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Bugsy IV - Painting, Cutting, Buffing is done

Jim_Gruber

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I wanted to share the latest pictures of Bugsy IV my 60BE. I just finished Painting, Cutting, Buffing and rolled him outside for washing down and pictures yesterday afternoon. All is done on the car with engine and tranny complete, suspension complete, braking systems complete, cooling complete, fuel system complete. Next step is new wiring harness and interior. He is coming along nicely, seats are totally redone awaiting install and he will be making vroom, vroom noises soon.

I discovered that in spite of adding 2 3/4" driveshaft spacers I still have a slight clearance issue with driveshaft yoke touching the bottom of the tranny tunnel( Datsun 210 5 Speed ). At this point rear end is still up in the air and suspension is not settled. Clearance was fine when car was on jackstands. Without the driveshaft spacers I had clearance issues. Hoping this resolved itself once suspension settles, stock 15 leaf springs are in place.

Paint is Rustoleum Canvas White, Oil Based Paint, applied via foam roller, 6 coats, and cut with Meguiars M105 Cutting Compound, and M205 Finishing Compound. After going through 2 painters, one who decided he didn't want to paint Bugsy when I delivered him, and a second painter that did fabulous work but gave me a quote of $8,000 to paint Bugsy I decided to paint him myself. The paint job while not show quality, is perfectly adequate for Bugsy as a very fun driver and I don't need to worry about nicks and scratches. I simply open the can of Rustoleum or pick up the spray can of the same color and do a touchup. I did not have facilities available to spray Bugsy and my garage is extremely messy now after buffing and cutting with dots of buffing compound decorating the walls, cabinets. and anything and everything in the garage. A massive garage cleaning is soon to follow cleaning everything in the garage.

My total cost for all materials including purchase of a buffer from Harbor Freight was less than $300. A far cry from the $8,000 quote I was given leaving me more money to spend on toys for Bugsy. Although I cna't sell the idea of upgrading to a supercharger based on the amount of money I saved on painting. It just won't fly in my household.

Questions about this method of painting, ping me.
 

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JPSmit

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looks amazing - how deep is the shine?
 

Bayless

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Congratulations on a major accomplishment. Looking good. Maybe someday my Sprite will get to that point.
 

Rut

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Jim,
Thats awesome and it’s work you can be proud of!
Rut
 
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Jim_Gruber

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Team,
I learned a whole lot about painting and cutting and buffing. In hindsight, if I could have sprayed this paint it might have gone on smoother but I think for what I have in this project, < $300 in materials plus my labor vs. an $8,000 quote I'll come out way on the plus side. Even talked with Maaco and similar companies and they wanted to strip it all down to bare metal before they would touch it and then there is the issue of getting engine compartment stripped and interior of car painted as well. You've seen the results, images of what I started with are below. The transformation is incredible and once new Cherry Red interior is complete, this car will pop. Red Carpet, Red Interior, Red Dash. Everything Red including matching Tonneau and Top.

Yes I could have done a Checkbook Restoration. But there are limits. There is a BE that won a Best In Show at the Tampa Show last year. A shop in FL did a color change after he purchased, found some major issues with Bondo and Rust that was hidden and he kept telling them to do it right. His final repair bill I'm told was over $75k. Insane yes but a lovely car.

I can take pride in the fact that 90% of the work done on this car was done by me. A tranny rebuild I sourced out and I purchased a rebuilt 1275. A friend helped with the initial install of the engine and tranny as I was in the process of remodeling a house and getting it on the market so I could move to FL. All of the teardown and reinstall was done by me. I bought a few beers to help with Engine and Tranny reinstall as well as Bonnet install but everything else I did myself. That's the key, those with means can do a checkbook restoration. Those who are really invested in these special little cars do it themselves.

A couple of tips. Rustoleum Canvas White is available from Amazon in Quarts, approx $17.50 per quart. I ordered 6 total and there is a full can on the shelf for touchups.
I rolled on 6 coats over several coats of Rustoleum Automotive Primer. I sanded every other coat with 400 paper with a B&D Mouse sander, and then wetsanded with 600. Sanding after painting was done 400, 600, 1000, 1200 Wet sanding then Meguiars 105 Cutting and Meguiars 205 Finishing Compound. Buffer HF Special 7" Buffer on sale $39.95. I burnt out one and exchanged for a new one. Cutting(buy 2), Buffing( buy 2) , and Finishing Pads were on sale for $5.95 ea.

Canvas White is also available in Spray Cans. Rustoleum sells a "Professional Grade" Paint in Silver cans. The spray tip on those cans fits the Canvas White Spray Cans. That tip sprays 30% more volume and area and it definitely made spraying on a few areas far far easier and with much better to use in certain areas. Doors for example came out beautifully. Buy a can of Gloss Black Professional Grade, and swap out the tip on the Canvas White Cans. After spraying put the tip in Paint Thinner or Mineral Spirits.

When Rolling paint, use the best grade of foam rollers you can buy. A 4" roller is best. And you will need some brushes around headlight are and seams. Thin paint and use 1 oz of thinner with 4 oz of paint. Rolling works really well on fender seams. I filled areas where there were gaps under seams with bondo and sanded and prepped well. My seams came out perfect and look like new, factory fresh. That's once of the things on a BE you need to get right.

Again, paint is not perfect. There are places I may still rework but at the point of diminishing returns. I want to go Vroom, Vroom soon and Bugsy will continue to be a work in progress. Bugsy is a very nice driver with lots of goodies and is far from stock. Pics below show what I started with, a weird Ford Blue, sprayed with a Primer Guide Coat over the original Iris Blue.

If you are going to use spray cans, you need to allow sufficient dry time between coats, like 2 days. I tried to use spray over rolled on paint on doors that was ~ 24 hours old and paint lifted and I had to sand down and reapply.

Happy to answer questions on technique and my experience. I've used Gloss Hunter Green Rustoleum on Bugsy I over the course of the winter in OH, applying in temps close to 30-40 degrees in my garage, I used 2 Oz of thinner to 4 oz of paint to get paint to flash quicker. And I also painted in 90 degree plus FL Temps in August and September. In both cases I had pretty good results. It's definitely an alternative to spending multiple thousands and thousands of $ for a paint job. Plus I was able to do it all myself. Bugsy will ride again and soon. Gotta get busy, going back to work at age 69 in January. People keep waving money at me and after a 9 month hiatus, I'll hang my shingle out again for a little while and put some more money in the retirement account.
 

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Excellent!
 

Rhodyspit75

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Nice work. Doing your own paint job is definitely sweat equity. The old timers used to say you can get a nice finish with a Flit gun (I told you they were old) if you're willing to sand your fingers to the bone. BTW, $75k on a bugeye? Speechless!

Not a Flit gun but I once primed my 1949 Olds with a spray gun that worked off the discharge of my mothers vacuum cleaner.
 

apbos

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Jim
Great job! We talked about rolling paint a long time ago. What are your plans for the hardtop? The Interlux brightsides white was a great choice for my hardtop to roll on. It has held up exceptionally well.
24BC2887-5C1F-4082-AC56-D525C8C7DF44.jpg
Regards
Paul
 
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Jim_Gruber

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Hardtop I’d like to sell. Not something I need in FL. Even in Winter. It will hang from ceiling of my garage in perpetuity. Come complete with a roll around storage cart same as Bugeye Guy sells.
 

sswarin

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Nice job, Jim and nice write-up also. It's been great following your Bugsy IV project. Time for some vrooom, vroom!!

Steve
 

drooartz

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Well done, and great looking work. Good luck getting to that vroom vroom!
 
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Jim_Gruber

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Thanks Drew, delayed getting back to Bugsy this week as HVAC leak caused major damage to wooden oak flooring in my back hallway. Lots if damp under flooring that needed to come out and in process if replacing. It’s always something. Too many honey do projects running in parallel with Bugsy reassembly.
 

59diamond

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Great Job. Somehow I feel close to this project. It would be even greater if somehow we could park Bugsy IV and BUGI right next to each other.
 
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Jim_Gruber

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You should feel close. It was your inspiration and letting me drive BUGI in 2016 and helping me to find Bugsy IV that allowed me to get to this point. This is a really good color, a little warmer than OEW. Wait till you see the reupholstered seats and dash. Will be adding LED lighting as Bugsy goes back together. Got wiper motor installed today and bonnet buffers installed and some nicks touched up in the 45 minutes I had available today. Other projects including putting up Christmas lights, hardwood floor repair after HVAC leak last week, and buying new windows for the house before prices go up this week have added some distractions this week. Got to keep pushing forward as I will be unretiring after the holidays and going back to work. But Bugsy will get finished soon. Take care Bill.
 

glemon

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Haven't tried rollers, but have done DIY garage painting and polishing, lots of sweat equity and a big mess, but agree the money saved and knowing you did it yourself is, as they say in the commercials, priceless.
 

hcallaway

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Wow!!! How Exciting!!!

Jim what a wonderful treat to see your postings on the paint job!! I think it looks spectacular and what a great story to go along with the results. I can imagine at a Cars and Coffee your car will be a hit. It seems like we are both seeing light at the end of the tunnel after quite a journey. Thank God it is not the train. I have encountered a few stumbling blocks but I have been able to finally get around them. Good luck on the wiring!!! Best Wishes and I look forward to seeing your next milestones.
 
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Jim_Gruber

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Thanks Holt for the kind words. The color is great and will be nicely complimented by the Cherry Red interior. Now if I could find time to get back to Bugsy. Heading North to Columbus in Thursday and not back until New Years. Got to see the Grandkids for Christmas. Hopefully Bugsy can be running by end of January and interior in February. Driving soon.
 

pbraun

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Very nice job and an interesting approach. Now wishing I'd have done something similar. Congrats!
 
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