Now it was time for paint.... base is 2K epoxy primer, then a 1k primer/sealer finished with 2K single stage BMW white. After epoxy primer it's sanding/filler/sanding/filler..... it's a long process. I had painted small stuff before but a complete car is something else. I decided to do it all myself in my garage using 2K spray cans (rattle cans). These cans have a capsule with hardener inside which you break before use. The paint is a real automotive 2K paint which is durable just as the paint a paint shop would apply. It's a bit more expensive (and difficult) than using a compressor and a spray gun but for me this was the best solution. My space is rather limited for a job like this and since I paint smaller areas at a time it is easy to spray and just walk away after, not having to clean the spray gun.

Things went okay until I sprayed the roof... I touched the roof with a spray can while spraying leaving a scratch. I thought about leaving it but I would have to sand and spray again so I chose to spray some more paint and hoped it would fill in. That resulted in a big run in the paint. After curing I sanded it smooth and found a low area in the roof I missed before. I filled and smoothed it and bought some more paint to re-spray the roof. It turned out better but when I pulled away the tape I saw the paint shop supplied the wrong colour! (you can see the difference between the A-pillar and roof) So they gave me new paint....but I had to sand and spray the roof again. There was one area that could be better so since I had to do it again anyway I did the fill/sand routine another time. The third (or fourth, can't remember) time the roof came out very nice, I was pleased with the result.

I continued with the rest of the body, here again there were areas I had to do again when I wasn't satisfied with the result. Doing all this work myself I gained a lot of respect for paint and body guys! I have spent countless extra hours fixing mistakes or perfecting (re-doing) the bodywork, not to mention the extra money in filler and paint. This is all part of the learning curve I guess, still with all the extra time and money this job will cost me a fraction of what I would have spent dropping the car off at a shop. If I could afford to have the work done by a pro I would have, knowing what I know now. The only thing is that the total price of the Nova would probably be double the amount what I have in it now. For a show car (and a model that is economically worth it) that would be okay but not for this budget build driver. I seam sealed the drip rails to make sure that rust has no chance in this area.

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You can reach me by e-mail at: pro-touring @ hotmail .com