With a full social calendar and rain predicted for most of the weekend, I decided to use some of my precious vacation to spend some quality time shooting primer on the LeMans’ body parts and primer and Pontiac blue paint on the engine.
In preparation for the big day, I went out to the garage the night before, rolled the car out into the driveway, and set up all the parts for their date with the paint gun. The fenders and grill supports were placed on sawhorses and an old engine cart, while the doors were hung from the rafters. Next I rubbed all the exposed metal with Ospho to deal with flash rust that had formed over the period since the last sanding had occurred.
With body parts staged, I used the rest of that evening to finish pulling parts off the engine (carburetor distributor, vacuum lines and hoses, and the throttle linkage), and masking holes and screw threads in preparation for thorough cleaning and the next day’s rattle can encounters. Prior to removing the distributor, I turned the crankshaft until the scribed line on the harmonic balancer was directly under the pointer, and then took a photo of the orientation of the distributor and rotor to make sure I get everything back exactly as it was. I stuck rolled-up paper towels into the coolant openings on the timing chain cover, and then proceeded to empty a can of Gunk Engine Degreaser. With a nylon bristle brush, I carefully scrubbed all the wet surfaces before hosing the whole thing down and letting it sit for the night.
The next day, I brought all the body parts out to the driveway and thoroughly hosed and wiped them off to remove any residual Ospho and dust. As they were drying, I turned my attention back to the engine and re-coated it with a second can of Gunk and let it sit the requisite fifteen minutes before blasting it with the hose. That was followed by a twice-over with compressed air to remove any of the last, loose bits.
With the engine prepped, I spotted the fresh air grill (the panel that sits at the base of the windshield) leaning against the wall. Since the afternoon was still fairly young, I grabbed the grill, my grinder with the wire wheel attachment, the electric DA sander, and a bunch of course sandpaper and set up on the back lawn. An hour or so later, I had the top-facing surfaces down to bare metal and all the loose stuff removed from the backside. Getting down into all those openings was a real pain in the butt, but I got them all before blowing all the dust off and hanging in the garage.
Back to the rest of the body parts. I moved them from the driveway where they’d completely dried and back into the garage and gave them all a good wiping with some Wax and Grease Remover. After donning a head sock, long-sleeve shirt, air mask, and latex gloves, I mixed up a batch of Eastwood’s black epoxy primer and gave all the parts a solid coat. Sadly, I hadn’t ordered another quart of catalyst, so I ran out before getting to the fresh air grill and the inner surfaces of the doors, so I made a quick run to Advance Auto, bought a couple cans of zinc-rich primer, and raced home to shoot the last prepped panels.
Since I was on a roll, and the doors, grill support pieces, and driver’s side front fender were all ready nice and straight, and I knew I only needed to wait about a half-an-hour for the primer to be cured enough to paint over, I pulled out my gallon can of PPG hi-build primer and catalyst and kept shooting. Four coats later, those parts were nice and gray. I’ll let that primer cure for a few days before I wet sand their surfaces smooth.
I then moved back to the engine and emptied a can of rusty metal primer all over it including the power steering pump and the front ends of the chassis rails where the radiator support mounts. Reading the label, I knew I could start shooting the topcoat fairly soon after, so I did some cleanup for the hour I needed to wait and then grabbed a can of Pontiac blue engine paint. I gave as much of the engine that I could get to a light coat of blue. After another half-hour or so, I finished off the can with the second, heavier coat. It turned out quite nice. It’s wonderful finally having some color on the car, even if it’ll eventually get covered by hood.
With a piece of cardboard masking off the now-blue engine, I shot semi-gloss black on the power steering pump. My plan is to go back, once all the paint is dry, mask off the engine and pump and shoot the harmonic balancer and pulley wheel in semi-gloss black, as well as the brackets that are now sitting loose. Then I’ll bolt the accessories back on.
