ONE GIANT STEP FOR MANKIND

Greetings! It was a beautiful Saturday yesterday and I was determined to get the El Camino in primer, the next big step prior to painting. My friend Paul was going to come by about noon to prep his homemade wooden pedal car (jet) and I thought that since I had to mix paint for him, I'd do the same for myself. And my critics.

Yes, I have a wonderful family, but they're critics. They're all convinced that they know the real me: The Unfinisher. They could not be more incorrect. True, my parents have been quoted as saying, "Doug will jump on his horse and ride off in all directions", but this is more than likely an affectionate reference to my keen ability to always find North. I've finished lots of things, like this sentence for example...

My gracious and unabashed daughter Sunny was the most recent member of the family to say that I never finish any of my cars & motorcycles, I just buy more. So, before the comment could get any traction, I committed to finishing all my cars, one at a time. The El Camino was first since it was complete and running when I decided to update it and would take less money and work to finish.

In order to be sure every inch of the body had been scuffed, I re-sanded the car with 180 grit self-sticking sandpaper on my Dual-Action pneumatic sander, referred to as a DA sander. I had done most of the body work on the two doors (that now had power accessories) and the rear bed sides (quarter panels), and I had sprayed them with primer a week or so ago. Sanding it with the 180 grit took most of the earlier 36 grit marks out of the primer and left it looking pretty good. However, one should never do finish sanding with a DA sander but always by hand, and with 400 grit or finer paper. Otherwise, the sanding marks will have the possibility of showing through once the color coat cures and shrinks up. 



Paint sticks to the surface of your project in two ways: 

1. Physical bonds. This means that you've sanded it well and even though it's very small scratch marks (400 grit or finer), as the paint cures it shrinks and grabs tight into the small texture you've prepared.
2. Chemical bonds. This refers to the chemical reaction of the catalyst as it accelerates the drying time of your paint and gives it a hard (but, not brittle) finish.

NOTE: In the 80's DuPont came out with an automotive finish forecast to be the king of all paints. It was named Imron. Scuttlebutt on the boulevard had it that it was the hardest paint of all time. That may have been true, but those of us who were in the business at that time began to hear complaints of the paint easily chipping in the front of the cars and around the fender wells, where bugs and gravel hit the paint most directly. Evidently, the paint was so hard it couldn't absorb an impact without breaking. As the manager of an auto paint store at that time, I used that information to my advantage and sold the family brand more aggressively and with greater confidence.

So. I had already masked off the glass earlier in the week so once I had finished sanding the entire car I pulled it out into the driveway. I'm not using these wheels and tires so no need to mask them off although I used my welding blanket to cover the exposed engine compartment. I will be painting the car with the fenders off so that I can get a thorough color coat in the door jambs and on the inner fender panels. I've decided to paint the car with 2014 Ford Fusion "Sunset" color - a moody, burnt orange metallic color which you may be able to see by clicking this link: Ford Fusion Sunset Color. 

Using acetone, I wiped down the car & two fenders and sprayed a good three wet-coats to all the panels. It was so nice to see the leopard spotted rig become all one color right before my eyes. I should mention that although I sprayed the primer in my rural, gravel driveway I won't be painting the color coat at home. I'll be taking it to my in-laws to use their spray booth. Primer is much more forgiving and it's going to be sanded anyway, but the color coat needs to be done in hospital sanitary conditions to avoid dust, bugs and bird poop.

So there it is, ready for wet-sanding with 400 grit sandpaper. I'll be spraying the primer with a fogged-on misting of black primer so that a scratch or depression will show up as I'm sanding.Speaking of depression, just wait until the family sees this car in that snappy Ford Sunset color and my daughter bursts into tears, begging forgiveness for so grossly misjudging me, and all the others who have made those comments about my Attention Deficit Disorder and how I shouldn't be allowed to carry currency and... Hey! do you want to see my new radiator shroud?

Doug