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Product Spotlight: Posies SuperSlide Springs

Let’s face it—old leaf springs don’t always deliver the smoothest ride. Between years of wear and the natural friction created as steel leaves slide against one another, it’s no surprise that many traditional hot rods and classic trucks can feel a little rough around the edges. That’s exactly the problem Posies SuperSlide Springs were designed to solve. Instead of simply building another replacement leaf spring, Posies re-engineered the traditional multi-leaf design to provide a smoother ride, better handling, and improved suspension response—all while keeping the vintage appearance that belongs under a classic hot rod or truck.

PEEL ‘N STICK

When dismantling your project car, you probably ran across the crumbling remnants of the original insulation. Old cars are notoriously “leaky” when it comes to heat and sound barriers, making them louder and hotter than the typical daily driver. Sometimes a loud exhaust system overrides the road noise, but you’ll always notice when your air conditioning system never seems to keep the cabin cool. If you’re in the midst of an interior refresh, or a full restoration, it’s a great time to consider new insulation.

Caddy Stu

Richard Larson and his wife, Jane, have owned a number of custom cars and trucks in their time, but they never really thought they would have so much fun building and owning a custom 53 Studebaker pickup. There was no plan to find a Studebaker; the truck simply found him. I lived across the street from a friend who owned a repair shop in town, Larson told us. Over some time, he had collected six or seven cars and trucks that he hoped to restore some day. One weekend morning, his wife informed him that she planned to plant an orchard in the area where the vehicles were being stored…and in one week. He had to get rid of his collection. I asked about the Studebaker pickup and he said if he could get $200 for it, it was gone. Well, it was gone.

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 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.

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.