Black Gold 380R's 2003 Thunderbird Thread

[Black Gold 380R]

Outstanding paint renewal work, Glenn! Tedious but, man, the end result speaks for itself.

Thank you Bob! Always appreciate your positive outlook. Yes sir, this initial sanding by hand is very tedious, but I'm sure my Dad will be stoked once he gets his car back.

I actually ordered a couple under hood stickers to make it look even better. He doesn't know about that. I'll see if he notices it when I reveal it to him LOL....

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Hello Everyone,

Well, I was able to get the car 100% sanded. In post 19 I showed what the car looked like with 1500 grit. In those pictures you can definitely see the sanding lines/marks.

Well, on Saturday it was not windy, but it was overcast. It was perfect weather for sanding. So, I took advantage and finished the passenger fender/door with sanding by hand with 1500. Then I went over the rest of the car (minus the hood) with 2000 wet sanding by hand. Since the paint was already flat the 2000 by hand went by pretty quick.

After that I went over the entire car with my DA sander using 3000 and 8000. Yes, I went over the hood again. As mentioned in post 19 the hood had some haze in it that I wanted to take out. I had to use 3000 and 8000 to get the ceramic coating off.

This is a reminder pic. This is from post 19 showing the 1500 sanding marks.

Here's where I'm at now (you can see the overcast).

This is after 1500, 2000, 3000 and 8000. Here you can see the shine is returning and now the paint is flat and smooth, but has a haze to it that will polish out nicely. Damn! It took me 5 weeks to get to this point LOL. Oh well, weather and my full time job only gave me opportunities to sand over those 5 weeks.

Look at the reflection in the trunk. Much smoother now, but it still needs to be polished.

Look at the front part of the door. You can clearly see the bricks in my house. Again, this is just completed sanding. I'm excited to get it polished up now. Was not excited to sand. LMAO!!!

Man, I'm really happy with how smooth I was able to get this paint. I did make one VERY small mistake. At the rear of the fender you see the vent/emblem, at that body line along the top of the door I went through the paint on the very edge (between the door and fender). It's smaller than a grain of rice and once I touch it up with some black paint, no one will ever notice it. Oh well, no ones perfect LOL.

Here is the hood after 3000 and 8000 to remove the ceramic coating. Still looks better than the rest of the car...... Once I'm done polishing the car I'll polish the headlights. Still have a few more weeks of work ahead of me......

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Since the wet sanding is done I can work on the car in my garage now. So, after work yesterday I went in the garage and re-polished the hood using stage 1 of my 3 step process using the 3M perfect it kit.

I know it's hard to see in the pictures, but the cloudy/hazy spots are now removed. And, again, this is only stage 1. I just wanted to get the haze out. For me, I always feel the hood is a focal point on a car, so it has to be right.

(Note: anyone notice what's to the left of the car??? LOL).

Some close ups....

Here you can see the difference in the polished hood and completely sanded fender.

 

[wizbangdoodle]

Looking fantastic! It would make me nervous to sand a haze into a finish like that.

Politicians are not to be trusted.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Looking fantastic! It would make me nervous to sand a haze into a finish like that.

Politicians are not to be trusted.

Thanks Shawn! I was talking to my Dad and he said he has a polisher, but never uses it because he's afraid he will burn the paint.

I feel comfortable sanding the car and polishing it. The only thing that made me nervous is since I did not spray it, I do not know the quality of the clear used nor how many coats were applied.

I'm very happy how well it's coming out. Can't wait to see my Dad's reaction.

Appreciate the feedback brother!!!

 

[Roots-type]

Mucho better! Are you going to reclear the lights?

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Mucho better! Are you going to reclear the lights?

Thank you! As of now I do not plan on re-clearing them. Meguiar's makes this stuff called PlastX which is a plastic cleaner & polish. I have used it on the lights of my other cars and my diecast display cases using a Mother's applicator on a drill and have had very good success with that process.

So, I'll go that route first. If it doesn't work then I'll probably use a clear coat on them.

 

[01yellercobra]

The title messed with me at first.

Looks good Glenn. It's impressive what you were able to do with that.

 

[Roots-type]

Thank you! As of now I do not plan on re-clearing them. Meguiar's makes this stuff called PlastX which is a plastic cleaner & polish. I have used it on the lights of my other cars and my diecast display cases using a Mother's applicator on a drill and have had very good success with that process.

So, I'll go that route first. If it doesn't work then I'll probably use a clear coat on them.

I've restored a few cars lights with megs plastx, and it works really well. Only 1 problem- it doesn't last through the elements for a daily.

If you want to try something fast (out of a can), there's a guy on yt who swears by this stuff called Upol- Diamond Clear. I've watched him shoot it on a number of surfaces, lights, intake manifolds etc. It's legit. He does a lot of at home painting like you and says it's comparable to the best stuff he's ever used. ~$10.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

The title messed with me at first.

Looks good Glenn. It's impressive what you were able to do with that.

LOL, that happened with Brad too Bob. Brad was thinking this was going to be about the 57.

Appreciate the feedback brother!!!

 

[Black Gold 380R]

I've restored a few cars lights with megs plastx, and it works really well. Only 1 problem- it doesn't last through the elements for a daily.

If you want to try something fast (out of a can), there's a guy on yt who swears by this stuff called Upol- Diamond Clear. I've watched him shoot it on a number of surfaces, lights, intake manifolds etc. It's legit. He does a lot of at home painting like you and says it's comparable to the best stuff he's ever used. ~$10.

Thank you for the recommendation. I think I'm going to go ahead with the PlastiX route this go round. Then if the lights go dull again, then I'll try the U-POL route.

To be honest, I'm just being lazy and want to get the car back to my Dad. If I go with a spray I'll have to mask the car up and put some plastic over the T-Bird and my 65 (since it's in the garage).

Also, although the paint looks really good in pictures, there are some minor imperfections in the paint. I believe the front end had some rock chips that the painter did not take the time to put glazing putty over them. So, you can see what looks like pin holes in some spots on the hood and front bumper.

So, I'm doing a good job, not a great job LOL....

Again, I do appreciate the heads up. Now I know what to try in future headlight restorations.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Okay Everyone,

Got the passenger fender polished out after work yesterday. Since the fender is smaller I was able to get all 3 steps completed. After step 1 I could still see some minor scratches. So, I went to step 2 and 3 to get them out. Damn, black is such a pain in the @$$....LOL...

I'm very happy with how this came out. I only got step one done on the hood, but remember, I did complete the hood and then went back to remove the ceramic coating. So, the hood has been polished several times, but I still need to go over it with steps 2 and 3 this weekend.

Man, I'm really liking how this is coming out. I'm going to try and go full force this weekend. I don't think I can finish it this weekend, but I'm going to see how far I can get.

Those 3 dots to the left of the reflection of the light are those pin holes I mentioned before. I didn't want to try and sand them out as I felt I would go through the clear. So, the paint does have those in various places. As mentioned, I couldn't get the paint great, but I think I got it really good.

Love the reflection of my crappy garage floor LOL....

I did not polish the bumper. Only the fender.

This is looking so good. I'm stoked.

Love how the fender matches the hood now. Can't wait to get the whole car looking like this.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Here is just a quick reminder of where I started.

Fender BEFORE (Damn, that orange peel is off the charts horrible):

Fender AFTER (Holy crap, what a difference):

 

[CobraBob]

Your dad is going to be.....

Really nice detailing work, Glenn!

 

[03cobra#694]

Glenn, two things. I might have missed it, but what's with the yellow door handles? Lastly, you need a haircut, looking a little shaggy. lololol

 

[CobraBob]

Brad, I thought the yellow on the door handles was tape to protect them. We'll see what Glenn says.

Glenn, has your dad seen any of the car's progress like we have? Or is he totally in the dark?

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Glenn, two things. I might have missed it, but what's with the yellow door handles? Lastly, you need a haircut, looking a little shaggy. lololol

LOL, that reflection gives new meaning to the term Chrome Dome, doesn't it Brad? LMAO!!! I started losing my hair when I was 27 brother. Haven't needed a haircut for many years now. Good thing is I've saved a bunch of money LOL.

As Bob has mentioned I put the yellow tape on things I did not want to get sanding scratches on. The door handles are a little too intricate. So, I didn't want to cut and buff them. Besides, looking at the paint, it appear the body guy didn't want to paint them either......SMH....

Brad, I thought the yellow on the door handles was tape to protect them. We'll see what Glenn says.

Glenn, has your dad seen any of the car's progress like we have? Or is he totally in the dark?

On the yellow tape, you are correct Bob.

Yes, I've been texting him pictures. My Dad is a man of few words. So, he texts me stuff like "You're doing a good job" and "You are doing great polishing your future car." LOL.

His reaction will tell me everything. My Dad is good at pointing out flaws and mistakes. So, if he stays quiet during the reveal, that's when I'll know if I've done a good job or not LOL...

I apologize to the both of you for my late reply. I was tied up with the car all weekend.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

Hello everyone,

Well, I'm 50% done with the car. Got the passenger side and hood completed. Now it's driver's side and trunk to go (yes, I still need to do the front and rear bumpers and headlights)....... I'm probably going to go in the garage every day after work this week and work on one panel per day. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) to return the car to my Dad this Sunday....

Woo Hoo.... Now the reflection is looking as it should. Note: front bumper is not polished...

Damn, black is a pain in the @$$, but it reflects like a mirror.

Loving it.

I call this picture the Bermuda Triangle. To the right you can see I got it to look as it should. To the left you can see the haze from the 8000 grit final wet sanding. On the bottom of the picture (below the body line) you can see the orange peel in my shadows reflection. As I had mentioned before, since this is my Dad's daily driver I did not want to polish the rocker panels as they will get rock chips.

 

[CobraBob]

I looks darned good, Glenn. Your wife should take a short video of your dad's reaction when he sees it. A picture (or video) is worth a thousand words, and we now know he's a man of few words.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

I looks darned good, Glenn. Your wife should take a short video of your dad's reaction when he sees it. A picture (or video) is worth a thousand words, and we now know he's a man of few words.

Thanks Bob. Yeah, a video of his reaction is a good idea.

Although I am sending him pictures, I do have one surprise for him. The stickers in the engine bay. One is missing and the other is so worn out you cannot read it. So, I purchased new ones and will install them for him. He like stuff like that.

You can see how bad that sticker is on the radiator cover. It's peeling off and unreadable. If you look above that sticker you will see a rectangle box molded into that plastic fan cover. Another warning sticker goes there and I purchased that one as well. Should look really good once it's all done.

Close up of the sticker/area.