ready for paint

[azruss]

Ok, campers, here is your eye candy for the night.
Finally out of the back yard for the last 2 years. Going to paint tomorrow. After seeing it in primer, silver would look spectacular. Wifey is tired of Silver, so it will be 2 tone black and blue. The tape line is the color separation. Looks like the spoiler will have plenty of clearance. As a precaution, it is mounted on a soft mount and sprung. It also has "drag bolts" underneath. (phoenix is not known for its flat roads). I've previously posted pix of the front spoiler redesign. I'm very happy with the results. Cant wait to see it painted.

[So Cal Mark]

nice, where will the front turn signals be mounted?

[azruss]

i'll do some kind of bumper mount. havent decided what. the Harrington bumpers came with a bracket for mounting the factory lights. Also thinking about using Harley light. Maybe too much bling.

[ga.spyder]

Looks great,all your hard work is paying off! I really like the subtle side skirts,they flow nicely with the body.I cant wait to see it painted.Congrats!
Craig

[RRoller123]

that looks really nice!

[johndemar]

'Bout time Russ

Are you still going to have Tim do it? I have the day off to run some errands and get a root canal done. If I have a chance maybe I'll peek through the window at it.

By the way, it's looking great.

[azruss]

Are you still going to have Tim do it?

Tim and Ray came out to the house to look at the car. Tim was going to give me a price. They are struggling financially and i got the feeling Tim did not want to discount the price. Tim asked me what i had budgeted. When i told him, he was all frown. So I am having Mike Miola at Southwest collision do the paint. This is actually a truck autobody and paint that does all our bobtails. Has a nice booth and a going business. Mike is a Miata guy. When I quized him on technique, he had all the right answers. They do a few cars, mostly 70s chevy stuff. Sounds like he has a great painter. I have my fingers crossed.

[narfire]

Sounds like he has a great painter. I have my fingers crossed

Any chance he might offer a few references? Perhaps talk to a few customers if possible.

Car looks great by the way..

[azruss]

Latest update;
Dropped the car off to the painter this morning. Went thru the car in great detail. Had his #1 paint prep guy there and felt the car up real good (you body guys know what i'm talking about). Decided to get the car to the next level, they will spray a medium primer coat and block out to 800g. Will spray color with S-W urethane and clear with S-W urethane ultra. Will spray the Blue (nissan B17 daytona blue met) first. Will put a light clear coat over the blue so if in prep for the black 2-tone, the blue is protected. They want me to mask the line as they know i'm very picky on that. Once the black is down then a full coat of clear. Will let me decide if i want it cut and buffed. He had his Miata there. Said his guy painted it about a year ago and brought it is to be cut and buffed. The paint was virtually orange peel free. I was very impressed. Now I have 3-4 weeks to get room in the garage and get some insurance. Grundy seems to have the best deal.

[4uall]

That is awesome. I am excited to see the end result.

P.S. DID SOMEBODY SAY "MIATA"?

[ga.spyder]

Nissan Daytona blue is am awesome color,one of my favorites.One of Kevin1 friends brought a Spider to FFO in all Daytona Blue.It was really beautiful.

[azruss]

After seeing how nice the car looks all in primer gray, i was back to considering the entire car in blue. Decided to stay with the 2-tone. For one, the spider body lines really lends itself to 2-tone. It visually stretches the car making it look lower than it is. Years ago my kid had a black Kawasaki crotch rocket that he striped with blue tape. the blue just jumped off the black back ground. There is a body shop's pickup around town with 2-tone with black and purple and the paint is a knockout. Easy to make the transistion to blue and black.

[dsnyder]

Looks great. I am in Arizona too and I'm currently doing my interior on my 78. -Putting in what will look like factory air conditioning. Eventually I want to get my repainted so I'd be interested in hearing cost and how they think the blue will hold up to the Arizona sun.

-Dave

[azruss]

Blue is a pretty forgiving color. The lighter the color, the easier to maintain. White being the easiest. The modern 2 stage paints handle the arizona climates pretty well. Any shade you can give it will greatly prolong the lifespan of the paint.
I do a lot of commercial business with the painter, so i'm getting a deal. I will ask him what he would charge for a single color.

[dsnyder]

Thanks for checking on the cost for me-

Regarding the paint fading, I look at my 2001 F150 and all horizontal surfaces are totally faded. It is a dark green. I look at my 1994 Chevy Suburban... same thing (metallic silver). By 1978 Fiat is not faded at all. There are some places where the paint has strange cracking. the Fiat is kind of a yellow-beige. I was wondering if that color was good or if the old paints were better than the newer basecoat clearcoat systems.

Post pictures when you are done... I am interested.

Dave