Mornin Folks!

I've been tossing around the idea of selling the teener for quite some time now, and my wife finally convinced that its better to just keep it, and make it the way I want it.

Well...... we're looking at buying a house REALLY soon (in fact, we'll find out this afternoon), and it will have an oversized 2-car garage... lots of room for the many projects I'm considering doing. I'm trying to get the most dramatic results, from the lowest cost

Good ideas? Bad ideas? Let me have your thoughts:

1. Flares....... I'm not too bad with bodywoprk at all, but I actually PREFER the look of bolt-on flares. I'm thinking of keeping the car willow green, and the flares a flat-black color.

2. Buying a set of adapters/spacers that go from 4x130 to 5x114..... so I can can feel up the wheelwells with the 2-piece BBS' 18s that are currently on my Acura.

3. Paint...... Again.... I'm pretty good at bodywork, and have prepped several cars for paint. Never painted before though.... Can it be done in a garage... or do you need a paint booth to get decent results?

Same color (but new paint)........ keeping the vinyl roof......... flat black bolt-on flares........ 18 inch wheels.

I like the originality of keeping the roof. I like the original bumpers (not 916 kits)........ I like the look of bolt-on flares, and I like the look of a large wheel-tire combo.

Tell me I'm stupid.... so I don't have to do all this.

Thanks!!

Matt

OK

I don't see why you can't do that. I know ther are few others here that have painted cars in their garage.

A few years ago there was a yellow 914 for sale in the Indy area that had bolt on flare look. It looked sharp, I will post pics if I find it. If I remember correctly it belong to someone that worked for tweeks when they were still based out of Indy.

As for painting in the garage, two of the major downsides are dust and having to breathe the fumes. I haven't painted, but I came across a body shop locally that rents out time in its paint booth for like $15/hour, $50 minimum. If I were going to paint, that's definitely the way I'd go.

Painting in a 2-car garage can be done, it's only a matter how how good of a job you want to achieve and how much overspray and mess are you (or your wife) are willing to put up with. One important part of a successful paint job is how well you can control the environment. That includes keeping the dust level down but still have good ventilation, controlling the temperature/humidity, and good lighting. You can put sheets of plastic up on the walls and on the floor to keep things clean. You should put up plenty of lights, at least have several fluorescent fixtures around the garage. You can install an exhaust fan in a doorway to the outside with a furnace filter taped over it, then more filters where your outside air comes in. Paint overspray can make a mess so you want to control that. The worst is urethane clear which will float around as it's catalyzing, then bonds to anything it settles on. That includes your other cars and maybe your neighbors if you allow it to get out. Paint early in the day when the air is usually more calm, and temps cooler (if gets hot in afternoon). Shut off any water heater pilot lights. Use a filter/drier on your air line mounted at least 25' away from the compressor. There's a few things you might think about. Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice.

I will have a climate-controlled garage, so the temp will be whatever I want it to be... probably around 72 degrees, so I don't think that should be an issue.

However, cutting a ventilation duct in my garage is not an option.

What is the purpose of all the lighting??

Lastly.... if I can find a place that will rent me a paint booth..... you're right... that may be a better option.

Question though..... at $xxx dollars per hour...... how long does the car need to "sit" between the basecoat and the clearcoat....... then how long after the clearcoat has been applied:??

Renting a booth will save you the trouble of all the garage prep work, and your neighbors will be happy too. Having never done that I'm sure it has its drawbacks too (feeling rushed to get the job done in a certain amount of time, getting the car there and back, etc.). You can never have too many lights in a paint booth. Especially with the darker colors. You have to be able to see well to cover all the surfaces properly and to lay down the paint correctly. If using clear you need to see how it's hitting the surface and flowing out. Too little and it's dry or orangepeel, to wet and it runs or sags. For basecoat/clearcoat you only need to wait about 15-30 minutes before applying the clear. As soon as the base loses it's sheen and looks flat it's ready for clear. (Cold temps will take longer). Clearcoat usually loses it's stickiness after about 2 hours and can have the masking removed at that point. But it will be quite soft for 12 hours or so. It can be sanded and buffed after 12-18 hours, again depending on temp.

QUOTE (ninefourteener @ Oct 19 2005, 08:36 AM)

Question though..... at $xxx dollars per hour...... how long does the car need to "sit" between the basecoat and the clearcoat....... then how long after the clearcoat has been applied:??

I wondered the same thing. When I asked, the guy said that it was no problem : if the car needed to sit between coats, that was "off the clock". But my understanding of the base/clear coat system is that the clear coat has to go on within a short time after the base coat - it's actually a chemical reaction between the two layers.

When I was looking into painting, I went to a local auto body supply store and talked to a guy there. He pretty much talked me out of doing the job myself. I might still be swayed back that way, but this guy -- who would be selling me all the supplies -- kept emphasizing over and over that it really takes a lot of experience to get a good job. Now, since you've done bodywork and surface prep, I guess that's a huge leg up. But I'd recommend doing a lot of talking to people who have done it before before you commit. One option to save some $$ and still get a decent job is to do all the prep, buy the paint, and have a pro shoot it on for you. I've heard of people doing this and being satisfied w/ the results.

QUOTE (ninefourteener @ Oct 19 2005, 11:36 AM)

Question though..... at $xxx dollars per hour...... how long does the car need to "sit" between the basecoat and the clearcoat....... then how long after the clearcoat has been applied:??

I just painted my car last weekend in my garage.... still stinks to high hell.

As far as time between coats of base / clear. I used a Nason (DuPont) product and a Transtar Clear.

Base coat flash time between coats - 10 minutes (4 coats)

Time between base and clear - 30 minutes

Flash time between coats of clear. - 5 minutes.

Believe me you need that time inbetween coats to prep for the next coat.

Buy a good respirator and a paint suit.

I painted my 6 in the drive way. I always shot the paint in the morning, prepped the car the night before.

Important: Run a ground wire from the car to a copper water pipe, it will cut down the dust problem by approx 80-90%.

The clear coat can be shot the same day, if your color coats come out good, no wet sanding needed, shoot the clear coats.

I'd love to find a booth I could rent, so far no luck, if you can get a booth, go for it. Still run a ground wire.

Later, Don

Hey tdgray and Don,

Just curious : Was this your first time painting a car ? Are you happy with the results ?

QUOTE (ninefourteener @ Oct 19 2005, 08:19 AM)

Good ideas? Bad ideas? Let me have your thoughts: 2. Buying a set of adapters/spacers that go from 4x130 to 5x114..... so I can can feel up the wheelwells with the 2-piece BBS' 18s that are currently on my Acura.

Adapters are always a BAD idea to go from 4 lug to 5 lug. To get the correct bolt spacing, you have to have the mounting holes really close to the existing 4 lug holes. You are also compounding that by changing the bole circle. The adapters for 4x130 to 5x130 use one of the existing holes with a screw in stud. The only way to get the adapters to go from 4x130 to 5x114 is to make them miss all 4 existing holes, and I don't think that is possible.


None of the sanctioning bodies out there (SCCA, PCA, NASA.. etc) will let you run bolt on wheel adapters for AX.


If you want to run those wheels, I would suggest getting the hubs redrilled and studs installed. But even that is not too good of an idea.

I will put it to you this way. I would not ride in a car with adapters like you describe.

I would recommend against the four-to-five adaptors. I don't like the way the bolts are spaced when you do that. And I'm not sure you can find any 4x130 to 5x114 adaptors anyway...

--DD

My dad and I have painted several cars in the garage with excellent results. The main problem (DIRT) must be dealt with. One suggestion is to keep the floor WET. This helps trap dirt and keep it from blowing up in the air where it causes the most damage.

Like someone else suggested, plastic can be hung from the walls to keep overspray down, but the best way to keep overspray to a minimum is to follow the paint information sheet instructions that you obtain from the automotive paint store where you buy your supplies. Each process has it's own instructions.

Temperature and humidity both have a dramatic effect on how the paint flows and sets up.

As for what I do and what one should do, may be different, but what I like to do is get a good coat on then leave the area and let the paint flash before venting out the garage.

I have had best luck in the winter months (less humidity and far fewer bugs and I hate gnats).



As far as the rest of what you are doing, I would not try to adapt to Honda wheels. Bolt on adapters are not the best idea ever created by man.....

I don't prefer the bolt on flare look, but to each his own. (Are you thinking fiberglass flares? The bolts may put undue stress at the bolt hole locations causing the holes to crack out. I thought the best way to fasten glass flares was to grind down to bare metal and use ADHESIVE to get the most surface area to bond the flares on, and then cover the joint on both sides with some additional glass.)


just my $0.02

QUOTE (jsteele22 @ Oct 19 2005, 12:23 PM)

Hey tdgray and Don, Just curious : Was this your first time painting a car ? Are you happy with the results ?

Yes it was my first time with the color and clear... been primering my own stuff for years.

Very happy with the results... I ran the clear in three spots but nothing that will not sand and buff out.

Take your time... make a plan and work the plan. That's all it takes.

I think the car could look pretty cool with this setup.....

I too don't like the 4 to 5 adapters...now if you went from a 4x130 to a 4x100 or 4x114.3, that would be more acceptable and is similar to what is offered* for the 911/914-5 lug cars....

*TUV approved

I always soaked the lawn and driveway before I rolled the car out. This is the first car I ever painted, I think the results were great, but a lot of work, prep, wet sanding, buffing, etc. Shooting the paint was the easy part.

Good Luck, Don

One other thing, with the paint and hardener, you have 7-8 hours to shoot it after mixing. So No getting in a hurry, take your time, it will save you hours of sanding and buffing. Later, Don