The New Project: Part Deux!

[njsteve]

I got the trunk finished today. I spent a couple hours soaking the plastic tail lamp housings in PurpleStuff degreaser to remove the fossilized remains of that roofing tar/rustproofing that encased them. I also pulled the tail lamp wiring harness out and masked off the trunk area.

I first used some red oxide primer to spray a small area at the inner, tops of both NOS quarters because they were still in their original black E-coat, instead of red oxide dip primer. I then sprayed the areas that were going to get the trunk speckle paint with dark grey sandable primer. This really helped with the speckle paint coverage. I was able to do the entire trunk with one can of the Eastwood Trunk Paint since the background dark grayish color was already there.

To get the right finish I really stood back a ways to get the spray as dry as possible when it landed. I was spraying from outside of the trunk opening most of the time and I used small one-second bursts with the can until I got enough coverage to resemble the original speckle finish that is still remaining in some areas of the trunk, such as the trunk latch bulkhead. I think it came out reasonably well for a spray can job.

Here's the original post pressure washing photo:



And today's results:

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

I agree 100%, keep the pics and commentary coming.

Ryan

[njsteve]

Thanks guys!

Sometimes I wonder who is reading this stuff or if I am posting for my own entertainment. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img] My other thread has over a million-and-a-half views now. It's like it has a life of its own now!

[mockingbird812]

Sharp Mac! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[SuperNovaSS]

I am thoroughly entertained by your threads. I've through about posting similar threads about cleaning original parts but there never seems to be enough time in the day. I am revamping my blasting cabinet in the next month and will try to post results of different types of cleaning that can be done in a media blaster. I have learned a lot from your posts Steve.

Thanks for taking the time,

Jason

[KevinW]

Steve, that is pretty much exactly how I did mine, but I did the black undercoat, since 69s are black and aqua. Not sure about Eastwoods, but my Duplicolor was still very fragile when completely dry. It would rub off easily. I ended up putting many coats (7) of spray can matte clear to get a good protective coat. Kevin

[njsteve]

Actually it seems very tough as the base layer is the primer and only the speckles are from the spray can. It looks very close in finish to the remaining original finish. At the moment I wont be clearing it. I did that on the T/A and it changed the appearance of the finish too much.

[KevinW]

OK [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Look what I found! I was perusing ebay one Sunday morning, a couple weeks ago, right after someone listed this alternator. It's the exact one I needed for my car. I emailed the seller and asked him what he wanted for the alternator. He said $50. I had him send me a paypal invoice and I bought it immediately. It arrived today and I had it tested at the auto parts store and it works fine.

It's a 1101015 80 amp with a 1M14 date code. If I deduce correctly, that is December 14, 1971, perfect for my Jan 11, 1972 shipped car. This is a real oddball piece since they only came on the Firebirds with A/C and electric rear window defogger with the heating elements in the rear glass.

I disassembled it this afternoon and I am soaking the case in the trusty old Purplestuff degreaser at the moment. I found a new front bearing for it in my box of alternator parts and it should be good to go.

[SuperNovaSS]

Nice Score! That does sounds like a rare &quot;bird&quot;.


Jason