I'm Getting Ready to Paint my 94 SL2 again
 

I painted Valeries 94 SC2 a few years ago and made a big time mistake in procedure. I am finally in the position to repaint the thing again and it is long over due.
I reupholstered the interior about3 years ago and tinted the windows to keep it from being blown away and mechanically it is sound with a few minor electrical problems probably caused by not being used to often and the plastic bits and pieces are not playing nice with anything, but the car now is just a nice car worth next to nothing.
So I put about 100 hours into sanding the last time and this time it is worse. I will look for soft pads to put on my DA and wet sand what remains of a base coat clear coat paint job until I can get it down to where a single state Acrylic paint can be laid on it with out a problem.
It is an SC-2 car so I thought I would chronical it here on this forum. Derf if you want this moved, lemme know.
John :)

Ummm Unc,

Good to see you back.

You have a 94 SC2(coupe) not SL2(sedan).

Are you feelin ok ?

Hey Unc, good to see you're still messing with cars. You want to paint a 2003 PT Cruiser? LOL

O.k., Derf, senior moments you see, all fixed now, an SC-2.
Rube you are going to have to get in line, I have the Saturn and two Hornets to paint before I can get to the PT Cruiser. And I have to take one of the Hornets down to get the front end aligned and when that is done I have a Gremlin I need to work on.
Yup keeping busy.

I have been doing my own automotive body work and paint for years. I do not claim to be a painter, a painter that knows what he (or she) is doing is an artist and that is simply the reason why paint costs so much money. The day of the Earl Shibe $99.95 is long gone along with anything that used to cost $99.95. A show level paint job has been estimated to be aprox $7K minimum and Earl Shibe Equivalents are 2 to 3 grand now. So painting myself is a viable alternative. I used to do lacquer as it could be done easily at home with a minimum of a problem. Overspray was not a serious concern and the finished paint job was in the color sanding and buffing once done. Although it took awhile to learn that. Todays technology is more than a bit different and I need to upgrade some of my tools before I tackle painting this Saturn again. Finding out what I need is a bit of a difficulty and then hopefully the tools are compatible with the parts needed for upgrading.
The last time I painted the car it sure looked nice. Until mistake I made surfaced causing the base coat/clear coat to deteriorate. I haven't checked to see if I can get black gold in single stage acrylic enamel but I think I can. Acrylic enamel will work and it will look nice. There are inexpensive gravity feed paint guns available from Harbor Freight which rival the quality of guns available a decade ago that were top quality. Things change, some times even for the better. I have one very good gun in good shape, and a few gravity feed guns that have a purpose. And primers that are also formulated for filling in scratches and defects that when sanded down make for some pretty good looking paint jobs.
But for the moment I have to chase down some soft pads and hook compatible sanding components so I can use a D/A I have for water sanding down the surface of the car vs dry sanding. It'll keep me busy for a while.

Stay busy, Unc. That'll help keep you young. I hope all is well with Val. She must be doing pretty good if you're back out farting around in the garage!