My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) February 25, 2013, 05:25:06 PM It's starting to warm up here finally, so it's time to start my Bird on the road to paint. Due to being extremely busy at the shop this time of year, they (my bosses) have kicked my Bird out into the street. So, I'll be doing the Body Work and Jamb painting at home inside my Portable Garage. If your wondering why I don't have a real garage at my house, I live in an old historic neighborhood, and you cannot build or modify anything here without tearing through miles of legal red tape. Which I'm still in the process of doing here, so that I can build my 24x24x12 attached garage. Until then I have a Bird to paint and get out there for show season, so my 14x22x12 portable garage will do the job of protecting the car while it's apart, and protecting it from the weather, while I do body work. I still will be laying down the BC/CC in the paint booth at work though.Here she is, as she sits currently. Patiently awaiting to be taken apart. This car has never been in even a minor accident, and it has a very straight and dent/rust-free body, so I don't have much bodywork/rust repair to do here. So, this shouldn't take long. Thank god for that, because I already miss cruising in my baby, and want to get back out on the road asap. I'm not a fan of red cars whatsoever, and have been wanting to change this cars color ever since I first brought it home.I had an epiphany awhile back, that I paint near everything Gloss Black, and that I need to start expanding my car collections color palette. So, after much tumultuous thought, here is the color is ended up going with. Midnight/Fathom Green Metallic, which is an old muscle car color from the 60's. Yes, I know it is of 69-71 GM origin, but I could care less about that, I just love the color.Work starts this weekend. If my timeline plays out perfectly, she should be done, ready for cruising, and the show circuit by May 1. Thanks for looking at my thread, and Stay Tuned! Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #1 – February 25, 2013, 05:48:53 PM Interesting color. Can't say as I'd like it or not, but I probably wouldn't hate on it. Can't wait to see it!By the way, if you do body and paint for a living...I may send you some pics of my junk sometime, and get a really rough quote on what it would take. Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #2 – February 25, 2013, 10:29:28 PM Paint don't look to bad and I like the red but can't wait to see how it turns out Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #3 – February 26, 2013, 06:02:23 AM Here is a truck on the Eastwood Restoration forums, that someone painted with Fathom Green Metallic, and then clearcoated. Like always with metallics, the clearcoat darkens the color to where it should be, without the clear this color wouldn't be dark enough for me.Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;410020Interesting color. Can't say as I'd like it or not, but I probably wouldn't hate on it. Can't wait to see it!By the way, if you do body and paint for a living...I may send you some pics of my junk sometime, and get a really rough quote on what it would take.Thanks. Send it on over, my PM box is always open. I'll give you the most realistic quote that I can from looking at pics.Quote from: STANG8U;410045Paint don't look to bad and I like the red but can't wait to see how it turns out Thanks. The car has been Repainted/Cut/Buffed by the PO, which is why it still looks so shiny on the sides, the clear is almost fully gone on the top of the car though, is flaking fast everywhere else, and has turned fully white on the roof. Looks horrible, like the car has psoriasis or something, lol. Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #4 – February 26, 2013, 10:54:53 AM It actually looks like a cool color Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #5 – February 27, 2013, 06:31:56 AM Thanks, I thought so. Jaded Green Metallic was slightly darker, but it had a little to much sparkle in it for my taste, looked kind of gay.Progress begins soon, very excited to get started, and finally change my cars color from this red. Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #6 – February 27, 2013, 09:49:58 AM I love Fathom Green!! My dad had a '69 Chevelle in Fathom Green back in the day and I've always thought it was a great color. Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #7 – March 05, 2013, 06:43:23 PM Started disassembly on Sunday. Got most of the interior pulled out, and all body parts pulled off the arse end of her. Hesitant to pull the rear window, since I have no clue where to find another seal, or even if there are more seals available. Also went ahead and installed the Mark VII Fuel Door, to make sure it fits the contours of the panel to my liking, which it didn't so hot at first, but after a little massaging from my magic metal working hands, it fits perfectly.The train is running full steam ahead on this project now. Will have more progress pics soon. Stay Tuned. :burnout: Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #8 – March 05, 2013, 06:49:04 PM Quote from: 50tbrd88;410150I love Fathom Green!! My dad had a '69 Chevelle in Fathom Green back in the day and I've always thought it was a great color. Thanks. The more I look at it, the more I'm really starting to fall in love with the color myself. The old chevelle's really did look awesome painted in Fathom Green. Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #9 – March 06, 2013, 01:58:35 AM Nice work! Soon comes the big job though, sanding the whole thing down :) Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #10 – March 12, 2013, 03:25:27 PM Well, work has been taking more of my time than expected. This is always a busy time of year at work with so many people getting there rides ready for summer here, so this might not be finished until sometime in June... *sigh* Still all my spare time is going into this, so the train rolls on. On break time at work right now, and am covered in Plum-Crazy Purple paint over spray, so I thought I'd take a minute to update my thread. Enjoi the pics.Disassembling the front end.The factory barely painted the engine bay, and you can see the areas where the stock paint is already worn away. shiznit like this is what pushed me to finally paint my car, not just the peeling clear. I can't work on or drive my cars in good conscience knowing that some areas are rusting away slowly, even if it is only surface. I HATE RUST!!!In case anyone is wondering, most of the drivetrain, suspension, and electrical work has already been done on this car, and she will be ready to cruise once again, when I finally get done with the refinishing. Took me over a year to fix all the problems that this car had, but I finally got there. Stay Tuned. :burnout: Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #11 – March 12, 2013, 03:32:21 PM Quote from: Thunderbird88;410607Nice work! Soon comes the big job though, sanding the whole thing down :) Thanks! Got a D/A here so it's not a big deal. Not looking forward to all the block sanding though, as always...:) Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #12 – March 12, 2013, 04:09:38 PM Progress is progress it will get done My car needs paint sooner than later it has some rust coming through the paint ..... Super thin paint Quote Selected
My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) Reply #13 – March 12, 2013, 08:01:49 PM Looks like a lot of progress to me...go get them...Travis Quote Selected
Engine Bay Paint Work Complete! Reply #14 – May 04, 2013, 01:11:43 AM Haven't had much spare time lately, but I've managed to make progress despite my schedule by working at night, and now have the entire engine bay/cowl painted. She was extremely greasy and contaminated in here originally, thanks to a PS Pump that must have been leaking fluid since the car was new. It took over 25hrs of prep time to get this bay ready for paint and it was a major pain in the ass, due to all the grease, and all the surface rust I found in areas hiding underneath the factory E-coat. I had to go down to bare metal in alot of areas, especially on both the shock towers, and then re-prime. It only took 30mins to fully paint, which is always the fun part :) Not meant to be perfect, but just nice driver quality, and last in the long run. I will still be working on the car from here of course, and the paint will no doubt suffer some damage in here, and have to be touched up, but that's ok because she is not being built to be a show-queen, but a gnarly road beast. I'm going to paint the new K-Member and the inaccessible areas around the engine in here, after I pull the Engine/K-Member out the bottom on the lift, at my buddys shop later this year, during the engine swap. The paint came out great, one run on the PS shock tower thanks to the py lighting in here, no big deal though as I can easily fix that later on. The wires/harnesses where not there during paint, that is the beginning of my wire tuck project there. Gonna set everything up so that it's still repair friendly, and the important bits will still be accessible without having to remove the fenders. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my project. Next up is the Trunk and Door Jambs. It will be like a paid vacation after this! Quote Selected
Topic: My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) (Read 9519 times)
previous topic - next topic
Topic: My '88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (New Paintjob in Progress) (Read 9519 times)
previous topic - next topic