Project StinkBug: Spraying Ancient Lacquer Paint After 25 Years

I was mostly satisfied with the paintwork going on with the '57 this year, but the labor costs were adding up. And when there was a problem with the hood, and it would need to be repainted at my expense, I decided to try my hand at painting using the old acrylic lacquer paint cans that came with this car.

I bought a 21-gallon oiled Harbor Freight air compressor, and all the various bits like an air hose and fittings and paint filters from them too. I had already bought a gallon of Clear Lacquer Sunscreen and some Slow High Gloss Thinner LT-85 on Amazon. I bought a $42 spray gun from Amazon, which was kind of a splurge, when Harbor Freight guns are $10. But I liked the smaller 1.3mm tip size for lacquer. So in addition to the base coat and the clear and the thinner, which I already had left over, I spent about $275 on various things, most of which can be used again and again for years.

The challenge was trying to paint a hood to match a car that was painted 25 years ago (and I'd be using the remnants in a 25 year old paint can!) And the old paint job on the rest of the car is still great, previously wet-sanded and polished to a mirror shine. To me, the rest of the car looks like a great $10,000 paint job. So the hood had to be great, not just good. I wasn't sure I should even attempt it, but in the end I'm very happy with my results and am already planning to redo the driver's side rocker, driver's side door jambs, and rear door that my painter did earlier this year.

The painting process was straightforward, and lacquer paint was easy to deal with. I think a stunning lacquer paint job can be attained by the average hobbyist in their backyard.

The hood is all prepped, and I'm ready to lay down the green lacquer and clearcoat lacquer in my backyard. My neighbors must love me... ;)

At this point, done with the final coat of clear over the green, I really wasn't sure what to think. I thought it would have much more shine. There's 5 or 6 coats of green and 5 or 6 coats of clear. The coats were pretty thin though, so it built up slowly. The outside temperature was over 90 degrees, so the paint was drying quickly, even with 1:1 of 85 degree reducer.

I waited only 24 hours for drying and started wet-sanding with 800, 1000, 1500, and then 2000 grit paper. I really just skimmed over it quickly. Then I used a wool bonnet with rubbing compound, and a foam bonnet with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. Most folks suggest waiting a week or longer to sand, which I'll try next time. I'll also start wet-sanding with 1000 grit or higher instead of 800.

Update: So, the clear coat on the hood was damaged two days after painting, when I placed the hood upside down (in the sun no less) to assess stripped hood bolt threads, and the heat melted the clear coat into the foam it was resting on. I ended up wet sanding all the clear coat with 600 grit, mostly where the damage had occurred, but not down to the green, and then re cleared the whole hood. It's important to not get down to the green layer or you'd have to re-shoot the green metallic. I then wet sanded with 1000 and then 2000 and then polished with a cheap wool bonnet and rubbing compound. Finished it up with a foam pad and 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. I'm surprised, but this re-do looks even better than the first attempt, and I'm comfortable with the process of fewer wet-sanding grits.

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Project StinkBug: More Green Bits

The '57 came with a couple cans of old acrylic lacquer paint mixed back in 1989. I wasn't sure this exterior paint would still be good, and various painters I questioned didn't think so either. And, the previous owner didn't mention which clearcoat he had used on top of this lacquer, but there was evidence of lots of buffing and polishing, which wouldn't have been possible on a metallic lacquer color coat. So, there was some uncertainty when it came to painting the remaining bits and pieces that were missing from the car when I bought it.

Here are many of the interior window trim pieces hanging in the paint shop, prepped for final paint.

 The previous owner also has been unreliable at getting me the final parts he had promised, so I haven't bothered to include him in any of the project at this point (although oddly he texts looking for information and photos). I found a painter in my neck of the woods who has been willing to work with me to figure out the best process at duplicating the previously unfinished paint job.

After the final coat of acrylic lacquer green, the bits will be getting doused in multiple coats of urethane clear the next morning. I went with urethane clear on top of all the interior bits, because it gives a great shine and no need for wet sanding at all (saving lots of time and money).

For some reason, one of the cans of paint didn't even match the car, being too light by a couple shades. But the other one seems to match very close (for a car that was apparently painted back around 1990 and then stored inside under a cover.) After some experimentation, the best match is four coats of the acrylic lacquer metallic green mixed with a high gloss thinner, with at least four coats of a clear lacquer on top.

Here's a piece of interior trim with the fresh paint job, laying on the fender and dash with the old paint job. The hood here has been painted with the "wrong" can of green paint that came with the car and will need to be redone; it's a couple shades lighter even with the very same clear urethane on top.

Hopefully, we'll have the remaining bits all green and shiny this month.

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Facelift for the Bullitt!

The front of the Bullitt had hundreds of chips and scratches after years of racing, so I figured I'd get it fixed up. Recently, I was able to purchase new headlamp housings for about $95 each from a local dealer, and CJ Pony had a sale so I picked up a replacement piece for the bent Mach 1 lower spoiler too. These pieces come off when the bumper cover is painted, so I installed new ones during reassembly.

Before, the front bumper had hundreds of paint chips.

I removed the bumper cover and dropped it off at a body shop in Wake Forest. Two days later, I had the cover back with great body work and a great paint job for only $350. I thought that was a great deal.

I also took the opportunity to clean the now-exposed mass air flow meter housing that was hiding behind the bumper cover. The inside of the housing and the wire filaments were covered in red oil from a new K&N air filter. I also cleaned the filter itself with the K&N cleaner kit and lightly oiled it again. The car actually runs much better now.

Doesn't take long to strip the front body work from the car.

The painted bumper cover as returned from Capital City Auto Body.

In the end, everything went back together quickly, and I think the results look great for a reasonable cost.

Done! The front of the car looks new again.

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Mirror Image

I had the painters wetsand my car last week to remove some texture on the surface of the clearcoat. I didn't want to spend the money last year after having it painted, and it looked good already. I also figured I might damage the paint during reassembly anyway. But in the end, it does look better after having been wetsanded.



There are some downsides to waiting, namely the clear is fully cured and is more time-consuming to sand (by hand). Also, you can't get too close to door handles, gaskets, and trim with the sandpaper since you couldn't polish with the pad that close to the edges. If I had to do it again, I'd just have had it done when the paint was fresh...

Odds and Ends: Part III

I painted the wheels silver using Eastwood's argent silver acrylc lacquer wheel paint. I also used the polished billet caps and new McGard lug nuts. Also redid the original splash shields and installed them. (In the second photo you can see the door hinges with the replated hardware too.)

Odds and Ends: Part II

I started assembling some of the bits and pieces on the body using new or refurbished parts and hardware. Both sides of the panels were painted as the quarter extension shows. Hopefully, this will make the car stand out a bit more from all the other restorations.

Jailbreak!

After serving a 435-day sentence in paint jail, I sprung the Mustang the other day. For better or worse I've decided to assemble the main body panels myself (in addition to all the smaller bits and pieces I would do anyway.) I've also decided to not have the car wetsanded and buffed (at least not now anyway). These two decisions will save a couple grand, if everything goes well. I've already started assembling bits and pieces, but the garage is over 100 degrees so it's a long slow slog to get anything done... More pix soon!

It's All Blue. Woo Hoo!

This is a pretty exciting time now! With mere drops of paint left, Mike finished spraying the panels the other day. A Nason sealer, then 3 coats of Dupont Chromabase color, then 2 drop coats, then 3 coats of clear. (Still needs to be wetsanded and buffed.) Sorry for the lousy pix; I decided I need a new camera...

Let There Be (More) Blue!

I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here's the body in Bright Island Blue and tons of clear. Some sanding and polishing is in order soon. The rest of the body panels and various pieces will be painted at the end of next week, and I am planning to take a week off from work after Memorial Day to try putting the car back together... We'll see! (Alan took some of these photos in the paint booth. I took the others in a dark room with a flash, so the blue is darker than what it is in sunlight...)

Getting ready:






The morning after:







Couple days later:

Ringing In the New Year (With Some Blue Parts)

Mike prepped the hood, trunk lid, front and rear valances, and even the stone deflector that goes behind the front bumper in preparation for trimming them out. He also seam sealed around the seams of the hood and trunk lid.





After they cured for a couple days, I took the following photo. This photo shows the hood next to the rear seat, carpet, and interior panel.





The Ford truck next to the hood is actually a dark blue with a purple tint, that even looks black in some lighting conditions. I was trying to avoid such a blue on the Mustang.

And the Winner Is...

I selected Bright Island Blue for the exterior of the car after seeing a picture of a 66 fastback online in this color. Definitely a lively metallic blue (perhaps with a hint of silver flakes) in sunlight, but a medium solid-looking blue in normal light. No black or purple or green hues at all. I flopped around on many different blues, but this one was the most visually appealing and interesting to me. Mike is using a Nason sealer, Dupont Chromabase base with Basemaker mid-temp, and Dupont clear with activator--three coats of color and three of clear. It's also a Ford color with the Ford color code being "LZ".