As others burry themselves in political banter....

I am giving this big Chevy a fresh new color after hundreds of hours in metal work, body repairs, surfacing and leveling panels.




This is 1012 Carlisle blue, GM used it on 2012 corvettes.



Having lunch now, spraying the clear after lunch.

Nice!

Is that your baby hauler, Dave? Caprice, right?

That's a good looking color on the old girl.

That car did haul all my babies yes. It now belongs to my step father, rebuilding the car to his specs. He's a great guy, I really look up to him and its great seeing this old car being totally rebuilt. Lots of memories.

Looking good my man!

Still have the Mach I in the shop?

getting shiny, first coat clear.

Nice stuff Dave, how many coats of clear will go on it?

Woo! Can't wait to see that baby done! That has a 327 in it correct?

GREAT to see you post work pics again Dave, missed hell out of your threads.

2 are on now, I'll probably stop at 3.



It's not in the car right now but it is freshly rebuilt and ready to go back in (327)

She's got curves.





I'm dog ass tired. one more coat to go.

Beautiful!

Those lines look as straight as the day it rolled into the showroom. Not too bad for a White guy...

I'll take it!


Dave: you're gonna be the Northern Chip Foose!

Gorgeous!!!!

Loooooking great Dave!!

When you fix that run, you can hit that spot you missed in the other pic.


Just joshing....nobody in Greenbush will even notice.



Looks reeel Good; you've got skills!

Real nice! Got any before pics?

Thank you, THANK you, THANK YOU! What a helluva nice change from all the political BS being served up daily on here! Sweet lookin ride, will stay tuned for updates! ND, you rock!

I've got tons of photos, just havent had time to sort through and upload to photobucket. here are a couple higher quality snaps from today though.

As usual awesome ND work. Thanks for the uplifting post Sir.

Hello ND. I lover it! The color suits the car. She looks slick. You have the touch with body work my good man. Wish you lived close, cause I'm gonna need lots of help with my 67 truck. It's pretty bad.

I don't have the patience or the eye you do, very awesome!

Awesome!

Nice, Dave!

Thank you, Sir.




Hi Wade! Staying dry over on the west side this winter?

Please tell the FIL specs don't call for it end up as ghetto-mobile, i.e spinners, 20+ inch tires, hydraulic suspension, and a trunk full of amps and speakers!

BTW, very nice!

Is that a 1965 Impala?

Step father, and no! Hell no!

Moderately sized classic 5 spoke wheels, no clown show junk.



66 caprice.

Hey, Dave, one of my FB buddies was drooling over some pics of a sweet old Ford truck about a month ago. I had the pleasure of telling him, "Hey, I kinda know that guy. Lemme tell you the story and send you a link."

Yep, it was Nate's rig that you documented here for us last year.

You do awesome work and provide a more than welcome diversion here.

Thanks man!

For those that could maybe be interested in details of my efforts today. Sealer was metalux by chem spec, I sprayed it with Iwata LPH400LVX, 1.4 fluid tip. It lays super slick, great sealer.

Base was also metalux, also sprayed with the Iwata LPH400LVX (orange cap). Basically a wet coat followed by a medium coat, it sews into itself really nice, I don't seem to have suffered any mottle. I had LVB (purple cap) ready for a final straightening coat if needed but the LVX handled the ice blue metallic metalux very well.

Clear was SPI universal which is a high solids 1:1, I shot unreduced with Sata Jet 5000RP 1.3.

The Sata was great, very fast gun, lays it real slick. I have very little orange peel to level before buffing, even though I piled on 3 heavy coats.

The SPI clear was ok, I guess I don't quite understand the cult following it has quite yet, I thought it kicked too fast even with slow activator. I've got some die back in a few spots on the roof, no big deal because I am cutting and buffing anyways.

Used to work in that part of the world in early 80s. Badger, Wannaska and Roosevelt were my favorite burbs. Didn't remember so much for great rides there back then. Nice piece of work there Northern Dave.

I am lost on the new paints and process other than an admirer. R&M Alpha-Cryl Acrylic Lacquer was the hot sheits when I was still painting along with standard DuPont enamel for the cheap quickie paint jobs.

Brings back some memories. First new car we owned was a 65 Impala station wagon with the hottest 327 motor one could get from the factory. Dad got a dual quad intake manifold and stuck it on. It flew as I recall and my grandma was the worst for racing it- and she didn't drive! She would egg on my mother in particular. I suspect grandma didn't drive due to losing her license!

I love the car and hope to own something like that some day. I'll have to keep an eye open the next time I am in that part of the state.

I used to work with a gal from up that way, she was a medic in The Cities then moved back up. She was interesting to talk to and my wife new several of her relatives. I should look her up too if in the area.

Very nice work!

dave , old guy up here did his car , said he leaded it, old school stuff ,do u do that ?

No, not too many do any more. I appreciate it from a traditional standpoint, but I think there are better ways these days.

Very nice Dave!!

I have all my grandfathers body tools, everything but the Sioux Lead gun. He showed me how to solder with it but it disappeared when he passed. I think only he, Dad and I knew what it was so someone probably canned it...Grrrr still mad about that!

My pops likes that Sata sprayer too.

I haven't a clue how to do it. But the old dudes that do,to me, seem to be real cool cats. The type of guys that when they talk, I'll shut up and listen because I'm going to laugh or learn something.

Very nice Dave. I know you love that kind of work, but I think me sees an extra helping of love in that one.

I'd like to see some video when you give it back to him. I'm sure it will be a fond memory fir your entire family.

Good man Charlie Brown.

The "good man" in this story is my step dad.

He's a former Marine (the reason I joined too), I look up to him a lot. His work ethic is second to nobody. He's a quad bypass heart surgery survivor (one year ago yesterday) and he's helped me out a LOT in this business effort.

When I get this body and frame ready to receive the fresh 327/powerglide, he will be coming up to put the engine/trans back in the car with us and perform the start up/break in process for the fresh engine. I'm going to put the doors back on the car but leave the front clip off until after the engine is in the car.

Very cool Dave.

You don't seem married to any one paint system which I think is neat. Seems like some guys say "I only squirt DuPont" or "Chose any color you want - so long as it's in the House of Kolor catalog".

Is that laziness or would you prefer to be at a point where you can be that selective on paint/systems?

Beautiful.


Do you have the ripped metal stickers ready?

Hi Andrew.

There definitely is an advantage to sticking with one system. I am currently on the hunt but I won't be able to put together a single brand recipe from my base metal up through my clear coat. The nature of my goals with these jobs along with the nature of my "canvas", requires extensive surface leveling efforts.

Most of the industry leading brands today are built around collision repair on late model cars. the only thing these lines really offer me are base colors and maybe sealers.

I need different primers and surfacing products and I need better clear coat than most lines offer.

That being said, I can still come up with a mixed system that I can settle into and become familiar with. That's what I'm currently trying to do.

I think I've found an epoxy that I like, I have narrowed my spray poly down to about 3 that I like out of many that are offered. 2K urethane primers, same thing. I have narrowed down to a handful that I like. As far as base coat I have used many and I know where my minimum price point is at for quality, I'm fine with my local offerings which are the axalta line, in which I prefer to stay at or above the chroma level. Sometimes Axalta (formerly dupont) won't have a mix recipe for a color I want so I have to go to an alternate brand like I did in this case. A friend of mine runs a local body shop that does insurance type jobs. He's got a very nice mix system with the Metalux brand, which I have used before and I like just fine.

For my clear I am trying to settle in on a high quality high solids. I may have found that product in this SPI universal clear. By the end of this job I will have a better idea if I want to continue to use their product or not.

There is a good chance I will stick with them, they sell more to custom shops that do high end jobs. Lots of cars at pebble beach have SPI clear on them.

We will need to rev up the time machine so we can go back to the 90's for some ripped metal stickers, lol.

Don't forget the bullet hole stickers around the gas filler cover.

Tell your dad I found a guy in Italy that is selling the Sata Jet 5000 guns for what equates to about $400 US (should be closer to $800)

I will tell him. Thanks.

Did "Ultra Hot" decals make it up that way.?

Barbed wire would be sweet.

Stick on vents are where it's at. That's what the Mexicans put on their ford trucks around here. Lol

Wet sanding the clear now, really love this clear for blocking.

Of course the fact that the new gun helped me lay it slick reduced the amount of blocking needed too.

Man, this is going to be the slickest, straightest of all 65-66 full sized chev bodies. Its ridiculous.

I figured it would be with you doing the work Dave.

BTW, in my painting days Binks squirt guns we the hot schizz with a brand I do not remember "dripless" cup on em.

For sure T, I learned how to spray with the trusty old binks model 7. Arguably still today the worlds most popular spray gun.

And yes, I had the dripless cup too.

Lots of siphon rigs through the years.

my 2 current "high end" hot rods:

Jap on the left, German on the right.






It makes me sick to think of the 2 nice hand guns I could have with what these two set ups cost.

I hear ya Dave on the hand guns. IIRC my Binks #7's cost me like $65.00 each and the dripless cups were about $25.00, heady stuff in the $250.00 full paint job days!

Dave;
Good afternoon to you sir, I trust this finds you and yours well on this first Saturday in February.

Thanks once again for taking the time to shoot some photos of your projects and share them with us. I don't always comment - though I really should Dave - but I always thoroughly enjoy them.

I can't recall if I've ever mentioned this, but when I was 16 I bought a 1965 Impala SS rag top for parts. It was in pretty rough shape considering it was only 11 years old then, but anyway I pulled the Powerglide and the 283 out of it and sold it to a good friend who restored it and put it back on the road for a bit.

Once upon a time I worked with an older millwright who claimed the 1965 Impala had some front end issues that caused them to ditch unexpectedly and it was fixed in the 1966 models?

I don't know if that's so, but my buddy did report the one I sold him had some odd tendencies that way so he didn't drive it much.

Anyway sir, the current project brought back all those memories from almost 40 years ago now Dave - so thanks much for that too.

All the best to you and yours this February Dave.

Dwayne

Dave I know squat about doing body work. But I have had the pleasure of knowing several and few really good ones. But your work tops them all. Its all in the details and you seem to cover them all

OOps double post

Hi Dwayne, always a pleasure to hear from such a fine gentleman as yourself.

I'm unaware of any changes up front from 65-66. It is entirely possible that they improved something as simple as the idler arm. I lost an idler arm on this 66 myself at speed over 20 yrs ago and that will put a man in the ditch.

Not me, but probably some men.

Lol.

Great thread ND! You poor your heart into your work and it shows. You are a dam fine artist!

ND car threads are the best part of the campfire. 10 times better when they provide a reprieve from the endless political bantering.

It's cool how the modern color looks great on a classic body.

Hi dave, I'm looking to get back into spray painting cars again and thinking of getting a Devilbiss Tekna pro or the Tekna copper line, have you tried them and which one is better if one is better ? Thanks

Awesome work! From one who is in the business to another, kudos. I'll stick to things mechanical, I don't have the patience, or the finesse for that matter, for the paint and bodywork

IIRC,my first car was a 66 impala,and it was just about that same color,although time must have clouded my memory.

Thanks for the paint system info Dave. Appreciate it, tho I had to google 1/2 of it.

The tekna's are very popular guns. There really is no reason I don't have them, I've been a devilbiss fan for many years. My heavy primer gun is an FLG4 and I still use a devilbiss gravity plus gun for some stuff.

A local rep talked me into trying the Iwata LPH400 gun with the orange cap. The LPH400 can be used with 3 different air caps. Silver cap is most popular for clear, orange is their "ultimate base coat" cap, and they have a purple cap for shooting pearls and difficult metallic bases. (Blah, blah, blah, right?)

I do really like the LPH400 for base. It has a HUGE fan, its a soft spray, over spray is almost non existent, spray speed is what I would call moderate/deliberate. Which is nice for controlling metallic bases.

I wanted a dedicated clear gun and recently went with sata 5000 in the RP model. I found a deal on it, otherwise I wouldn't have purchased it.

I am thinking that the tekna guns are the same functionally but the prolite has a different coating making it easier to clean? I haven't used one but I've heard very good things about the tekna's. They look like a great value because I think you usually get multiple fluid tips and probably at least 2 air caps with most tekna packages.

I would suggest a 1.4 fluid tip with what ever gun you choose, unless it's a sata, then step down to a 1.3.

Sata prints 1.3 on the fluid tip but if you measure it, its actually a 1.5. Everybody else sizes their fluid nozzles as advertised, but the satas for some reason oversize their fluid nozzles. My "1.3" measures slightly over 1.5 mm.

That's why the new satas "seem to throw a lot of paint"

It's not air science or anything magical, the Germans are simply printing 1.3 on a 1.5 fluid tip. Lol

Dang, won't be shipping any packages up nort' for the Chevy cuz the local 8-track tape source dried up.

As always a very fine job Dave, your automotive art work shows it.

Thanks Dave on the infor on what fluid tip to use, I'm going with the Tekna copper set 1.3 & 1.4 with cup for $407.00 at amazon I can't go wrong.
I'll be doing the auto painting in Arizona so that should be fun to try.

Specs please.

Simply - GORGEOUS!!!

Oh you motor head you, lol.

We sent it to a shop in WI that specializes in factory rebuilds for classics. so, it's nothing tricky. It's over bored, (again) sitting @ + .40 now I believe. and the stock "double hump" heads have had hardened seats since the last rebuild in the 90's. (1.94" , not 2.02")

following the internal recipe for 300 HP 327, 10.5:1 comp, hyd cam, single 4 barrel, nothing too wild.

Another big thing is air delivery to these new guns. I think your tekna will probably come with a regulator to attach at the gun inlet. I'm a big believer in running 100-150 psi right up to the gun, then regulate down to your desired pressure with the trigger pulled. A good regulator is the RTI MR1. it is the very same as Iwata AK 1R2 but the Iwata sells for about 15-20 dollars more.

Also run the Milton V type connections, they are the high flow ones. Everything else in my shop is the M style, but my paint guns are V style and my paint booth hose stays in my paint booth.

These guns will perform amazingly with basically full line pressure to the gun and stepping down the psi at the inlet. All of the new guns have larger air holes in the air cap, hvlp have the biggest, that is where this full line pressure really helps out, it still helps the RP's, the "compliant" and what ever other names they choose to give their tweener guns which are the "barely legal" guns. lol.

Besides sufficient air volume, the air hose will be hard to accidentally pinch off while spraying. Back when I used to regulate pressure at the booth wall, a lot of these guns call for air pressures ranging from 12 to 30 psi. That makes for a squishy air hose that is easy to accidentally pinch off. I've stepped on the hose before, knelt on it, I pinched the hose between my calf and thigh while kneeling to spray a rocker... That's bad, causes a gun spit. Full line pressure and you can step on that hose and it wont effect a thing.

That's awesome(even if it is a Chevy LOL)...love that color!!!

Do you know the specs for the cam? I'm hoping it's not really a 327/300HP cam.

Which intake manifold?

Will this one get to breathe through headers?

I'm also a bit concerned about the compression ratio. If it actually cc's out at 10.5 with those iron heads, not just "these are 10.5:1 pistons", I don't think it'll get along with pump gas very well. That's especially true if the cam is as small as a stock 327/300 grind.

We have a build spec sheet around here somewhere. I've been to busy plowing snow this morning and now I have a little time to get some wet sanding in before running in to town to meet the wife for lunch. It's our 24th anniversary today.

Well, Happy Anniversary to you both!

Thanks, going to chop stick dragon, or something such.

I think I'll have that stuff that looks like octopus guts, sweet n sour cat balls and some flie'd lice.

Congrats on the anniversary.

Thanks, it aint easy, being married to me.

Lol!

chop stick dragon was closed so we went with shrimp al-fray-doe for the lady friend, jack daniels burger for me.

Wash it down with some of that sweet Grain Belt, by any chance??

no, no, no.

I'm still on the clock for the afternoon.

Clock? there ain't no clock on the stepdad's car!

maybe not, but I still like to wait till... oh, about now I suppose. lol

Thanks again Dave, I'm stuck here in Minnesota for the rest of this month but driving to Arizona in march having a 24'x 24' garage build at my ranch house out there where I plan on doing my painting.

Love it Dave, and I have to thank mathman for getting the engine specs out of you.

The color is great, but with a relatively "stock" motor, powerglide, mild not wild wheels, why not the original color or at least one from that model year's Chevy catalog? Is it what step-dad wanted? Just wondering, certainly not a criticism. That thing's gonna look way cool. Maybe even "Uber"!

Geno

I'm still working on him for details.

Well, I'm not sure I need to know how many thousandths under the crank was turned and which brand of bearings did he end up using to make up for the machining.

I'm no longer quite that much of a motorhead, I'm even getting to the point of letting other people work on my vehicles (but I hate it, I just don't have a lift and don't like laying on the cold concrete or gravel! or busting knuckles)

Geno

Congratulations again !