[FALL] Dragon Overhaul!! [Pics included]

Well just got done with a 3 hour session in the garage and YES there was painting being done. The color is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait for the clear to dry so I can get some wet sanding done. I have the hood vents, hood scoop, door handles, and front grille done. I am no professional, but I would give it a 7 out of 10. Not bad for my first paint job.

^^^bling bling

Niiiccce, Whats the top item? Looks like it has a strange texture to it

I just decided to not oversand the crap out of everything, so I just scuffed it. That picture is actually very deceiving as you cannot see anything in person. Might just be the angle of the camera.

I was excited enough as it was before I started painting, I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF NOW!!

Sicarius wrote:

Niiiccce, Whats the top item? Looks like it has a strange texture to it

Looks like major orange peel to me

Lovin that color though Mikey!!!

Actually I am very surprised how much orange peel there isnt. They guy that painted the Chevelle actually had much more than the stuff I painted tonight. I can actually see my reflection in the clear, which is amazing as this is my first time.

Ooooooo the dragon is going to be supa sexay.

After tomorrow I should have a good portion of the car done. On the agenda tomorrow is the hood, trunk, skirts, and the wing. All I will have left to do on Friday is the doors, bumpers, sunroof and the shell.

Can't wait to see it done! Looking great Mikey!

like i said mikey you are one crazy man.

lookin good mike . smexy

Well I am hopefully going to be done doing all the bondo and primer tonight, I didnt realize it, but I have alot left. Still going to attempt to paint the wing, hood, trunk, sunroof, and skirts tonight. Going to be a long one.

Man, what a night. Got the trunk, wing, skirts, and sunroof painted. I will be clearing them in the morning as I have to be up in 3 hours for work. Should almost be done tomorrow.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the new fender I received in the mail yesterday was completely dented. I dont know what the company is going to do about it, but it is worse than the fender I was planning on replacing.

DoodieHead [ADMIN] wrote:

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the new fender I received in the mail yesterday was completely dented. I dont know what the company is going to do about it, but it is worse than the fender I was planning on replacing.

wow that sucks. hope it doesn't put you behind.

I havent ever recieved a new body part without some damage, I talked to some guys and they said thats kinda the way it goes.

Mike, I order all the parts at work and I can tell you first hand that it's nearly impossible to order sheetmetal parts and NOT have them damaged in some way or another through shipping. Usually it's just a bent corner or a small dent but sometimes we get parts that look like they literally fell off the back of the truck and got ran over before they made it to us!

Where did you order the fender from and have you contacted them? Most vendors have some sort of "damage claim" you can do on the part to get a partial credit as payment to you to "repair" the part. And a lot of times the company has a deal worked out with the freight company so they can be reimbursed for the damaged part and can get you a new one at no charge to either of you.

I'm sure Dan would bang it straight for you too if you needed

I might have to talk to Dan. They might be giving me a partial refund for the repair.

I am going to be getting a refund on the fender and getting a new one shipped. I dont want to have to pull the dents out of this bad boy.

Frank and I are in the process of painting and clearing right now. Hopefully have all the stuff that is not connected to the car done tonight and depending on time, maybe we will work our way into the shell. Should not be long now.

Giggidy

Well we just finished up in the garage for the night. Got everything painted except for the doors, rear bumper and the shell. Looks like we are going to get her all done by tomorrow as planned. Should be back on the road by Sunday I would guess.

Just decided to use my passenger fender I had on the car and it actually turned out really nice. Not sure what I am going to do with the whole F'd up fender situation, but hopefully they will just give me a refund or send me another.

Thanks to Frank, Brandon, and Drew for coming out and helping.

Going to be heading out to the garage here soon and hopefully getting the painting done. I will give it about an hour and then the clear will go on.

Not sure if I am going to make my goal of being done with the car today, but we will see how much energy I have. Slept for about 10 hours last night.

So how long are you going to let it cure before driving it?

I am not going to take it out on the road until the weekend more than likely. I dont want to take any chances after all the time I put into this project.

Quick update here while I am getting a bit to eat. Everything but the shell is painted and I am on my last coat of clear on the doors, mirrors, and hood (its true, I have done the hood twice now and I found out the hard way what happens when you use a gun with even the smallest amount of primer left in it shooting a coat of clear).

Not going to have enough clear to do the shell, so I am going to have to postpone the project until Tuesday as most places are closed tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that NCS is going to be open so I can finish. Really want to start putting the car back together again.

So, next on the list is primering the shell, which will be done either tonight or in the morning, then paint to clear.

Project is finally becoming closer to completion.

I am happy to say that everything which was taken off the car is completed! YAY!! I just took some pics and they will be uploaded here in the next couple minutes. If NCS is open tomorrow I will have a completed vehicle.

looking good and i like the color

Well the start of another day. Going to be moving all my parts outside and rolling the chassis into the center of the garage. PRIMER TIMER!!

Just uploaded all of my pictures to my Facebook account. Here is the link.

Dragon Restoration Pic Album

Wow that is looking awesome!

I am done!! YAY!!

Wow, Mike, that's a helluva color. That finish doesn't look half bad, either. Are you pretty satisfied with your painting skills?

I dont know yet, I have to wait for the clear to harden up and pull the masking tape. We will find out once the car is put back together.

Talk about a true enthusiast!!

That red is beautimus.

The color is life changing in person. Pictures make it look much too red.

Put it back together, I wanna see it all painted. I think its going to look nice all one color with no carbon fiber.

In the process right now. Almost have the fenders, hood, bumper, and lights back in.

Looks like I will be repainting the drivers fenders as I missed a spot. Really wish I had better lighting in the garage. Have about half the car back together, should have the majority of it done tomorrow aside from the painted stuff.

looked awsome to me . its gonna be one sweet ride mikey

The car is done and looks pretty sweet. I need to do alot of sanding as my gun was not working at the correct PSI. Might just scotchbrite it and re-clear it. We will see how it looks after the first sanding session.

Almost finished sanding the drivers side and hoping to make the same progress on the other side tomorrow. Looks like it is going to be pretty sweet. There are a few spots that I am going to have to use my touch-up gun on. For some reason when I sand the runs out it just goes straight to paint. Small problems, no biggie.

Hoping to have it done before the weekend. I have also ordered all of my fueling parts at the price of $300.

I am really hoping that I will have it out this weekend for a meet.

SEX!!!

did you use a flattening agent or flat clear? or is it just overcast outside?

It was overcast. Pics are very deceiving.

Once again another long night in the garage. Frank and I almost got the fuel system revamped, but I need one more -8an fitting and need to figure out how to mount the tank. The pump looks amazing being under the car now, not to mention the addition of another filter on the back side making it about 2 feet long. Pretty excited to get this done and for the first time since the fuel cell install, be able to make right hand turns.

Tank has been relocated along with the pump. I have a small leak in the pump area I have to address, but other than that everything went well. All I have left now is a ton of wet sanding. I might have a shortcut to make this easier on myself. We will see.