As the car continued to come apart, we discussed color. I wanted something subtle, but with enough pizzazz to get noticed. After many conversations with every car-person I know, I decided on DuPont Hot Hues “Root Beer.”
The paint process began by bead-blasting all the pieces to remove every bit of old paint, rust and dirt. The bare metal was then shot with one coat of DuPont “Pot of Gold” base. Then the car was etch-primed three times and block-sanded between each coat. Each time this is done, the metal, and therefore the following layer(s) of paint, get more and more smooth with few, or hopefully no, imperfections.
Next, a final coat of primer was applied and after allowing an adequate amount of drying time, the final coat was “scuffed.” Scuffing is, to my mind, so counter-intuitive as to be headache-inducing: you take a perfectly smooth and practically perfect primer finish, and you literally rub it with what amounts to a Brillo pad. The purpose, of course, is to allow the first finish coat to “bite” into the primed metal.
Finally we began applying the finish coats. Four coats of DuPont Hot Hues “Root Beer” HCC-6260 were applied, followed by three coats of DuPont Clear.
Painting is tricky, tricky, tricky. You must employ (or be) an expert and you must use the best, highest quality material you can get. In my case, the Port St. Lucie Auto Body Shop and DuPont Hot Hues were the perfect combination.
P. S. - Reader, please feel free to drop a line with any constructive comments/suggestions by clicking on “comments” below. Thanks.
Next: The Fairlane Gets Framed