No matter what you do to your ride, the paint will have the greatest impact. Even if you have a mediocre car, great paint will make it stop traffic. But a great paint job isn’t easy, my friend. Here’s what we went through to make our Royal Sport Camaro shine.

The day had finally come when all the body panels on our 1969 Camaro had been installed, fitted, filled, and sanded all they could be. We were ready to spray the paint. But painting a car isn’t just painting a car. There are very specific steps dictated by the paint manufacturer, and even more specific steps as dictated by the experience of the painter.

We chose to use a PPG paint system for an outstanding shine, durability, and repeatability should this car ever need to be touched-up or repaired. The color scheme was to be a 2006 Chevrolet Galaxy Silver for the main color, and a 2006 Chevrolet Medium Charcoal Metallic stripe and tail panel. (See Chapter 7 – Selecting Paint Colors)

PRIMER

After the body filler, there are several layers of primer to be applied. The purpose of these primers are to fill minor surface imperfections in the filler layer below, and to provide a barrier between the filler and the color coat to ensure “holdout”, or to keep the color from soaking into the layer below and losing its brilliance. We shot PPG DPS3055 VPrime for this task.

The primer needs time to cure, so John moved to the next step of applying an assortment of 3M seam sealers. When these cars were first built, each welded body seam was sealed with a sticky sealer wherever two panels met. These keep moisture out and prevent the panels from rusting. We chose a variety of 3M products to reseal the seams on the Camaro, but John took extra time to make them look nice. He masked all the paths where the seam sealer was to go, creating clean lines on the new body. The seam sealers are applied with a pneumatic gun-type applicator, and then brushed smooth by hand. These details make this car stand out.

OTHER MATERIALS TO CONSIDER

One aspect often overlooked in a complete restoration or paint job is the amount of ancillary materials needed to complete the job. We’re talking about clean-up paint thinner, mask paper, masking tape, paint suits, gloves, respirators and cartridges, filler spreaders, sand paper, cleaners, paper towels, mixing cups, stir sticks, and all that good stuff, and we used a lot of it!

Good tape is a must, and this 3M green tape is a great example. Would you believe there are masking tapes out there that don’t stick to themselves? Spend the extra cash and get the right stuff. Also, be sure to get actual masking paper instead of newspaper. Today’s newsprint inks are not compatible with paint solvents. The last thing you want is the Home and Flower section of the local paper permanently embedded in the paint on your hood! Newspaper is also notoriously dusty, and loose paper fibers will find their way into your paint. Mask paper doesn’t do any of this.

The underside of the car needed protection, and we chose to shoot the bottom of the body with 3M Rocker Schutz. This is a rubber-like skin that is applied with a special applicator gun. The Camaro’s body was elevated on a lift, masked with plastic, and the Schutz was applied to the underside.

Our next step was to mask the car for a coat of PPG DP90 Epoxy Primer. We chose DP90 to coat the underhood areas and the interior of the car. DP90 has a semi-flat sheen that closely mimics the factory black used in these areas, but it’s epoxy composition is far more durable.

DP90 was also sprayed on the backside of every panel to prevent them from rusting. This included the insides of the fenders, doors, underhood, fender wells, inside the trunk area, etc.

FINAL SURFACE PREPERATION

Shiny paint not only reflects its surroundings, it also magnifies the surface below. You cannot rely on paint to fill in scratches or imperfections, so the surface must be perfect before the first droplet of color hits the car. Once all the priming was finished, the car was wet sanded again with 3M 600 grit Wet or Dry sandpaper to ensure the surface was right.

SPRAY GUNS

We credit the outstanding paint on the Royal Sport to hard work, great materials, and top-quality equipment. John uses 4 different German SATA spray guns for their precision construction and their ability to precisely control the flow, mix, and spray pattern. Each gun serves a different purpose.

PRIMER SPRAYGUNS

John uses a SATA® KLC™ HVLP low overspray primer and filler gun for its ability to finely atomize heavier materials reducing the amount of sanding needed for a flat surface.

COLOR APPLICATION SPRAYGUNS

For spraying color, John uses a SATAjet® 3000 HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) gun. The SATAjet 3000 has a nozzle design, which makes it easier to spray metallic paints consistently. It also does a great job of atomizing paint to reduce the amount of material needed to cover. The chrome finish makes this gun durable and easy to clean to keep contaminants out of your paint.

The SATAminijet® 4 HVLP spray gun is used for small paint jobs and hard to reach areas thanks to its smaller body design. It retains many of the features of the other SATA guns, but is more compact.

CLEARCOAT APPLICATION SPRAYGUN

Finally, John uses a SATAjet® 3000 RP™ (Reduced Pressure) gun for application of clear. John likes to use separate guns to keep the materials from mixing and causing problems with the finish.

QUALITY AIR

You can’t paint a car without a good compressed air source. Not only do the spray guns require it, but all the air sanders and other air tools need a good supply of compressed air to make them run.

There are several kinds of air compressors available, and we opted to upgrade our WWII-era piston-type compressor with a rotary screw type compressor from Ingersoll Rand. According to Ingersoll Rand, the rotary screw air compressor has become the most popular source of compressed air for industrial applications. A major reason is its simple compression concept.

Air enters a sealed chamber where it is trapped between two contra-rotating rotors. As the rotors intermesh, they reduce the volume of trapped air and deliver it compressed to the proper pressure level. This simple compression concept, with continuous contact cooling, allows the rotary screw air compressor to operate with temperatures approximately one half that generated by a reciprocating compressor. This lower temperature enables the rotary screw air compressor to operate in a "fully loaded" continuous duty cycle 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, if necessary.

Its ability to operate for extended periods makes the rotary compressor a great choice for auto body jobs like continuous sanding and paint guns. With its 7.5hp motor and 80 gallon tank, our Ingersoll Rand rotary compressor model UP6-7-150 had no problem supplying enough air for 3 people running air tools at the same time.

In addition, the UP series has a built-in air cooling system, which acts to remove moisture before the air travels to your tools. This makes tools last longer and prevents problems with paint application. We also like it because it’s quiet.

SPRAYING COLOR

It was finally time to brew up a mix of PPG DBC basecoat and spray some color on the Camaro. You have to plan a strategy for painting, even down to the approach to spraying the panels. For example, we chose to shoot color and clear on the doorjambs, the trunk weather strip area, and on the insides of the doors and fender jambs first. Then the car would be reassembled to have the exterior panels sprayed to eliminate the possibility of unwanted patterns in the metallic paint. Imagine spraying a fender and door off the car away from each other. This situation introduces a risk of having a different metallic pattern on each panel, making for panels painted with the same paint but not matching. The car body was masked to expose only the jambs and painted.

After the jambs had hardened, the car was reassembled on the body jig and masked again, this time to protect the already painted jambs and underside. 3M makes a foam soft-edge mask tape that is used to minimize tape lines where two panels meet.

At this point, the car was given a thorough bath and blow-drying to be sure there was to remaining sanding or overspray dust hiding in the crevices. The car body was also masked to the jig, to prevent paint from swirling up under the car and over sprying the DP90 areas. The final steps were a wipe-down with PPG Acryliclean wax and grease remover followed by a wiping with a tack rag. The wax and grease remover takes care of any fingerprints or oily spots, the tack rag grabs last minute dust.

John suited up, donned the respirator, mixed a load of PPG DBC color, and began spraying the color. Colors containing a high-level of metallic particles like this Galaxy Silver require special technique to make sure they lay down pattern-free.

The silver color coat transformed our gray primed hulk into a form looking like it was carved from a solid block of steel. The base color coat has no shine, and the paint application went well with no metallic patterns, drips, or problems. John credited the clean Ingersoll-Rand air supply and the SATA guns for this; we know his technique is also to credit.

STRIPING THE SPORT

The Hermance Design rendering of the Royal Sport Camaro called for a Charcoal gray stripe on the fender reminiscent of the original Chevrolet “Hockey Stick” stripe available on 1969 Camaros. Creating this stripe proved to be somewhat of a challenge, as the Camaro’s front sheet metal is very 3-dimensional. The fenders curve from front to back and they also bow from top to bottom, so the stripe design had to look good from all directions. John and Brandon Ryan took the time to make the stripes look great and match on both sides. The stripes were designed with 3M fine line tape, and then the entire car was masked to prevent the Charcoal paint from overspray.

John then changed guns and mixed up some PPG DCU 2042 Speed Clear to coat the silver in a shiny protective bath of clear. There are many different options for clear topcoats, and the choice depends on various factors ranging from drying time to ease of buffing. This car looked good enough for the street “right out of the gun”, but we were seeking a show-car mirror flat finish, so it would be wet sanded again and buffed.

WETSANDING AND BUFFING THE CLEAR

A mirror finish requires a flat-as-glass surface, so the entire car was wet sanded again in preparation for buff job. This time, the crew used a variety of 3M fine grit sandpaper ranging from 1000 to 2000 to “knock down” any minor bumps or imperfect surfaces in the clear. This process takes time, and Brandon Ryan lent a hand to operate the sanding block. You don’t want to use your fingers on this process as they are sure to leave impressions in the flat panels. When finished, the surface has a uniform satin appearance.

Buffing polishes the sanded clear to a brilliant, reflective shine. The buffer can be your best friend of worst enemy, so it is important to be careful. Buffing paint can build up heat and burn the paint, so Mark Poole used a slow speed to minimize the risk. It’s also very easy to buff through the paint on body contours and panel edges, so extra care is needed around these areas as well. John recommends removing antennas and trim to prevent the buff pad from catching on them. He remembers getting hit in the head with a car antenna caught in a buffer, something he’s sure nobody wants to experience.

THE FLAT TAIL PANEL

The final step in this paint process was to spray the area on the tail panel. The design called for the Charcoal from the stripe to be applied to the tail panel, but it was to have a semi-flat sheen, so it couldn’t be painted with the clear used on the other body panels. John masked the area, sprayed the color with the SATA MiniJet paint gun, and then shot a coat of PPG DCU2060 Flexed “N” Flat semi-flat clear. This clear offers protection for the color without the high-gloss shine. It requires no buffing.

This “sneak peak” of the nearly-finished Royal Sport Camaro shows that the attention to detail, patience, quality materials, and hard work all paid off.

SOURCES

YearOne

3M

PPG

Ingersoll Rand

Sata Spray Equipment

Hermance Design 

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