in good shape - brunnhilde part 6

Today is the d-day. There is no turning back. Do it or die trying. I monitored the weather forecast last night. It was expected to be a day with morning cloud but decreasing clouds and becomes sunny with light breeze developing in the afternoon.


I went to bed last night after a bowl of ramen and slept well.

a wholesome bowl of ramen with spinach

I was rise and shine at 6:30am; i made an extra large french omelet with 3 eggs as opposed to the usual two. Even have time to roast a batch of coffee while the morning starts to warm from a very cool 45-degree F.

I set up an improvised air filter for the compressor.

I have done 95% of the masking yesterday. This morning I just put up a 24-inch wide polyethylene sheet to further protect the body from the spray paint dust. That only took 20 minutes or so.

i mixed the paint in the tomato can that i saved - i ain't gonna to spent no $0.75 for a plastic paint cup

 this is the $77 a quart flattener; it is just a lot of solid and mixing it took forever; this stuff has a wonderful sweet smell almost like pinacolada

i mixed up lightly over a quart of paint - consists of base paint, reducer, catalyst, and flattener; i was a bit math-challenge; mixing these in the garage i was half-high; sure can see why young people hooked on sniffing solvents and paint

For posterity here are the paint component ratios. P = base paint; R = reducer; H = hardener; F = flattener

ratio: 12P/6R/1.5H/7F

The paint I used is Sherwin Williams single stage automotive paint. It is called 3rd Dimension 5.0. And the color formula is 5UA-64269-00. It is non-metallic.

the paint component ratios that i scribbled on the datasheet

I have to wait until the sun peaking through the morning clouds and the temperature rose before start the spraying painting. I started on the sunny side first.

spraying the paint is just about 10% of the work

the harborfreight $23.99 spray gun worked beautifully - it is one of my best bang for the bucks purchase in recent time

I rotated between painting the skirt of the vehicle and the plastic parts, and that worked out well. I finished the skirt with the spray can of the rubbery translucent finish. I allowed the finishes to become tack free and proceeded to remove the mask. The light breezes begin to develop and I would pause. Fortunately the breezes came and went and I managed to worked in between.

The skirt of the vehicle got a treatment of a clear texture clear coat that is design to protect the paint from abrasion kicked up by the tires. Also since I didn't sand down the original bouncy finish I should be in good shape.

Removing the masking is the greatest pleasure of an automotive paint job. It is the moment of truth and you would soon find out if you did your work right. The moment transported to my high school days when I did a lot of autobody work and learnt from mistakes.

removing the masking is the greatest pleasure of an automotive paint job

 the moment of truth; looking inside the door jambs one cannot tell that it has been repainted

I am glad that I did not select a color that is very different from the original one. If I did the area inside the doors would show the transition unless I invest in a lot more work. The color that I chosen is just a bit darker, more charcoal, and less blue than the original color.

 i did my masking well; i didn't need to do any spray painting at the door sills

i was glad that i started the painting early; the breeze picked up and the sun also becomes quite hot; a shade tree autobodyman have to work around mother of nature

 i am leaving the plastic bits to bake in the sun