Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Powder Coating (and sandblasting)

Over the years at car shows & cruise-ins in Maine, I was often asked if I knew of a good place to get powder coating done. Recently I restored an '85 GMC and decided to get the old wheel rims blasted and powder coated. The guy who finished my truck (David Wildes, Limington) mentioned someone he knew. Upon further investigation I discovered the guy was Todd Chartier and he has a facility in the old Sylvania building in Standish. The name of the company is GDL PAINT, INC. 

Contact number is (207)642-1055.

I can attest to extremely good results, and Todd and his staff are super friendly. They take "walk-ins", too - I dropped off my wheels on Wednesday and had them back on Monday. It helps that there is another company in the same building that does the blasting - since my wheels were steel, they used the "pellet" method that produced a super smooth finish.

If interested, give Todd a call, or drop by at 234 Northeast Rd, Suite 8, Standish. You gotta go all the way around the building to get to them, but it's sure wworth it.

Oh, by the way - they did all (5) wheels for $90 each.

And if you don't need powder coating, please pass this on to others who may.

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Saturday, September 16, 2017

Now THAT'S what I call a gloss finish!

Okay, folks, here are the results of the complete ceramic coating on the Porsche. As you can see from these pix, the reflection is nearly free of any distortion - you can easily read the lettering on my shirt. And check out the reflection of the tile floor!

And when you realize these pictures are not even as clear as the real thing - when I look at my reflection I can make out every wrinkle on my 70 year old face. It's nothing short of amazing, when you consider there is not a drop of wax on this car.

Conclusion: I'm gonna do the GMC...

Friday, September 15, 2017

High Gloss Without Any Waxing

Today I decided to try something new for a very high gloss automobile finish that needs no waxing, and is hydrophobic (water sheets off, no streaks, no spots)

I used our 1980 Porsche 924 as my guinea pig.

First, I gave it a wet sanding, then a good buff. Then a good washing. To remove any buffing compound, I buffed again with Meguiar's ULTIMATE compound. I then washed the entire car with Meguiar's WASH Plus, which is more than just a wash - it has microscopic abrasives that further strip off any residue from waxes and buffing compound.

I followed up with an IPA wash (15% solution of isopropyl alcohol & water)

Here is the result - a very high gloss, even though there is NO WAX on the vehicle.

And this is only phase 1. Tomorrow I will apply two coats of C-quartz ceramic coating, followed by a coat of RELOAD. According to the manufacturer (and some pro detailers), I should end up with a very, very deep, glass-like gloss that needs no waxing (though you CAN wax it) and is hydrophobic - you can even spray-paint graffiti on it, let it dry, and it supposedly it just wipes off (though my experiment will not go that far!)

And if the results are what I hope for, I will use the same system on our '85 GMC C2500...

Bill

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Update on the '85 GMC C2500 Resto

I Know - It's Been Awhile.

Over the last 2.5 years that my GMC has been (supposedly) getting restored, a lot of folks have asked about it. Well, it's finally done! It's too late in the season to get it to many shows, and we plan to be moving to Virginia next year, so for those of you interested, I am posting some pix here.

I was forced to take legal action against the business that started the resto, and after 2 years I had to have the 50,000 parts hauled to another guy to finish. David Wildes (yeah, the stock car racer of old) did a wicked good job, and it only took 6 weeks. He had to redo a lot of hack work the first guy did, though. But I'll give credit where it's due - the first guy did a very good job in body correction, and a pretty fair (albeit incomplete) paint job. But anything that wasn't going to show was either short-cutted or hacked. 

I actually have over 100 pictures during the process, but no time to post them all, so the "before and after" will have to do. Suffice it to say, it is a complete frame-up restoration, and damn close to perfect. Robin has claimed it as her own, and does 90% of the driving, which is why we have the vanity plate, "MOMS GMC".

Not sure if we will get to OOB this year - we're still pretty down on how they run their show, and how much they milk the entrants who are already doing so much to bring tourists and $$$ into the area.

Oh - and if you know anyone looking for a neat little 1980 Porsche 924 turbo in excellent condition, this one is available (and advertised in Hemmings). They can give me a shout at ptwoodycrew@aol.com

Later! And good luck at the shows...

Bill