Let the painting begin... Abarth.. why not :)

[joshuagore]

So my wife and I decided that our Fiat Spider was in need of a paint job. We bought the car about a year ago and I told myself that if I kept it for over a year I would start fixing it up.

The body had little to no rust, and one panel that had some bad spider(ing?) going on. I started by removing trim, and bumpers which will not be put back on.

I have removed most of the spider webbing and dealt with the quarter size bubble of rust on the rear fender, by grinding until I was to metal, and filling smooth. I then removed the front and rear badges and filled the 'holes' in order to get the look I am going for. Currently the car has 5 entire panels sanded smooth from 240 to 600. Next step is to remove the doors and rockers, and prep the jams. I will not be painting the trunk and engine bay. I will likely be ordering the flares before the paint is all done.

If anyone has any painting or Fiat painting specific advice I am all ears. I will keep everyone updated.... This next weekend I will be busy all weekend at the track, but the next weekend the painting starts. So t-minus about 2 weeks

Thanks guys,
Josh

p.s. I am about a week into it now, so the below pictures are abit old.

Here is where I started...


Day 2




Ya I know what a poser

[kristoj]

My only advice is to remove as much trim as possible -- lights, rubber seals, stainless, etc. I always make it a point to remove anything that isn't welded on. It takes a little longer on the front end, but nothing spoils a new paint job more than overspray or masking lines all over the place.

[pope]

When people say that their going to paint the car, I laugh, because it means different things to different people.

1. To some, a paint job is sanding the old paint and filling in little dings and then laying a new coat of paint over that. That will give you a nice finish for a couple of years.

2. Next upgrade would be to do a clearcoat/basecoat paint job with a sealer coat between the old surface and new paint. WIll last a few years more.

3. Last would be a total paint and body filler removal. Prep the bare metal and spray with epoxy primer, and apply body filler in spots where needed, sand and apply another coat of epoxy primer. Now spray several coats of sandable polyester primer so that you can sand the entire surface to a perfect finish. And tons and tons of sanding. Sealer coat over that and basecoat/clearcoat or even a pearl or candy. After all painted and cured, you begin sanding and polishing the clearcoat finish. Then comes glazing the finish.

It all depends on how long you want the finish to last, and how much you want rust to not show up again.


How did you fill in the badge holes on the trunk and engine lid? What did you use? Did you pick out a color yet? Are you going Silver and Black?

[Tappy]

if you let the frontbumper off i would be thinking about turnsignal placement , seems a good time to get rid of those squares , and mount in old style (or other) turnsignals ...

otherwise like pope says there are different grades of paintjobs , aldo i find it very brave to start on one , love to see the progress

[joshuagore]

When people say that their going to paint the car, I laugh, because it means different things to different people.

1. To some, a paint job is sanding the old paint and filling in little dings and then laying a new coat of paint over that. That will give you a nice finish for a couple of years.

2. Next upgrade would be to do a clearcoat/basecoat paint job with a sealer coat between the old surface and new paint. WIll last a few years more.

3. Last would be a total paint and body filler removal. Prep the bare metal and spray with epoxy primer, and apply body filler in spots where needed, sand and apply another coat of epoxy primer. Now spray several coats of sandable polyester primer so that you can sand the entire surface to a perfect finish. And tons and tons of sanding. Sealer coat over that and basecoat/clearcoat or even a pearl or candy. After all painted and cured, you begin sanding and polishing the clearcoat finish. Then comes glazing the finish.

It all depends on how long you want the finish to last, and how much you want rust to not show up again.


How did you fill in the badge holes on the trunk and engine lid? What did you use? Did you pick out a color yet? Are you going Silver and Black?

I couldn't agree more, paint is what you put into it, and everyone has different ideas. That being said I have set goals which fit my skill, budget, and intentions for the car. I am not doing a complete bare metal paintjob. In sanding the car to prep for a base/clear I found some imperfections which I have filled(rather I am in the process of filling. I have not needed to remove any metal due to the fact that the tiny bubble I did have was able to be ground out. The only other rust was on the passengers side rocker, which is being replaced. The car was lucky enough to have a previous owner who kept the car out of the rain completely for the past 10 years, which means my job is much easier in the way of rust. It is almost unbelievable the condition of the panels. I have spent the bulk of my time filling little dings, and making sure everything is feathered well. For the badges I welded the holes and filled remainder.
I have removed everything but the front fendres. All trim is removed, all lights removed although side markers are staying as stateside look. Doors, rockers, hood, and trunk will be painted off the car.

The paint will be red body with flat black hood/trunk/cowl(is that what thats called?). The car will likely be used for drivers schools, and Sunday drives... It will basically be very similar to the CSA. This car will last as long as I want it to last, if 5 more spots creep up, I am still in much better shape than most of the rides out there, and with my schedule and interests a full bare metal job is just not realistic.

So any predictions at how much red I will need to cover that black Actually its sanded down to what looks like a stock primer... anyone know the stock primer color?

Josh

[joshuagore]

if you let the frontbumper off i would be thinking about turnsignal placement , seems a good time to get rid of those squares , and mount in old style (or other) turnsignals ...

otherwise like pope says there are different grades of paintjobs , aldo i find it very brave to start on one , love to see the progress

I was this close to welding in those squares, but I have not convinced myself..... I don't mind the stock look lights, but I come from a BMW background where the 70s regulations made for horrid stateside rides much worse than the Fiats imo.... So I got a euro e21 323i... which is no longer with me

Josh

[So Cal Mark]

without bumpers, what are you going to use for front turn signals?

[joshuagore]

without bumpers, what are you going to use for front turn signals?

I am doing something custom which will fit flush in the inner remaining holes. The larger outer holes might become brake ducts, or fog lamps. If I come up with a good light setup I would consider selling them.

Josh

[So Cal Mark]

you won't be the first to try and fit lights to the outer holes. Since they are an odd shape, nothing yet has looked quite right. Brake ducts are the obvious choice

[pope]

Are you going to paint with a single stage or a base/clear system? Basic system for figuring how much paint is 6oz. of mixed paint for every panel on the car. The spider has 8 panels (2 doors, 2 fenders, hood, trunk, 2 rear quarters) x 6oz.= 48oz of ready to spray paint per coat. If you do the underside of the trunk and engine hood, add two more panels to that. If you are going with two different colors, just add up the panels for each color and multiply by 6.
Now this is for each coat. You will have to double it or triple it for total paint required.

Single stage - 3 coats
Base/clear - 2 base, 2 clear

good luck

[mdrburchette]

So any predictions at how much red I will need to cover that black Actually its sanded down to what looks like a stock primer... anyone know the stock primer color?
Josh

Red paint is transparent and it will take more coats to cover vs another color. It took a gallon to refinish my burgandy Spider but that was for a bare metal restoration, including inside the trunk and inner doors, under the trunk lid and hood.

[engineerted]

If this is not going to be a show car or a car that you want to spend 300hrs block sanding primer/surfacer, then I would go with the single stage paint over top of a sealer. Where and how are you going to paint the car? Don't be afraid to build a temp paint booth out of plasic sheeting hung from shower curtain hangers on cables in the garage. I built a down draft style booth this way with two box fans in the side door fo the garage such that the air would flow over the top of the plastic sheeting and out the bottom of the large garage door that was open about 4". The key to painting is lighting, you need to see what you are painting, so add some lights.

Ted

[joshuagore]

If this is not going to be a show car or a car that you want to spend 300hrs block sanding primer/surfacer, then I would go with the single stage paint over top of a sealer. Where and how are you going to paint the car? Don't be afraid to build a temp paint booth out of plasic sheeting hung from shower curtain hangers on cables in the garage. I built a down draft style booth this way with two box fans in the side door fo the garage such that the air would flow over the top of the plastic sheeting and out the bottom of the large garage door that was open about 4". The key to painting is lighting, you need to see what you are painting, so add some lights.

Ted

I have spent about 30 hours sanding so far. I was under the assumption that a single stage was going to cover better, but that 3-4 coats of base then 2-3 of clear would end up giving me similar results to the 3-4 of single stage.

My booth is in an air conditioned shop 'bay'. I have about 15 plastic tarps, and a box fan/filter to create a downdraft setup. I just got a dryer, regulator and masking tape. Now I need to find some good paper to mask the interior/window/trunk/engine.

Josh

[joshuagore]

If this is not going to be a show car or a car that you want to spend 300hrs block sanding primer/surfacer, then I would go with the single stage paint over top of a sealer. Where and how are you going to paint the car? Don't be afraid to build a temp paint booth out of plasic sheeting hung from shower curtain hangers on cables in the garage. I built a down draft style booth this way with two box fans in the side door fo the garage such that the air would flow over the top of the plastic sheeting and out the bottom of the large garage door that was open about 4". The key to painting is lighting, you need to see what you are painting, so add some lights.

Ted

This is what scares me. The idea of laying a gallon of paint. I say that because it is likely the more I spray the more chances for mistakes.

Josh

[joshuagore]

Anyone know the Abarth red paintcode?

Josh