Temporary Paint Solution

[Jr. Corvette]

Hey guys.

Many of you know but I have some pretty rough paint on my car. The previous owner had a rough ex-wife who took a hatchet to the front headlight/fender. I fixed it last year but two things went wrong. First the previous owner had it sprayed a random metalic custom color that his buddy mixed making it extremely difficult to match with spray cans. I also had an issue and the paint cracked.

So my question is what would you guys recommend I do in the mean time to temporarily fix it before I get the car painted? Try to match it again and live with the close enough look? Or do a wider area and paint some type of stripe across the front in like a flat black? Just curious if anyone has some great idea. For me, I’m leaning towards the close enough paint match but every time I get it in the primer faze it just looks so nice.

All ideas greatly appreciated!

 

[dannyboy]

Buy it a bra.

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Buy it a bra.

Ya, I’ve considered the bra look but I really don’t care for the look of the C3 corvette bras. It’s a great idea for covering up the paint, but I’d rather have bad paint than a bra.

Here’s an idea of what I had in mind. I’d need suggestions on what color it should be but I’d paint the entire front end (front bumper, headlights, front end) not the hood, up to the light green tape and fade it with two stripes. I know it won’t be perfect but it’ll cover up a lot of imperfections.

Any thoughts?

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Getting that pattern worked out a bit more. I measured it out and made it perfectly symmetrical. Figured I’d carry it across the front of the hood. Really liking how this could look. Probably in a matte black.

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Hey guys,

Bit on an update, the car is in the last stages before paint. Got a new True Flex bumper but it’s requiring a bit of body work to get the body lines right. The passenger side was out 1/4”!

I’ll post some more pictures once it’s been painted. Hopefully it looks alright after all of this.

 

[ddgermann]

It’s coming together nicely for you. There are lots of C3 guys here who have done extensive work on their cars and likely have experience with aligning the body panels and nose piece.
If you are not ready to re-paint the entire car and are going to do part of the front and maybe part of the hood; have you stood back and considered a decal that breaks up the contrast. Maybe a couple strategically placed stripes or Jake logo on the hood?

The car looks great in black (yes I’m biased)

Hurry it’s time to drive that black beauty.

D

 

[nascar03]

Nice work Jr..
The new front end looks good.
I had a new flexi-front done many years ago by a shop.
Someone backed into me so the repairs were covered.
They had to do some bodywork to make it fit.
I installed the rear cover myself a few years ago.
I had it painted my the same fellow that painted my Vette in 1987..
No bodywork required. I think I was lucky.

Here’s a link to the rear cover replacement, with pics.
1975 Rear Bumper Cover Gone Bad!

Graham

 

[Jr. Corvette]

It’s coming together nicely for you. There are lots of C3 guys here who have done extensive work on their cars and likely have experience with aligning the body panels and nose piece.
If you are not ready to re-paint the entire car and are going to do part of the front and maybe part of the hood; have you stood back and considered a decal that breaks up the contrast. Maybe a couple strategically placed stripes or Jake logo on the hood?

The car looks great in black (yes I’m biased)

Hurry it’s time to drive that black beauty.

D

Thanks ddgermann,

Ya, I’ve laid out some stripes of the top of the fender. Little hard to see in that photo so I’ll post an upclose on. Going to be 1/4” original stripe, 1/4” satin black, 1/8” original stripe then 1/8” satin black.

I’ve decided not to do the hood as it’s just to far gone and the only fix is to get a new hood. Heck, bubba glassed in that scoop when he painted the car and I’m sure in a year or two it’s gonna crack. Already missing a 1/4” chunck at the top. Figured, why waste my time when it could break.

Ya, I know. Mad hurry to get it done while still trying to take my time. However I’m still waiting for my differential to come back. Guy said it’d take 4 days to get the parts and two days to build it. Well that was 3 weeks ago. Turns out the parts are backorder. So I’m dead in the water anyway. Should have it all painted this week.

Thanks Graham!

 

[ddgermann]

Ok Graham I see what you have done there. Yes a double line transition will look pretty good I think. Excellent idea.
Back ordered parts just suck...
hope they get them in and you are rolling soon.

Derek

 

[Paul C7 to C8]

Kudos to you for taking the project on yourself! - Matching paint is difficult at the best of times, so, I think you should stick to what you think will wind up looking the best to suit both your taste and budget.... then get out and enjoy your car.

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Hey guys!

Well, I’ve been hurrying to get this project done so I could do one final post... but I’m too excited to share how the paint turned out. Here it is! The headlights are not fully installed yet, that is why they are recessed I’ll do one more post once it’s all finished and washed.

 

[nascar03]

Jr..
That looks acceptable..
Some people just run a vinyl bra to cover damage.
This is better.
Now get the rear in gear and start driving.
A full paint job can wait.

Graham

 

[ddgermann]

This turned out great for your temporary solution. The lines breaking up the transition from gloss to matte worked real good.

Bugs will be hell to get off the flat black but at least you will be driving to get them

Good job.

 

[Rruuff Day]

Looks really good Jr. Get that baby on the asphalt and come to Red Deer for coffee....lol....

 

[Riley P]

Very nice! That looks really good with the body work. Are the gears back in or is that going to still take a while?

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Very nice! That looks really good with the body work. Are the gears back in or is that going to still take a while?

Thanks guys!!

Ya, the guy who’s rebuilding my differential finally got the parts in it and he said he’d have it done sometime this week. Hopefully get it put in this weekend along with the new single adjustable QA1 shocks and the vbp dual mount fiberglass mono leaf spring! That’s the plan at least. Hopefully have it running next week/weekend.

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Hey guys,

Finally got the differential back and everything put back together and actually lowered the front end as well, so the car is now on the road. Also put in some custom headlights with 10000 lumen LED bulbs! Got it all washed up so I thought I’d conclude this thread. Just goes to show the garage paint job isn’t all that bad.

 

[Jeremiad]

The car is looking great Jr, and so is that 72(?) C10 in the driveway! Look forward to seeing you around this summer.

 

[Jr. Corvette]

The car is looking great Jr, and so is that 72(?) C10 in the driveway! Look forward to seeing you around this summer.

Thanks Jeremiad! Ya, that’s my dad’s 72 C10. Good eye.

 

[Z16Jim]

Nicely done Jr.