There are watershed moments both in history and in automotive restorations. Certainly putting the final coats of paint on our 911 qualifies as such a turning point in our progress. Parts that were dull and grey are now bright and shiny, while pieces can slowly start to go back on our 40 year-old Porsche.
After a few months worth of nights and weekends, we got our 1973.5 911 blocksanded to our liking and we were ready to paint the car. We chose to use a single-stage polyurethane enamel and in a nod to a fellow Cleveland-based company, we chose Sherwin Williams line of automotive paints. The Sherwin brand isn't as well known for auto use as Dupont, Glasurit or PPG, but we have had good experiences with their line-up.
We painted the smaller pieces first, including the rear engine lid, fenders and bumpers. This allowed us to position the parts in the booth with plenty of room for our painter and air line—the last thing we wanted to do at this point was to bump into a freshly painted fender!
Once those parts cured, we carried them out to the main area of the shop and rolled the 911 into the booth. We painted the car and the front trunk lid over the course of an evening—allowing the layers of sealant and paint sufficient time to "go off" before the next round.
The result is a car that looks like it has been dipped in Chocolate—our care and attention during the preparation process, as well as the flow characteristics of the Sherwin paint yielded a perfectly flat, yet Factory-like texture that's just got to be seen to be believed.
