TWO-HOUR TECH
December 9, 2022
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THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Ford fans will willingly tell you that the Mustang is the No. 1 muscle car built in America, but its style, affordability and performance has earned this popularity title all by itself. The 2005 Mustang GT is a prime example of Ford’s success, and it seems to only be evolving to an even higher level of popularity today. Some say the Mustang was getting long in the tooth and was becoming boring in recent years, but believe it or not, Ford addressed it just at the right time with its new retro-style pony. Maybe the Mustang was evolving too far away from its muscle car roots and Ford decided to bring it back to tighten its focus; then again, perhaps it was just a coincidence of timing.
20 NEW Product Innovations at the 2023 NSRA “Nats”
Every year, the NSRA Street Rod Nationals hosts an event to showcase the newest and most advanced automotive products. These products compete for the title of “New Products of the Year,” and one exceptional item is awarded the NSRA New Safety-Related Product of the Year. These innovations have played a crucial role in making car construction simpler and improving driving safety, and they have become industry standards over time.
Throughout the years, we’ve seen a wide variety of products gain widespread recognition and become essential tools that greatly aid in building cars and making driving safer. Now, let’s take a look at some of the groundbreaking new products featured at this year’s event.
Grand National F-100 Show Packs Pigeon Forge with Over 1,100 Classic Ford Trucks
The Smoky Mountains were once again overflowing with classic Ford truck horsepower as the 2026 Grand National F-100 Show took over Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for another massive weekend of Blue Oval domination. Held May 14-16 at the LeConte Center, the event continues to cement itself as the largest classic Ford truck show in the world — and judging by this year’s turnout, it’s still growing at full throttle.
Spotlighter
METALFLAKE: The Roth Way
A Wild Weekend in Some Rock Star’s Pad in Lake Tahoe Turns a Bone-Stock Chevy into a Kandyflake, Metalflake Baby
Spraying flake isn’t a black art; it’s simply a slightly different medium. It’s no tougher to spray than anything else, although you do have to be meticulous, pay attention to the details and resist the urge to rush. Plus, unless you have a spray booth, it doesn’t matter how well you seal off your chosen spraying area: This stuff will escape and get everywhere.
Author
Simon Watts
Story and Photography
Spraying Metal Flake: An Introduction to a Unique Custom Paint Finish
We’re not going into the details on prep, as it’s the same for any paint job. If you don’t know what you’re doing in the prep department, then no way are you going to be able to spray flake. Now that the scaremongering is over, note this: Spraying flake isn’t a black art; it’s simply a slightly different medium. It’s no tougher to spray than anything else, although you do have to be meticulous, pay attention to the details, and resist the urge to rush. Plus, unless you have a spray booth, it doesn’t matter how well you seal off your chosen spraying area: This stuff will escape and get everywhere. Be prepared to placate the wife and neighbors when you’re done.
Starting Out: Confidence and Commitment
If you’re confident with your painting abilities, have at it. Don’t be shy and don’t be afraid. You can do it. Even if you mess up, all it’s going to cost is time and materials. At the very worst, you’ll be sanding off your mistakes and starting from scratch; but then, sometimes that’s the best way to learn. After all, nobody became an expert without a few hiccups along the way.
Following the Experts: Rob Bodine and Steve Tamer’s Guide to Roth Flake
Follow along as Rob Bodine (the gunslinger) and Steve Tamer (the tech guy) from AB Paint Supplies (510/706-3200) give you the skinny on the new Roth flake. In this case, we’re spraying a coat of Uncle Bob’s Blooz onto the roof of this 1966 427 Chevy. It’s complete and utter sacrilege in some circles, but that’s their problem.
Design and Prep: Simon Watts’ Scallop Layout for the Flake Roof
Simon Watts of the Watts Factory (310/427-5566) laid out the scallop design that separated the flake roof from the rest of the car, and we were ready to mask off and get going.
Some people like to use clear to carry their flake, but Rob uses binder instead, as he prefers its higher build qualities. He mixes it in a 1:1 ratio with basecoat reducer. Binder also has the added benefits of drying faster, being easier to work with and less likely to run if you get a little heavy-handed.
Add the flake one tablespoon at a time until it’s happy coming out of the gun and you’ve got enough in there to satisfy your craving. Don’t go mad; you’d be surprised how little you need in there to get good coverage. Don’t be tempted to dump the whole jar in there, because it’s just not necessary. After all, it’s not going on in one hit. The trick is to build it up in layers, just as with normal paint. You can see on the paint stick how dense the mixture is.
Before we spray, let us fill you in on the gun. It’s a HVLP gravity feed set at 35 psi. It’s nothing special; just your average 50-buck gun. So there’s no excuse for blaming your equipment for not being good enough—it’s all down to you. Here’s the big secret though: Drill out the tip from 1.4 mm to 2.2 mm. That’ll open it enough to let the flake fly through there. But be careful when you do it. Don’t drill it so wide that it shortens the lip of the aperture, as you don’t want any more than the normal amount of needle poking through. Study the picture to see what we mean.
Before we spray, let us fill you in on the gun. It’s a HVLP gravity feed set at 35 psi. It’s nothing special; just your average 50-buck gun. So there’s no excuse for blaming your equipment for not being good enough—it’s all down to you. Here’s the big secret though: Drill out the tip from 1.4 mm to 2.2 mm. That’ll open it enough to let the flake fly through there. But be careful when you do it. Don’t drill it so wide that it shortens the lip of the aperture, as you don’t want any more than the normal amount of needle poking through. Study the picture to see what we mean.
Before you add the paint to the gun, remember to throw in a few clean bolts or ball bearings. You need them in there so you can agitate the paint and keep the metalflake in suspension the whole time you’re spraying. Remember to shake the gun constantly, although obviously not when you’re actually spraying.
When spraying, just use your regular pattern of alternating between horizontal and vertical overlapping spray patterns. Hold the gun the usual 6 inches from the surface and let each coat flash off for between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on ambient temperature.
Here’s a surprising tip that we never would have dreamed of doing. Tack the flake down between each coat. Go easy, as it tends to attract lint, so you might want to use an old tack cloth and simply rub over the entire surface. Tacking it down helps the flakes sit down and behavethemselves, which means fewer clearcoats in the end to bury them. Just make sure you haven’t left any lint behind. If you have, carefully pick it out.
When you’re happy with the flake coverage, which in our case took about four passes, you can lay down a few coats of clear. Then start your color sanding. It looks scary, but just go for it. Just don’t go so mad that you sand through to the flake. This is pretty standard stuff—just keep sanding and clearing until you have a nice, smooth surface, but be careful. How perfectly mirror finish you want to go will dictate how much work you have ahead of you.
Here you can see we’ve still got some serious orange peel, so we’re going to have to add a few more coats of clear before we’re happy.
The next step is to unwrap that puppy once everything clears as dry as a bone. You can tear into the masking paper, no problem, but when you get down to the masking paper and the fine-line tape around the edges, be careful. Make sure you fold it back on itself in the direction you’re unwrapping so you don’t lift any paint. Once that’s done, you’re ready to roll the beast outside to savor your reward.
The next step is to unwrap that puppy once everything clears as dry as a bone. You can tear into the masking paper, no problem, but when you get down to the masking paper and the fine-line tape around the edges, be careful. Make sure you fold it back on itself in the direction you’re unwrapping so you don’t lift any paint. Once that’s done, you’re ready to roll the beast outside to savor your reward.
It’s surprising how you can get away with a “less than perfect” clearcoat surface. Although, of course, we couldn’t resist piling on the clear, and Rob and Steve certainly wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfection.
It’s surprising how you can get away with a “less than perfect” clearcoat surface. Although, of course, we couldn’t resist piling on the clear, and Rob and Steve certainly wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfection.
One thing’s for sure: When you roll that puppy out into the sunlight you’re going to flip, because this stuff is unbelievable. It sparkles like the eyes of a 70-year-old spinster getting married for the first time. You’d be surprised how forgiving the flake can be if you can’t be bothered spraying endless clearcoats for a mirror finish.
All that’s left now is to have Simon Watts from the Watts Factory pinstripe the edge to really finish off the job. Once that was done, the Chevy was ready to hit the road and blind oncoming traffic and low-flying aircraft.
