Paint
 

The day finally came when I was ready to put the color on! I've painted a half dozen cars in the past, and except for the final buffing, shooting the car with color is the most gratifying part. Its also one of the easiest steps once all the preparation is finished. The pictures below were taken over about a week's time, first outfitting the garage, then spraying the doors, hood and trunk, then after they dried I moved the chassis inside and finished it up. The plastic "paint booth" was intended to move enough air through the area to clear the overspray cloud in a reasonable amount of time, and also protect the contents of the garage. I was not expecting it to keep a dust-free environment, that's just not possible in a garage. I always wet-sand (its also called "color-sanding") the paint, so a some dust particles here and there are no concern. Some of the pictures are a little dark and others make the color look a little strange, but I assure you that its Riviera. 8-)

I made a couple panels that the garage door rests on, then mounted the fan to blow out.

Plastic was attached tightly to the ceiling and can be rolled up when I'm done so I can use it another time.

I painted the doors, hood and trunk lid first.

Drying time. The paint went on well, but the filtered light through the plastic makes it look dull.

Doors finished up before the hood and trunk since they didn't need both sides painted.

The spot on the right is an area that test sanded.

Now its the chassis' turn!

The spec for the PPG paint I used calls out 3-7 minutes between coats!

I basically walked around the car squirtting paint, then started the next coat right away.

Its Riviera, trust me.

Nose and engine compartment. Lots of little nooks and crannies.

Front valance with the undercoating I reapplied. Turned out great!

Spare tire well had some surface rust that was grinded and sealed with POR-15 before painting. I'm tempted to cover it with spray on truck bed liner to keep the tire from taking the paint off again.