OK, here goes. On average since I have been married for almost 20 years I have bought a different car every 2.5 months.
So the wife has been crazy happy about having the Smart.
**not** So now I repaint the cars...now we constantly get asked if we got a new car and it makes me feel like I'm in a different car every time I make a mod to the Smarts.
The latest mod - a better paint job than the last one. I had a metallic orange paint job that I was NOT happy how I did it.
Earlier this week I pulled the body off my car and gave it to my dad to sand down - he's retired and has the time to screw off
(there's more to it than that). The paint didn't come in until Thursday night so I had to shoot Friday - of course what happens, my paint gun was "missing" some critical pieces to ensure it's proper performance. I borrowed my cousin's gun and went to work. I'll just say there were a few snafus and the sanding job had some spots that got missed as last time I had some runs in my paint job - not the case this time but one run from last time shows through
. About the biggest mistake I made was I mottled it (laid the metallic in too heavy in spots, not sure if that is correct spelling either) - this isn't everywhere though and isn't too bad.
This morning I drove a car with no lights whatsoever 6 miles to put it on the trailer to take it down to the shop another 20 miles away to put the body and interior trim back in. That was FUN!
Once we got the car to the shop my uncle said there would be no way I would have the car completed by closing time - noon. I said I would have it done in 2.5 hours. Well, as everything goes things went wrong and it took me 3 hours. This included reassembly of the headlights and the interior refitted with all trim pieces too. All onlookers were amazed that I took a shell of a car and built it in 3 hours. Of course I took no pics of the build and all I have is pictures of the completed
DIRTY car. As soon as it was done I set out on 120 mile drive ONE WAY! So in the end the new paint has around 250 miles on it.
In the end, this is my third paint job so each time I am improving. Better pics to come later on once the car is clean.
I also still need to buff out some light imperfections and trash that got in the paint. No big deal. The new color is called
Calypso Green Metallic which looks teal. Some people may like the headlights while others it may be too much color - I like it so that's what counts and I haven't seen too many others done up that way. The wheels will be getting a fresh coat of gloss black in a few weeks once I get caught back up.
Props go out to Baby Benz and Smart Tech for some ideas and a little technical help too. BB - help on mirror caps and Smart Tech for posting a pic of the nice pink Smart with painted door handles.
1 - Kermit
3 - The Street Rod
4 - Split Window Vette
5 - The Veggie VW
1 - LT N FLFY
2 - Forests ride
3 - Little Blue
4 - Big Red
Today
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