More Primer coat 2 and 3

Here is a shot after the second coat of high build primer. things are looking better, but still far from perfect. It is just amazing the high and low spots that a long board will find if given half a chance.
I couldn't maintain the trunk tub seam all the way up to the bumper and get a good finish. I have noticed that many factory E-types have lead in this seam and are similar. Not sure how the JCNA judging would look at something like this. Guess I'll find out some day.
This will be the last coat of high build on the inside of the body. I shot two coats of high build, two coats of epoxy primer on the inside.
Things are shaping up nicely. Its hard to imagine that this will soon be ready for color. I didn't take any pictures of the sanded out second coat of primer, but there were a number of problems I didn't expect. The third coat should be a charm.
This is the third coat of primer going on. I didn't want over spray on the areas which weren't getting a 3rd coat of primer so I masked them up. In total the three coats of primer on the outside and two coats on the inside consumed 1.5 Gallons of PPG NCP 280. This is a 2 part paint with hardener/reducer mixed 2:1 so in the end each gallon produced 1.5 gallons of paint. So in pure volume I put 2.25 gallons of paint on the car.

The third coat of primer really went on smooth, almost no orange peel and only a couple runs. I like to shoot a light coat first to form a sticky film over the body and then come back in a few minutes and lay down one thick coat. I use a Devilbiss Finishline paint gun which has been perfect for shooting primer. I like to adjust the fan control and use a wide pattern for the mist coat, and then narrow the pattern for the heavy coat. Its really important to have good light when shooting. I shot all of my paint in an open garage with a fan pushing dust out and natural sun light as much as possible on the work area.

This was a shot where the flash didn't go off due to the bright background, but it does show how well the third coat of primer went down.
This picture also shows the third coat, I painted the 3rd coat on the bonnet inside first and later will shoot the top of the bonnet after finial fitting it to the car. I'm sure there will be some work required to get the alignment perfect and I'll need to do some minor fill and paint work in the process of fitting.

After the third coat of primer avoided sanding again until the doors and bonnet are installed. The next step was to mask up the bottom of the car and shoot 3M rocker guard. Rocker guard comes in a one time use disposable can and shoots like paint. Unfortunately you must buy a special gun to shoot it. The gun was $70 which I thought was a bit high, but the results are worth it.

 

I used two cans exactly of rocker guard on the bottom of the car and wheel wells. Don't waste a drop or you'll run out. If I did this over I probably would use three cans just for good measure. Rocker guard dissolves with grease and wax remover so make sure you are close to painting when you shoot it. You should avoid wiping down of this product before shooting color. On a positive note if you make a few masking mistakes its really easy to clean up the mistakes, just wipe down with grease and wax remover and its good as new.

The wheel wells in the bonnet got the same treatment. I extended the Schultz across the bottom of the bonnet in the rail where the bonnet hinges mount. Rocker guard dries quickly and could be coated with paint in as little as an hour. I waited over night just to be safe.

 

Ready for Color! During the this time I was working with several paint shops to find the right paint brand and color. After much discussion with paint experts, I decided to use PPG Deltron DBC and PPG 2055 clear. I had three possible target colors. Dark Green Opalescent, Dark Blue Opalescent, and Maroon Opalescent. Matching colors to 1963 color chips was a challenge. Most paint shops weren't setup to reference 1960s era ICI paint codes. My better had finial color decision authority, but we decided on the color only after I ordered pints of the 3 target colors along with chips which we could use to make the finial decision. If you are doing this kind of thing for an XKE and need help email me or post to the e-type mail list.

 

Painting Color.. And Clear!