after 15 years, we finally have paint!

[73-charger-383]

got done spraying my car tonight.  The single stage metallic wasn't nearly as bad as i thought....i have to get it out into the sunlight to really see, but so far it's looking pretty good.

[stripedelete]

Looks good from here. 

[73-charger-383]

It's 1970 B-3 Blue..the camera is messing with the color

[HeavyFuel]

15 years.....

You must be sporting some pretty serious woo.......um....I bet you're excited!   

[73-charger-383]

lol...for sure.  I've had this car through every stage of my life.....I installed the engine on a gravel driveway at 90 degrees...been with me through two moves, a wife and two kids.  I'm beyond excited to finally see some color on it!

[Mopar Nut]

Looks good!

[tan top]

 looks good from the pictures 

[timmycharger]

Great job! was it sprayed where it sits? congrats man, Im about a year away from that! 

[73-charger-383]

yeah it was sprayed where it sits....my garage most definitely isn't ideal, and i probably should have spent a little more time in prep - but in the end i'm really happy with the way it turned out.

[twodko]

That's a job well done my man! Huge accomplishment and great color.......eager to see it on the road.

[ralley72]

I think its looking good and I like think its great that another 3rd gen getting restored. 15 years is a long time but it will be worth it. I'm going on 11 years on my 73 RR and still a long ways to go. Just keep pluggin along.

Mike

[jaak]

Congrats! I know the feeling also... I bought a project, got married, had 2 kids, bought a house, then had another kid. It wasn't quite 15 years for me but from the time I bought it until I sprayed paint was about 11 years. Looks great... now the fun stuff begins...ASSEMBLY!

Jason

[1973rallye]

Great job. Now some serious fun begins as you start to reassemble. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

[Lord Warlock]

Congratulations, I know from experience what it feels like to get paint on one.  It took me a little longer than 15 years to get around to it, but I did eventually.  It will likely motivate you to move forward, as each piece, like a puzzle, fits into place, and you get feedback just by looking at it.  The hard part is trying to keep stuff off the car, now that there is paint there. 
Plan on color sanding and buffing or leaving as is? The garage I painted mine in you couldn't control dust in so kind of had to in order to meet my expectations.  I can get it shiny with the buffer but it never seems to look as good as another top clearcoat.

[Indygenerallee]

looks great!! Congrats! 

[nvrbdn]

nice job.

[73-charger-383]

not really sure on the buffing....it's a metallic and from what i can gather it's difficult if not impossible to sand it without messing up the finish.  - I had/have a little peel in some areas and tried wet sanding with 2000 grit on the trunk (thinking if it ruins it i'll just reshoot).  - it really didn't change a whole heck of a lot, but did help to even things out.  - I don't have a buffer yet, so i'm not sure if that's primarily where the flake would get screwed up. 

Does anyone have an experience with sanding/buffing single stage metallic?

[Lord Warlock]

The buffer shouldn't bother the flake in single stage metallics, the sanding is where you'll do the most damage.  Wetsanding with 2000 or higher will take most of the orange peel off and shouldn't bite deep enough to bother the flake/metallic.  Buffing is an acquired skill though.  avoid edges, tape them if necessary.  get a good buffer, its worth investing in a good one as they'll see lots of use over the years.   I have and use a makita variable speed 500-3500rpm, foam bonnets don't usually cut fast either, if you make a mistake buffing it will likely be when using a wool bonnet, I've cut thru the top layer of paint a time or two and had to respray (live and learn) a random orbital buffer won't cut much at all, its good for the final stages of polish and wax though.  I have a 6 inch and a 3 inch random orbital from Griots. 
If orange peel is minimal, I'd just buff it off rather than sanding.  3M or Mothers makes a high cut polish that works pretty good for a buffer, then move up to finer polishes and waxes.  It'll look great.

[73-charger-383]

thanks much for the advice.  I did a little bit this afternoon just handsanding and then using a foam pad with #3 on it.  It made a difference where it's to the point i think i'll just live with the little peel that is left.  You can't see it until you pretty much lay your head on the paint.  - I have a little left to do before it's complete, but it's looking great to me.  Once I got it outside it looked even better than it did in the garage.....I don't think i'll be able to sleep tonight...

[71_Charger_R/T]

Looks great! Good to see another blue third gen in Minnesota!  Now get out there and drive that thing!   Where abouts in N. W. MN are you?

[CDN72SE]

Very nice, keep up the good work.

[73-charger-383]

In Thief River Falls....about an hour from Canada, hour from North Dakota.......

[green69rt]

Those Keystone Classic Mags??

[EccentricMagpies]

  Nice job on the paint
I like that color choice!

[73-charger-383]

Yup on the Keystones...they are a little beat up, but i think i'll shine them up and run with them for a while....Thanks everyone on the compliments!  I'm pretty proud of it....it's a great feeling to finally have it at this point.

[Laxy]

Great color on that body shape, Keystones set it off too.

[Ghoste]

Another attaboy for the color and Keystones from my corner.  Looking good man.

[73-charger-383]

The snow is finally melted and the quarter window seals are installed.  I got to go for my first little cruise tonight....just up to the gas station to wash off some of the wet sanding residue, but it was great.  Got a few rubber-neckers and a thumbs up from some kid playing in his yard.  -- the paint is turning out better than I thought it would - 2000 grit wetsanding followed by #9 on a wool, and then #7 on a foam pad makes it lay down dang near perfect.  It's going to be a lot of work to finish up all of the paint, but it will be worth it in the end.  -- Going to officially make it my daily driver tomorrow morning and take it to work.....pretty pumped up tonight!

[nvrbdn]

sweet. glad to hear the sanding is going well.

[71_Charger_R/T]

Those are the best "trophies" in my book..... Thumbs ups & "Nice car" comments on the drive! Good for you! keep up the good work. 

[Lord Warlock]

the sanding seems to take forever, as does the buffing.  But its worth it in the long run.  I just painted a Miata I've got that I'll be trying to sell soon, even though I don't plan on enjoying the nice finish much I can't list it for sale until I am happy with the paint job first, and now it looks like there are still a few sanding scratch marks to get out first.  Orange peel is long gone, just trying to get the shine back again, have the reflections, but still have underhaze to deal with.  

[RallyeMike]

Congrats on the paint! A freshly painted car is very very motivating.

[Fitz73Chrgr]

Looks good, keep us updated on progress.

[69wannabe]

Congrat's !!!!! Looking good!!!!! 

[MxRacer855]

Looks great! 

Love the Keystones too. 

Jeff

[1970Moparmann]

Need some more pictures!

What paint did you use?  Is this the first time painting a car?  Would love to hear the details.

[PlainfieldCharger]

Great Job!! Drive and Enjoy! More pics please!

[Stegs]

b-3 blue?

sweet color!

[73-charger-383]

Yup, it was my first paint job.  After wetsanding the color lightened up and is a lot closer to what I was expecting.  Being my first paint job, I just went with TCP global restoration paint (1970 B3 in an acrylic urethane).  It turned out way better than what I was expecting.  - There is still a little peel left in spots, but it's going to be my daily driver so I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over it.  -- I'll post some close up pics in a bit.

[Stegs]

Yup, it was my first paint job.  After wetsanding the color lightened up and is a lot closer to what I was expecting.  Being my first paint job, I just went with TCP global restoration paint (1970 B3 in an acrylic urethane).  It turned out way better than what I was expecting.  - There is still a little peel left in spots, but it's going to be my daily driver so I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over it.  -- I'll post some close up pics in a bit.

Man i like that color, i had a 99 jeep cherokee that was similar...Jeep called it gunmetal pearl...I loved it

B3 and B5 blue....FTW

[Wicked72]

Fantastic job! I'm so jealous! I'm a long ways from paint on mine... and even more jealous your using it as a daily! My commute is 160 miles round trip so I'll be stuck in my honda..

[Mopar Thunder]

I love the color B3 blue.  I found a 1970 Roadrunner in that color and tried for awhile to negotiate a sale but it never happened. Very nice looking car.

[hemi-hampton]

If it's a single stage metallic with no clear & your first paint job it looks pretty good. Thats not the easiest paint to spray for a beginner. Congrats LEON.

[73-charger-383]

This camera is making the blue darker than it really appears...the color is a lot closer to the close up one. 
I'm pretty happy with it....with a little more wet sanding and buffing I think it's going to clean up really nice.  - Now I just need to do the little things like polishing the wheels and adjust the gaps.  - I've been driving it to work the last couple of days and am really enjoying finally getting to show it off a little.  --- thanks for the compliments too guys...I appreciate it!

-- I've learned a lot from this last paint job.  I'm hauling a 68 Monaco 500 into the shop this weekend and am going to see if I can't get this next one to turn out better.

[73-charger-383]

a few more

[73-charger-383]

....btw...I'm fully aware of the mis-matched rim/tire....makes it a handle a little goofy, but I've got to get my other rim straightened/replaced.  Work is only 1 1/2 miles away, so I figure I might as well just drive it for now...