Nope...it's still here, I'm just debating on which of my other 72 snorkels I'm going to use as a "parts" snorkel so I can repair the one I got from you... Back to the painting.....
Question: I thought the body was dry enough to move and I smudged a little 1/2 area on the lip...so....do I go over it with some fine sandpaper once completely dry and then just touch it up with the spray bomb?? Thanks in advance! (this thing's coming out pretty good, if this novice doesn't say so himself... :laugh: )
Paint is complete.... Overall, I don't think it came out too bad....I'm not really happy with all the pits in the lid... I used Dupli-Color Engine Enamel #1634 "Low Gloss Black" per board member derek244... :TU:
Looking good Brett :TU: If you wanted to get crazy, you could have used some spot putty on the pits and done a bunch of sanding. Otherwise you could upgrade to that nice chrome lid they sell!
Thanks! I was thinking about doing the lid over because I like the OEM look of the black lid...... We'll see...
Brett, looks good man. It's amazing what a little elbow grease will do to make the Buick engine "Crown Jewel" sparkle! I, as you know, got the aftermarket chrome lid, but original black one was tossed years ago. When I bought the car, an old pitted/rusty chrome lid was already there. I was able to remove and reuse the gasket though thank god. I would have most likely stayed with the black one if I had had one, they look really sweet. I am in no position to give you advice on your personal project, so don't beat me for this...I would let that lid dry completely, and then sand the pitted area down again. Some light finishing putty would make them less noticable. ONLY if the pits bug YOU though. Either way, it looks 10 times better now!
Derek, Thanks for the compliments...don't sweat the constructive criticism, it's encouraged.... :TU: As for getting rid of the pits, what grit sandpaper should I use and what type of finishing putty do you recommend? How is that applied? Good GOD I'm a novice when it comes to this stuff....
Not to go against what others have said but I disagree with the low gloss black. All original air cleaners I have seenwith the sticker peeled off were gloss black especially the lid. Check out any original magazine article on these car from 1970 like Car Life. Even though these are black and white pictures these things shine. Just my opinion. Maybe Duane can shed some light on this from his concourse judging adventures.
I far as I know, there is no correct black. There is documentation of all sorts of types of black being used (semi-gloss/low-gloss/etc) I do know that it is in the eye of the beholder. Want to have a blocked and sanded, wet looking, kick butt paint job? I say go for it. Myself, I suck at painting, and the gloss just highlights the many imperfections!
Here's a few pics of it put together....the pits are very noticeable in a couple of these shots... I'm probably going to take some of the advice from this thread and do the lid over...thanks to EVERYONE who had tips and advice! :TU: Anyway....
looks great... :TU: you get 3 of these---> :TU: :TU: :TU: <--- when the lid is redone.. btw...next project...get them radiators painted... :grin:
Brett, it looks nice for sure. If you decide to redo the lid, get some 320 and 400 wet or dry sandpaper, you're gonna be doing some sanding and wet is the best. If the pits are real deep use putty as already suggested, you can usually just paint right over that after you have sanded it all smooth. Normally primer is preferred but hey its an air cleaner lid so it won't see any moisture, also easy to do again someday if necessary. Anyway, the idea is to level it off of course. Put the putty on and let it dry, wet sand it until the area is level...the only putty you should see is inside the pits. Do as many thin layers as needed. On one of my lids, the pitting wasn't bad so I just kept painting and sanding until they were all gone.Took 5 coats. The tough part is the sanding as there are lots of surfaces to deal with, and none of them are straight. Take your time. Here is a shot of mine. Yes I know decal should read 350-4 but hey this one is already here (not stuck on) plus now for shows do I use a 455 cleaner or 350 cleaner and just state the 455 or just call it all 350 and see if anyone notices??? ou: Anyway, you can get away with a fair bit on these parts. My cleaner on the stage 1 was painted tremclad semi-gloss over bare metal some 19 years ago, still looks great.... later Tim PS I've seen semi-gloss and gloss black on these things. Tremclad semi-gloss is about 70% gloss, looks nice but takes a while to dry. Tough stuff too.
Tim, Thanks for saving me from asking the questions I was going to ask... :grin: Also, what kind of finish do the small attaching bolts have on them and how would I clean them up if I was to just leave them with their natural finish??
Looks Good Brett! Nice work and I would use primer before you paint it. Body filler is porous and a ring would possible show unless you paint and sand 5 times like Tim.
I agree with Jarrod, primer wouldn't hurt. After all the putty is done, just paint and sand until it looks perfect. Dont' be scared to sand right down in places if you have to, the idea is to keep leveling it off and the pits will slowly fill up. You'll know when you have it because you'll say "d**m, I didn't think it would actually look that good!". :laugh: A sanding block will help, but the curves and radius you will have to do by hand. I probably put 6-8 hours into my lid. For the screws I just used new ones, black oxide finish. If you like contrast you could use new silver zinc plated screws too, I do not know what is correct, but black seems to be orginal. later Tim
Tim, Am I correct in saying that I can just start sanding this thing without having it sandblasted again? Just start sanding away and then add some filller...keep sanding and painting until it's smooth again?? As you can see, a bodyman I'm not .... Thanks!
It depends how bad it is...if you're gonna try and fill them with paint then I would just keep on going. If you want to use body filler then that should be applied over bare metal (some stuff might stick to paint, I've seen that done too with small pits). Spot putty I don't know, last time I used that stuff was 15 years ago and I recall I used it right over the paint chips and never had any problems but I could be wrong. Check instructions on can, I guess :laugh: One thing about it, its an air cleaner lid so good piece to learn on since if it gets outta control, simply blast it off again. Not like its a fender on your car... Later Tim
Had some stuff sandblasted... and took advantage of a nice Spring day.... Following the advice above, I used a little filler on this particular lid. I only sprayed one coat and have a little wet sanding to do. A coupe more coats and it should be good to go. :TU: *note: this is NOT the same lid that is pictured above. That one will be finished up either tomorrow or sometime next week. (pay no attention to the smudge in top right hand corner ou: ) Here's a couple OEM big block air cleaner support brackets I've had for a while... Taking the advice of Jarrod Jacobs, I decided to try and bring this under hood seal plate back to life. I'm not sure if you can tell from the before pictures but the surface of this plate, both top and bottom, was really rough. After a little wet sanding the plate is completely smooth on both sides. Here's one I finished up today....
