CGSmith0524

I hope that everyone had a Great 4th of July!!

So, I've never claimed to be a painter, or a body man, or an engine builder..... However, I know attention to detail, thanks to be in Army Aviation. Occasionally I have good ideas, sometimes great ideas, other times, not so good ideas; and when I get brave, I try to make those ideas come to life.

This past weekend, I took Thursday & Friday off to do some painting on my SS. Very rarely will you have someone just start sanding on a perfect show quality car, but that's what I did. I've always loved the GMMG ZL1 Camaros, but the problem is- they only made 69 of them in 2002. They are by far the rarest 4th Gen Camaro- IMO.

Anyways, they had a unique stripe on the hood and a flat black tail panel for an option. A common thing that most people will do is- have their tail panel section painted black, which really looks good. But, I wanted to do something different, all while maintaining the GMMG integrity. I hope ya'll like what I came up with.

I'll take ALL constructive criticism...... Good or Bad. I did all the prepping, sanding, priming, sealing, painting, wet sanding and buffing myself. I used Water Born/Based PPG products instead of the traditional Lacquer Thinner. After it dried 24 hours in the paint booth, I sanded it with 1500, then 2000, then 3000, and finally finished it with 5000. After that, I did a 2-Stage buff using Adams Polishes.

I hope ya'll enjoy it!!

Next will be installing my Kooks 1 7/8 Long Tube Headers!!

JosephIV

iTrader: (14)

Good job! It looks very good and your car really is very nice. The only negative that I can think of is: Army sucks!

Go Navy!!!!

WidowMaker_13

Great job, it turned out really well! I love the color combo

2JAWZ

iTrader: (1)

Navy is for those scared of confrontation LOL

JosephIV

iTrader: (14)

Ha ha. When I was in the recruiting office we had a kid cut the lowest ASVAB score I've ever seen. He was told that he could go into the Navy "un-designated" and try to strike for a job rating. I think he walked down the hall and became Army Infantry.

MonmouthCtyLS7

iTrader: (6)

Looks good.

bad_408_vert

iTrader: (6)

very nice, looks brand NEW

CGSmith0524

Thanks for all the compliments!! The Navy joke had me laughing..... I won't lie, I respect each Branch of the Military. I feel as I've been blessed being a part of Army Aviation..... Hell, most of the ground guys hate us.... Until they need us!! Ha Ha!!

Sadly though- I just put my baby up for sale!!

https://ls1tech.com/forums/vehicle-c...1338-sale.html

liketowork

iTrader: (4)

Looks very good. I know painters that paint every day that do less of a job.

RidetechJosh

Great job. I'm always envious of people who can do body work.

2JAWZ

iTrader: (1)

I made a joke about the Navy on this thread but I also give props,praise,thanks etc. to all of our military too. You guys/gals do a great job and Im down with ya anytime anywhere. God Bless America**

CGSmith0524

Thank you!! I think the key thing is preparation and just taking your time- which is something that most body shops don't have the luxury of.... I mean, they get paid by the job, so the faster they get it done, they can move onto the next insurance claim.

I was able to take my time and spend 2 full days just to do a hood. Most shops would have done that in a half day. But I spent a good 4-5 hours sanding and prepping my hood before painting it. Then I let it cure overnight before I started wet sanding. I also went kind of extreme by starting at 1500 Grit and working all the way up to 5,000 Grit. Again, I don't know any shop that does that, unless they specialize in custom cars.

I wouldn't say that I'm a body guy.... I was just crazy enough to try. And I figured if I failed, I'd just paint the hood blue and wet sand/buff like crazy.... Ha Ha!! If my car ever had damage on it, I'm not sure I'd tackle that.

It also made it easier knowing I could take the hood and tail panel off, therefore I knew I wouldn't get over-spray anywhere on the car. That made it a lot less stressful as well!!

I agree with you 100%!!! And again, I hate to see my SLP SS go, but hopefully, someone will appreciate how rare and hard it is to find a 2002 SS with all those options. Who knows, maybe my 69 will finish sooner than expected and I won't have to sell my baby....

CGSmith0524

Here's a couple more shots of how the hood turned out..... The more people see the entire combination, the more they like it!!