1970 Barracuda Reanimated.

[Marty]

Prepped, sealed, and painted engine compartment, header panel, front/rear valance.

[Marty]

Prepped, primed, and refinished the side marker light housings, door mirrors. and the Shaker ring. The trunk area was also prepped for paint.

The plastic masking was cut out around the deck lid and taped around edges all but for about 1/16" (+/-). The exposed edge was masked off with 3M blue fine line tape. The 3M tape was placed right up to the edge of the channel. The hinges and torsion bars were sprayed with Bulldog adhesive promoter just to make sure the paint will stick in the nook and crannies where the Scotch Brite pad or sandpaper could not reach. Dusted on some white epoxy onto the hinges and in the channel avoiding the green-based taped edge.

Applied the base and the clear. I sprayed the last wet coat of clear into the channel then immediately pulled off the fine-line tape. What this does is lets the clear coat roll onto the edge. This will eliminate the sharp tape line you would get if you'd have waited for the clear to dry. For an added measure, I emptied the cup and added some retarder or a slow dry reducer, and dusted the edge to keep the clear open so it would continue to flow and level past flash time.

[Dakota]

Applied the base and the clear. I sprayed the last wet coat of clear into the channel then immediately pulled off the fine-line tape. What this does is lets the clear coat roll onto the edge. This will eliminate the sharp tape line you would get if you'd have waited for the clear to dry. For an added measure, I emptied the cup and added some retarder or a slow dry reducer, and dusted the edge to keep the clear open so it would continue to flow and level past flash time.

I'm really enjoying learning these details.  Thanks for sharing!! Beautiful work.

[CudaMoparRay]

Your hard work, patience and knowledge are obvious. Almost there, congratulations. 

[Marty]

Thanks for your "Motivational" replies.

[RUNCHARGER]

No: Thank you for sharing your info. I hate to be repetive (well like sanding I guess) but great workmanship and I always enjoy hearing products and processes as I don't keep up with bodywork/painting advances and what worked even 5 years ago isn't the hot setup now.

[Marty]

At E-Bodies service. 

On to the Barracudas radiator support. The area was scuffed along with the latch support with a red Scotch-Brite pad. The engine compartment was masked off and cleaned. Two coats of black single stage paint were applied. Once dry, the Barracuda was moved to the other room for further curing.

Final painting.

The Shaker ring was reinstalled on the hood and then was placed on the stand with the backside up. The lower valance was also brought in for final paint. The hood was prepped with a red Scotch-Brite since the finish was nice and smooth from the prior paint job.

The rear of the valance was prepped with different grits of sandpaper to remove the old junk paint. (100 to 320.) Both panels were cleaned and tacked off and a coat of white epoxy was applied. Flashed then based green until full coverage. Flashed again, then finished with one wet coat of clear.

The header panel supports were later painted with black semi-gloss paint using a touch-up gun. Everything was stored in the main shop to cure for a few weeks before the cut and buff.  Curing is very important to the look of the final product. I can't emphasize this enough.


CPI single-stage polyurethane. 3-1 mix. 10% reduced optional. 30 PSI. Two coats or till coverage.

[Marty]

Cut & Buff.

I fill a 5-gallon bucket with clean water about halfway. Wet & dry sandpaper, sanding block, and pad. Squirt bottle with 20% rubbing alcohol and 80% water and a Squeegee.

I soak my first sandpaper grit,800 in the water for 30 minutes or so. This will soften the sandpaper so the edges won't scratch the finish.

I don't use soap in the water. It allows the sandpaper to hydroplane and slows the sanding. Just plain water works just fine for me. The alcohol in the water cleans the surface as you sand and helps with the cutting.

I wrap a half sheet of 800 grit around the block, the Holy Terror, and start the sanding. The Holy Terror is a firm block that has holes in it that give me multiple cutting edges. Usually starting on the roof, I start to sand the surface moving the block in a front-to-back direction (length of the Barracuda) keeping the surface wet with the water and the squirt bottle. Squeegee often to track the sanding. Once the surface is dull with no surface imperfections, I move on until the complete car is sanded. The complete surface should be flat with no sheen. This is the foundation for a great shine.

Changing the sandpaper and water is a judgment call.

[Marty]

How I deal with runs and trash in the clear.

Jumping ahead to the header and front valance panel. (I'll explain how I cut and buff shortly.) Once I've sanded the surface with 800 grit, that's when I can see these annoying issues in the paint more clearly.  Trash always seems to find its way into the paint it's just the way it is, getting it out properly is easy. I don't use those store-bought gimmicks or sanding blocks wrapped with sandpaper. I find that they are more trouble than they're worth and sometimes cause more damage.

I take a new single-edged razor blade and simply scrape the dirt off till the pimple is level with the paint surface. Re-sand the area, then just move on till I'm finished with that grit. It's that simple. It's important to scrape after the surface has been sanded to round off the speck of dirt. If not, the blade will get hung up on the sharp edge of the cleared trash and you may pull the dirt/clear off the base coat.

[soundcontrol]

Great thread, following! 

[Marty]

I avoid getting runs in the first coat of clear. They always seem to leave a ghost in the final finish no matter how hard you try to get them. If you load up the clear on a first coat run, it'll grow and it may solvent pop as more clearcoat is applied. A heavy run can also pull the base down with it. Not so noticeable on a solid color, but it'll show on a metallic base. So, I try to take it easy on the first coat of clear to protect the base, especially high solids.

My major run on the Barracuda was on the lower rocker. I mix up some glazing putty and apply it over the run. This will protect the surrounding area from sanding down to the base. (You'll sand through to the base long before you ever sand down the run.)

Using wet or dry sandpaper. I wrap 220 (dry) around the holy terror sanding block and start to sand over the run area. Once the glaze is about off, I move to 320 (dry), 400 (wet), 600 (wet), 800 (wet), and so on through the cutting process removing the glaze as I go, then on to buffing. I step out of the sanding area just a bit to smooth out the prior sanding scratch.  Focus is a must especially the closer I get to the actual clearcoat. I'm very careful around edges.

[Marty]

I'm taking more and more glaze off as I use the finer grades of sandpaper till it's completely gone.

[Marty]

Currently, all the major parts for the 440 have been gathered.

440 block /Std. bore. Steel crank, heads, pistons, and HD rods. Bought 4 of them at a friend's Boat shop.

Found the exhaust manifolds at a swap meet.

The'Cuda exhaust tips were bought off the internet and just got them back from the chrome shop. I had to weld up a ding on the edge of the exhaust opening. OEM looks much more at home in the rear valance than the aftermarket Stainless tips.

Camshaft, intake, and Carburetors, etc.

Who sells the orange engine single-stage paint for engines? I'll be using a spray gun rather than spray bombs.

[usraptor]

Not positive but I believe you can buy the single stage paint from Eastwood.

[Marty]

You're right. I forgot all about Eastwood. Thanks.