Wow, this is really amazing. And what a neat car to be doing it on. I wish I had that level of skill!
After a couple hours of scraping the mile-thick clear/red base off the top, I found a high build primer that was about as thick as a credit card. Under that was more primer, and what appears to be the factory paint with remnants of black stripes. I started off scraping that top coat of with a 4" razor blade. I literally just flaked off in sheets. The remaining layers had to be chemically removed. Once I get the majority of that off, I will DA everything. Disassembly will take place, and I will continue with the jambs.
Finished the major stripping. Now on to the jambs...I pulled the hood, fenders, and windshield this afternoon to get ready to continue the fun. The seal on the windshield was like hot mozzarella cheese. It would have stretched longer, but I ran out of room to move. Solid cowl, though! Too bad I can't say the same for the right fender corner. Someone brazed a piece of metal into the RH door corner as well.
I knew Armin L. and his GSX. I, almost, bought it before Armin in the early 80's. It was being sold in the $4K Cdn range. Back in the early 80's, GSXs were being sold in the under $5K range. My cousin bought a 1970 GSX with non-Stage 1 motor for $3700. It unfortunately had a 1973 motor in it, which he changed out after having a 1970 455 rebuilt for it. If interested, I have photos of this GSX, back when Armin owned it, I could scan and upload here. Nando.
Laid the first coat of polyester primer to block in a few days. Also started body work on the doors. I'd love to hear the life story of these things...
Looking good Adam, i've sprayed two gallons of Slick Sand myself past few days,..if people were to come over and moved when we moved doing this stuff they would understand why it cost what it does. What paint did you decide on? I sprung for Sikkens on the 66 Chevelle Im doing now $2k for base and clear...
I found another supply shop that has Spies Hecker paint. Going to try getting it mixed there. I talked to him today and he said it shouldn't be an issue. I typically get my base paint from TCP, but it's not a very high quality paint. It lays fine, though. I cover it with a high quality clear if I use it, though. I picked up 2 gallons of Evercoat Super Build today....probably going to use every drop of it on this car.
That's a testament to the reproduction quarter panel you're seeing. I haven't done anything to enhance those lines...but it shows up really crisp. Almost too crisp.