Sultan wrote:Rob_Mopar wrote: For your theme, you need to paint the car white, get yourself a white racing suit, a pipe, and a black hat.I think that is Smokey Unick. Wildly brilliant before his death. Not so much after.....
Yes that is Smokey Yunick and his Fiero from '84.
Gearheadotaku wrote: i read that article some where, very interesting. I wouldn't mind the car in white, but a paint job is not in the budget. I'm holding out for black parts for the replacement panels I need
I'm a little late getting back to the thread, but the paint I was suggesting was with the Challenge in mind. 
A couple people have already suggested the tractor enamel. That where I was going. Valspar makes a white tractor enamel. They make a nice black too. I think the gloss black was around $39/gallon the last time I priced it.
Cotton wrote:turboswede wrote: Buy some foam rollers, blue tape, sand paper and some Rustoleum in the can. $50 and you've got a paint job.or a harber freight hvlp during a sale, paper, tape, and some rustoleum or (my preference) valspar tractor paint from TSC for $30 a gallon. You're still around $50 and you'll have a much better paint job with less labor to make it look good. I have no idea why people roll paint on if they have a compressor that will run an hvlp.
Hmmmm . . . . I must try this . . .
turboswede wrote:Cotton wrote:Because it is less messy, uses less paint and the finish can turn out just as well.turboswede wrote: Buy some foam rollers, blue tape, sand paper and some Rustoleum in the can. $50 and you've got a paint job.or a harber freight hvlp during a sale, paper, tape, and some rustoleum or (my preference) valspar tractor paint from TSC for $30 a gallon. You're still around $50 and you'll have a much better paint job with less labor to make it look good. I have no idea why people roll paint on if they have a compressor that will run an hvlp.
Spraying with an HVLP does not use more paint than rolling it on with a foam roller....are you kidding me? It is not nearly as messy, and it does take a lot more work to get a good finish rolling it on.
How much wetsanding are you doing rolling that paint on?
As far as the paint....if you're going with black and you want cheap I'd go with John Deere Blitz Black (made by valspar) for a nice matte finish or Valspar low gloss for a blacker/slightly glossier finish. I recently did my truck with the John Deere paint and a buddies with the Valspar...both turned out nice.
Anyway, if you want to debate rolling vs spraying we should start a new thread as opposed to derailing this one.
Cool buy on the Fiero. I saw it posted and drooled over it. There might be a 3.8 SC one heading to the Challenge as well.
P.S. Cotton, Can you post up a quick instrucitons on materials etc on the Valspar Paint? I think I might go this way on my Volvo.
Greg Voth wrote: Cool buy on the Fiero. I saw it posted and drooled over it. There might be a 3.8 SC one heading to the Challenge as well. P.S. Cotton, Can you post up a quick instrucitons on materials etc on the Valspar Paint? I think I might go this way on my Volvo.
Hey Greg,
I painted my buddies truck last week with the Valspar low gloss black. I bought a gallon, but did not need near that much material. This was on a full size chevy truck, short bed, standard cab. We did not do the jambs, but did spray the inside of the bed.
I used the harbor freight HVLP gun that comes in the two gun kit along with a detail gun.
http://www.harborfreight.com/professional-automotive-hvlp-spray-gun-kit-94572.html
I got them with a coupon for a little over $30 I think. You can get the 20oz gun by itself and save a little money.
I scuffed the entire truck with 400 grit paper, repaired a few areas with evercoat rage gold filler, then primered over the filler, and taped the truck up.
When it came time to spray I thinned the valspar paint 20% with mineral spirits. I have used paint thinner in the past, but the paint seemed to spray out better using mineral spirits, so that's what I'd recommend. You can also use naptha, but I have not tried it that way yet. Valspar has an optional hardener you can use....it's sold on the same aisle as the paint. I didn't use the hardener this time, but plan to on the next thing I paint (probably my car trailer) because the dry time was longer than I expected. This was a problem because I needed to fix a few runs and apply a second coat, but had to wait until the next day due to the extended dry time without using the hardener.
Just an fyi...the John Deere Blitz black (matte black) I used on my truck dried fine without a hardener.
Keep in mind this is a cheap budget paint job. It's not going to come out looking like a BC/CC job, but then again there is much less effort involved and the results have been great so far. Also, if you want to hide some dents and dings the matte black is the way to go. I've had several complements on my truck and that never happened in the past with it's faded black paint and peeling clearcoat.
I've painted a couple of my cars with high end basecoat and clearcoat and, for me, it was a long, expensive, and painful process, but I considered it worth it in the end for those cars. For my truck...and my friend's....the tractor paint was perfect.
Engine's out. Found another little surprise, a Weiand intake manifold.
In reply to Gearheadotaku:
hope there's more goodies inside
Wow, time flies when you're scrubbing, painting, and shopping. rear suspension has been cleaned, painted, and reassembled. Engine bay cleaned and painted. Wiring harness work has begun and several boxes of goodies have appeared over the last few weeks...
Mild winter means more progress. TBI cleaned and re-assembled. Motor and trans back on the cradle. Looks like my L98 exhaust may not work...without modification
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Gearheadotaku wrote: Mild winter means more progress. TBI cleaned and re-assembled. Motor and trans back on the cradle. Looks like my L98 exhaust may not work...without modification
I've always wondered how those look out of the car.
Get the casting # off the block and also if you can off the heads. This will tell you alot about the motor.
Great looking project. I'm in for more updates.
This is a really cool build!!! Keep up posted!
Keep up the good work. Looks squeaky clean. A trick I used on my wiring looms was to shoot them with gloss black paint to make them match the rest of the engine compartment instead of trying to scrub them to look nice.
All back together and in the car. Wound up with the cast iron manifolds the car came with, but scored set of nice valve covers. After a quick shot of paint and a couple hours of polishing they look awesome. Were supposed to be red, but came out Chevy orange oddly enough. Few trial and error runs were made to get engine back in. The new covers are a bit taller and my electric water pump needed more clearance. Did I ever mention I really like my grinder? How did I ever make do without this thing? Now to start wiring and plumbing.
That looks like a great project! My own Fiero experience wasn't so great. I think that I have the distinction of having the only Fiero literally held together with shoelaces. I had an Iron Duke '86 and the cast ear on the block that holds the alternator snapped off while I was driving down the San Diego Freeway. Stranded on the side of the road, I used one of the laces out of my tennis shoes to tie and tension the loose end of the alternator to the firewall. Drove it that way for four months until I traded it in!
I really dig the valve covers. It looks good in that engine compartment.
Agro1, you are truly on a shoestring budget! Now that's a roadside fix I never would have thought of.
It started and ran today! All the gauges even work!
Congrats!
STOP IT!
I WILL NOT START A V8 FIERO BUILD!
Damn you!
Off to Craigslist.....
Better stay away from Pennocks. Someone is selling a V8 Archie install kit for cheap.
Is that a sheet metal adapter to bolt the TBI unit to the 4bbl manifold?
The manifold is a Holley made to put a TBI on an "old" motor. No adapter needed. Was a Craigslist score.
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