Orange Peel

Brief post today. For the tl;dr folks, after I let the paint on Zed (1979 280ZX) cure, I looked at it more closely. I definitely did not have enough pressure at the gun, leading to the paint not atomizing well... resulting in some nice orange peel.. pretty much on everything. Today's post touches on that, and then finishes with the bumpers getting installed.

Before I start, today is Boo's birthday. Boo, you are amazing. I am so grateful we found each other, I simply can't express. Your support for my car projects, and tolerance for the corresponding messes has helped make these posts happen. Your embrace of a "Let's See" attitude has opened doors I would not have thought possible. You inspire me. Congratulations on another trip around the sun; I am looking forward to the next annual trip together again.

Sand Sand Sand

rear bumper installed

Why say it 3 times? Well, I spent 3 days sanding all the orange peel off Zed's exterior. After trying a few different grit combinations to get the orange peel off, I found wet sanding with 120 grit and following with 320 (also wet) removed the orange peel most effectively. This was not fast, however. I put in 3 6-hour days to get the orange peel gone. Fortunately, I had put 3 coats of base on, so I didn't burn through to primer very much. I still have almost an entire gallon of base, so when I have another full day available (maybe next weekend), I can shoot 2 new coats of base and then the clear.

Even after a wet sand, there is a residue. I washed everything with a mild no-residue-leaving car wash and the garden hose. With our warm dry weather, the puddles dried up quickly. I will still need to do my usual de-grease, tack-cloth routine, but I am starting out from a much better place than had I not washed it. 

Bumper Installs

front p-side

With the car sanded and clean, I decided to install the bumpers. If I learned anything from the side skirt installs it is that they will not go on effortlessly. Had I shot the pain perfectly, I would still probably have something to fix with regards to the bumpers after installing them. Unlike the side skirts, though, they were not nearly as non-compliant.

My method was similar. I started with a nice coating of contact cement on both the inside of the bumper and the steel bar it was attaching to. Ditto for the side panels. Once the cement was set up, I applied some of the clear epoxy on top of the cement along the top and face of the bumper bar. I then set the bumper in place. For the rear bumper, I re-used the M4 bolts to hold it in the right spot as the cement and epoxy set. I held the front bumper in place with a pair of long clamps just in front of the front wheels. To make sure the front held well, I spread a thin layer along the top seam, like I had with the side skirts. I know I know... this stuff is "sandable" (read: not really sandable), and I'll be scraping boogers before I can shoot the paint. I am willing to accept that, if the bumper holds firm. In the picture below, of the driver side, you can see the seam marked with a shiny line. That will need to be minimized for paint.

front d-side

The next morning, I tested the hold. I could lift the rear end of the car by holding onto the bottom of the rear bumper. That's a win. For the front, I removed the clamps, and pulled the bottom edges (near the tires) away from the car. The fender flexed a little bit, but the bumper did not budge. I will be scraping boogers, but it will hold.

Well, that's basically it for today. It has been a very labor-intense week for such a short post. That's how it goes some times, though: work for almost 40 hours and have little to show for it. If the weather holds ,and I can carve out the time, I hope to be shooting this weekend.

Thanks, as always, for following along-