Once the Supra arrived at Shift Auto Body, Sheridan took over the painting aspect of the project and the XR guys became my project liaisons as well as Sheridan's assistants during sanding and prepping. Sheridan started off with the bodywork first. Even though I wasn't a fan of the previous color, if there was anything beneficial to having white paint it was the color's ability to hide dents-thirty-seven to be exact! I had no idea, but thank goodness they're all gone.
The two-step paint job commenced with a bare coat of blue to cover up the white and check bodywork, followed by two additional base coats of blue. Then, after wet sanding the entire car by hand, Sheridan applied the first coat of the actual color, which was again followed by two more passes. At this point the guys wet sanded the car again and continued with two more coats of Estoril. On top of the three base and five color coats, Sheridan concluded the job with three coats of clear.
Even he was impressed with his own work and color. "When I first got the paint from PPG I thought to myself, 'Ok, seems like an interesting color'. But after the majority of the car was done and I first rolled it out of the paint booth and into daylight, the color looked so good people driving by were completely stopping in the middle of the street to take a good look at it."
I didn't get to see the car until it was finished. And yes, my jaw dropped when I did. As magazine editors, we tend to try and control our emotions when something impresses us. Well, today my half-Italian side busted out with a plethora of Che Bellas and Mamma Mias.
As you can see by the pictures, the car isn't quite finished. But it was too exciting not to show Turbo readers the progress. Sheridan's got the Top Secret hood, Stillen bumper, quarter panels and some of the interior left to do. I didn't want to rush him so we'll have to see the finished product next time, along with the Supra's new sound system that XR Creations is installing.Stay tuned.
Author's Note: Thanks to Alan, Berris, Evan, Matt and Sheridan for a job well done