Black Gold 380R's 65 Mustang Build Thread

Black Gold 380R

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Wait.... Didn't I say I had bad news too????

LOL, well here it is. While I was cutting the car apparently I got a little over zealous. I noticed that on my sandpaper I seen red. Well, when you're sanding clear coat you should NEVER see color on your sandpaper. Seeing color during the cutting process is VERY bad.

However, when I inspected my work area I didn't see any issues. Apparently, I went through the clear, but not the color and due to my work area being dull from sanding I couldn't see anything.

However, issues always reveal themselves at some point. So, while I was polishing the car today apparently I finished "erasing" the paint in the areas where the clear coat was missing.

NOTE: I am providing this information to show everyone I am not perfect and that mistakes are made (Remember, this is the first time I'm painting a whole car. So, I'm learning as I go and this process also teaches me how to fix these mistakes. So, the learning continues). Also, some folks have mentioned if I ever do this as a side job one day they want to bring me their car. Well, I want to be open and honest when it comes to painting. Mistakes are made, but they can be fixed. So, I do not want to make this project look like it is mistake/error free because it is not.

This is on the driver's side QTR. I guess when I was blending my repair line I went through here.
20211219_130516.jpg


On the passenger door is where I noticed the red on my sandpaper. If you go to the pictures of the door above, before the polishing process, you will not see this as there is paint here before buffing. Apparently the polishing process removed the remaining paint. This is on the body line above my side stripes.
20211219_130639.jpg


Different angle of the passenger door mistake.
20211219_130709.jpg


Lastly, my original mistake was solvent pop in the driver's QTR panel. Well, I didn't notice it went in to the edge of my driver's door too.
20211219_130609.jpg


These are not major issues. It looks bad and it is, but the areas are small and I have the tools and techniques to fix these areas. So, next weekend I'll sand these areas, shoot some paint and then clear coat again. Since these areas are small it should not take much time to cut and buff them once the clear dries.
 
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geoffmt

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Wow, your patience is impressive. Great way to look at it as a learning experience instead of having to correct something. Positivity is a great thing! The paint does look amazing. With sanding through, to you need more clear on the car?


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Black Gold 380R

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Wow, your patience is impressive. Great way to look at it as a learning experience instead of having to correct something. Positivity is a great thing! The paint does look amazing. With sanding through, to you need more clear on the car?


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Hello Geoff. Thank you for your comment on the paint overall. I "AM" happy with the overall results.

When it comes to my property and my mistakes I don't sweat it too much. Who is going to yell at me or complain? LOL. Now if I were getting paid by someone and this was their car my stress level would be elevated LOL.

No sir, this is not a matter of not having enough clear. Having solvent pop is an example of having too much clear on the car. In my case it was a rookie mistake.

A rule when cutting a car is to stay away from body lines and edges. Those place naturally have a limited amount of material. Gravity/physics tends to pull material off these raised areas. I think when I was sanding I was leaning/riding the body line/edge rather than staying off of it. I sometimes use a bendable sanding block to contour to the panel. I was probably putting to much pressure on the block while sanding in that area.

Problem is you don't notice your mistake until it's too late and you see color on the sand paper LOL.

I'll get her fixed up next weekend. It looks bad, but the area is not a difficult area to fix. I can sand the body line on the door. Then I can spray the red to cover the mistake. Then from the body line down I can clear the whole door where the side stripe is. You will never see the repair. Same with the solvent pop area. I can sand the area, spray color and then blend the clear into the door. Once it's sanded and buffed you'll never notice it.
 

Black Gold 380R

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Okay everyone,

Since today is the official recognized Christmas federal holiday I was off today. So, I got to work fixing the passenger side. Tomorrow I will spend the day with family and on Sunday I'll fix the driver's side.

This was not hard at all. Just very tedious. I took my time and did not rush.

I sanded the bad spot with 800 grit wet and I also sanded my side stripes with 800 grit wet. The idea is to tape off the stripes and then spray red. I'll unmask the stripes and then clear coat from the bottom edge of the door down.

But the saga continues. I found another burn through spot on the top edge of the passenger door (In the words of Homer Simpson DOH LOL). It was very small and I might have been able to just touch it up, but I decided it needed to be fixed since I was at it. What's one more section to fix LOL????

I put tape around my work area to protect areas I did not want to sand. I can use tape here since I'm not spraying and no hard line will be established. Remember I'm using 800 grit wet. Not to aggressive, but enough of a scratch to create a bite for the color and clear.
20211224_090218.jpg


Here is the area I found on the top edge of the passenger door. It looks worse here because I already went over it with 800 grit wet to prepare it for painting. So, I removed more material.
20211224_094323.jpg


Here you can see the sanding process. After I removed my tape I went over the area the tape was covering with 2000 grit wet to prepare it for the blending process. This area will be masked off during the painting process. I just need to ensure anywhere there will be paint it must be sanded or the paint will not stick.
20211224_094340.jpg


Close up of the burn through after it was sanded. Here you can see my side stripes have been sanded as well.
20211224_094352.jpg


Here the car is masked off and I prepared the door. The white foam tape is used to keep from having a high build line. This makes the blending process easier. There is no white foam tape on the stripe as it is supposed to have a hard separation line between the red and black.
20211224_105413.jpg


The top edge of the Passenger door. You can see the white foam tape at the back and bottom of the door. These will be my blend areas. The top and front of my work area does not need the foam tape because these are natural separation areas.
20211224_105425.jpg


Foam tape along the entire portion of the door. Although the burn through is not along the entire side I'm going to spray color in this entire area. This will keep it from looking blotchy.
20211224_105440.jpg


Just a close up to see how I taped off my burn through area. Everything is set for this door. Time to spray.....
20211224_105444.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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Okay, red is very transparent and it takes a few coats to get it to cover the black of the burn through area. So, I dusted the red over the burn through area a few times "before" I went over the entire area.

Here is the initial dusting coat. You can still see the black coming through.
20211224_110600.jpg


First full coat and you can still see black.
20211224_111657.jpg


Gave it three more full light coats and now she has coverage.
20211224_122824.jpg


No more burn through showing. SWEET!
20211224_122838.jpg


Here is my first full coat of the upper door area. You can see I did not spray color all the way to the back. This helps with the clear coat transition/blending since there is no natural body line here.
20211224_123242.jpg


Here the side stripes have been unmasked.
20211224_123218.jpg


Looking good. Time to clear coat it.
20211224_123402.jpg
 
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Black Gold 380R

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Okay, now my favorite part....clear coat time LOL.

Here is the first coat of clear. Again, I did not go all the way to the back yet. I'll do that with the second coat.
20211224_133125.jpg


Okay, this is after the third and final coat. I have to unmask it while it is still wet. I didn't do this when I fixed the driver's QTR and the edge wasn't as smooth as I wanted. This time it looks better.
20211224_142956.jpg


Here you can see the soft edge is not as jagged as it was on the driver's QTR. After it dries I'll sand it (carefully this time LOL) and it should polish out nicely.
20211224_143003.jpg


Here is the bottom front of the door after third and final coat of clear.
20211224_133138.jpg


Bottom rear of the door after third and final coat of clear.
20211224_133144.jpg


Man, my new spray gun lays down that clear nicely. Should be easier to cut and buff this time. Not as much orange peel this time around.
20211224_133200.jpg


Unmasked it and removed the white foam tape. This looks great!
20211224_143134.jpg


Looking at it from the front to back. That transition line is barely noticeable in this shot LOL. Pretty cool.
20211224_143217.jpg


Close up of the bottom portion of the door. Again, by removing the foam tape when it's wet leaves a cleaner/straighter transition line. This will be even easier to cut and buff than the driver's QTR was. Sure is nice without the burn through line LOL.
20211224_143119.jpg


Got the whole door unmasked. Now, to get this done on the driver's side. I'll cut and buff this side on New Years weekend. Should be nice and dry by then :D ...
20211224_145817.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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Hey Glenn, isn't there something to unmasking the clear at the right time so the edge flows a little? So there's less of a sharp edge to deal with.
Hey Bob,

There are different methods to doing this. You should unmask the clear when it's wet so it does flow a little.

Also, you can spray color on your repair and then spray clear base coat to give you an even surface to work with and then clear coat the entire panel. Problem there is I would have to cut and buff the whole door.

You can use a product specifically designed to melt away the edge. It's called a blending agent. This makes sanding and blending even easier. I don't have any and have never used it.

Or you can do it the way I do. There's less steps the way I do it. However, my way does require a little more time sanding, but it works for me.

That's another thing the guy I watch on YouTube says, every painter does things differently because they are comfortable using different tools or techniques.

But in the end you are correct. There's a specific way to do things when painting in order to yield better results.

I learn new things every time I do this. Sucks I have to make mistakes in order to learn lol....


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Black Gold 380R

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Okay everyone, advanced automotive painting class continues LOL.

I tried to spot fix the passenger door. The bottom came out perfect (stripe area). However, the top corner experienced a slight set back. Again this is due to me not doing things properly and not knowing how to properly utilize my supplies.

No problem. I continue to learn on my car :D. Nothing like being self taught LOL.

Okay, I use the white foam tape in order to create a soft edge. Well, apparently if you spray all the way "down" on to the foam tape material will build up and create a hard edge anyway (oops. Now I know not to do this LOL).

You can see the clear coat line in this photo. I thought I could sand it out. However, the area "below" the line, where there is not that much material, I burnt through....again..... Time to figure this out.
20211224_145855.jpg


I went into the garage Friday night around 10PM. I tried to sand the clear coat line out and that's when I busted through the clear again. So, I decided to bite the bullet and just sand the whole door and get it right. I sanded the clear coat line out with 600 grit wet and then I did the entire door (to include the stripe area) with 800 grit wet. Once I did that I decided to spray some sealer over the burn through area to give me an even surface to cover/work with. I finished this around 12:30 AM (And No, I didn't see Santa at my house. Guess I'm being punished for sucking at paint repair LMAO!!!)
20211225_104236.jpg


Here is a close up to show the line is gone and the sealer is even.
20211225_104303.jpg


I got up early on Saturday and opened presents with the family (Santa brought me something after all LOL). After that was done I went in the garage to spray the color. I had to go to my parents house in the afternoon, so I only sprayed color.
20211225_120039.jpg


Now the entire door has coverage and is even (again LOL). I should have just re-cleared the whole door when I got to this point the last time. Then again, if I did I wouldn't have learned how to properly use the white foam tape.
20211225_120059.jpg


I unmasked the side stripes and then let it dry.
20211225_123651.jpg


I'll leave the passenger side in base coat and then fix the driver's side and then clear coat everything at once.
20211225_123637.jpg


After I finished spraying the door with full strength base coat I thinned out my paint and then moved the gun from 6 inches away to 10 inches away from the door and laid down an orientation coat. Man, this door looks great. Nice and even with a slight sheen. Exactly how it should look in base coat.
20211225_123711.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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Then today I started on the driver's side.

Here is the QTR. I sanded this area with 800 grit wet, which is why the burn through is more apparent now.
20211226_094723.jpg


I placed some tape on the QTR panel and sanded the area which is why there is an outline.
20211226_094716.jpg


I am taping around the area and I have to go from the outside and work my way in. I need to place the tape that the plastic will adhere too. Then I have to put tape strips working in towards the repair area. These strips will be removed while the clear is still wet.
20211226_111829.jpg


And here is the infamous white foam tape. Okay the trick here is to "NOT" spray on the foam tape. I will work "within" the foam tape area to keep from forming a hard line this time.
20211226_114701.jpg


You can see some black sharpie marks on my foam tape. This is to guide me on where my color will be sprayed and where my clear will be sprayed. The color has been sprayed in this picture and you can see the color does not go all the way down to the bottom foam tape.
20211226_135212.jpg


I had to use 600 grit wet to get the solvent pop out of the door.
20211226_094738.jpg


Here is the door after the 800 grit wet is complete.
20211226_111808.jpg


While I was sanding I noticed this black spec. It is under the clear from the first go around. So, this is another spot on the driver's door I need to add some color.
20211226_094819.jpg


Here you can see the solvent pop is gone and there is good color coverage.
20211226_135251.jpg


After I spot painted the door with full strength base coat. I did the same thing here and thinned out my paint and laid down an orientation coat on the whole door.
20211226_135231.jpg


Looks great now. It is too windy for my to spray clear coat today. If I did a ton of trash would be blown into my clear coat. So, I'll stop here and later this week I'll go in the garage and apply the clear coat.

Hopefully all the painting on the body will be done after this. Then I can move on to other parts, such as the radiator cover, rear bumper and headlight buckets.
 

Black Gold 380R

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I definitely would have been throwing things by now!

Looks like you’ve got light at the end of the tunnel and at least those stripes were all good!
I hear you DSG. It is frustrating when I experience problem after problem. Then again these problems become a learning experience and improve my painting skills.

So, on one hand it sucks because this is a lot of work and materials are expensive and it's disheartening to start over after I had it looking great. But on the other hand I'm gaining a ton of experience and practice that are contributing to my skill level increasing. That's invaluable to me.

If I went to school for this, someone would have shown me how to properly use the foam tape and teach me proper spraying techniques. So, the only way I can learn at this point is from my successes, and unfortunately, from my failures/mistakes.

As I have said before I would rather learn on my car than on someone else's who is paying me and expecting a certain level of quality.

I'm getting there and if I ever do this as a side job my customers can rest assured I will know what I'm doing.

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Black Gold 380R

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Okay everyone,

It's not windy today and it's supposed to get up to 66 today. Then a cold front is coming in. It won't be freezing, but it will be too cold to paint the rest of this week. So, I went in the garage just before lunch and got the clear coat sprayed.

Came out GREAT! My wife said it should look great until I mess it up again LMAO. Got to love the support LOL.

Passenger door looks good.
20211227_121049.jpg


20211227_121033.jpg


Driver's door looks good too.
20211227_121117.jpg


Yes, there is orange peel in it, but there always is.
20211227_125121.jpg


Even my spot fix on the driver's QTR came out great. Seems I learned how to properly use the foam tape and how to properly spray the repair area.
20211227_121259.jpg


20211227_121207.jpg


20211227_121214.jpg


Look at that clear coat edge. It almost doesn't exist. This should sand nicely and buff out great.
20211227_121232.jpg


You can see the sanding edge of my work area just beyond the clear coat edge. I was able to keep the repair within my work area. This will enable me to buff it out without seeing the repair. I'll try cutting and buffing it this weekend.
20211227_121253.jpg
 

CobraBob

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After every challenge, small or big, you're like....
I Can Do It Netflix GIF by Blown Away


I just can't over your determination to (calmly) correct any and all issues you encounter.
.
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.
 

Black Gold 380R

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After every challenge, small or big, you're like....
I Can Do It Netflix GIF by Blown Away


I just can't over your determination to (calmly) correct any and all issues you encounter.
.
.
.
Thank you Bob! I don't like getting upset over my mistakes. Even if I throw a tantrum the mistake is still there when I'm finished cursing and throwing stuff lmao.

It might seem weird to some folks, but I'm actually having fun doing this.

Yes, I get frustrated and, as mentioned, these materials are not cheap, but it is so satisfying when I learn something AND my techniques work.

Looking at the reflection and seeing what I did gives me a real sense of accomplishment. And that sense outweighs my disappointment with my mistakes.

Appreciate you guys checking in and for not busting my €@!!$ about all my screw ups lol. SVTP Members Rule!!!

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Black Gold 380R

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I just showed my wife some of your work. She admires your determination to succeed to perfect as much as I do. I/we can't wait to see your Mustang when it's done!

That's awesome Bob! Please pass on my gratitude to your wife. And thank you to you too!

My dad is not much for words, but every time I show him a picture of my car he always tells me he can't wait to see it when it's finished. When it comes to cars he has a very high standard. So, if he can't wait to see it done I must be doing something right.

I remember one time he made a dealership paint the fender on his car 5 times because they couldn't get the paint to match. Finally the dealership just gave him a different car LOL (Same make and model, just different color).

So, now you know where I get it from LOL.
 

Black Gold 380R

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Okay everyone,

The clear has been drying for a few days. I know the doors will not be a problem. I'm worried about the driver's QTR repair and how the blend will work.

So, I went in to the garage and sanded and buffed part if the repair area. I must say I am VERY pleased with how it came out.

It is not a perfect blend, but it is very very good. No one will ever notice the repair. If you look really really hard you "CAN" see it, but if you don't know about it and you're not looking for it you will never see it.

I put tape to cover the outer edges of the repair. The clear is thinnest out there and I need to cut the main area with 1000 grit wet to get out the orange peel. The 1000 grit wet is to aggressive for the thinner area.
20211230_142744.jpg


Once I was done with the 1000 grit wet I removed the tape. Then I went over the entire repair, and a little past the repair, with 2000, 3000 and 8000 grit wet. This is after the complete sanding process. You can see a very light haze of the repair area here.
20211230_150424.jpg


Another angle showing the light haze of the repair area. If you look on top of the QTR, near the C pillar you can see the outline of the repair. I did "NOT" sand this area. I'm using it as a reference point to so how well my repair came out.
20211230_150436.jpg


Here is the QTR after stage 1 of the buffing process. The light haze is gone and the repair seems seamless. I did not buff it any further as I need to finish sanding the C pillar area and I want to buff the entire QTR with stage 1 before I proceed.
20211230_152137.jpg


The arrows show the outline of the repair area that I'm using as a reference point. Remember this area has "NOT" been sanded or anything. The line on the QTR (from top to bottom) has disappear and the mark on top of the QTR is letting me know where the line was.
20211230_152203a.JPG


Here is a close up of the QTR. You can see the repair line on the top of the QTR (my reference point), but on the side it has been blended into the QTR. You can see the reflection is clear. There are no waves or imperfections to indicate any kind of repair was done (Note: as mentioned above, if you get right up on it and look you will see a slight wave denoting a repair, but unless you get right up on it, you'll never see it).
20211230_153555.jpg


Side/45 degree angle of the repair. Again, use the reference line to see where the repair was on the QTR.
20211230_153507.jpg


This is looking down the QTR from the top. Again, no repair is visible and there is no wave in the reflection.
20211230_153455.jpg


Wider view of the entire work area. Just like the area of the repair where the repair was running top to bottom on the QTR, the area going from front to back (just above the side scoop) is not visible either. So, I consider this repair a success and accomplished. SWEET!!!!
20211230_153444.jpg


Next I will finish sanding the top potion of the QTR and C pillar area. Then I will cut and buff the doors and then finishing buffing this driver's QTR.

As mentioned before, the failures are frustrating, but these learning experiences and successes more than make up for those frustrations.

VERY happy about this repair.

This is me when I looked at the repair and realized it came out great LOL.
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Black Gold 380R

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Okay,

Went in to the garage today and finished buffing the driver's QTR with stage 1 and 2. Once the whole car is finished with stage 2 then I'll buff the whole car with stage 3 and call it done.

Man, this looks great. Love when you can't see the repair LOL.
20211231_144508.jpg


Love the reflection through the side stripes.
20211231_144543.jpg


Always cool when you can see the reflection of the things hanging on my garage walls. You can even see the bottles of polish sitting on the bench at the rear of the QTR.
20211231_144610.jpg


20211231_144629.jpg


20211231_144646.jpg


Here is the top of the QTR. This is the repair area I was using as a reference point yesterday. I tried taking pictures of it at different angles and with different lighting. Nothing to see here folks LOL.
20211231_144732.jpg


With flash and no repair line is visible.
20211231_144834.jpg


Without flash and no wave or imperfections are visible.
20211231_144844.jpg


Job done on the QTR. I'll work on cutting and buffing the doors this weekend if it's not too cold. Once the doors are done I'll be able to unmask the car and do the final buffing with the stage 3 polish.
 

Black Gold 380R

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Okay everyone,

It started out chili this morning, but warmed up enough for me to get some cutting and buffing done. Man, the driver's side came out amazing.

Here is the initial close up of the drivers door. You can see just how bad the orange peel is looking at the reflection of the items. VERY wavy.
20220102_111358.jpg


Here is a close up of my sanding the door with 1000 grit wet. You can see how the right side of the picture is wavy, the center is the transition point and the left side of the picture has the orange peel sanded out and is flat now.
20220102_113612.jpg


Just a wide view of the door while sanding with 1000 grit wet.
20220102_113659.jpg


This time I changed my strategy just a little. I noticed the dry sanding does not knock down the clear, it only removes the wet sanding scratches and gets the clear coat ready for the polishing process. So, this time I wanted to make sure the clear was little flatter. So, after 1000 grit wet I sanded the entire door with 2000 grit wet. Here you can see the scratch marks left behind as I do the wet sanding by hand.
20220102_123551.jpg


Here is a comparison between the door after wet sanding and the polished QTR. You can see the 2000 grit wet scratch marks in the door and there is no reflection.
20220102_125355.jpg


This is the door after stage 1 and 2 of dry sanding. This is done with a DA that has a shorter stroke to make polishing easier. You can see the scratch marks are gone and the reflection has returned, but it still has a haze to it. This is going to look great!
20220102_135325.jpg


Another comparison of the door to the QTR. Again you can see the finish on the door is smooth and, as mentioned, it already has a slight reflection. Ready for polish. SWEET!

20220102_135340.jpg
 

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