Pepe's New Paint Job

[vangremlin]

Many of you have been following my little car Pepe since I brought him home from the junkyard in May 2008 (pictures below).

I had him repainted in 2009/2010.  While the initial result looked really good, it lacked staying power and within 3 years the clear coat was peeling off in some spots.  I had those areas touched up, but the paint continued to degrade, so its time for a new paint job for Pepe.  I dropped him off at the shop today, the same place that did the touch up a couple years ago.  The paint job will look very similar, with some minor differences, and with portions of the back painted black like Amc1320 did to his Kammback, which was a throwback to the Gremlin.

Pepe will be in the shop for a few months, but the painter said he will be taking photos and sending them over as he makes progress, which I will post on here.

Pepe in the junkyard





Pepe comes home





Current state of the paint job, lots of clear coat peeled off

[mudkicker715]

Holy crap, that degraded. Wow. I mean i expected some but that is alot of degradation.

[amcfool1]

hey, ain't nothing but a thing! I salute you for keeping it this long, and keeping it alive. Paint ain't nothing but a thing! If you have the financial means, go ahead and have it painted right. If you don't, it's still a living Eagle, and, getting pretty is the LAST priority. Remember, ..."Shine they may, but run they must!". good luck, gz

[Prafeston]

I didn't know the story behind Pepe! That's so cool you saved it from a Junkyard. I true underdog story!

[vangremlin]

Holy crap, that degraded. Wow. I mean i expected some but that is alot of degradation.

Yeah, when the stuff on the roof started peeling, when we would have a rainy day, big patches would come off, kind of like peeling off your skin after you had a sunburn lol

[vangremlin]

I didn't know the story behind Pepe! That's so cool you saved it from a Junkyard. I true underdog story!

When I found Pepe, the tags on the plates were 16 years old, so I have to assume it had not been run during that whole time.  I got it running within about a week, a real testament to those AMC 258 engines.

By the way, Pepe is named after the 4WD truck in "Romancing the Stone."  The owner kept referring to the truck as Pepe, my little mule.

[AMC of Houston]

I'm sorry Pepe is going to Paint Jail for a while; maybe he'll get time off his sentence for good behavior.   But I can't wait to see the outcome!!

[Prafeston]

When I found Pepe, the tags on the plates were 16 years old, so I have to assume it had not been run during that whole time.  I got it running within about a week, a real testament to those AMC 258 engines.

Sure wish I would have had that kind of luck with mine...Though I was told it ran 4 years previous...I recall the tags on the plates being from late 90s...so it likely hadn't been run very much if at all since.

[rollguy]

I have heard that there is a wide range of quality for clear coat finishes, and that may be the reason for yours going bad after only a few years. Also, a good quality hand wax job often will help keep even the lowest quality clear coat lasting longer.

[eaglefreek]

I have heard that there is a wide range of quality for clear coat finishes, and that may be the reason for yours going bad after only a few years. Also, a good quality hand wax job often will help keep even the lowest quality clear coat lasting longer.

It might also be a prep issue. That clear is coming off way too easy.

[vangremlin]

Hard to say what went wrong with the clear coat, whether it was prep, or low quality clear, or not enough clear coats, or ?, but it needed fixing.  The shop that did that paint job is no longer in business. 

[eaglefreek]

The shop that did that paint job is no longer in business.

Gee, I wonder why?  Hopefully this shop gets it right and you get some kind of warranty.

[vangremlin]

The shop that did that paint job is no longer in business.

Gee, I wonder why?  Hopefully this shop gets it right and you get some kind of warranty.

Exactly!!  The new shop did some touch up work for me a few years back which has held up well, and the shop seems to be going strong, long wait time to get Pepe in.

[vangremlin]

Work on Pepe is coming along nicely.  Here is a link to an album with photos of the body work and priming to date.

http://s62.photobucket.com/user/brilliantd/library/kammback/Paint%20job%202016

[rollguy]

I sure hope all the plastic (fender flares and rocker panel covers) is removed and painted separately.  Those things are so easy to remove, and the job will be so much better. Just my opinion though.....Rich