garth66

Thank you everyone who responded to my requests for help on finding paint codes for Nassau Blue.

Background on the car: My younger brother owned this car for the last 15 or so years. He purchased it some years before from an old college friend. He always planned to fix it up, but his life was cut short by cancer. So I inherited the car and am in the process of fixing it up. He would be proud!

Here are some updates...
The car was repainted an unknown blue by a prior owner 15-20 years ago. IMO, the blue had too much purple in it, but it wasn't a bad color. There were a couple of parking lot dents in both the driver's side front and rear fenders. Passenger side looked good.

garth66

There was evidence of rust in the bottoms of each front fender behind the wheel wells as the paint was bubbling. A few minutes with the DA revealed that there wasn't a lot of metal there. Someone had filled the holes with body filler before the car was painted last time. Also found some rust in one of the rear fenders as well. It's all gotta come out!

garth66

Pulling the dents. This guy made it look simple! In the 30 minutes I watched him work on the front dent, he tacked on pins, pulled the dent, cut off the pins, ground things smooth, worked the metal with a hammer and dolly, and skim coated it. It was remarkable how straight he got the fender before skim coating it. Actually, it's remarkable how skilled he was and how simple he made it look.

oldsguybry

Looks great ! Fenders will be a PITA to de-rust unless you plan to fab or replace ( i'm having fun trying to get the fender support braces off the fenders to get at rust on mine ) I hope you got your " MAW " helmet purchased already !

garth66

What a mess! All the cancer has got to come out. Found the original Tahitian Turquoise beneath the emblems. Beautiful color, but the family liked Nassau Blue better. And more importantly, Nassau Blue was one of my brother's favorite colors - it's the color he wanted to paint the car when he got around to restoring it.

oldsguybry

Wow on the fender repair ! That's beyond me . All I can do is get rid of rust , and add bondo until I get some extra money , and find someone that can weld ! Like I said , i'm more or less in the process of removing spot welds to get the fender brace removed ( long story ) I gotta get crackin on that again.

garth66

New sheet metal welded in, smoothed and skim coated. Had to fab the complete bottom mounting portion of one of the fenders because it was totally rotten with no structural integrity. Body guy used the other as a template for the fabrication - I think he did a pretty good job.

garth66

Well, I hope these pics provide the needed inspiration to get cracking on it again. I have a 66 Mustang GT fastback project that stalled when I ran into some rust in the floorpans. It spent the last 11 years in the garage on jack stands. My brother's passing has motivated me to hire the help I need to get these projects moving again. I just finished restoring the underside of the Mustang and got it back on the road Memorial Day weekend. Still working out a few mechanical issues, but plan to get the body and paint done before the end of the year. It's expensive, but when I consider what I'm spending amortized over the last 11 years, it would have been worth it to spend the money back then to have been able to enjoy it over he last 11 years. Just a thought...

garth66

High build primer baking in the sun. It will spend a week in the sun to make sure it's completely cured and finished shrinking. Then the car will be blocked to remove any waviness from the panels.

Started work on the hood too; found it's not the original hood - different color green beneath the blue paint. The driver's door is also not original to the car - had a gold/green color beneath the blue paint. The car has obviously been involved in some kind of accident (or two) throughout it's life. My body guy tells me it couldn't have been serious though as the frame and other structures are all sound and don't show any signs of being bent, broken, or straightened - I guess they can recognize wrinkles that aren't supposed to be there, as well as prior repairs, etc. He tells me the car is in great shape and really straight.

garth66

In the meantime I picked up all the stainless trim from the body shop and have been cleaning and polishing it. It's a lot of work, but looks great.
And I've got the cuts on my hands to prove it!

Safety Tip: Wear gloves if you polish your stainless trim on a buffing wheel on your bench grinder. Some of those edges on the back sides of the trim pieces are sharp. I ended up with multiple "paper-cuts" in my hands from sliding the trim across the hand that was holding the trim stable against the buffer. I didn't even know it until I saw the blood - crazy!

garth66

Being blocked to make sure all the panels are flat and straight.

garth66

A few more...

garth66

Going into the spray booth.

And, a few of the other customers projects in the shop.

garth66

The pics we've all been waiting for... Nassau Blue!

This is fresh base/clear. It was shot less than 8 hours before I took these pics. The clear still needs to be wet sanded, polished and buffed for that show car shine.

garth66

More...

It's interesting how different the blue looks in different pictures depending on the light, and whether or not I used the flash. The flash definitely brings out more of the silver hue in the paint. The pics without a flash look darker than in person. Can't wait to see it out in the sun! Beautiful color none the less!

GAOldsman

Wow garth66 she is going to be gorgeous when you get her back together Awesome color choice by the way! That is one of my favorite shades of blue

garth66

And a few more...

The next post in a few days will be with all the trim back on. Can't wait!

Car was supposed to be ready for pick up this Friday for an event on Saturday, but since it only got painted last night, we may not make it. I told the shop owner not to risk screwing something up or cut corners to make the deadline. I'd rather he take some extra time if necessary, even though he's had the car since March, to do it right! He'll let me know tomorrow what the verdict is.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the pics as much as I am.

RALLYE KID

looking good !!!

ent72olds

Looks awesome Garth. Did they end up using Spies Hecker, or the other brand? The Mix Machine in the shop looks to be waterborne......

garth66

The mix machine in the shop is for Speis-Hecker waterborne, but we used the good stuff - a solvent based base/clear. I forgot the brand, but I'll get that tomorrow when I drop off more of the trim that I'm refinishing (tail light housings and emblems).

ent72olds

Ouch! You hurt my feelings Garth.....Spies Hecker is the good stuff! .

bdub217

that looks nice!!!!! i like the color a lot.

garth66

No offense intended Erik. My reference to "the good stuff" was not a statement against the brand (Speis Hecker - they have great products). Rather, it was a statement against our locally mandated waterborne product because most of the local counties here in the Peoples Republik of California have outlawed solvent based paint (aka "the good stuff" which has a proven history and track record for coverage, durability and longevity).

I do understand that some of the new waterborne paints have come a long way in the last few years, and once they're cleared, could/should be just as good.

BTW - I just checked out your Vista Cruiser project - AMAZING!!! That car is going to be incredible when you're done! Great thread!

ent72olds

Thanks for checking it out Garth! I understand we are not so used to change, and when we are comfortable with something, we cringe at change! The "People's Republik of California", is pretty funny! The only reason I said anything jokingly , is because I am a rep for Spies Hecker....

garth66

Refinishing the original emblems. Polished them on the buffer, then repainted. Used Duplicolor Metalcast Red on the 'S' emblems. I think I'll apply a 2nd coat once I get the car back. Last shop that painted the car painted over most of the tail light bezel chrome - idiots! I had to strip the paint and repaint the black portions. I polished the chrome and they came out pretty good, although the chrome still shows it's age; but you have to draw the line somewhere. This was never intended to be a restoration, I just wanted to clean the car up and make it more presentable.

garth66

Buffing out the clear coat... I love this color and can't wait to drive the car again.

GAOldsman

Looking good! I bet you can't wait.

garth66

Well, we didn't make the goal of having the car back together by last Saturday. Assembly takes time. And, the trim clips I ordered for the stainless trim that runs along the fender edges were the wrong size - more on the way.

I previously thought the grill and headlight bezels looked good - that was against the old faded and oxidized paint and dented fenders. But now that the car is painted and looks fresh, those bits don't look so good. So, tonight I repaint the grill and headlight bezels.

Also installed a power electric antenna - the original 'up all the time' antenna was shot, and I always thought it stuck out and distracted from the clean lines of the car. Not anymore!

Hope to pick it up on Thursday and start driving again!

RALLYE KID

I always loved that color.

clean cut creations

Car looks great! Hope to see fully assembled pics of you blowin' down the road in it soon.....I bet your brother would be proud!

LI Olds

Garth can you put your location in your signature?

garth66

I thought I had previously, but maybe I didn't save it. It's there now.

lil_no

Car looks great and love the color...

Bluemeanie

Thanks for all the pics and details. It's awesome to see something like that come together. It's a great color and an beautiful looking car. What a great Tribute to your Brother. Well done!!

cheven

WOW, is that what my car is supposed to look like? ..... it looks sharp! Mine was painted over a slightly different color, poor prepping allows me to see the factory color in numerous places since its flaking like red head two days after being in the sun too long.

garth66

Grill and headlight buckets prepped for paint. Someone had repainted them before, so I had to sand off gobs of wrinkled runny paint in places. Wish I remembered to take a "before" picture.

Searching the forums for the correct paint, I found that Krylon Metallic Dull Aluminum is the stuff to get. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it locally. Actually, I did find it at Walmart, but it was an "indoor" paint rather than indoor/outdoor. I decided it wouldn't be durable enough as this car will be driven (no garage queens for me!), and these surfaces live in a harsh environment where they face direct sunlight, weather, bugs, and stones, etc thrown at them at speed. Instead, I used Eastwood Silver Argent wheel paint. It was a pretty close match to the paint that was on there, but with maybe a bit more metallic of a finish. Not a perfect match, but I think it looks pretty good, and I'm comfortable with the quality and durability of the product.

garth66

Oh, and I'm supposed to be able to pick the car up tomorrow! Went by the shop today to drop off the grills and headlight bezels; she's looking good! Most all of the stainless trim is back on, except for the door trim - new clips were supposed to come in the mail today, but they didn't show! Hopefully tomorrow, then we can snap the door trim on and bring her home.

I'll then need to take it by an Auto Glass shop to have the side windows adjusted and the window felts installed.
http://www.opgi.com/p/weatherstrippi...2/WF0416A.html

Amazing how dusty the car gets sitting in the body shop. Can't wait to get her home and clean her up. Plan to drive her to Monterey for the Historic Automobile weekend next week. If you're going to be there, I'll see you at the Baja Cantina on Thursday night!

garth66

I need to clean up the interior a bit, then I'll take some pics of her all back together this afternoon and post them.

But, I have one question... I just received a new trunk felt kit and wanted to know how it's supposed to be glued down in the trunk? Is a universal spray adhesive (like 3M) from my local auto parts store sufficient, or do I need something special?

Thanks!

garth66

Here are some pics of the Cutty, all back together and home. I didn't get a chance to detail the interior because I spent most of Saturday servicing the transmission - changing the filter and installing a shift kit (B&M 30262). The shift kit is a 2 stage kit that allows you to recalibrate your transmission for "heavy duty" use or "street/strip" use - I went with the milder "heavy duty" recalibration. I must say the car is much more enjoyable to drive with the shift kit installed. Previously, the transmission felt lazy and very slow to respond when starting from a stop and accelerating; shifts were slow and lazy too. Now, it's responsive and crisp, but not harsh. I'm very pleased.

Anyway, here are a few pics. Thanks for following along!

garth66

And a couple more... She's beautiful!