[sts]

Here’s my home-garage paint job, and picture-taking isn’t part of my skill-set. On a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 how the car looks in person, the car shows as a 3 in the pictures. I noticed that there is a short supply of left shots because I focused my shots on the Franken-hack left quarter, and most of the left photos are poor quality, bad enough so that they aren’t worth the clutter.


Sidebar: Note the paint-to-match hubcap taking its last dance with its topcoat. I was on a tight budget, and the paint-to-match was a freebee, and I had to work with what I had. Some things never change, and I still have to make do with what I have.

My goal was a basic paint job; certainly, this is as basic as it gets. I surpassed my goal because the car has gone viral, even in the non-car population. I knew it would get ‘looks great’ comments, but I’m dumbfounded that the car has such a huge impact on others, especially with the non-car population.

The impact is a two-way street: Many people despise the car enough that they refuse to look in its general direction. It must be a hobby-car thing because I have never ‘despised’ cars, just people. Although I owned the car long before it was a hobby-car, I’m newbie in the hobby car game, so I still have lots to learn.

The most FAQ is why does it shine/glisten/glow/have the wet look? The description I liked the most was that ‘it looks like chrome plate,’ an excellent comparison.

The ‘shine’ comes from light refraction. The light refraction comes from the body, something that’s under--not on top of--the paint. In other words, light refraction isn’t something you ‘wax-onto’ the car. Clear refracts light but it’s an insignificant level, if it contributes any refraction at all. My best guess is that the clear refraction is 100% outshined by body refraction, but there I go thinking again. To be sure, I would need to do an identical car in single stage, then compare them side by side.

I sorted thumbnails to keep some order to before-after/left-right shots. I moved one picture to the front because it’s a classic example why color has nothing to do with--as many people say--how straight a car looks.

In the first picture, the color washout is reflected light. The shine is refracted light. It has noting to do with color, or my opinion, and has everything to do with the physical laws of light. The light refraction, the straightness of the car, would be identical regardless to the color.

My opinion on its looks? My opinion is worthless! I thought she was the most gorgeous thing around when she wore her two-tone dress. All I did was make her a new dress, and it’s up to someone else to offer opinions on how her new dress looks.

[sts]

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[2002Z4CSS]

The car looks great!

[sts]

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[sts]

Thanks. Last batch. Start shredding!

[nh68gto]

looks great man. Should be proud. Looks like you cleaned up space well before shooting to keep trash out of the paint. I hope to have the nerve to pull the trigger. Good satisfaction and love to save thousands. Just the screw up factor worries me bad.

[sts]

Thanks to everyone who offered their complements. Here’s a few shots of the left side, something I left out in my other photos.

I made a filter wall from discarded secondary filters from an office building hvac system, taped them together, and made a hinged door that had an overlap with another row of filters. The filter wall worked a hundred times better than I expected because I had zero trash in the paint. Taping off the bottom of the car also played a significant role

Booth clean-up was ridiculous! I didn’t notice, but it’s like night and day when comparing the ready-to-shoot picture to other prepaint photos. The before/after speaks a thousand words!

To 68g and anyone else with a torn apart car: I hope my car inspires you to get your cars done.

Put up a picture in your work area of what it will look like when it’s done because it puts light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t have a picture of a 9; instead, my picture was a ripped out page from a magazine that had various shots of a deconstructed second gen after it was shot. I didn’t need help with the car; I needed help with the color because I’m a resale red guy.

If you’re nervous about painting the car, hook up your hose/gun and
air paint the car, actually going through each stroke and trigger pull. I air painted the car until I had established a solid game plan, and I’m positive it made a difference in the results.

Part of the car going viral is the haters, a number that I could never have imagined. Nobody hated it before. I again give thanks to the positive feedback. But the larger thanks go to the collective silence, the ultimate complement: Pictures of a nicely done home-paint job are posted. After multiple views, there are virtually no comments. That means people are speechless, the ultimate complement. Thanks again guys because my goal was to leave people speechless when they saw the car.

[sts]

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[PMD1969]

Room and beer included with your flight here to do my car.

[grivera]

I've seen it in person and the car looks great! Awesome job Merv!

[ALLGM]

Car looks GREAT. Lots of wet sanding to make it look that good.

[brut4s]

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Room and beer included with your flight here to do my car.

X 2 And i'll throw in food!

Car looks great!!!

[paint guy]

With a few of the earlier posts on here. I'm starting to think a guy could fly around the country, show up and shoot a car in thier garage, and move on to the next. Might be a good gig when I retire. Maybe I'll change my screen name to "Paladin". "Have gun, will travel".

[65Mark]

I was thinking the same thing! As it is now I'm kind of doing the same thing here locally. See the country, paint a car. lol

[GTOGreg]

I don't understand the "hater" and "going viral", but the car looks great. You have talent no doubt but could possibly use a dose of modesty, lol. Anyway, nice work and congrats on the fine car. I would hope mine would turn out as nice.

[arbys]

The car looks great. I give you credit for attempting a difficult job with what you described as a skill set that you didn't possess. I disagree, you just didn't know that you had that skill set. I also give credit to anyone trying or attempting something that they haven't tried yet rather than paying someone to do it.

What process and brand did you use?