Painting Fenders

[Figure8it]

When I purchased my car last year, the original fenders had some small cracks in need of repair. I always preferred the late C4 fenders (my first Corvette was a 95? coupe) so rather than repairing the original fenders now, I purchased new 95? fenders.

I have a friend that owns a collision repair shop was willing to teach me and my goal was to do as much of the work as I could to paint them. I started with the fitment and put them on the car. He made the adjustments to make the lines of the car perfect which required some shaving of the molds.

Once fitted, we needed to sand the gloss coat from the molds for primer to stick well. It took from 6pm-12:30am to finish these two steps. In the morning, his staff primed them for me. I arrived back at the shop again at 6pm and worked on sanding the primer smooth. I worked both fenders about 90 minutes each to get them ready for the base coat.

It was about 11:30pm when I started to mix up everything. Base coat was first, then color and after they were sprayed, I mixed the clear.

He did the base coats and the first coat of paint. It was then my turn to learn. I tried to pay attention to how he did things and I was able to practice on a paper setup for me. The goal was to not paint it too wet and for it to look dry after it was painted. I painted the second and third coats. He applied the last coat of paint and then did the clear.

It was about 2:30am after I finished up some touch ups and went home. The next afternoon we installed them on the car. I?m very happy with how they turned out and that I was able to put much of the work into it.

Here are a few pictures of the project.Image1666542818.353004.jpgImage1666542849.490794.jpgImage1666542855.404814.jpgImage1666542937.418881.jpgImage1666542943.973036.jpg


1992 Polo Green ZR-1, DRM500

[JT ZR-Won]

Wow, great job! That would be something I wish I knew how to do... or even had access to the proper shop/tools.

Turned out great!

Jay

[Mystic ZR-1]

What do you mean by "shaving molds"?
They turned out great!

[Figure8it]

Thanks Jay! My project over the winter will be to repair the old fenders and get them ready for paint. Another learning experience that I'm looking forward to.

Right now, I consider the paint on the rest of the car in good condition (in the ballpark of a 7) so maybe someday I can paint the entire car. I plan to drive it and enjoy it so now that everything is sorted, and I mean totally sorted, it's almost time to get things put away for winter.... I'll likely work on the reviving the rest of paint while I have it stored. Should be very clean by spring.

PS. I see you are in Bradenton, FL. I was recently there at a friend's place before the storm. I hope you didn't have too much damage.

[Figure8it]

Originally Posted by Mystic ZR-1

What do you mean by "shaving molds"?

They turned out great!

TY!! The fender edge on the inside door jams had a rough edge that wasn?t very uniform. It didn?t interfere with clearance for the doors but it made it much closer. He was able to sand it down to match on both sides.

Image1666624562.543825.jpg


1992 Polo Green ZR-1, DRM500

[Mystic ZR-1]

OK, thanks, now it makes sense.
Nice job!

[Z51JEFF]

I too like the the 95 fender panels much more than the 91 panels I had on my car. When it comes to metallics a beginner is best to leave it to the pros. I've been painting small jobs for years and I wouldn't even attempt a metallic job,clears no problem. Are those fender panels aftermarket? When you say base do you mean primer,the base is color. 2 stage is base and then clear.

[Figure8it]

Originally Posted by Z51JEFF

I too like the the 95 fender panels much more than the 91 panels I had on my car. When it comes to metallics a beginner is best to leave it to the pros. I've been painting small jobs for years and I wouldn't even attempt a metallic job,clears no problem. Are those fender panels aftermarket? When you say base do you mean primer,the base is color. 2 stage is base and then clear.

I bought the fenders from corvetteparts.com (links below). They were newly created molds and look to be made specifically when I ordered them based on the dates.

This is not a job I would have ever attempted without someone teaching me or on anyone else's car but my own. The day for paint was a nervous excitement for me all day since we worked on things starting in the evening. It was great to soak in all the things that were being taught to me. His point was "we can fix whatever I may do wrong".

I'll ask him about the mixtures, but I needed to mix 3 separate things to be applied and the first thing mixed he called the base coat, which looked similar to the primer color that was sanded off earlier that night. After two coats of base were applied, the color was then sprayed. He applied the first coat of color with the focus for the panels not to look "wet". I applied the next two coats of color with the same intent after practicing then gaining his approval. It?s not easy at all and it?s an art to master for sure. He finished up the last coat then did all the clear coat.

Image1666715624.011916.jpg


https://corvetteparts.com/item/fende...anel-1995-1996
https://corvetteparts.com/item/fende...anel-1995-1996

[JT ZR-Won]

Originally Posted by Figure8it

PS. I see you are in Bradenton, FL. I was recently there at a friend's place before the storm. I hope you didn't have too much damage.

Thank you. We got very lucky. It was a lot worse south of us

[GOLDCYLON]

Nice looking polo. I have a pair of 96 CE fenders waiting to do this treatment too. GC