Painting the Ducktail, Part II
 

For those who missed Part I, you can find it here: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122068&highlight=duckta il

Friday night. Because I couldn’t come up with a way to paint both sides of the ducktail at once I had to tape off the top part and paint the bottom part first. What you need for this is painting paper. Do not use newspaper or you will end up with paper fibers in your paint. You also need masking tape made for painting. You can find this at your paint store along with the painting paper.
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I decided to go with a base coat - clear coat system. So first the base coat, Guards Red. First wipe down the piece with grease/wax remover. Then use a tack rag to get the dust off. On the spray gun, notice that I use a secondary moisture separator at the gun along with the moisture separator at the compressor. Moisture and oil are the two major curses of painting.
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Make sure you spray a test pattern to makes sure the pattern and mixture are set correctly:
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Once the base coat is on (which dries to a semi dull finish) it is time for the clear coat. I did not sand the base coat as there was no appreciable dust and no bugs in the paint. The base coat flashed off in about 5 minutes to the touch, but I waited 20 minutes before applying the clear coat. While the clear coat dries nice and shiny, I have a fair amount of orange peel to sand out. I think what happened was as the morning progressed the wind came up and the paint was drying to quickly. I should have quit for the day, but you know how things go when the urge to paint comes up!
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Something weird happened in a couple of places, the clear coat melted through the base coat exposing the primer. I’ll have to touch that up.
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Sunday morning. After allowing the paint to cure for 24 hours, it is time to wet sand and then buff out the paint. Remember, you only want to wet sand and buff the clear coat. You do not want to sand down to the base coat or you will be repainting! For wet sanding I started with 1500 wet/dry paper and progressed to 2000 wet/dry paper. Make sure you have plenty of water! As you sand you will see the water on the ducktail get a milky color. If it turns a red color, you went through the clear coat! As you can see, when you are done, the paint is quite dull.
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For buffing I started with a medium cut rubbing compound and a machine buffer with a wool bonnet. I heard that foam works better, but I didn’t want to spend $50.00 for a foam pad and backing pad when I already had the wool bonnet. MAJOR WARNING! Don’t use too much pressure or stay in one place to long with the buffer or you will burn through the paint. I just use the weight of the buffer itself and try to keep it moving.
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After the rubbing compound, I moved to a glazing compound, which is just a finer rubbing compound in spite of what they want to call it.
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If your buffing pad starts to load up use a screw driver held at a right angle to the pad, with the buffer running, to clean it off. Keep a tight grip on both the buffer and the screwdriver!
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I finished up with Meguairs number 7 show car glaze for the final buffing.
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Well in trying to work out a dull area I managed to burn through not just the clear coat, but the base coat! Fortunately the area is small and I will just touch it up when I am done.
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And here is the finished project!
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A number of the exterior parts for this project, including the car, were purchased from members of this board.
Inspiration for the polished wheels and ducktail: Mark Wilson’s immaculate 911 SC, Texas.
The car itself: BK911, formerly Maryland, now Florida
Ducktail: Lothar, North Carolina
Grill for ducktail: Porschevirus, Kansas
Fuchs Wheels: Scott B, California. Polishing done by Al Reed, California
Painted Center Caps: Steve911, California
Front Chin Spoiler: Pelican Parts

Gratuitous Gruppe B pic:
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great detailed description and pics! looks like it turned out awesome. are you happy with the match of the new paint to the existing paint?

Not completely. I got the paint matched with one of those computer color spectrum analyzers as opposed to just mixing the paint up off the paint code. In the sun and under lights the paint matches perfect. However, I noticed that in the shade the ducktail has more orange to it then the rest of the car. Of course if I had gone with just mixing up the paint off the paint code I'm not sure it would have matched the 17 year old paint any better.

Kurt,
That looks outstanding. When I saw the finished pictures, I thought, who has my car? Congratulations.
Mark

Kurt, that's a fantastic writeup, and really made me understand what's involved in painting a lot better.

Question about supplies: where do you buy paint, primer, etc.? In CA at least, it's difficult to find a store that will sell automotive paints, I guess for environmental reasons.

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Still trying to figure out where the lawn blower comes into play, lol.

2 things here . First, foam pads ARE alot better then those wools. You run less of a risk of burning your clear coat when using a foam pad. Foam pads also bring a brighter, nicer finish to the job. $50.00 bucks for a foam pad ? Are you trying to buy a foam pad at Nemon Marcus ? $50.00, thats unheard of. You can pic up some of the best foam pads for %10.00 to $15.00 bucks. Your getting played on the cost. Also, I see your using a Craftsmans buffer. Looks like you have the one that only has to speeds, Hi, and Low settings for speed. Bad, Bad choice. Alot of the buffing, polishing, sealing products out require a certain speed to apply the product properly. Thats why its better to use a adjustible speed buffer.

Correct. It wouldnt matter if you used the paint code or not. It will never match, since the paint on the car has changed color, from the sun, and time.

This is the #1 reason why (A), throw the wool out, and use foam pads, ESP on fresh paint thats only 24 hours old. (B), you really should use a buffer that has a speed control knob.


Sorry, I use to work in a paint shop at a Pontiac/ GMC dealership here in Vegas. Not critizing your work or ethics, just pointing out some things that would help.

In Missouri it is still legal to for auto parts stores to sell all auto paint except lacquer.

911SC thanks for the pointers! As to the foam pad, the pads were only $15, it was the backing pad that was $33.00! Next time I'll see if I can find a cheaper set up. As to the buffer, you are correct, a buffer with a speed knob is definitely superior to what I used. But, then again, I don't paint for a living and already had the buffer so I made do with what I had. If I was doing a lot of painting I would definitely get a better buffer.

The local paint shops in my area here in California will gladly sell any automotive paint products to anyone who walks in the door!

No problem with the pointers.SmileWavy . Awww, now I see, they wanted to yank ya with having to buy both the pad & the backing. They do make foam pads with the backings already on it, for about $15 to $20. You would just have to look around your area. You really dont need to be a painter to own a buffer with a speed control. I use mine to buff out 5 of my cars. I dont really like other people using a buffer on any of my cars, since I already know what it is Im doing. Saves me alot of money.Plus keeps my cars in great condition. Spent $200.00 on it, and its already made it money with 2 cars.

Kurt,

Can you list some prices (as far as paint, clear)?

These are estimates, I don't have the receipts in front of me right now:
Primer - one qt around $20
Clear - one qt around $37
activator for clear - one qt. $15
Guards Red base paint - one qt. $87.00
base paint reducer - one qt. $30.00
cheapo lacquer thinner for clean up - one gallon $12.00

If you buy in quantity, such as a gallon, the paint is cheaper, but not by much.

Can't wait to see that baby live and in person...WUF! WUF!