Well, things are getting close to the end here.  Still waiting on a few parts to come in and the revised center section of the exhaust to be completed then she will be about ready to go.  Miguel came over today and did the final polish on the paint which actually looked pretty amazing before he even started.  After about 6 hours of polishing with three different compounds and pads, the paint is absolutely incredible.  Not a single scratch or swirl to be seen.  There are a couple pics below, but they do not do the paint justice.  I will have to wait for a nice sunny day and take some pics here to really show the quality of the paint job.

While Miguel was doing the polishing, I painted the rear carpet which really looks great.  I was a little skeptical of how it would look, but it really looks like new carpet. I should get the new luggage straps in from Jay in the next couple days to complete the back hatch area.  It should look great once these are in. Also got the hatch plugs coming in as well.

Got the horns refurbed and installed.  Also put in the final fender screws and touched those up with paint to match.

 

Well, things are getting close to the end here.  Still waiting on a few parts to come in and the revised center section of the exhaust to be completed then she will be about ready to go.  Miguel came over today and did the final polish on the paint which actually looked pretty amazing before he even started.  After about 6 hours of polishing with three different compounds and pads, the paint is absolutely incredible.  Not a single scratch or swirl to be seen.  There are a couple pics below, but they do not do the paint justice.  I will have to wait for a nice sunny day and take some pics here to really show the quality of the paint job.
While Miguel was doing the polishing, I painted the rear carpet which really looks great.  I was a little skeptical of how it would look, but it really looks like new carpet. I should get the new luggage straps in from Jay in the next couple days to complete the back hatch area.  It should look great once these are in. Also got the hatch plugs coming in as well.
Got the horns refurbed and installed.  Also put in the final fender screws and touched those up with paint to match.
 

Nice shirt my buddy Miguel was wearing there from ZCON 2014.

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This car is amazing.  Your standard of work is top shelf!  I have one question:  Why did you choose to go with base/clear paint?  The rest of your restoration seems so faithful to original, down to hose clamps, but the paint is not original single stage.

14 minutes ago, loyter said:

  I have one question:  Why did you choose to go with base/clear paint?  The rest of your restoration seems so faithful to original, down to hose clamps, but the paint is not original single stage.

Yes, this really was a tough choice.  I talked with my paint guy at length about the two options.  We went with the two stage in order to have a more durable finish and simpler touch-up if needed.   We also wanted the paint to really shine and standout.   

Durability is also why most of the undercarriage is powdercoated, the underside is POR-15ed,  and I put clear coat or matte coat clear over some parts (like aluminum).  Otherwise, in 4 or 5 years the process needs to be repeated.  Ideally, it would be nice to have the restoration look perfect for another 40-something years.

Wow, what a great job!! I really how you caught the Z reflection on the upper quarter between the hatch and body line.

Watching Barrett Jackson this weekend they said that there are 2 different types of restorers: 1 just the way they came off line and 1 who prefer to make them better than they came off the line. It is all about owner and restorier's choice of how they want the car to be. Both ways have their positives and negatives. I for one would only go with 2 stage for the reasons Rich stated.

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35 minutes ago, motorman7 said:

Yes, this really was a tough choice.  I talked with my paint guy at length about the two options.  We went with the two stage in order to have a more durable finish and simpler touch-up if needed.   We also wanted the paint to really shine and standout.   

Durability is also why most of the undercarriage is powdercoated, the underside is POR-15ed,  and I put clear coat or matte coat clear over some parts (like aluminum).  Otherwise, in 4 or 5 years the process needs to be repeated.  Ideally, it would be nice to have the restoration look perfect for another 40-something years.

Makes good sense.  I agree that base/clear is better.  I was just wondering about originality.  Personally, I love single stage, but I certainly can't argue with your choice. 

1 hour ago, loyter said:

Makes good sense.  I agree that base/clear is better.  I was just wondering about originality.  Personally, I love single stage, but I certainly can't argue with your choice. 

Single Stage today - still wouldn't be original.  To my knowledge, no one offers Amino Alkyd Enamels as mixed in the 70's - and I don't believe it could legally be sprayed today. If I'm not mistaken only water based enamels are allowed in California. Even then it is hard to get the exact amount of orange peel to show...

2 minutes ago, Carl Beck said:

only water based enamels are allowed in California.

That is correct. 

Can you make a single stage look as good as a base/clear?

8 minutes ago, rcb280z said:

Can you make a single stage look as good as a base/clear?

To my knowledge, no. Because all of the color is below the clear coat it makes it look deeper than a single stage can. It also tends to have that shiny wet look that is hard to accomplish with single stage. Also all of the UV inhibitors float to the top of the single stage paint as it cures. When you cut and buff it, you are removing the UV protection. The clear coat maintains the UV protection even after the C&B

Doesn't clear coat break down or get cloudy after awhile?  I know my boat did after a few years but it was very much in the ultra violet rays.  My cars stay in the garage 80 percent of the time.

I'm about to get my 280 painted and any info would be helpful.

Thanks.

8 minutes ago, Patcon said:

To my knowledge, no. Because all of the color is below the clear coat it makes it look deeper

I figured you would say that. I remember when I had mine done 20 yrs ago it was deep looking. I loved it.