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Spent all day sanding and got about 65% done.....I got about 6 more pieces. I took your advice and used the 80 grit to get rid of those stripes.....had to be really careful when working on that fiberglass nose cone. The metal panels were ok. Then I stepped up to 120 with the sander and finished with 150 block and hand sanding. I also took 68's advice and slowed those sanders down.....gave me much more control and reduced the pigtails by 95%. There were some places that I just could not sand....like the louvers and the quick fastener holes. I hit those places real good with scotch bright. I think I have where those stripes were feathered enough so that they will blend in when I prime.

Got a little snafu here from the previous owner....Had it hid with duct tape but there aint no way I am running a FED at the strip with duct tape on it. I am just trying to figure out the best way to fix it.....it is metal and missing about 2 inches on the end. I thought about attempting to fix it with fiberglass and mesh then sanding it to shape.....suggestions?

I figure I have one more full day of sanding then I will be ready to clean and prime. I am going to order the products from HOK tonight. The primer they have I used on the vette and was very satisfied with, very easy to apply and sand. The color I am still debating on. The wife and I are now leaning towards a whitish silver and she wants.....yes you guessed it...a black racing stripe running up the middle of it. After putting so much effort getting rid of those stripes......but I must admit it would look good. I will be placing the name "Salt&Pepper Shaker" in vinyl lettering on the sides. This would also give me my first experience painting a stripe. One thing a bit cheesy I am going to do though. The underside of the panels, the part you do not see, is also painted blue. The paint we are looking at is $125/quart. at that price I can't see spraying that money on the underside that people can't see. Now, the frame and everything else is painted black. I think I am just going to get a couple of cans of black rustoleum for the underside and call it a day. The inside shell of the main body where you sit is painted like this. I think this will still look ok.

It's you and your wife's TOY (all be it a great toy!) so do what you want to with it. Look at what's on rat rods and grungemobiles now. Anything goes...... you are a fast rascal when it comes to projects though.....

76vette wrote:Only problem is the 80 grit with a palm sander leaves swirls. I then took 150 grit and hit it by hand which did a lot of good but in some places I still have swirls. I plan to use House of Kolor high build primer. House of Kolor has good quality product but do you think it will cover up the swirls??? Do you think if I hit the rest of the body with 150 grit it will cut in enough for the primer to grab onto?

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those look like normal scratches from a DA.

are you trying to get ready for primer ? a DA scratch is better than a long hand scratch.

the orbit of a DA is purposeful in both sanding and hiding.

OK, got all my pieces sanded down and ready for a primer shoot this week. Trying to get my head together on a paint plan but need some advice. I was going to try a pearl on this thing but decided to keep it simple and just go with a base white....Wimbledon white to be exact for time and simplicity. Now, I want to paint 2 black racing stripes going from the nose cone back to the seat but have never painted a stripe before. The vette I did in candy so I am familiar with that but would like to expand my meager skill a bit. I know a fella that owns a body shop who I was talking to and I told him I was going to shoot the white then the stripe. He stated I have it backwards....I shoot the stripes first then the main white basecoat. Is this correct? If I tape off the stripes and paint them first, I think I have to take the tape off before the stripes completely dry to prevent a rough edge? How long to dry before I do this? 20 min? 40 min? I will be finishing off with urethane show clear, HOK products. Once I prime I will post some more pics.

Used my new paint booth for the first time....sure beats painting in the garage. Got most of the panels to the dragster primed. I am rushing this a bit and got some contamination on a few panels so I will have to sand down and re-prime....I have a few other pieces to prime anyway.

Well got it finished and it did not turn out too bad for only my second paint job.....I am happy with it. After I stopped using that HOK post sanding cleaner I had no more problems with fisheye. I am a Dawn and water man for the rest of my painting. Now, for a tune and a blast down the quarter mile. When I turned on the delay box the previous owner had it set to run 9 flat.....and that was without tuning. He only made a few runs with it before he passed away from cancer. It was his dream and now is mine so it only seemed proper to keep his name on it somewhere.

Thanks for updating us on the problem with the fish eyes. It is sure to help someone in the future. Now remember to take an "in the cockpit" video for us on one of your runs.
Car looks good and you got it done quickly.

Cool, let the good times roll.......