anything, thanks for the other examples! The really shiny one is either just a awesome camera or photoshop touchup As for the candy apple brandywine pic, candy apple and brandywine are two different colors...both very nice
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06:25 PM
ConvictedRedneck Member
Posts: 1034 From: Easton, PA - USA Registered: Nov 2005
to fix the roof i just grinded it down and fixed it with body filler and glaze like anything else...
as for not painting everything at once, i do this for a living, itll be fine i would NOT suggest this to a DIY person one of the most complicated jobs you can spray i searched all over for other fieros this color and couldnt find anything, thanks for the other examples! The really shiny one is either just a awesome camera or photoshop touchup As for the candy apple brandywine pic, candy apple and brandywine are two different colors...both very nice
What kind of filler? I've heard so many different opinions on what kind is ok or not ok to use with our "plastic"
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08:01 PM
Sep 25th, 2010
fierochic1 Member
Posts: 105 From: Paducah, KY 42003 Registered: Nov 2001
My absolute favorite paint color in the world I believe. We painted my Formula with the same color, except we used the silver base. Thankfully my husband enjoys painting. He hates mechanic work, but at least my cars are pretty!
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02:21 PM
PFF
System Bot
IMSA GT Member
Posts: 10642 From: California Registered: Aug 2007
Just remember the base color affects the final color. You can start with white, silver or gold normally. I did a custom for a guy and the base was black with the brandywine over it.
How did the color come out with brandywine over a black base? I think there was a thred a month or so with a cherry color over a black base look really good almost like flip flop paint
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06:00 PM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
It looks 'almost' like black, but lights and sunlite make the highlightes maroon. It does look a bit like a flip flop. I saw some guys at a show looking at it and trying to figure it out. I think their concensous, was the redish purple hue was coming from a car beside it reflecting in the black, lol. I told them how it was done, then took them around to the other side where a different color car was beside it.
yeah i used evercoat products, good stuff, its what we use at work did some sidework this weekend so i can afford to do more work on the fiero i decided im gonna repaint the hood cause i missed some low spots on it and while im doing that im painting the fiero logo on the hood in gold!
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09:42 PM
Sep 26th, 2010
SKIDMARK Member
Posts: 1350 From: Chardon, Ohio, USA Registered: Sep 2001
It looks very good. I painted a 37 Buick I built in the 80's black cherry candy. I am planning on painting my 88, Screaming Yellow, a solid color because I plan to drive it a lot. But I am torn both ways about doing the side moldings body color or black.
A friend painted his 74 corvette Kandy Brandywine with a gold base. It was the best looking paint job I ever saw. Then some ass hat dinged his door. I thought Clays head was going to explode when he saw it.
A friend painted his 74 corvette Kandy Brandywine with a gold base. It was the best looking paint job I ever saw. Then some ass hat dinged his door. I thought Clays head was going to explode when he saw it.
Ya, the downside of Kandy is you cant touch up scratches and chips. You have to do the whole panel and hopefully remember exactly how many coats of everything you used so it will be close to the same color.
I love this color as well but I cringe when you guys paint the rounded trim the same color because the first door ding - wouldn't the paint chip off? I am about 50/50 when it comes to painting the mirrors. It either looks good or bad depending upon the paint.
Well I only drive it on weekends and I park no where close to anything I love the look of the painted mirrors and trim it's more modern looking I still have to wetsand and buff the car. It will look so much better after that! I wanna repaint the hood cause I missed some imperfections. I am thinking of putting a medium sized gold fiero Pegasus on the hood... Needs lowering and suspension bad!
Thanks for all the feedback guys! I love these cars!
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12:51 PM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
To keep body colored trim from chipping for a door ding. I run a strip of clear heavy vinyl along the trim. I have a silver Sebring with wide body color side molding and painted it and the molding Corvette Orange and taped it. You cant even tell its there and it wont chip or scratch. Same stuff I use along the rear edge of doors and front edge of hood available at auto paint supply stores for about $20 @ roll. Its tough stuff.
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06:54 PM
ace5514 Member
Posts: 692 From: west long branch, nj, usa Registered: Nov 2008
thought id update my thread, its been a while! picked up some wheels cheap, tires are way to small going to pick up some 225-45r17 BFG KDW2 soon and needs to be lowered! alot!
thought id update my thread, its been a while! picked up some wheels cheap, tires are way to small going to pick up some 225-45r17 BFG KDW2 soon and needs to be lowered! alot!
What size are your wheels? I have 17 X 7's on my car, and I can run a 235/45R17 on the rear with the stock suspension. Plus, it's pretty close to the diameter of the original 15" tires. I run a 215/45R17 on the front, which is almost exactly the same size as the original 15's. Check out the tire size calculator at http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html It will give you the comparison between the original tires, and any replacement sizes you might be interested in.
Paint looks great!
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