Been distracted from BMW's lately... Slightly OT

[AZ_Jason_S]

I've owned this 914 for like 5+ years. It was some ugly "UsedToBeCandlyAppleRed" brown color. I couldn't hardly stand to drive the car it was so ugly. I decided I would attempt my own home paint job on the car. I thought about going to maaco, but the car needed some bodywork, and as we know bodywork is exponentially expensive. I thought, I would go for it, and learn a little on the way. I have 2 of these cars, and I plan on selling this one, building the other one. So, I upgraded my compressor, and set about my mission. It was alot of work, and I sanded off more body-filler than I used. I don't know, maybe that is the goal. Also, you never know what you will find under paint until you sand it off. I found a nasty, wasted panel behind the driver door. I did a lot of hammering, and a lot of heating the panel then cooling the panel, trying to shrink some high spots. In the end it came out pretty damn good for a garage job by a guy that knew jack-crap about painting cars. In the links you can see the Sequence of work. What isn't shown, I painted all the black stuff too and re-Vinyled the sail panel.

Right now, I have the ass of the car in the air while I do a clutch, and rear main seal. The fun never ends with old air-cooled Porsches!


Before Primer After Primer
After Wet Sanding
After Paint 1 After Paint 2 After Paint 3
DONE!

[e34]

how much did u pay for the paint job?

[AZ_Jason_S]

In materials.... probably between $300 and $500. I used alot of sandpaper and more filler than I needed. Like I said, I sanded alot of it off. The paint is PPG Omni which is inexpensive good paint. But, by the time you buy the reducer, the catalyst, 3 quarts of primer. It adds up. It is acryllic-urethane which so its a pretty good product. Then there is the tool investment, decent paint gun, a compressor that will handle a paint project, dual action sander, just to list a few. So the whole investment was probably more than a decent paint job would cost. However, in the end I own all the tools and the experience. I have 2 other cars I want to paint, the other 914 and my International Harverster Scout II (as seen in the background of one of the pics). I understand why decent paint jobs start at $1500-$2000. I worked on that thing over the course of a year. I expect the next will go a little quicker.

[Torque]

That looks very good ! I guess I'll go down that path with my 5er one day... my hood and right fender look awful right now.

[Springfield1952]

Jason,

Nice job and good photos. Last weekend my son and I went to the Good Guys hot rod gathering here in town (3,500+ hot rods - WOW!). Anyway we spoke with the PPG and the Dupont paint guys to get up to speed on the latest in paint technology. Since I haven't painted a car in 20+ years quite a bit has changed. I plan to paint the lower panels on my touring to match the body color sometime this winter.

Curt.
1994 530iT

[George M]

AZ,
Great job! Back a number of years ago, I too had a 914 2.0 liter and loved the car. I can e-mail you some pics if interested. The car I bought was from a family member out east...flew out and drove it home to Michigan. I stripped the car down to bare metal...it actually had a nice paint job on it and was still pretty new..but wanted a custom paint job. I didn't spray the car...had Autometric shoot it...an amazing job. I did all the prep work...car needed no filler...took it right down to the metal. Should have never of sold the car. The car at speed was so neutral with the engine in the middle. Even with manual steering the controls felt so light...a joy. A question for you....did you add any sort of dryer/accumulator to your compressed air tank...at the tank or between the tank and spray gun to take out unwanted moisture? If so, which accumulator do you run? I have always toyed with the idea of shooting cars like yourself but have never taken the step. Your 914 appears to be the perfect car to paint...not big and pretty easy to disassemble.
There seems to be two kinds of car enthusiasts...well actually three kinds...those that don't know much, but like cars...those that can wrench and those that can paint. Rarely do any of the groups seem to cross paths. I always wanted to become a good body guy as I have played around with it a bit but never developed to the degree I would like....haven't put in the miles. Lastly, modern 2 part urethane enamel paint with epoxy catalysts are pretty toxic to the body and lungs. Did you take any precautions over and above using a good small particle face mask?
Thanks for sharing your story and pics.....what the car hobby is all about.
George

[AZ_Jason_S]

AZ,
Great job! Back a number of years ago, I too had a 914 2.0 liter and loved the car. I can e-mail you some pics if interested. The car I bought was from a family member out east...flew out and drove it home to Michigan. I stripped the car down to bare metal...it actually had a nice paint job on it and was still pretty new..but wanted a custom paint job. I didn't spray the car...had Autometric shoot it...an amazing job. I did all the prep work...car needed no filler...took it right down to the metal. Should have never of sold the car. The car at speed was so neutral with the engine in the middle. Even with manual steering the controls felt so light...a joy. A question for you....did you add any sort of dryer/accumulator to your compressed air tank...at the tank or between the tank and spray gun to take out unwanted moisture? If so, which accumulator do you run? I have always toyed with the idea of shooting cars like yourself but have never taken the step. Your 914 appears to be the perfect car to paint...not big and pretty easy to disassemble.
There seems to be two kinds of car enthusiasts...well actually three kinds...those that don't know much, but like cars...those that can wrench and those that can paint. Rarely do any of the groups seem to cross paths. I always wanted to become a good body guy as I have played around with it a bit but never developed to the degree I would like....haven't put in the miles. Lastly, modern 2 part urethane enamel paint with epoxy catalysts are pretty toxic to the body and lungs. Did you take any precautions over and above using a good small particle face mask?
Thanks for sharing your story and pics.....what the car hobby is all about.
George

The dryer is the one place I did skimp a little. I used a cheap Campbell-Hausfeld seperator/filter after my pressure regulator. Then at the gun, I used a "last chance" dryer/filter. I also made a 20' cooling loop between my compressor and regulator. Again, I did this quick and dirty with a 25' air hose. I ran it straight up out of the compressor about 7'. Then serpintined it down to waist level. The serpertines, should help to knock the water out of the air. Then at the regulator, I ran the serpintine hose perpindicular into a piece of copper. I put the regulator and the filter above this junction and a ball valve below the junction. The ball valve was to drain the system. Theory being, the air would take the high road, and any water would take the low road. If/when I do it again, I think I will run a copper cooling loop with a real dryer. A real dryer costs around $200-$300. I had already made a significant tool investment so I cut this corner for now.

This paint came out as good as I had hoped for. Its not perfect, but I never expected it to be. I also color-sanded the paint to get rid of orange peel.

Regarding the face mask, I used a 3M mask that was recommended by my autobody supply store. A regret I have, I should have worn something while sanding the bodyfiller and old paint. That was probably not the brightest thing I ever did.

You know about painting and wrenching, I am probably just a level above "dangerous" at both. But to me that is what having fun with cars is all about.

Last, regarding the 914, that car only has a 1.7 with stock FI. I swear, it likes 90-95 mph more than my 525. Its just a tight little car. Definitely under-respected in its day. A good 914 driver, can rage on a 911 in tight courses, and with half the horsepower. I also have a whole 2270 cc stroker 914 motor to build. Its just sitting in boxes waiting for me to pull the trigger. It may wind up in this car for now. The other 914, I want to build like a race-car. Gutted and simple.

[AZ_Jason_S]

Jason,

Nice job and good photos. Last weekend my son and I went to the Good Guys hot rod gathering here in town (3,500+ hot rods - WOW!). Anyway we spoke with the PPG and the Dupont paint guys to get up to speed on the latest in paint technology. Since I haven't painted a car in 20+ years quite a bit has changed. I plan to paint the lower panels on my touring to match the body color sometime this winter.

Curt.
1994 530iT

I would like to match my lower panels on my car. I don't what to do about that chip guard stuff on the lower rocker. I also am trying to stay away from BMW projects in lieu of getting this 914 stuff sorted out. I tend to get distracted and end up spreading myself too thin.


I know paint tech has changed. I'm sure there are improvements because of technology advancements. I bet more changes occurred because of legal reasons. HVLP guns and CARB/DEA requirements. Honestly, I think painting that car at my house was technically illegal. There are still guys who like to shoot lacquer though. The gun I used is HVLP gravity feed. Probably ideal for home use, because of low waste and low overspray.

[AZ_Jason_S]

BTW George lets see the pic of your 'teener

[Mr. BILL]

Great job, looks awsome!!!