Uploaded January 2018 | Updated September 2026, 17 hours ago
I began the painting project on the Black Savage because there was some vandalism to this car's paint before I acquired it. I believe it's the reason the car was ultimately given a salvage title. Someone had scrawled initials on the side quarter panel, the roof, and the hood. The clear coat had also begun to fade on the roof and hood. I believe the owner then tried to wet sand the initials off the hood and the quarter panel and ultimately ended up rubbing through the clear coat. So I attempted to fix this damage. Ultimately I was unsuccessful.
Ironically, it's not because my preparations for painting were not good--they worked out very well. The plastic I hung up to prevent trash from landing in the paint worked very very well and I was happy with that. The extraction fans I setup performed great--they kept my garage clear. The paint suit also kept things clean. My failure on this job came from equipment problems and I believe from mixing the clear coat incorrectly--I don't actually know how yet as I have not gone to the auto paint store to ask them their opinion. Frankly I'm more than a little embarrassed to do that, but ultimately I will. I'm sure they probably told me how to correctly mix the clear when I bought it 2 years ago and I just forgot. I went off the tech sheet that I downloaded when I first bought the clear, and it was a standard 4:1 ratio that is common for all clears, but perhaps this particular clear also needed some reducer. Or maybe I just needed a better spray gun to spray it properly (although my gun has produced good results with another clear that I have).
The most ironic thing of all is that the color match of the paint was absolutely perfect. If the clear coat had only flowed out correctly, this job wouldn't be half bad.
But I did make a few mistakes:
1) I should have tested the actual clear coat I was going to be spraying on the test panel I bought. For some reason I used a different clear coat that I had in smaller quantity for my test. Not sure why I did that. Had I tested with the same clear I painted with, I would have noticed the problem.
2) I should have sprayed primer over the entire panel I was painting. After I laid down the base coat (the color), I realized I was getting shrink back around the areas where I had sanded through the clear coat a little too far--and where the previous owner had sanded through the clear coat. I just didn't realize this would happen--I thought shrink back only happened when you painted base coat over filler without spraying a primer first. I thought the base coat would cover over the missing clear in those areas. I was wrong and I've learned the hard way.
3) I sprayed primer incorrectly over a repair area on the hood--using incorrect gun settings that didn't feather the area out correctly. I tried to sand the edges to blend them in when I should have sanded off all the primer and started over again. Ultimately I didn't sand the edges enough so you can see the edges of the primer.
4) I ended up getting water coming through my water traps into the gun when I was spraying. I didn't have enough water traps on my system. I have since noticed that people use up to 3 water traps inline and I was only using one. I was also getting water drops onto the clear coat as I was painting because some of the gun connections were leaking.
5) I had paint leaking out from my PPS cup while I was spraying base coat. I changed to a different cup and that solved that problem.
6) Ultimately I think my biggest mistake was taking on a job that was too big. This was the biggest paint job I had ever tried--I've previously only painted a bumper in one go and a fender in another go and I did not have these kinds of problems simply because those jobs were smaller and less challenging.
I learned a lot during this job. I made made a lot of mistakes but they are mistakes I will never make again.
For right now, I need a break from this car. I need to put it on the side burner and work on something else that is NOT painting, just for a little bit. I will get back to this car soon, hopefully reenergized to get it fixed up and in a salable condition. I'm sorry the story of this car hasn't turned out better.
Thanks a lot for those of you who have followed this project from the beginning!
My mailing address for correspondence or swag of any kind is on my about page.
This video is for entertainment purposes only. 50sKid assumes no liability for any repairs or modifications performed by the viewer as a result of the information contained in this video.
I began the painting project on the Black Savage because there was some vandalism to this car's paint before I acquired it. I believe it's the reason the car was ultimately given a salvage title. Someone had scrawled initials on the side quarter panel, the roof, and the hood. The clear coat had also begun to fade on the roof and hood. I believe the owner then tried to wet sand the initials off the hood and the quarter panel and ultimately ended up rubbing through the clear coat. So I attempted to fix this damage. Ultimately I was unsuccessful.
Ironically, it's not because my preparations for painting were not good--they worked out very well. The plastic I hung up to prevent trash from landing in the paint worked very very well and I was happy with that. The extraction fans I setup performed great--they kept my garage clear. The paint suit also kept things clean. My failure on this job came from equipment problems and I believe from mixing the clear coat incorrectly--I don't actually know how yet as I have not gone to the auto paint store to ask them their opinion. Frankly I'm more than a little embarrassed to do that, but ultimately I will. I'm sure they probably told me how to correctly mix the clear when I bought it 2 years ago and I just forgot. I went off the tech sheet that I downloaded when I first bought the clear, and it was a standard 4:1 ratio that is common for all clears, but perhaps this particular clear also needed some reducer. Or maybe I just needed a better spray gun to spray it properly (although my gun has produced good results with another clear that I have).
The most ironic thing of all is that the color match of the paint was absolutely perfect. If the clear coat had only flowed out correctly, this job wouldn't be half bad.
But I did make a few mistakes:
1) I should have tested the actual clear coat I was going to be spraying on the test panel I bought. For some reason I used a different clear coat that I had in smaller quantity for my test. Not sure why I did that. Had I tested with the same clear I painted with, I would have noticed the problem.
2) I should have sprayed primer over the entire panel I was painting. After I laid down the base coat (the color), I realized I was getting shrink back around the areas where I had sanded through the clear coat a little too far--and where the previous owner had sanded through the clear coat. I just didn't realize this would happen--I thought shrink back only happened when you painted base coat over filler without spraying a primer first. I thought the base coat would cover over the missing clear in those areas. I was wrong and I've learned the hard way.
3) I sprayed primer incorrectly over a repair area on the hood--using incorrect gun settings that didn't feather the area out correctly. I tried to sand the edges to blend them in when I should have sanded off all the primer and started over again. Ultimately I didn't sand the edges enough so you can see the edges of the primer.
4) I ended up getting water coming through my water traps into the gun when I was spraying. I didn't have enough water traps on my system. I have since noticed that people use up to 3 water traps inline and I was only using one. I was also getting water drops onto the clear coat as I was painting because some of the gun connections were leaking.
5) I had paint leaking out from my PPS cup while I was spraying base coat. I changed to a different cup and that solved that problem.
6) Ultimately I think my biggest mistake was taking on a job that was too big. This was the biggest paint job I had ever tried--I've previously only painted a bumper in one go and a fender in another go and I did not have these kinds of problems simply because those jobs were smaller and less challenging.
I learned a lot during this job. I made made a lot of mistakes but they are mistakes I will never make again.
For right now, I need a break from this car. I need to put it on the side burner and work on something else that is NOT painting, just for a little bit. I will get back to this car soon, hopefully reenergized to get it fixed up and in a salable condition. I'm sorry the story of this car hasn't turned out better.
Thanks a lot for those of you who have followed this project from the beginning!
My mailing address for correspondence or swag of any kind is on my about page.
This video is for entertainment purposes only. 50sKid assumes no liability for any repairs or modifications performed by the viewer as a result of the information contained in this video.
