Winning a trophy and seeing the interest the car gets, has inspired me to take it to the next level.  I have hunted down replacement parts for worn /missing parts such as the sun visors, convertible boot cover and other items that detract from the car. 

The overall look of the car is a stylized ’57 chevy but without the details of a real ’57.  The lines are there but there isn’t any chrome or trim.  Well since the car is fiberglass and highly stylized anyway I am working on using paint to create the missing trim.  The distinctive Vee on the rear fenders will be painted on.  The Vee on the trunk installed with LED lights to be the third brake light.  The front and rear bumpers will be painted to look like chrome.... or at least like how race cars have things like headlights painted on.

I found a painter that is allowing me to do much of the work on the body and be there to mask off for the 5 different colors he will shoot for me.  After about 25 hours of work, my nephew and I had finished sanding out the entire car and completed all the body work. With the old wheels back on and the newly finished bodywork still visible I brought the car down to the painter.

I am going to the paint shop each day to complete all the maskng to prepare the car so the painter can apply each color.  First the entire car was painted with an epoxy sealer.  This revealed a couple areas on the body that needed a bit more attention.  From the time the epoxy sealer is applied the clock is running, the at least the first coat of the body color needs to be applied within 72 hours.

Next the lighter shade of silver paint, Viper Silver was applied to the bumpers and everywhere the chrome trim would be.  The next morning after the paint had a chance to set I masked off the bumpers.  The chrome trim that would run the length of the car and create the Vee was created by running a strip of 1/2” wide tape down the body. The trim behind the top was also masked off.  The car is being painted “backwards” in a way.  The trim is being painted on first then masked so the body can be painted.  The advantage of doing it this way is that far less masking needs to be done.  Only the bumpers and trim instead of the entire car.  The second shade of silver, a bit darker than the first was sprayed over the masked trim lines.  Once dry an 1/8” wide strip of this darker silver was masked off adjacent to the already masked off bright silver.  When done the effect will add a bit of dimension to the trim.  It will appear to have two dark edges with a brighter center.

As soon as possible the taped used to create the stripes in the Vee was removed.  The tape edging the upper and lower edges of the Vee was left in place since it is needed to mask off for the body color.  The original paint was a three stage product, metallic base color, candy metallic mid coat and final clear coat.  Even after working it out to use a lower PPG paints in place of the Vibrance line it still was a very costly for the paint.  As part of the repaint I was able to find a blue metallic that was very close to the original color.  With the help of the people at Colours Inc., my local automotive paint supplier I was able to modify the formula to include a larger metal flake and add a small amount of multicolor prismatic flake to nearly duplicate the original three stage look.  The while used in the Vee got a similar treatment, the stock white pearl was added directly to the base coat along with a specialty super bright pearl.  With the complexity of the multiple colors all being applied under the clear coat eliminating the two mid-coats was a great advantage.

After allowing the white on the Vee to sit overnight it was be masked off and the metallic blue body paint was be applied.  About an hour after the blue paint was applied all of the masking covering the Vee and other chrome trim was removed.

Three coats of PPG JC630 clear coat was applied next.  This was allowed to cure over night before the remaining masking was removed and re-assembly began.