GM LFX 3.6L V6 Motor Swap

[Infinity]

Did you have to paint over the textured black plastic inside the 'vent hole' here?

[gtpvette]

Originally Posted by Infinity

I mean like remove the black plastic, cut out the embossed emblem and weld it back on, and then reattach the black plastic. It looks like it may make the whole process a bit easier.

Gotcha,,, you may have a point. Not sure how hard it'd be to pull the black plastic off though. I had to go find a picture of what the back looked like stock,, got one off ebay and it's below. I clearly had to cut some of the black plastic off to do the welding,, I think I used what I cut off as filler during the welding. Again I think I should of gotten the HF plastic welding kit for at least the filler rod.

Originally Posted by Infinity

Did you have to paint over the textured black plastic inside the 'vent hole' here?

It's covered so hopefully no paints getting on it.

[gtpvette]

Sidebar,,,, TRD sticker to keep people guessing...

[gtpvette]

Body work continues.

I bought paint this week,, went with Axalta (Dupont) their mid tier Chromabase stuff,, it's base coat, clear coat. Have 1 gallon color and just over a gallon clear for right at $400,, should be way more than needed. I took the gas cap off to take to then and gave them color code so the color looks pretty good,,, going to shoot the fender garnishes and the backers for the hood locks to see if it's close. That'll happen later this week.

Hood scoop is done and ready for paint,,, work on hood continues. I've sanded both sides but I need a bit more glazing putty and primer in the corners that were bent. As the hood is kind of a cowl induction hood,, which I don't want or need,, I'll need to block off the high pressure air access at the base of the windshield. I'm thinking just cut and shape and some aluminum to bloc the flow.

As for the pictures.. first is when you put epoxy primer on outside and it rains,, looks like grey camo. Sands out fine,,, well at least I hope.. Next old schools hood locks,, painting the backing plates on both sides body color. Next are just a few of the hood,, it's been a lot of work between the scoop and the hood. Last shows the cowl induction area that needs to be closed.

[gtpvette]

A few updates. I’ve been moving closer to paint but the amount of water I’m getting when shooting primer had become a problem. I opted to make a water separator out of ¾” copper pipes,, saw it on the internet so must work right?? It seems to help. Added a HF filter as well,,, what a piece of crap. On my 2nd one and this one leaks.

Set up a mini paint booth to paint the garnishes and hood lock backers. In honesty I haven’t painted a car or parts in a loooong time. Probably 30+ years ago when I did my 85 Vette. Shot 3 coats of base and was surprised could still see sanding scratches. Put on 4 coats of clear which flowed out real nice and took care of the scratches.

The bitch is the color is off,, going to see if they’ll tint it again to get it closer and try again. Mod to garnish looks good so that’s something. One step forward,, one back.

[Raven86Project]

Looking forward to seeing the flares painted and installed!

[gtpvette]

Originally Posted by Raven86Project

Looking forward to seeing the flares painted and installed!

Me to brother. Went by paint shop yesterday and they re-tinted what I have. Will try to shoot the garnishes again this weekend if it's warm enough.

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by gtpvette

A few updates. I’ve been moving closer to paint but the amount of water I’m getting when shooting primer had become a problem. I opted to make a water separator out of ¾” copper pipes,, saw it on the internet so must work right?? It seems to help.

That's a clever setup...it'd work even better with cold water pipes adjacent to the ones holding air. And the heat exchange would technically reduce the amount of work your hot water heater had to do, if you used the feed for that...lol. I bet you'd save millions!

[Infinity]

The garnishes are looking amazing! Can't wait to see the fender flares!

This is shaping up to be one of the best builds out there on this platform.

[gtpvette]

Good news is I got the paint on the garnishes last weekend. Color isn't perfect but close enough to move ahead. I painted them Saturday, on Sunday scuffed them with 1500 sandpaper to get the crap out of the paint. I was surprised how easily they sanded,, guess the clear was still soft,, buffed them out and they are as smooth as a babys butt. All in all they look pretty good. I reinstalled with some 3M VHB tape. I did get a very small crack where I welded it on the driver side while I was pushing on it to seat the tape. Not bad enough to do anything about it.

The bad news is the compressor motor is shot. I'd recently replaced the pressure switch and head on the compressor,, so with those costs and the cost of the new motor could of bought a new one. Could of, would of, should of. Motor will be here next week.

[Irace86.2.0]

Was it a 2k paint? If not, did you bake them? Both make a huge difference, but they came out nice.

[gtpvette]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

Was it a 2k paint? If not, did you bake them? Both make a huge difference, but they came out nice.

I don't believe the base coat is,,, mixing says activator is optional and only calls for a small amount. Clear is urethane. These were air dried.

[gtpvette]

Moving forward with paint work. Made a paint booth,,, sort of. I don't have a garage as my home is on stilts. I wrapped four stilts with palate wrap to create a paint booth of sorts. Not perfect but worked quite well. As the wind was out of the north east, I totally blocked the north and east side,, left the south and west side open at the top. I had my shop fan providing air in the booth,, filtered with 4 ac filters. The bad news is I had to get on the floor and shimmy under the plastic to get in the booth,, tough when you're almost 62,, and there were 7 coats.

That said paint looks really good I'll scuff with 1500 tomorrow then buff. Next weekend I'll paint the hood and scoop.

[venturaII]

That's a slick setup! Nice work.