1966 Valiant Signet Convertible Resto

[CUDAGUY]

wow! thats gonna look sexy=P~

 

[daves66valiant]

Got more work done this weekend. Have the hood and decklid hanging for my sealer coat of epoxy. Went on real slick so I should be able to basecoat early tomorrow morning. If I notice any trash I'll nib those out before base. Then if all goes well I should be able to clear tomorrow evening.

Need to adjust the hanging height a little. Much easier to paint this way.

 

[pettybludart]

It,s looking great Dave.Shouldn,t you be laying bigger panels flat for painting?I remember someone mentioning that the metalic won,t seat right if panel is hung while painting?Just a question?It all looks good,looking forward to the finished product.I,ll probably be retired by then!J/K LOL!Keep up the good work!

 

[daves66valiant]

It,s looking great Dave.Shouldn,t you be laying bigger panels flat for painting?I remember someone mentioning that the metalic won,t seat right if panel is hung while painting?Just a question?It all looks good,looking forward to the finished product.I,ll probably be retired by then!J/K LOL!Keep up the good work!

I think I will retire after this thing is done. :bootysha:

Yes, the panels need to be flat for the basecoat metallic. Once the base is on I'll hang everything up again so I can clearcoat both sides and not worry about having to flip it. Plus, you get much less dust onto your panel this way. Wish I had a real booth but it's coming out pretty clean so far.

 

[daves66valiant]

Small Update.

Got the shell back from the media blaster last week. They did an awesome job stripping the engine bay to bare metal and sealing it with Epoxy primer. I filled in some of the unused factory holes and smoothed out the inner fender aprons. I also massaged and smoothed a spot on the passenger side shock tower area so my headers may clear easier when I drop the body onto the motor/k-frame. Laid down some polyprimer and will go over that with 220, 400, 600 then epoxy seal before basecoat and clear. Hope to have the engine bay and cowl BC/CC done this weekend if all goes well. :cheers:

I also got some of the grill pieces and valence done. Just denibbed very lightly and really did not need to buff them much at all.


I love how this color changes depending on the light and the angles you look at it. Mesmerizing.

Next update will be a sparkling engine bay and cowl. Slow and steady progress. :clock:

 

[GTXperience]

Very nice Dave! I forgot this thng came from my ol' stomping grounds.

 

[redfastback]

Awesome job Dave! Can't wait to see the engine bay.

 

[Tincup]

It's looking awsome Dave, keep up the good work....

 

[daves66valiant]

Engine bay is getting clear right now. First coat is down. Waiting to lay down another 2 coats before I call it a night.

 

[daves66valiant]

Engine bay is finished. These pictures are straight out of the gun no cut and buff yet. I have some dust/dirt/trash to take care of but I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. I will be doing 3 more coats of clear on top of the cowl area as a flowcoat so it should look even better when cut/buffed out.

Pics before SPI black epoxy as a sealer mixed 1:1:1

2 coats PPG Midnight Metallic Blue Basecoat (Original 1966 Plymouth paint code Dark Blue Poly EE-1) 3 wet coats SPI Universal Clear

 

[CUDAGUY]

what are you doing to get that to lay down so smooth?

 

[daves66valiant]

It's the paint gun and how you set it up properly. I'm using an IWATA LPH-400 with the LV cap for clear. It's a very nice gun cap for clear. I use the LVX cap for the metallic basecoat. My gun settings were fan wide open, fluid turned out to get a perfect cigar sprayout pattern (2.5 turns out for me), inlet pressure was 32 psi and you shot 4-5 inches away from the panel. You spray it on wet like the way you want it to look and give 30 minutes or more for flash time between coats. I use a slow activator and I use slow reducer. I reduced the clear about 5%. I've only shot this clear a few times but it just flows amazing.

 

[fstfish66]

DAVE man its looking GREAT,,,,is that an HVLP system ?? or a gun and a compreessor ?? the real iceing on the cake is going to be when you are all finished and drive it over to the first moron painter,,and show him how it looks,,,

 

[daves66valiant]

DAVE man its looking GREAT,,,,is that an HVLP system ?? or a gun and a compreessor ?? the real iceing on the cake is going to be when you are all finished and drive it over to the first moron painter,,and show him how it looks,,,

Thank you Don. It is a LVLP gun. I use an IngersolRand 60 gal 5hp compressor that puts out 18 cfm, which is plenty for this particular gun. Having enough air is critical. This gun atomizes the **** out of paint. That's part of the reason why it lays down so nice.

I can't wait to see the moron's face too. :bootysha:

 

[340_dart_power]

Makes me want to re-think my B5 Blue choice, it looks so good. Great job on it; Im now suffering from Paint Envy (but in a good way).

 

[swedefish]

You´re doing a fantastic job on the vert.
Can´t wait to see it ready for the road.

 

[Johnny Dart]

So what do you think Dave....Maybe have this thing buttoned up by this weekend ? 8) :clock:

This car is killing me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks good Bro. You are doing a great job on the paint !!!!!!!

 

[redfastback]

Damn Dave.......you're a rockstar painter now!! That looks like it's gonna stay wet! Doing a great job man.

 

[SCredneck]

Beautiful work!

 

[az426hemi]

Wow!!!

 

[homslr]

wow,,,that seems like a bargain,,,to get everything,,,,I just scored a brand new washer bottle and pump kit from those guys,,,atlas parts,,,,everything i buy new is just sitting off to the side,,,waiting till i restore it,,,I figured the hardest thing to find would be the chrome strip for the windshield,,,mine is bad,,,,I even have a perfect grill sitting on the shelf,,,firewall gasket set,,complete nut and bolt resto kit,,,and I had a 65 signet that was a bucket seat,,floor console auto,,,,so I parted the car on e-bay,,,kept the 65 motor,,trans,,,buckets and steering column to put in the 66,,,and I have an edelbrock 2x4 intake for the 65,,,,gonna make a nice sleeper,,,,thanks for the info,,,Aloha,,Joe

I notice your mention of the windshield chrome strip for your Dart. I am assuming that you're referring to the 'Lock Ring' installed to hold the glass windshield in as the 'Lock Ring' in installed after the gasket & glass are installed in place. The 'Lock Ring' is then placed into the groove which will expand to hold the "Lock Ring' thereby holding the gasket tight (?) against the glass & windshield frame holding everything in place for all time. I have found it difficult to find the OEM 'Lock Ring' unless you happen across a NOS in someones stock. (I found one & paid Mitchell Motor Parts (GA) nearly $130 for their NOS item. I have found, so far, that knowone is reproducing the OEM type or style..which has a distinct 'Ribbed' appearance to it, but also which does not hold up well to time & the elements. More frequently, I've found on eBay references to using a Chevy Truck similar 'Lock Ring' but which has a solid chromed appearance. It also is also made under more modern manufact. specs & looks very nice in place of the OEM ribbed design. I think, unless you're a 'Purist' & want OEM only appearance..the Chevy ring should make a nice replacement. I would also suggest, that you look into a butyl rubber (tube sealant) (frequently used at tire centers to seal & make 'air tight', 2nd & 3rd generation tire installations on cars with chrome plated Aluminum rims..frequently will corrode on inside edge of rims which causes leaking rims & leads to troublesome frequent flat tires. Once this butyl rubber is installed around the OEM bead of the rim, it seems to fill the corroded voids in the rims & seals the tire to the rim OK) you may have to check with several tire centers for this kind of sealant in a tube. It can be easily removed to reinstall new tires with more butly rubber being added the same as before...the option is buying new rims ($500.00+/- each - Ouch!)|
Now back to your windshield installation. By using this butyl rubber around the gasket to windshield frame, & then windshield glass to gasket, you will at least greatly improve your desired SEAL between gasket & frame, & Glass to gasket before installing your chrome 'Lock Ring' for fit & looks. I hope you get this message before making your installation...it will help. Good luck, BILL
-Columbus,OH [email protected]
Aside: I drive a '63 Dodge Dart GT convertible & I'm searching for a new windshield gasket for my Convert..which I understand is different than those used on the convertble. I've bought a regular gasket, & I'm about to test this on my car to see if a gasket for a sedan will work in place of those for a convertible ? If you know the whereabouts of a Donor convertible Dart car, must be for '63 thru '66 I also need p/n 2424116 & 117 which is the L&R rear outer corner chrome plated potmetal trim corners which connect at the rear outer corners of the convert topwell stainless & joins the top of rear fender stainless to the topwell stainless where they join at the rear outer corners of the topwell. Mopar calls "Cover" (sort of a 3way union) Best of luck. BB

 

[daves66valiant]

Well it's been a while since I last posted any updates. I've been busy with other things in life lately but back track now. I had a few things I had to take care of on the body which weren't that bad. I ended up welding the tail panel seams so there would no longer be a gap there. It's all smooth now. Originally, I used filler but it was bound to crack eventually. This was a much better solution.

The shell got it's final block sanding a while back but I needed a good window to put a final sealer coat of epoxy on then another quick wetsand before basecoat. The results look fantastic to me so far. I have not had it in the sunlight yet being as this is just the basecoat so far. I'll let this set overnight then clearcoat :toothy10:

If the reflection in the basecoat is any indication....this thing is going to be freaking awesome. 2 coats of PPG Midnight Metallic Blue (aka EE-1 Dark Blue Poly)

Next pics will be the clearcoat in the sunlight if there are no booboos in the basecoat. Fingers crossed.

 

[redfastback]

Hell yeah Dave!!!! Can't wait for the clear pics.....

 

[340_dart_power]

Very nice color choice.

 

[fstfish66]

Dave Its Looking Great,,