When we last left off, we had just taken a once-proud C4-our "Son of Zombie" '87 project car-down to its bare chassis in the name of beautification. This month, we tackle the issues of protection and paint before mixing it up with new suspension pieces from Corvette Central.
Given enough time, just about anyone can spray a good layer of paint. Assuming you have a basic level of skill, it all comes down to a question of tools and prep work. If your gun isn't dialed in just right, or your parts have just the smallest trace of grease on them, you're going to be disappointed with the results. While we're no experts at this game, we knew enough to lay some decent spray when it came time to color our chassis something other than the original factory black.
But we didn't stop at paint alone. Under the Zombie's fresh coat of Auto-Air Colors "Rock Star Red" (comparable to Corvette Torch Red but with a serious amount of metal flake added in), you'll find not only hours of prep work, but a touch of POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint as well. Aside from the fact we needed a barrier on the metal (we are using a water-based paint, after all), we wanted something that would make the frame rock-and-rust-proof for years to come. The results aren't in yet, but if our basecoat holds up to some testing, we'll tell you more in the future. In the meantime, for a glimpse of what it took to make our Corvette shine under the hood, read on.
When we last left off, we had just dropped the suspension cradle out of our subject '87... | 
A closeup look at the state of the control arms. | 
...leaving the rest of the car looking a little threadbare. |
After pushing what was left of the Corvette outside, we spent several hours cleaning and degreasing its metal surfaces. You've heard the phrase "Rinse, repeat?" Well, take that to the nth degree and you've got an idea of what awaits you should you decide to do this. | 
With the car dry and back inside, we readied it for POR-15's Rust Preventative Paint. | 
Chassis Coat Black gave the frame an original-looking black finish, while Rust Preventative Paint was used as a protective undercoat. Unfortunately, RPP is UV sensitive and will discolor, so if you're going to use it, be prepared to go right back over it with Chassis Coat or something comparable. If we like the end result, we'll show you more on the POR-15 system later. |