1966 Valiant Signet Convertible Resto

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Car is coming along great...Dave, I have a couple of questions for you. Did you paint the car all together or in pieces? How many coats of clear?

Hey Tin,

I painted my car in pieces which worked out best for me because of booth space and time limits. From what I can tell there is no color mismatching, but that will be determined once I get the fenders and doors hung. I painted everything hanging like it would have been on the car itself. Great thing about doing it in pieces is that you get zero tape lines. The jambs look great and the undersides of the doors look good too. The metallics are what can give you grief but luckily this is a factory color and the metallic flake is pretty fine and lays down nice. Bigger flakes I bet would be more finicky. I tried to make sure I used the same number of coats on each part and the same gun and settings. Relative humidity doesn't change much around here and temps are pretty steady as well. Even the pieces that I had to do blend repairs came out great. I can't see any evidence of a blend.

As to your second question. I shot 3 coats of SPI Universal clear which is a very high solids clear. I wetsanded it with 400 grit. Then I shot 3 more coats of clear that was reduced 10% so it would flow out really slick and reduce any urethane wave which happens when you not a pro with a spray gun yet. Plus the greater number of coats contributes as well. Doesn't really matter much since I begin cutting my clear with 400-600 grit to get things really flat and work my way up to 3000 grit.

Hope that helps.
Dave
 
I just realized I don't think I ever posted pictures of what the car looked like when I first go it back in June 2005. Pretty nice little survivor eh.

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She's off to the upholstery guy this Wednesday for her new custom dark blue canvas top. I can't wait to see it. Will post pics once I get her back

Here are a few from Leanna the CudaChick. She did an awesome job on my door latches, hood and trunk latches and the door strikers. Will be nice to see them on the car soon.

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DAVE i dont remember seeing holes for the lower trim like in the orignal pics,,,yes nice survivor,,,did you fill them ??? weld or putty??? im sure the blue top wil be killer i love the blue top on the last prowler
 
Thanks Dave!!! Glad you like what you've seen so far. It was great working with you and I look forward to doing so again in the future.
 
DAVE i dont remember seeing holes for the lower trim like in the orignal pics,,,yes nice survivor,,,did you fill them ??? weld or putty??? im sure the blue top wil be killer i love the blue top on the last prowler

Welded the trim holes, shaved the mirror and antenna. The Blue top will be awesome I think.

Thanks Dave....
Any time Tin

Thanks Dave!!! Glad you like what you've seen so far. It was great working with you and I look forward to doing so again in the future.

Got the parts today and they look fantastic. Interesting idea for the plastic sliders of the door latches. :cheers:
 
On the road again, I just can't wait to get back on the road again.... The little vert is off at the upholstry shop for a new top. Looking forward to seeing her done. Doesn't hurt when you drive up and see 3 ferraris outside the shop. I'll post an update once the new top goes on after the holiday.

Here are a few of the ride over. It was crazy looking at the quarters and they aren't even buffed out yet. :)

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I will be doing Victoria the same way Dave, one peace at a time, Your 66 sure is looking great, The 1/4's are way perfect =P~=P~.
I guess we will have to wait to see the top pettybludart :happy10:
 
DAVE tell them to push the over priced imports a side you just brought them a real car,,,dont scratch the paint,,
 
Looking good dave. I tried the Feather Fill on the hood an I was very impressed, it blocked out perfect. Thanks for the tip.
 
Looking good dave. I tried the Feather Fill on the hood an I was very impressed, it blocked out perfect. Thanks for the tip.

Cool.:thumblef: Key is to sand off as much as possible with guide coat. The polyprimer can have a tendency to chip more easily if you leave a bunch on there, since it is basically sprayable filler. I sanded the featherfill to 320 and then started my with 2k primer. Once I got all the sanding scratches blocked out with 400-600 I shot a final coat of reduced epoxy before basecoat. This 50% reduced coat of epoxy is great for getting a uniform color for the basecoat. As a sealer coat, the epoxy is great for stone chip resistance since it is more flexible than regular 2k primer or regular sealer. Little to no shrinkage either (at least for the SPI epoxy)

NOW LETS SEE SOME PICTURES OF THE PROGRESS!!!
 
Here is a teaser of the convertible top. I stopped by today to see the progress. I am amazed at the quality of work and how awesome it looks. The top and back window are tight as a drum too. No wrinkles what so ever. I am so psyched about getting the rest of the car put back together. What do you think? I think it's very Classy. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics

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Looks great Dave! Is the back glass going to be plastic? I would go for glass if you can work it in. It is so much better to look through.
 
Looks great Dave! Is the back glass going to be plastic? I would go for glass if you can work it in. It is so much better to look through.

Thanks man. The back is plastic. They don't make a glass one for this car. Split glass is not that great either. It would be tough with the way this frame sits in the top well. The plastic looks great though as is. Will be nice because I can zip it down if I like and hand the old 9ft surfboard out the back. Can't really see the window in the pics because of the white paper that's in the way.
 
Thanks man. The back is plastic. They don't make a glass one for this car. Split glass is not that great either. It would be tough with the way this frame sits in the top well. The plastic looks great though as is. Will be nice because I can zip it down if I like and hand the old 9ft surfboard out the back. Can't really see the window in the pics because of the white paper that's in the way.

:D I hear ya! That top looks fantastic! I`m anxious to see this one come together.
 
Going to be picking up the Valiant from the upholstery shop in a couple of hours. I can hardly wait to see the top all finished. I'll post some pictures later tonight.

Hoping to have the motor in next week>>>>>>>woohooo.
 
WoW,it looks great Dave!Now everything should fall back into place.Do you plan to have it done this summer?:clock:
 
dave looks great,,,question,,,,arent the A pillars and windshield frame usually chrome or stainless??? did you paint it??
 
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