1971 Firebird Esprit

[xtremekustomz]

Got this one in about a month ago. I guess you could call it a restoration. We aren't going for 100% perfection all the way around but it should be really nice when it's done. Here is how the car came in:







The teardown and blasting...

 

[xtremekustomz]

Currently working on gaps and will be shooting some epoxy on the bumper in a day or so. I'm not a professional shop but a hobbyist. I've been painting on the side since about 2006 so I've learned a lot but still have a lot to learn. Comments and critiques are welcome.

 

[xtremekustomz]

Passenger side quarter replacement starts this upcoming week. Some of the channel around the back window has rot as well we behind the wheel, in front of the wheel, a caved in area at the top rear and some rot around where the quarter meets the roof. Other than this the car was really solid.

 

[xtremekustomz]

Short video of the dustless blasting

https://www.facebook.com/pg/xtremekustomz32578/videos/?ref=page_internal

 

[Barry]

Nice job, but the one hood i always loved was the formula hood from that year. I would just have to buy one. lol

 

[xtremekustomz]

You mean like this?

 

[xtremekustomz]

I did this one for his son last year.

Before:

After:

The hood still needed some adjustment to close properly.

 

[Barry]

You mean like this?

Yes sir!!!! Hood tach also looks great

 

[Barry]

Your sons car is a beaut!!!! Super job on that one.

 

[xtremekustomz]

And 6 hrs later....

 

[xtremekustomz]

Blocking 3 coats of Slick Sand

 

[xtremekustomz]

3 coats of House of Kolor KD3000

Making the vents look nice

 

[xtremekustomz]

Blocked the House of Kolor KD3000 with 180. This is the final blocking and application of final prime.

 

[El Toro]

Looks good so far. Just asking....... why not use SPI Turbo primer-surface??????

 

[xtremekustomz]

Looks good so far. Just asking....... why not use SPI Turbo primer-surface??????

I've been using the House of Kolor for almost 4 years now and really like it so I haven't needed a reason for changing it up honestly. It sprays and sands really nice. When I started this project I had heard of but never used any SPI products. After doing some research I found that the epoxy would be my best be in restoring the endura bumper on the car so I contacted Barry about it. I'm now using the SPI Epoxy and Universal Clear. I'm sure I will try out some primer at some point in time. I just don't want to change products in the middle of a job.

 

[xtremekustomz]

I'm a little disappointed in the overall finish of the quarter replacement. I was expecting everything to be done on it but it is far from it. Not sure if every shop would have left it like this but it is what it is. The total labor charge for replacement was $1025. I thought that would have included finishing it out but I guess no. I'm left going behind fixing it of course...

I've had issues with primer lifting from ecoat (not sure if anyone else has) so I don't really trust it anymore so I stripped it all off. I re-worked the seam because it wasn't as smooth as I wanted and removed the unknown primer used. Also the body line on the new quarter was a lot sharper than the one on the rest of the car so I used a little filler to round it off some to match the other.

Went ahead and sprayed the jambs since I am doing this all by myself. I don't mind having to touch up a door jamb if I scratch it but I didn't want to risk messing the outside of the door up trying to hang them again. I know it would have been better to paint apart but these doors are extremely heavy and awkward for one person to install. I am using foam and probably transition tape in the jambs when I do the outside so hopefully I can get a nice finish.

Still have some alignment to do but getting it ready for paint. Hopefully I can go Sunday and get it done. I will spend the rest of the day getting everything else ready.

Hood and bumper after final sanding

Wet sanding. Panels are looking really good

 

[EddieF]

I had a 75 or 6. I put 455 in. Mistake.
No idea on quality of work replacing rear quarter area.
Loved viewing your work. Nice curves wave free i appreciate. Good job.

 

[xtremekustomz]

It isn't 100% wave free. I only pulled/filled small imperfections, primed and blocked twice. It could have used more but he wasn't looking or paying for arrow straight. I figure I'll be in for around 200 hrs by the time I get done and only getting paid for around 120 @ $40/hr so either way he is getting a really good deal.

Finally got around to spraying the car. It isn`t the best job I`ve done by far but wet sanding and buffing will take care of the issues. This was my first time using universal clear so there was a little bit of a learning curve so it has some orange peel and runs in places. I laid down 4 coats of clear. If you notice in some of the pictures there aren`t any lights any lower than around 5` which causes a problem seeing what is going on with the lower parts of the doors/fenders/quarters. Between no light, having a full face mask on and the fog from the clear overspray I may as well have been spraying in the dark. I need to plan on a light source on the next job I do there.

 

[xtremekustomz]

Finally got around to spraying the car. It isn`t the best job I`ve done by far but wet sanding and buffing will take care of the issues. I used a clear that I have never used before so there was a little bit of a learning curve so it has some orange peel in places. I laid down 4 coats of clear. If you notice in some of the pictures there aren`t any lights any lower than around 5` which causes a problem seeing what is going on with the lower parts of the doors/fenders/quarters. Between no light, having a full face mask on and the fog from the clear overspray I may as well have been spraying in the dark. I need to plan on a light source on the next job I do there.

 

[RobertW]

You do nice work at any price but especially at that price for sure