SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[Baldwinvette77]

Good god damn yes 

[Daytona R/T SE]

This is not a full update because I am too tired to do one but I thought that those of you who have suffered through this whole build should see the car as soon as it had some shine on it. Many thanks again for the over the top comments. Makes this process fun.

[Stevearino]

Thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement and thanks for sticking with me. Feels like I crossed some imaginary finish line but I know how easy it is  to stall out when there is so much more to do. As far as getting projects like this done I am at a stage in life where my kids are grown and while the house is mostly done I don't have as much tugging at me like I did when I was younger. So all you young guys who have projects like this but actually have a lot more going on in your life don't get discouraged. Nibble at it. Even a little progress feels good.th

Well I was a bit shagged out from doing the paint work so I did not bother with a proper update so this is a catch up.

I know it might be hard to tell from the pictures but this is a two tone paint job. The sides are an 04 Dodge color. I tried to find a Dodge color for the top and thought I had found one on a 2014 Challenger but it turned out to have too much red in it and looked almost
in the sun so the top color is a Toyota color. After spraying the side color and letting it sit for a day I masked it off with some 1/2" fine line tape, then papered it and applied the top color. After removing the paper and tape I clear coated the entire car.

[Stevearino]

I wanted the hood insets to be an alternate color so I taped and papered them as well.

[Stevearino]

Finally here is a view of the right side of the car and the front.

[J.Bond]

 

[Mopar John]

When the shine goes on is when you can tell the quality of the finish work.
Steve it looks GREAT!
MJ

[Baldwinvette77]

When do we get our first burnout video? 

[Charger_Fan]

It looks fantastic, way to go! It is going to look really awesome once you get it out in the sun.

[keepat]

wow! looks awesome!!!
Pat

[FlatbackFanatic]

That looks fantastic!!!

[ACUDANUT]

Very, Very nice.

[rapidtransitrick]

outstanding steve

[XS29J]

Very Nice.... The little Zig Zag on the door looks cool too!

[Stevearino]

When the shine goes on is when you can tell the quality of the finish work.
Steve it looks GREAT!
MJ

Thanks Mopar John. I don't do this professionally so I am always surprised when it comes out nice.

When do we get our first burnout video? 

I sat down and wrote out a to do list from here on out and I got tired of writing after 5 pages so not soon.

It looks fantastic, way to go! It is going to look really awesome once you get it out in the sun.

I wish I could fire it up and run it out right now but lots of buffing to do.

wow! looks awesome!!!
Pat

Thanks Pat. It is taking long enough. If I had to paint cars for a living I would go broke for sure.

That looks fantastic!!!

Thanks FlatbackFanatic. Still a ways to go.

Very, Very nice.

Thanks ACUDANUT. Thing now is to not stall out.

outstanding steve

Thank you. I am surprised it went as well as it did.

Very Nice.... The little Zig Zag on the door looks cool too!

Yeah I debated that for a while. I had intended to put a pin stripe to separate the colors out of the darker color but with that zig zag there wasn't enough room to pull it off. But I am glad I put in that detail just the same.

[Stevearino]

So time for some wet sanding and some polishing. I asked everyone I knew who has done this and got plenty of conflicting advice but I boiled it down to this. I bought the Meguires 1500 grit wet sand paper because I had read that the difference between it and lower cost papers was that it had garnet or abrasive on it that was uniform in height. Seems that on some of the cheaper papers the abrasive can have peaks and valleys and the peaks can cause some deep scratches. The stuff is great though and cut pretty nicely. Some people told me to go right into buffing from the 1500 but I was also advised to get the 3000 hook it pads for the DA. The thinking is that after the hand sanding the random orbital would even out the surface and act almost as a first buff. It did cut down on the buffing time for sure. It was pricey at $8.00 a pad but definitely worth it. Next there were a number of finishing buffing compounds to choose from but the one that came the most highly recommended was the 3M Perfect It system which came with three compounds and three dedicated buffing pads. I can say it was worth the money. Finally I gave in and bought a decent buffer as the one I had was a little jinky.

[Stevearino]

While it the car looks great in pictures and from a distance there is a good bit of orange peel and some trash in the clear so thank goodness for the buffing compounds. The first picture is a close up of and area on the top of the nose before buffing and the second is after the process. I was warned not to remove all of the orange peel as it helps to refract the light and enhances the color. I was afraid of burning through the clear so I went with this advice.  The last two pictures are of the how the roof came out and the "C" pillar. You can see the top of the quarter panel is dull as it is just sanded and not yet buffed out.

[Stevearino]

Here are two shots of the the hood buffed out. You can see the two tone pretty good in the second shot. The last is a close up of the front of the roof awaiting it's first shot of bird poo.
Well it looks like this will be a 3 weekend project at best as the roof and hood area took me a day and a half and I had to stop because my arm fell off. After it is re-attached I will get back after it.

[cdr]

DANG!!!  It keeps getting better!!  I really hope to meet you &  see this car one day.     

[Patronus]

Same products we use. Aww I can almost smell it. It really does help to follow the directions with the Perfect it. First lots of pressure, then medium, then light pressure....x3.....and that's just the buffing. After that you're doing the hiding...
Well, looks great. As everyone else, keep up the great work. Looks like you'll make the season. I know it's hard to imagine, but soon you'll be trying to keep the grin off your face. 

[Charger_Fan]

It looks beautiful! Also, I like the subtle difference with the two tone on the hood.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

   Paint looks awesome!!! 

[Highbanked Hauler]

  Paint looks awesome!!! 

    What he said 

[1969 R/T SE]

you are crazy, but in a good way

[Stevearino]

[/quote]

Same products we use. Aww I can almost smell it. It really does help to follow the directions with the Perfect it. First lots of pressure, then medium, then light pressure....x3.....and that's just the buffing. After that you're doing the hiding...
Well, looks great. As everyone else, keep up the great work. Looks like you'll make the season. I know it's hard to imagine, but soon you'll be trying to keep the grin off your face.  

They are making these products practically idiot proof now. I like it.

It looks beautiful! Also, I like the subtle difference with the two tone on the hood.

Thank you . I did not want it to be two abrupt. That looks a little out dated.

 Paint looks awesome!!!  

   What he said  

Thanks guys. 8 months of biting my nails.

you are crazy, but in a good way

I have been described as odd on more than one occasion. I am okay with that.



Well I pulled it out of the booth this evening so I thought I would share this photo with all of you who have suffered through this long process with me. It feels like I have turned the corner but too early for celebrations. I made a "to do" list and got tired of writing after 5 pages. I will post more pictures of it on the ground before I put it back up on jack stands and remove the nose one last time.