Ken's 280z Resto Thread

[sweatybetty]

i cant tell you how many hours i spent reading. for me, the practice was in the epoxy and primer which paid off. i used a base/clear and it came out pretty darn good for my second paint job. only a little orange peel and some dust. everything should polish out very nice

[Patcon]

I run more pressure at my gun. They make what is called an air cap pressure tester. You don't need one but it was very informative to use one. Many P sheets have pressure at the cap not at the gun. I checked my gun one time with air cap tester and I am probably running 30-35 psi at the gun. I had to actually turn it up to get to where they wanted it. Some of the pressure recommendation is environmental to limit the airborne VOC's. The problem with too much pressure is you have more overspray and less paint on the car. Which means you need more paint. Yellow is not a very opaque paint and can be difficult to cover darker primers that is why I decided to run white basecoat under my yellow. If you are running lighter coats you won't get the build the manufacturer is looking for and it can also cause orange peel if you don't have enough material to level out. There is a fine line between too little and too much causing runs and drips. Your fan should probably be broader too like 8" or so. There is a test I use to use where you shoot the gun against a piece of cardboard and test the fan. You were supposed to hold it there for some count which I don't remember. It should paint a nice sort of oval fan and not run. That helps you adjust the material. I just adjust all these things by eye now and my pressure gauge at my gun is illegible. Also I don't keep my fan constant. I narrow it for tight areas and broaden it for bigger areas but you have to adjust the paint volume too when you narrow your fan or you'll have runs HTH

[ksechler]

Patcon and Sweaty, thanks for the help.  I repainted today with good results.  There's still some orange peel and minor imperfections, but overall things are looking up.   

[Patcon]

The pictures look good. Hard to see any flaws in those. Glad I could help...

[sweatybetty]

looks nice.

[ksechler]

Dropped the motor in last night.  Quite a chore for one person....

How's it look?

[wheee!]

I don't know if that modified look is what you should be going for...

Crate that engine up, send it to me and I will send you a nice stock original 280 engine in mildly abused condition .... No charge!

[Patcon]

Love those triples

[rossiz]

what ignition are you running?

[ksechler]

My 280's starting to look more and more like a car.  I painted and installed the doors.  Unfortunately, I'm not completely satisfied with the results.  I missed a small dent in the driver's side, and I can't leave it be.  I also noticed that the color doesn't quite match between the doors and the rest of the car.  I attribute this to the fact that I botched the first attempt at painting the car and had to wet-sand and redo.  So I have effectively two more coats on the back and roof than on the doors - easily remedied.  

I'm still getting a ton of orange peel.  I'm definitely going to have to spend some time cutting and buffing.  

Edited June 21, 2016 by ksechler

[ksechler]

On 6/10/2016 at 9:25 AM, rossiz said:

what ignition are you running?

This one:

 

https://datsunspirit.com/shop/direct-fire-ignition-system-electromotive-xdi/

[Patcon]

That's a nice ignition setup! It should be able to handle what ever you want it to...