While we hope our Roadster never sees snow again, at our request, Bob Roeder and Aaron Kester of KR Performance rolled the finished paintwork out into the sun so we could have an accurate look at the finished colors. Man, that looks cold!
When we last saw our Factory Five Roadster project, Bob Roeder and Aaron Kester at KR Performance & Restorations had performed several requested body modifications to it; then applied Spies Hecker's spray polyester filler. In the time between those photos and our project being completely painted, wet-sanded, and buffed out, many more steps have been accomplished. From coating the underside of the body for looks and protection to block-sanding, final body fit, and more, it took more than a simple spray of body color to say our project was painted.
Many people will tell you that a good paint job is 90 percent body prep (sanding, filling, and so on) and 10 percent painting. While it's true that paint only looks as good as the prepared surface it's applied to, what's also important is picking a quality paint product, the proper mixing of the product, applying it correctly, and sealing it with enough clear to allow the final wet-sanding and buffing to achieve a show-ready shine. It's not easy work, especially on a car shaped like a Cobra, where there's hardly a straight panel to be found. Many hours of block-sanding, often with homemade sanding blocks, are the only way to make the body look perfect before applying the paint.
So check out the final paint process here, and be sure to read the expanded version of this story with many more photos on our Web site at www.mustangandfords.com.
The hoodscoop is an integral part of the FFR's hood. Depending upon the level of originality you want to achieve (most real Cobras had a riveted-on scoop), you can cut off this scoop and rivet on an optional one available from FFR. We were fine with the integral scoop design, but we wanted the natural fiberglass finish to be smooth when the hood was raised. A little bit of filler and some sanding took care of it. | 
Another trick we learned was extending the hoodscoop's underside. By using a piece of cardboard as a support, Roeder created a lip on the leading edge of the scoop opening with 3M High Strength Repair Filler (HSRF). Once the filler dried, the cardboard was removed and the rough edge of the filler trimmed as shown here. When viewed from the hoodscoop opening, this extension creates a visual trick that the hoodscoop was added to the hood and not an integral part of it. For a few minutes worth of work, it's worth it. | 
As you can see in this prep work shot in the paint booth, the scoop extension gives the appearance that the scoop was added to the hood, and it hides the engine a bit as well. In the background, our trunk lid is also being prepped. We decided to paint over the aluminum skin, so Roeder and Kester feathered the edges of the fiberglass into the aluminum for a smooth transition. |
The trunk lid is now completely bodyworked and receives a few coats of primer and a shot of black guide coat, which aids in the final block-sanding by showing the location of any remaining low spots. Low spots retain the black guide coat, while the rest of the surface-area guide coat is completely removed. | 
One of the last modifications we requested was to have the wheel-lip openings smoothed, as we know many people will be feeling them. This is accomplished with the same 3M HSRF used to round the cockpit edges and create the hoodscoop extension. The HSRF is applied to the wheel lip; then sanded smooth a few inches inboard. | 
There are several ways to attach the side louvers. Some people use silicone, others use Velcro, and some simply fiberglass them in. Due to an act of stupidity (I accidentally threw out the supplied side louvers with a box of garbage), the louvers had to be replaced with an aftermarket brand. These replacement louvers use mounting brackets, which we have decided to bond to the body. We can use double-sided tape, Velcro, or other fastening techniques between the brackets and the louvers themselves. For now, we mark where the brackets will be mounted with a permanent marker. |
While the fiberglass body is quite strong, we want to protect it from road debris as well as give it a more finished look on the underside (you can see this bare fiberglass in the engine compartment and the trunk). Here, the body is resting upside down on a custom-built stand of 2x4s, and all openings, edges, and so forth are taped off. | 
Just as with a fiberglass fender or wheel flare, a tire can throw a small rock against the backside and star-crack the fiberglass. To avoid this, we are applying several layers of LizardSkin Ceramic Insulation. LizardSkin is well known in the street-rod marketplace and is gaining popularity elsewhere due to its easy application by spray gun. LizardSkin can be applied just about anywhere, including steel body panels, and is even sandable and paintable with base/clear to make it undetectable. LizardSkin comes in two formulas: Ceramic Insulation and Sound Control. | 
To apply the LizardSkin, we are using the company's Super Pro spray gun, available separately. LizardSkin applies to the thickness of a credit card (0.040 inch), though we are adding a few extra coats in the wheelwell arches for crack protection. The product is Class A fire-rated, and it applies anywhere you would want a peel-and-stick product (firewall, floorpan, and so on). It cleans up easily with soap and water. |
Once the LizardSkin achieves the proper cure time, Roeder applies a single-stage black topcoat over it, strictly for aesthetic purposes. The body is now ready for final block-sanding. | 
This block-sanding is accomplished with 220-grit wet-sanding, followed by another layer of primer and guide coat with 400-grit wet-sanding. | 
Roeder and Kester have worked on the FFR's body both mounted to the chassis and resting on a scratch-built body-support buck. For the final block-sanding, sealer, and stripe layout, the body is bolted back onto the chassis once more. |