scarello

Well I took the plunge and bought this package from Tony at Smart Shoppers Inc.

First... the patient: 1988 Pontiac Firebird (No Formula/TA/GTA)

Second... the condition: I am the 3rd owner. First owner was an old man and the 2nd owner was a mechanic who pretty much did all the maintenance ignored by the original owner; including a new 350 4-bolt main, 30-over, mild cam, competition clutch, stainless Magnaflow exhaust (Vroom Vroom!!!!)

Also the interior is extremly nice (Minus the center console pad that warped a little

The body had OEM paint on the roof and decklid and the rest had been poorly worked a few times and even cracked. I also had to replace the front bumper due to paint build-up and cracking

Lastly, I found a Turbo Hood locally for $40 with all the other parts to make it functional - I can't seem to find that tutorial tho

Tools - Cambpell Hausfeld 3HP/20Gallon Compressor (Prep), IR DA, No-name HVLP Primer Gun and for paint I used a Coleman 5HP/27 Gallon Compressor and Devilbiss MBC w/30 Tip (Old School)

Materials: (Prep) Bondo-brand Bondo, Red Glazing Putty, Duplicolor Grey Lacquer Primer and Activated Yellow Urethane 2k Primer and for paint I used Red Oxide Enamel Sealer from NAPA (No Activation - Reducer Only), Kirker Code 81 Flame Red and MirraClear II Mid-Temp

Basically I did all the work (About 20-hours worth) of prep in my drive way which basically progressed with grinding, running plastic, feathering from 80 to 220, lacquer priming and using glazing puddy as needed, sanding the whole car by DA with 220, using the 2k primer overall and then wet sanding the car with 400.

I also took off the spoiler and mirrors but painted the bumper on the car.

Paint Day: It was around mid to upper 70's with very little wind, which is great when you're painting a car in an open garage bay with engines laying around and one out of three garage doors open.

First off, remember the kit is a 3/4 Gallon and will give you 1 Gallon sprayable, so I sealed it with Red Oxide and went to town.

This Color/Paint covered like no ones business!!! It was great!!! For what it's worth, it sprayed like Dupont Imron or PPG Concept; basically the way you spray it is the way it will look. Very little flow. The clear was pretty much the same way, but it laid down a little nicer.

One thing worth mentioning is that I found myself "Chasing" the paint because it was setting up too fast. I was almost 10 degrees below the high end of my activator so normally that wouldn't be an issue... so take it for what it's worth, but if I did it again in the same conditions, I would get the High Temp kit instead of the Mid Temp kit.

At the end of the day, I used 2 quarts out of my 3/4 Gallon and 2 quarts out of my clear and did 2 coats of color and 2 coats of clear; all with a conventional spray gun.

Came out great!!! Price or no price, I think it holds it's own with alot of other products out there going for 5x the price.

I am in the process of buffing it out which makes it look even better. It's sands and buffs awesome as well.

Here are some pics (Pre-Buffed): http://groups.msn.com/MyCraigslist/shoebox.msnw

I have since removed the lame rear window tint, added a nice dual 3/16" Black/Silver stripe along the top body line and did a bit of blackening of the wheel wells and such.

All in all - Very Pleased!!!!

Steve C - RI

Dima

WOW very slick man! Wish I had the tools to do stuff like that to my car =/

very awesome =)