Black Single Stage on '88 Mustang Coupe

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ncsutp

I have noticed a few post lately about the SPI single stage paints lately, so I thought I would share some info / photos of my project:

-1988 Mustang coupe - this is an all over paint job that is being painted in pieces as I find the time to knock it out.
-I started with spi epoxy, did minor filler work, more epoxy, slicksand primer, black epoxy used as sealer, 2 coats of black single stage with the
3rd coat mixed 50/50 with universal clear.
-I am using a new gun for this as well - devilbiss plus with 1.3 tip. I'm pleased with the 'high efficiency' gun ( previously used the finishline 3 hvlp)
and the single stage layed out very nice with excellent gloss! I havent' buffed the finish yet, but plan on it later as there are a few trash
nibs in the finish.

This is my first time posting photos, so bear with me!

-Travis

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looking good, you'll get your best shine if you let it cure up awhile before buffing, give it a week if you can.
 
Looks great! I hope mine turns out that well! I have only painted and cut and buffed one car, and that was a bc/cc so I am not going to say much, but I thought I would share a few things I found worked really well for me. But hopefully one of the many experts will chime in and give you some real advice :) I had a run as well as a lot of garbage in my clear. I made a small 1" long block out of 3/4" acrylic, trued up the sanding surface with sandpaper over plate glass, and rounded the edges. This worked great for sanding the run and the trash because it allows you to knockdown just the high spot until it is flush with the surrounding area without removing any material from the surrounding area like you would do with a regular block, and then once it is flush you can switch to a regular block. Also, I sanded up to 2000 grit by hand and 3000 grit with a 3M trizac pad on my DA with a soft interface pad, and sanding that fine made buffing pretty easy. I don't know if you have ever buffed out a car before, but for those that never have, be careful of the edge of the buffing pad! If you run the edge of the buffing pad on an adjoining surface, the edges of the buffing pad get pretty hot in a hurry! The only issue I had buffing was when I tried to buff up to the part of a cowl hood where the cowl scoop raises up from the rest of the hood. I hit the edge of the buffing pad against that part of the hood that comes up while working on the adjoining flat surface and, well... you get the picture haha! If you have never buffed before I would mask off all body lines and around edges with tape and not even try to sand or buff them. That was my first time buffing and I started with the hood just to try and get a sense of how things would go. After that incident I taped off all the edges and body lines and it went pretty easy. But like I said I am not experienced, and I was working on a bc/cc not a single stage, so take my advice for what it's worth... Best of luck!
 
Thanks for the tips - I think you will be well served with the single stage!
 
ncsutp;26930 said:
Thanks for the advice - what grit routine do you recommend?
Click to expand...
Starting grit is dependant on how bad the defects are and how flat you want the finished product to be. Some start with grits as coarse as 400-600 and work their way down to 1500-3000 before buffing. If the color sanding and buffing process is new to you I'd suggest starting with nothing coarser than 1000 and finish with 1500 to 2000. If you really want to be safe start with 1500 and finish with 2000. Sanding and buffing is definately something that is better shown how to do than explained in text. There's been a lot of advice shared in past threads-you might want to do a search and read up.
 
Bob,
Thanks for the heads up. I used to paint cars for college money years ago, but I only used base / clear, never single stage. The trash in the finish is minimal, with typical peel as well. I normally start the sanding with 400 grit and work up as you suggested. With the limited amount of clear in the last coat (and only 2 coats of black ss) I don't want to blast through that - I will play it safe on this job and go with the 1000, 1500, and 2000. Thanks again for the reply.
 
Sounds like this work is nothing new to you, with dark colors the imperfections always show more easily, swirl marks etc... but when the paint cures up well and gets past that rubbery green stage then it will take a nice polish to remove any trace of imperfection. I've seen people drive themselves nuts trying to perfect a black paintjob while it's still fresh.
 
Being a DIY'er, I have been round and round with black base and clear many times - I know exactly what you are referring to! I'm in no rush with this project and plan to wait ~ 2 months before buffing. Thanks for your advice and I will post more photos in the future.
 
More progress - Knocked out both doors (jambs too) and the front bumper. Turned out great, although there was a little more trash in the doors than I would like. I think it was partly because I didn't remask after spraying epoxy sealer - I'll know for next time! Enjoy the photos - Travis

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Barry did an awesome job developing this color and your work looks good! Let it cure up for awhile before you sand it and buff it and make sure to post up some pics of the finished product! Black is sometimes tough to photo well, if the car is in good lighting turn the flash off.
 
Its the painter, not the designer!!!! Looks great.

Bob, wife was just up your way for a week and flew back Sunday with here sister in tow, will be shipping her back Sunday.
Her one sister lives in Houghton and the other in Marquette.
 
She had some gloomy weather while she was up, hope she had a good time. I've been deer hunting but the wolves have taken over our hunting area, it's always a two week cycle with them until they move on to a different area, still managed to put a 6 point in the freezer so far. My Son might be giving you a call about possibly selling SPI, hope so!
 
While she was gone, I spent my nights setting in front yard hunting coons., Got rid of 7, 4 with Glock and 3 with 22 all weighed 25-40 Lbs.
Thursday night I was setting out there and a 12 point with a perfect rack was within 10 yards of me for 5 minutes, he knew something was wrong but did not spot me, I was on the ground and he was the biggest bodied deer, I have ever seen, he actually scared me as I had no defense other them my glock.
Guess that explains why they are eating 50 lbs of corn a day. (wife pets)
After 5 minutes, I shine my light on him and he slowly walked off, that was weird.
 
Looks fantastic. Of course I'm a bit partial to black 88 coupes.
 
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