the next chapter of the story, PAINT...(LOT of pics)

[tbird31]

I figured I'd post this thread up on here since I've got it a bunch of other places. I've been updating it on LS1tech quite a bit but since the car is currently an LT1 I figured I'd show it off over here. :metal: Well after getting rearended around Thanksgiving, dealing with certain circumstances and having awesome friends I decided to fix and repaint the entire car.

The original TA hatch I had on the car after the swap was cracked in 2 places and it wasn't really worth it to spend the time to fix so I found another hatch thanks to a TFB member and scooped it up and put it AND my new Ram Air hood on.

Before shot:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/Dscn04932.jpg

Tearing it down:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/1-2.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/3-2.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/5-1.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/6-2.jpg


I rolled the fenders and had to go back and fix the bowed fender:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/10.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/12.jpg

If you've seen the car in person you'll know that the clear coat was peeling in some places, hood & passenger quarter. Well I replaced the hood obviously, but look what we found on the passenger side. Apparently someone tagged a mailbox or something and did a shitty job fixing it.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/13.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/14.jpg

Dents and passenger side fender lip as well:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/15.jpg

Sanded, filled in, block sanded and primed:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/19.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/20.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/21.jpg

Shaved the antenna. :secret:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/22.jpg

Tore down even more, no more TT2s:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/23.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/24.jpg

Hood, filling the low spots and block sanding:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/25.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/26.jpg

Fenders and Bumpers:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/27.jpg

Figured I'd make the hood functional(it will be painted to match the car):
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/28.jpg


Hatch off to be trimmed and prepped:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/29.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/30.jpg

Hood 90% done, final sanding left:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/31.jpg

To save money I got a used rear bumper. Final sanded and ready for paint:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/32.jpg

Front bumper and spoiler final sanded and ready for paint:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/33.jpg

Fenders final sanded and ready for paint:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/34.jpg

Car in the paint dept, getting trimmed and prepped:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/35.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/36.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/37.jpg

Taping it up.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/IMG_0484.jpg

Doing the final cleaning.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/IMG_0486.jpg

Master painter Benny putting on the sealer.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/IMG_0487.jpg

First coat of base.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/IMG_0492.jpg

3 coats of base.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/IMG_0498.jpg

3 coats of base, 3 coats of clear. FIN.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/IMG_0503.jpg


Putting it back together:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/61.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/63.jpg

Door all finished and put back together:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/62.jpg

I picked up a bum...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/60.jpg

My splurge. I enjoy being different, I haven't seen any 4th gen Formula with these:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/64.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/68.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/65.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/67.jpg

Hatch and hood getting trimmed out:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/78.jpg

So since it was in a paint shop I got to use professional grade undercoating.
(the calipers will soon be powdercoated silver)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/75.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/73.jpg

MONEY SHOT! haha
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/09.jpg

I have been longing for this...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/10-1.jpg

Last big load:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/80.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/81.jpg

Sprayin...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/79.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/82.jpg

Straight up sexyness...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/87.jpg

All the hours blocking paid off 10 fold: (~5-7 hours block sanding)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/88.jpg

[YZF]

You supply us with 55 pictures, a before, during, but no AFTER!!!

WTF yo? :(

BTW: That car is going to look badass. Nice choice of wheels. Havent seen those on a 4th gen bird, you are correct.

[chevy42083]

NICE!!!
I liked the Torque thrusts... but the new wheels will definitely stand out a little more, and the sizing is better ;)

[tbird31]

You supply us with 55 pictures, a before, during, but no AFTER!!!

WTF yo? :(

BTW: That car is going to look badass. Nice choice of wheels. Havent seen those on a 4th gen bird, you are correct.

Haha sorry man, the car is still sitting in the shop getting put back together piece by piece. I've got the hatch and spoiler back on. The hood/fenders/nose are still off though. I'd like to get it done this week, but I've got a lot of other work to do...we'll see...

[YZF]

Fully understandable. Im still waiting for my hood and spoiler to get done so I can put them on.

[941le]

looks awesome! Id like to find a Bum like that and pick them up too!

[Counted Out]

Nice car. Nice lady. Nice shop.

It should look great when done.

[KissMyWhtSS]

Looks good. Makes me wish I picked up a white LTx Firehawk project car I saw on ebay a couple months back. :(

[Transamman25]

Great looking ride ... you headed to G13 this year ?? If so i can't wait to see it in person !!!

[Blubird]

looks great man, thats a good lookin bum also,i wish more looked like that haha

[Neil350]

Drool, I hate you. Nice looking bum :)

[djjab57]

where does pictured bum pan handle at LOL paint look great

[SoulReaver]

Wow the fresh white paint looks way nicer than the stock gm white paint. So much " brighter" for lack of better terms.

The car looks great dude. Makes me want a white formula now, lol.

[Camaro_94]

Nice project! Looks awesome!

Cant wait to see some more pics of it!! :claps:

[tbird31]

Great looking ride ... you headed to G13 this year ?? If so i can't wait to see it in person !!!

yea man i'm going to head down.


Wow the fresh white paint looks way nicer than the stock gm white paint. So much " brighter" for lack of better terms.

The car looks great dude. Makes me want a white formula now, lol.

It is a good bit whiter then the stock color. We took out all of the yellow additive when mixing it. It's about the brightest white you can get.

[Robuilt]

looks good. nice wheels too!

[phantomzer0]

Looking awesome! Glad you decided to post it up here :)

[MeanGreen94Z]

damn man im jealous of the car and the chic, shes beautiful :)... both "she's" that is lol

[tbird31]

Well it's almost done. The body is completely back together, I just have some underside paneling to put back in, the airbox still has to be shot, there's a few bits of trash in the paint that have to be wetsanded and buffed out but other then that it's done. Oh yea, wheels as well. I ended up ordering a set of Nittos instead of keeping the Sumitomos I had on the wheels, they should be here and on by the weekend though. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get a couple good shots of it this weekend. :)

Lining up the hood:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/89.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/92.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/91.jpg

I painted the top of the third brake light because I thought it'd look different and cool:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/94.jpg

Antenna is gone:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/96.jpg

Front bumper on:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/95.jpg

Rear end finally finished with the new GM tail lights, THOSE FREAKERS WERE STUPID EXPENSIVE!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/97.jpg

Out in an overcast day:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/98.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/100.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/tbird31/102.jpg

The car overall is INCREDIBLY white. It honestly hurts your eyes at first in direct sunlight...I LOVE IT!

[YZF]

Looks good man. Put the bling back on, I hate those wheels!

[tbird31]

Well the bad news is that we torn the front end of the car back off. The paint on the fenders and front nose didn't match, so we decided to get it right before leaving it for good. So we took everything off and sanded and painted the front clip again. The headlight doors and hood are still on though. Good thing is tomorrow morning I'm going back in and putting it all back together and we're spraying the airbox tomorrow morning as well.

Hopefully my tires come in!

[Toronto_LT1]

coming along pretty nice.

did you sell the wheels in your sig?

[tbird31]

coming along pretty nice.

did you sell the wheels in your sig?

yea I sold them to a girl that drives a white TA with a gunmetal stripe, they look real good on her car. I got me a set of Street Lites :metal:

[KissMyWhtSS]

Hey if you have enough paint to do my whole car.... :heart:


j/k man the car looks great, can't wait to see the final product. The extra effort now will pay off soon.

[EsCrasston]

looks awesome man. can't wait to see the finished product..