CamT's build thread

[PeteB]

Be prepared for people at Cars & Coffee, the gas station, etc. to tell you all about the other SLC they've seen, the green one. Happened to me a bunch after I peeled the dip and got the car vinyl wrapped. It was crazy the number of people who seriously wouldn't believe me when I told them it was the same car.

 

[PeteB]

Looking good Cam, can’t wait to see it assembled!

I have been wavering between painting and dipping, red or yellow for my build. Was pretty well set on red and paint, but now you have me considering a 180 degree flip. My concern with dipping is I want stripes and I think it will be much more difficult if not impossible with dip.

I've done stripes on several dip jobs. It's really easy, just use good tape. 3M Automotive Performance masking tape works well.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Kurt - check out this video on how to paint stripes with plastidip, easier than you think. It’s never going to be as good as real paint but as a temporary solution it’s really tough to beat. If you’ve got top notch painting skills you can really go wild with plastidip.

Thanks everyone - the green was a bit meh for me, the yellow’s a better fit for the car methinks.

Thanks for the link to the video Cam, so there is hope for going the dip route.

Here are the three options I am mulling over (not to hijack your thread, if I am, sorry). Ignore the curves on the rear stripes, they would be straight up the rear clam in real life (best I could do in Solidworks).

 

[Cam]

I’m pretty partial to the yellow and black myself second choice would be red and black.

 

[Randy V]

While I love the fact that you can more easily change-up color schemes, I’ve never been a fan of satin or flat paint jobs...
Are you ever going to put some “real” paint on this beauty?
—
FWIW - I love the shade yellow as I had one of my favorite Mustangs in ”screaming yellow”... But so did all the bees, wasps! Seemed like I was forever being hounded by them....
Small pic of said Mustang..

 

[Cam]

Are you ever going to put some “real” paint on this beauty?

Probably not for a while, I've been enjoying the dipping process and I'd like to develop my painting skills some more, I have a ton to learn. If I go real paint I'd like to do it myself but I have a long way to go before I'd be able to paint something competently. I also like the fact that with it being dip, I just don't obsess over how the car looks and whether it's swirl free and shiny. Some dirt and scuffs here and there don't bother me at all - it's really liberating

I had an SN95 GT as my first car, not the brightest move for a 17 year old to be driving a V8 but luckily it was an anemic 215hp. There's nothing that sounds quite like a Ford 302 at idle.

 

[Del]

Probably not for a while, I've been enjoying the dipping process and I'd like to develop my painting skills some more, I have a ton to learn. If I go real paint I'd like to do it myself but I have a long way to go before I'd be able to paint something competently. I also like the fact that with it being dip, I just don't obsess over how the car looks and whether it's swirl free and shiny. Some dirt and scuffs here and there don't bother me at all - it's really liberating

Totally true! I never felt bad about my bike being dirty, scratches, etc and did same as you and almost never washed it before I removed the dip. It was honestly quite nice not to fret over it.

One thing I've learned with the SLC is that isn't the fastest vehicle to fill up with gas like a regular car. I've spilled some gas first couple of times I filled it up trying to hurry up. I've only spilled a little gas on the bike when filling it up, but only thing it did was discolor the dip. I assume you have to be very careful filling up the SLC?

 

[Cam]

I've had some fuel spillage on the dip when I tried filling with one of those red gas cans. Otherwise at the fuel pump I never have a problem, I just grab a couple of papertowels from the dispenser and catch any errant drips before they make it onto the dip. California pumps probably dispense at a slower rate than other states since we have vapor catchers on our nozzles. I can go full press on the trigger and my fill tube won't back up.

 

[Mesa]

I had major problems filling initially, the tank vent system was undersized. Backed up in the fill pipe way too easy. It took reworking/increasing the tank vent piping up to half inch I.D.
No more problem filling....quick and easy now.

 

[Cam]

A few update pics. Hoping I can get the car back on the road this weekend.

I can already tell it’s going to be VERY difficult to keep the car looking presentable. The yellow really highlights any dirt or smudges on the dip.

 

[Del]

I think I like the yellow better than the green. How long do you think it took you from time you took to dip it total, minus peeling the old dip?

 

[Cam]

How long do you think it took you from time you took to dip it total, minus peeling the old dip?

You mean to disassemble car, mask, dip, reassemble car?

 

[Del]

You mean to disassemble car, mask, dip, reassemble car?

Yep exactly!

 

[Cam]

Yep exactly!

Disassemble - 3 hours
Mask - 5 hours
Dip - 6-7 hours
Reassemble - 10-15 hours

Putting things back together is taking a lot more time as I’m having to be more careful and actually pay attention to what I’m doing. I’m also doing things like adding PPF, some more seals, etc. significant time savings if I didn’t take the doors off or remove all the guts, door handles, etc. I didn’t want to risk the possibility of the dip pulling away so I removed hardware from all body pieces (latches, lights, covers) so I could dip everything, so that’s added time.

I’ve been nibbling away at the rebuild because I’m only getting about an hour a day to work on the car and the start/stop is making me inefficient.

But now I got doors!

I think next time I’d like to dip the car without taking the body apart just to see how that affects the finish. There are access issues so I’ll have to figure out how to address those.

 

[Joel K]

Love the new look Cam, nice job!

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Looking good Cam, I like it!!!!

 

[Ed Davis]

Good job you should be proud

 

[Jack]

As always, great job Cam.

 

[Cam]

Thank you guys, appreciate all the kind words.

Phew ... finally ... back together again! I was running on fumes (actually had to bum some gas off my father in law just to get to the gas station). Once there, the car attracted a crowd, not unusual. The yellow really ... stands out. I'm digging the new look, it's a definite upgrade from the green.

We had a family dinner tonight and I was showing people the car while it was dark out; I turned the lights on just to see what the car looks like at night - WOW. This car looks MEAN at night. Very pagani-esque.

I told my wife "Damn, it's really great to drive the SLC again." She chuckled and reminded me it's only been about 3 weeks since I last drove the car. Seems like forever ago. Anyway, here's a pic of the car back on its own 4 wheels.

 

[Del]

Thanks for the info Cam! The busa took about half that including cutting and applying the new decals. I fully understand the whole assembly part. I was constantly washing my hands to keep things looking pristine till I get the DipCoat on it.