'Streamline' 1968 camaro project

[Motown 454]

Man does not live by body work along.... Enjoy your time outside.

[slimjim]

A warmer day meant an earlier start so I induced a bunch of epoxy and went to town.
some things I've learnt now that I have this glossy primer on:
-400 grit was not necessary
-320 grit was probably not necessary
-SPI primer fills almost as much as poly when it isn't reduced and flattens out much nicer!
-this car will be straight!....after a wetsand

I'm very happy to have sprayed 2/3 of the car now and have not found a single blemish that needs more attention. A couple more days like this and the whole car will be primed.

[shelteredchevelle]

That is some good looking primer!

[Motown 454]

Damn, nice job spraying that out! Impressive.

[slimjim]

Damn, nice job spraying the out! Impressive.

I'm a better photographer

[SD67]

With primer looking that good, I bet you could paint it yourself. Nice job!

[slimjim]

With primer looking that good, I bet you could paint it yourself. Nice job!

I'm sure I could, just not in the garage.
This primer stage has yet again confirmed that I don't want to paint it here.
During the high build stage I sometimes had the hose or my clothes brush a piece when wet but that wasn't a cause for concern as it would be sanded, I've fixed that by spraying a lot less parts at once, but even after cleaning the garage intensely and wrapping everything in plastic, I still have dust settle on the panels, particularly pollen due to the season. I just chose good angles above that didn't show it.
Then there's the value, I'm financially deeper than I've ever been with a car and although I've enjoyed the bodywork stage and don't see a reason why it couldn't be done here, paint just isn't the part for me to cheap out on at this point.
Then finally, as I want a metallic silver, the car ideally needs to be fully assembled for paint with all parts painted the same time, for this reason on top of all others it will go to a booth.

[John McIntire]

Very nice work. Looks amazing just in primer. Good job!

[ryeguy2006a]

Wow man, you are killing it! Ok, no more excuses. https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Infl.../dp/B07LDNL7GF

[berdunord]

wow nice job !!

[slimjim]

Wow man, you are killing it! Ok, no more excuses. https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Infl.../dp/B07LDNL7GF

Haha, interesting indeed. let me think on that one

[slimjim]

I got rained out today so decided to hang the doors. took not much more than an hour thanks to the 1/8 drill-hole tactics I learnt on here.

apologies for the poor photos/ bad lighting





Paint continues tomorrow, hopefully done with epoxy by mid next week

[Dewil]

Great work! Very inspiring!=)

[slimjim]

I have finished with epoxy. as of this morning I have started removing the plastic and cleaning the incredibly dusty black overspray from EVERYTHING.

I think overall, for the sake of not disturbing parts during the slow drying process It took 5 days to get everything epoxied, and it wasn't until the last piece of the last day did I perfect the process...
fortunately however this may be due to the fact that it is probably the only part that will remain in epoxy only so I gave it added attention and an additional coat.
I know powder coating is probably optimal but the rear housing already had an e-coat on it and figured this is reversible and will save it from rusting any further.
I did some research and found a large number of people who have done this, and was ensured that with an extended induction process of the epoxy it can have relatively good UV protection.


I really like this product and learnt a lot while using it. I made a LOT of mistakes, fish-eyes, a couple runs, mismatched results due to differing induction times. but overall the car may stay like this for several months before I sand it prior to being painted so these mistakes are no real issue. But at least for now my bodywork is sealed and protected.

I have reassembled what I can and am very happy, the gloss of the primer has shown a low spot of the firewall and I am still trying to decide whether to address it or if the satin silver I want the engine bay will even show it. Also the rear bumper has never been body-worked so I will probably hit it with some filler and respray it once the epoxy has been given a little more curing time.




The difference in gloss level between a 2 hour induction(body) and no induction time(trunk) with the likelihood of a thiner coat also.

[Motown 454]

Nice job James.

[slimjim]

I lost sleep on my firewall being less than perfect. I probably rushed the bodywork stage here as I had assumed being a flat panel, it would be...flat. the epoxy told the truth. I decided to rework it over the weekend to much greater results.






while at it I decided to start bodywork on the rear flush bumper, again the epoxy helped in showing the lows.



I then spent a couple days underneath the car, prepping towards raptor liner. there was a lot more property requiring scuffing and seam sealer than I anticipated.
I also used some old Nicopp to make a new feeder tube for the gun in hopes that it will work better when lying on my back to spray it tomorrow.




And finally, one crucial step to be done prior to Bedliner was to paint the firewall. so I spent yesterday wet sanding and got it shot in the afternoon. more pics to come once it's cured but the results are pleasing.

[John McIntire]

Nice work! Looks great. Update us on the Raptor liner when you're done. I'm torn between that and the SEM stuff Don uses....

[slimjim]

Nice work! Looks great. Update us on the Raptor liner when you're done. I'm torn between that and the SEM stuff Don uses....

Will do, it's one of the steps I tried not to think too much into. I saw that Detroit speed, ambition road, and a couple other big shops use the product, it's priced well and is an easy application so didn't lose any hair over that particular decision.
I've already applied it on the interior some time ago so I know how it should look.

Updates from today. firewall is cured, I waited the exact 24hours of curing before applying tape and I'm now ready for raptor liner.

This is SEM hot rod smoke, a color I couldn't find too many examples of online but I think it'll look great on a dark silver car and a more custom contrast over the traditional satin black.





Tomorrow will surely be a sh#* show of spraying a section followed by moving cribs and tires that I'll have to use as "safety" measures to prevent the car crushing me to death.

[slimjim]

Raptor down.

body shell complete at my end.












I'm happy, it wasn't enjoyable underneath but it's done and I've deserved a beer.

[CTK]

Looking good mate. Enjoying the read