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looks like its going be silver based on your sig, and how is that not exciting its getting a paint job you loser

Lol, by "not exciting" I was referring to the process leading up to the painting. Sanding and smoothing and bodywork sucks ass. Very tedious. And my sig pic was based on the current look of the Z at the time I got that pixelcar. Its supposed to be primer gray, but even though it would be accurate for me to change it now into a mess of brown, primer, black and gold bondo, I don't think its really worth the effort, heh heh.

Hint: It won't be silver, and I'm going to paint the urethane airdam the same color as the rest of the body.

Hey cant believe I've neglected this thread for so long.

build is really coming along! Looks like your body work is going well. Looks like you probably did a better job with your rear panel than I did. Should look sharp!

And yes, I hear you about how tedious prep work is. I remember sitting in the garage, blocking for hours, and only getting a single panel done. Totally worth it though. And there is nothing like saying you did your own work!

Hell. Yes.

Funny though, the rear of the car isn't finished yet! I still need to fill in some very small dimples on just about every area where you can see the gold bondo. Honestly I've barely tackled any of the blocking portion, I've been lucky enough to have a dual action orbital sander running off my compressor! Really takes the pain out of the big work. Once I block it, its on like donkey kong with the high fill primer. Then more blocking... Then filling... Then blocking... Then paint! Great success! I still need to get some welting like Austin suggested for the ZG flares, impossible to source locally. I'll have to order some soon.

Is Austin still selling the mounting kits? I should have picked up a kit a while ago just to have...

Honestly I don't know if he still sells them. If Levine's is a statewide chain, that's where I got mine. They had everything I needed in stock at the local store (allen head bolts, nutserts, self locking nuts (for the front) and a nutsert installation tool. Levine's kicks ass more than Autozone, Kragens, or even Napa. But it might just be a local chain. The parts are very simple to aquire though. The bolts/nuts can be found or ordered from any auto or h/w store or ordered online. Same with nutserts. The hardest to find will be the rubber welting, which I found here; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...%3AIT&viewitem=
If I read correctly, each flare needs about 4ft of welting, so you only need two 10ft rolls. The biggest, scariest part of this job by far is lining up the flares exactly, then drilling the holes and cutting out the excess metal. Finding the hardware is easy.

I hope your car looks like the one in your signature, I love it. I would be excited too if my car was getting painted. Im to see some photo doctumentation, keep the updates coming!

Civics fly and MR2s run if I post pics on my build thread...I really need to get on that.

Patience... it will all be revealed soon enough, weather providing. Right now the car looks like a sanded-to-original-brown color of my signature pic, with the mirrors, spoiler and front lip removed. If I can hustle and prep the car right and fast, I may be painting tomorrow. But that's if I can get through ALL the sanding, the final areas that need filler to smooth, and a full wipe down with grease/wax remover. Oh, and I need to line one bay of the garage with plastic to make my spray booth. Its doable, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I'd rather take a little extra time to get it right. But I'm also on a time constraint, everything needs to be done by next Monday, or my temporary registration will run out and I'll have to pay another stupid fee. I registered my car as a [insert-color-that-its-not] when I filled out the paperwork, so it needs to be painted before I bring it in for the VIN check.

But at least I don't have to deal with emissions...

This post has been edited by Oddmanout84 on Mar 30 2009, 12:46 PM

Sounds good, do it right...not fast. As long as its painted by next monday its good? Thats sounds cool, take your time and you will be pleased with the outcome. We are all on stand-by here, I want to see this car finished!

Heh heh... Like I've said before, this car is never "finished". It just reaches stages where its at an acceptable state, lol.

Soon..... Its allllmost there...

lol Boba Fett paint the car it looks sad

My thoughts exactly.

This post has been edited by Oddmanout84 on Mar 31 2009, 07:36 PM

Lol at the Boba Fett costume! Painting it? Awesome! I love the no front bumber look though, showing off your massive intake filter. (Im a ricer )

What color are you painting it again?

Just a suggestion, I would aim your turn signal light (In the grill, or atleast where the grill should be) straight ahead, it would look better in my honest opinion.

The turn signals come that way stock. It actually looks better when everything is together.


Im excited to see the progress in the paint booth!

Yeah, you have to look at it in person to really get the idea of how they look, the photos make them look a little funny. When the grill is installed, they line up with it perfectly. If I was feeling bolder, though, I would go purchase some pre-'74 turn signals and an airdam with the provisions for them. They look much better in my opinion.


These are pre-'74 style turn signals, molded into the airdam. Gives a cleaner look, but they're hard to find at a good price.


[ Post merged on Apr 2 2009, 09:02 AM ]

Here's your only hint:

Nebraska

This post has been edited by Oddmanout84 on Apr 2 2009, 04:41 AM

Umm red? the color of the University of Nebraska Omaha?

I'm neither confirming or denying anything. You guys will have to wait (which could suck if it turns out like crap!

I like the pre '74 turn signals aswell (Thanks for the mounting poition correction) but we have the same thing with post '94 taillights the entire light set-up usually goes for $600 by the time your finished!

Nebraska? Hmm...

The flag of Nebraska is blue and gold from what I remember. JDMMA70 has a good point to. But you will not comfirm it so we will have to wait!

to: Oddmanout
this is the first time ive even looked in this build thread
of yours & the fact that ur bringing this Z back...well pretty much from
DEATH, i think is awesome.
congrats on the pickup & i hope it all works out 4 you

This post has been edited by 909*CT9A on Apr 3 2009, 10:35 PM

Not only is spraying a car one of the finer, more difficult skills you can tackle, the Z also happens to be one of the worst cars to pop your painting cherry on...


Next time, I'm doing something boxier...

so the color is on?

Nope, nope. After several days of the weather not cooperating I've only been able to get the (high fill) primer on today, and I just spot puttied all the little imperfections I could find. I'll be blocking it in a half hour, then applying another coat of primer..... then, maybe a color coat. Depends on how the putty/blocking work out. If I'm satisfied I might shoot it, but only if it stays in the high 50's through the night. I'm pretty f*cked for weather tomorrow, just like most of this week its been on/off sunshine then the next day will be downpour. I may shoot it anyway, I've had no problems with moisture or fisheye out of the gun, only a couple runs where I got stupid, lol. God damn it, the compressor just turned on again, and my beverage was sitting on top, now its all over the floor.

With luck, I'll have enough practice by the time I get to color that I won't have to color sand it. I'm just glad I'm not shooting metallic colors, or this would be really painful for a first timer like myself. Oops, I've said too much....

Good luck dude!

One thing I remember when I was reading up on painting (Before I decided to have a shop do it), was how much of a difference shooting primer vs. color.

From what I remember, primer shoots a lot more thick than color, as I'm sure you're finding out...and it might be a good idea to do shoot a quick test panel with the color to get a feel for it. Just to avoid any runs or anything that might surprise you.

Then again, I have absolutely no actual experience with shooting either primer or color, so its just heresay.

Yeah, I have no doubts about that. You can even feel how much more mass the primer has, the can weighs what feels like twice as much as the color! As much as I hate adjusting the gun and test spraying when I have a limited amount of paint, I'll have to do it...