[GT182]

Great job Ant! If you hadn't said the color, I would ahve thought it was a dark blue.... the color of the 66 Tempest I had. Anyhow.... you did one hell of a good job on it. Even if you did have a bug and a dup by a jealous bird.

[crkoester]

Please break down your $600 budget for us... surely that doesn't account for equipment. For those of us who don't already have the right gear to get started, the compressor alone would cost you more than this....


Chris

[fyrebird68]

Way to go, man. You have a right to be proud.

This is my most favorite pic I have taken of my GTO, because I can prove "I did this myself". 1st car I ever painted.

[YVEYANT]

Thanks guys,
The feeling has not worn off at all. I have been going out their like an idiot at all times of the night to look at it. My wife can't believe it either, she has been out a few times herself.
Total cost..$600 and it just took the guts to try it, knowing when my neighbors would not be around helped too, LOL
I started spraying on the bottom to give me a good feel for my gun and how to spray without the paint running and avoiding any orange peel. I figured if I messed up down there who cares, it would be covered with the chrome trim anyway. I guess the carefree attitude helped because I didn't have any runs and really no orange peel anywhere. Being relaxed helped a lot not to mess up.
I am going out today to try to get everything back together. There is not much to do, but I am sure polishing the rims are going to take me the longest time.

[Tempest]

That looks really good. Way to go. Painting outside, in November, in New York! Wow, It looks fantastic.

[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by Tempest

That looks really good. Way to go. Painting outside, in November, in New York! Wow, It looks fantastic.

The advantages of global warming, Lee.

[brianberes]

Awesome job! I can't believe you painted it outside??!?! Down here in Texas the bugs are so big even this time of the year they'd leave deep gouges in the fresh paint as they komokazied headfirst into the paint. You give all of us novice painters & bodywork guys the inspiration to try to paint our cars on our own. Please keep us posted with pics after you've installed the chrome, stainless trim and wheels & tires. I bet she'll sure look pretty.

Congrats!

[YVEYANT]

Thanks for the compliments.
I am almost there. I buffed the car out today and glazed it. I started polishing the chrome, installed the GTO rocker trim, side view mirrors & chrome headlight surrounds. I just have to fasten the rocker trim in, kind of just sitting in place. I polished the wheels, man is that a killer. I tried something new today as it was much faster with better results. I used 1200 grit wet sandpaper on my American Racing wheels (passenger side), you had to see how thick the layer of residue was and no they are not clearcoated, lol. It would have taken me forever to scrub them as I originally did the drivers side a few weeks ago. Wet sanding makes a few very light scratches, but they came right out when I polished them with mothers aluminum wheel polish. I have a few odds and ends to do. I have to meet with a few clients tomorrow so I will have to take care of the rest on Tuesday, hopefully it won't rain.

[gto4evr]

Ant, Looks GREAT! are you trying to make me look bad?!? That gutlass sitting in my garage hasn't even seen sandpaper yet! You got this car into paint WAY too fast! You're just lucky you live in the middle of the forest -- If I tried that around here I'd have 3 police departments and the EPA down my neck in two seconds with my neighbors -- I got a visit from the cops when I painted my 8" x 6" bathroom air vent with a can of rustoleum in my back yard last year! So what did you do about the quarters? Last time I saw you, you'd taken a screwdriver to them and had cracked out 1/4" deep chunks out of them.

So what's the plan on the interior now? You'd put that on hold til next year, now that it's in paint, You CAN'T wait that long!

Later,
Dennis

[YVEYANT]

Dennis,
I used metal to metal on the quarters and filled them in, surprisingly the quarts were in good shape once I got down to the metal. After I filled them in with the metal to metal, I used a thin coating of icing to skim them smooth. Bodywork took me two long days. I got tired of people giving me $7000 quotes for body work and $5000 quotes to paint it "because it is such an old car" alone and I made it more than presentable in one day, am I that good or are people out just to rip us off??? I know the answer to that one. It really was not difficult at all. The worst part was the sanding, very tiring I will say, but well worth it. I love when I can do something and see immediate results.

Chris,
$600 was for a gallon of paint, reducer, hardener, primer, sleeve of tape, paper, metal to metal, icing, wet sandpaper, block sanders.
I used my own gun I bought about two years ago from Home Depot which was $30
and my compressor is a 2 stage, gas Craftsman Professional series which cost me almost a $1000 about two years ago too.
The mixing of the reducer, paint, and hardener was not as intimidating as I thought it would be.
The autobody store where I got the stuff from gave me these mixing cups that tells you how much of what to put in for example 4 parts paint, 1 part reducer, 1 part hardener and on the cup there will be a four then a one and another one, no guesswork at all. To be honest, this use to be the part just thinking of that made me never want to paint, but when you have the right tools (the cup) it makes it so much easier.

One of the guys who gave me one of those crazy prices stopped by my house yesterday as he passes here on his way home. He got out of his car and said wow, who did the work, I laughed and said "I did". He said "No seriously, who did the work?".
I said "I did". To make himself feel better, he said to me "What did it take you a month"
I laughed again and told him "It took me two days." Then I said to him "Would you still charge me $7000 for bodywork? because I don't see $7000 here" He said "Guys like you could make me go hungry" He patted me on the shoulder and said "Nice work" and left. LOL

[george kujanski]

Nice job. Did you use a HVLP gun?

Weren't you going to buy a convertible?

George

[YVEYANT]

Hey George,
Yes I used an HVLP gun and I am getting it ready for Ebay so I can go for the convertible.

[gto4evr]

Originally Posted by YVEYANT

Hey George,
Yes I used an HVLP gun and I am getting it ready for Ebay so I can go for the convertible.

??????

You dropped more money on this in 6 months then I have in 3 years, and NOW you're dumping the car?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?! Clean out that tiny garage of yours, put this inside and just ADD to the collection with a vert! Besides, Petey likes hanging his head out the side window, it takes all the fun out of it if the wind takes him up and OUT of the back seat when you're screaming down the road with the top down!

[AllRise]

Ant is right you know, you guys are inspiring. I am going to attemptto paint my firebird soon, and after reading every bit of information in this section, checking out the leads to other forums, and talking with my local paint supply house, I finally feel confident enough to attempt it. Then, I stumbled across this thread, great job Ant, Im certain the feeling of success will last you awhile. Dont sell, just add to the collection! Thanks again to all of you! Travis

[Norwood]

Go for it guys, How bad can you screw it up....... LOL

I can tell you that I made more than one trip to the PPG store....


Here is my 70 T/A that I painted in my garage.........

[AllRise]

LOL indeed. As long as you have the time and money, ou can just keep doing it until its right, right? haha!

[Thumpin455_GTO]

Man that looks nice! I cant wait to get my Goats and Birds done, all in due time I guess. I painted one of mine last month, it came out nice, but I did it inside my shop. Still got 7 bugs in the clear. pesky little buggers can get in anywhere. It wasnt one of my Pontiacs, it was the first car I ever bought, a 67 Cougar. Cost me about the same for supplies and paint, but I have a bunch of vehicles to do.

To the guys on the fence about it, JUST DO IT! You cant screw it up that bad! Well maybe you can but give it a shot on a beater first.

The old Cougar was really rough, but relatively rust free compared to some of my other rides. So the body work took me quite a while, had to remove the vinyl top, fill the holes for it, section and replace some nasty dents on the body lines, and try to get it smooth with huge amounts of parking lot rash. The pics make it look good in my case, got one run, the bugs, and some orange peel on the roof. I am short so I couldnt reach the middle very well.

Your work is impressive, especially since it was outside and so fast. I would love to have your car.

Well here is a pic of my Cougar, soon the Goats and Birds will get their turn in the shop, and in bare metal. Also its a 98 Pontiac flame red on it, and the 351C is painted Pontiac blue! Cant have it with out my favorite engine paint..

[YVEYANT]

Dennis,
The convertible belongs to a very good friend of mine who happens to own the GTO convertible that started it all for me. He also happens to owe me a lot of money and this will be a way to get it back, plus he never wanted to sell the car to me or anybody else. If I don't buy it, he won't sell it. For me, having two cars just would not make much sense, not right now anyway. "Petey" and "Twinkee" can sit in the back with my son with the top down and the wind in their fur. I can always buy them the doggy seatblets if they try and go Kamikaze on me.
Guys,
All of your cars look amazing and I am sure you appreciate it even more because you did it yourselves.
For the rest of you thinking about doing it own your own, as you can see, I am not the only one who can do it, so can you, just go for it!

[YVEYANT]

The photos above are of my boy "PETEY" we call him "PEE PEE"
and my female "TWINKEE" we call her "THE TWINK" They will be having puppies together right around Christmas time, she is pregnant.

[gto4evr]

Ant,

Pups....well TWO of them should cover the 20x40 storage barn for both the ragtop and your 67 right there! What are you going to do about that 455 monster you just put into it, what's in the vert right now? Maybe you should grab the vert first then swap drive trains before you dump your hardtop.

okay, you shamed me into getting my back end in gear. Spent two hours clearing some floor space in the garage tonight. I'm not going to make the mistake of trying to spray in December like I did with my 69, (heat wasn't a problem UNTIL the overspray was so thick and clearing the air also ment clearing the HEAT!) but at least I've committed to getting the quarters hung and the fender patches done so I'm ready to shoot it in spring! Biggest step will be getting off this damn forum and out in the garage!