On the primer deal - substrate coats will always effect the cast of a metallic or pearl colow, due to the fact that metallics and pearls have some translucent properties in order for the flakes to be seen through the color. This travels all the way down to the base coat, and so by changing the base, you will cast it one way or the other. Will this affect you? Probably not, but it is how that stuff works, and why when I painted my 73 many moons ago I used a blue-tinted epoxy primer prior to applying the color coats.

As to the urethane - you are partially correct. Any time you can reduce layers between adhered components, you're doing good - that said, the car is painted and the urethane sticks to it, so it would work, although we will be recommending that the glued area remains unpainted for best results.

 

I have only used ppg stuff- what would you recommend for priming the lexan, and any idea of what that factory greenish-gray primer is called?

Ive still got gray epoxy primer/additives, and clearcoat/additives for deltron, but will need a little vista blue basecoat and whatever other primer/primer tint will insure best bond to the lexan and best color base...thanks for any info

 

Greenish grey is normally DP40 or a variant in PPG's lineup - lots of zinc IIRC in the mix. I used it on my Mach 1, as well as the tintable primers that were just coming out back in the late 90's - something you could play with if you were looking to cast a metallic like vista or sonic into a different hue. I did that with the Mach1, making the color go darker by using tinted blue primer rather than tinting white or light grey.

On the primer - the resin formulation from BASF we are using will take automotive paint well - the only caveat is to not soak it in thinner (and I literally mean soak, like in a bucket). A small amount in the mix to help it etch in is fine, but large amounts of thinner / reducer can damage most any plastic if left on for an extended period of time. Other than that, you are pretty open to use whatever brand / formulation you like. Personally, I like PPG Concept paints, but have also used others with success. Heck, some of the things I've painted with I wouldn't have thought it would even work, but it's amazing what you can cover up with a soft wrist and enough clear...

 

Man! I am looking foward to these! Marcello have you given any more thought to the idea of pre painted them before they are shipped? I haven't posted in awhile so I figured I would throw something out there.

 

Christmas presents?

 

Ahh.. well... where to begin.

Let me compose my thoughts and put something together for everyone over the weekend. It's good news / neutral news, so no worries, but it's way too late at night right now to be writing the news update for our pre-order customers, and I want the good stuff to be there first this time - I will follow it up with a mirror post here.

Quickly - pre-painted is a "work in progress" that we are working on having out-sourced, as we are not set up for, nor do we really want to be set up for production painting, which is what this is going to quickly turn into.

Christmas - I will say if we do make it, it will be very close. I was hoping to be shipping next week, but that is not going to happen. That said, the progress report is good, and I'll fill in the blanks over the next couple of days.

Ok, enough work for one day - see everyone on the flip side.

 

Ok - update time:

Molds are in process (see attached pictures). These pictures are a week or two old, so they are now pretty much done with one set and working the other pair of mold plates.

250lbs. of specific BASF tint resin is on order - 2 weeks delivery - this will allow us to make sure that the color / visibility is right and that any flow issues are resolved before production begins.

Mold backing plates / bases should be here any day - they were ordered a while back for this specific job - and are being custom-made for the plates we are using.

Our one "black" project is winding down, although it had no effect on this project, it has kept me a bit busier than usual so I haven't been posting as much. It should wrap by Wednesday... Of course, since I am some kind of weird work-a-holic, we just finished the first operation tonight on our newest product - I'm not saying what it is until it's ready to show off, maybe a prototype will be ready in a week or two... After that, we've already got preliminary drawings for the piece after that. These are billet products, not injection stuff.

So, it looks like we will have at least pre-production of one side, if not both sides, in time for the PRI show in December, but I'm not too sure that we will be shipping finished pieces in December, although it might still be a possibility. I'll keep everyone informed as I get info from our mold shop on it.

As always - questions / comments / rants always welcome We try to keep everyone in the loop, any closer, and you might as well come lend a hand in the shop !!

 

What booth will U B @

 

Umm - machinery row - Delcam and Arthur Machinery combo booths. I think 52xx #'s row. It's right next to DynoJet, I know that off the top of my head.

 

U gonna have any of your goodies there?

 

By goodies we mean? The car will be in the booth, as well as our new race simulator. The car will be all dressed up, and we hopefully will have at least one side of pre-production windows in the car, rather than the prototype piece that's been in / out of it for months now.

We will also have a 5-axis Hermle CNC machine in the booth running, and some of the software that we use for design work too.

 

Yea, those goodies.I'll try looking you up, I'll be there Saturday.

 

Bump ... Marcello anymore news on when they'll be shipped ...

 

Looking at a few weeks behind, I was hoping they would be going out starting this week, but it's looking like Christmas will be a little late, and we should be shipping in early January, saying no other "bumps" get hit on the way. As usual, I won't release them until I'm happy with them, so be prepared for the perfectionist to rear his ugly head as we get into the sampling phase of the molds. Everyone on the pre-order list got pictures of the molds in process, I should have more by the end of the week, and the backing plates, after their delays, should be here in the next day or so...

In the meantime, we've got a bunch of billet stuff coming out now, or real soon. I have to post them to the webstore, just getting all the photo and paperwork stuff done for them now.

 

Thanks for the update.

I just thought of something after looking at the Giugiaro concept videos, has anyone thought of painting these louvers a little different? Marcello painted up the prototype body-colored and black where a lot of us will leave them clear (smoked), I was wondering how they would look with the frame of it painted body color, and the vent area either left smoke and see-through, or painted black on the outside pane and smoke just on the rear-facing pane. Does that make sense? Look at the concept for an idea of what I mean.

 

Makes sense, but I know the initial impact of our painting it was to go back to the 65 style - yet the smoke tinted clear we designed in months ago was exactly to do what the new prototype is showing... and is actually how they will probably end up on my car - just going to paint the edge black, like the OEM glass, and leave the rest tinted, no paint.

We'll see...

Oh, I need to do another update, wait until you see the mold pictures - getting close!

 

Can't wait for more pics Marcello. Question though. If I were to leave the louvers unpainted, in their smoke color/tint, what level of window tint would match these? The idea of not having to paint them is very intriguing. Thanks for the help.

 

We targeted 30%-35% light transmission, which is 100% legal in like 38 states for the front windows. So basically a dark tint, but not limo - although it will be hard to know exactly until we actually shoot some samples with the proper resin, since the thickness also effects the light transmission, the folds, the corners, etc...

But we have a tint in mind If that helps! Actually if we end up too dark, we can switch resins before the production run without too much trouble, although I don't know what we'll do with 250 pounds of the wrong tint.... guess those will be for the Florida cars!

 

I found THIS on ebay: ANY COMMENTS???
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...58755940QQrdZ1

RZ

 

What about it?