I had been planning on having my car painted this winter and after seeing others on the forum get their car’s painted, it further encouraged me to move forward. So once the days started getting colder, I started the process.
First, I stripped the car of parts and then performed the final round of bodywork. I wanted to do as much of this as I could myself. Getting the sides flat was especially challenging. Since I had time, I also enclosed the exhaust opening to mimic original cars.
I next primed the car with 3 coats of urethane high build primer using roll-on primer from Eastwood. It actually turned out pretty good. It didn’t have the same smooth texture you get with a spray gun but its more than adequate. My plan was to block sand the primer to 120 or 180 grit paper and then turn the car over to the painter to finish up. Turns out there were a couple problems with my plan. An injury to my shoulder would prevent me from doing much sanding and it turns out I applied the wrong primer. When I informed the painter what I had done, he said he intended to prime the body using polyester high build primer and that it shouldn’t be sprayed over urethane primer. That means the urethane primer would need to be sander off. Since I wouldn’t be able to do that, I’m now going to pay him to do it. Live and learn.
I found the painter I plan on using, Ken’s Custom Autobody in Marysville, CA, after seeing an example of his work at a car show several years ago. In talking with the car’s owner, he told me about the painter and turns out he’s less than 3 hours from my house. His shop specializes in painting cobras, have painted over 1100 of them over the years.
After finishing the body work I could, I loaded up the car and dropped it off at the painters. The price I was quoted for the remaining bodywork and paint, while giving me a minor heart attack, was actually in line with prices these days and I have no doubt the end result will be excellent.
As for the paint color I chose, that was a very difficult choice. Over the 4-1/2 years I’ve been building the car, I’ve considered many colors; reds, blues, silvers, strips, no strips. I’ll hold off on revealing the final choice until I have some pictures of the car with paint on it.
It should take about 3 months to complete. I’ll post updates as I receive them.
