Project American Heroes Two 1969 Camaro Paint Job - American Heroes Red

The PPG NCP271 Primer leaves the car with a light grey/silver hue. Russ is seen spending hours working out high and low points in the body via skim coats of filler and block sanding.

Jelinek and crew all pitch in working the body. Again, skim coats of filler and hours of block sanding are employed to make the panels perfectly straight and the seams flawlessly continuous. At Route 66 Motorsports, all edges and gaps must be "ball bearing running down the gaps of the Lexus" impeccable. Classic Industries sheetmetal is installed and shimmed for perfect gaps.

Often overlooked in restorations, the seam sealer around the roof braces in a Camaro are usually long gone, making the braces ineffective. Duramix 4274 NVH Dampening Material by 3M is a two-part urethane product for replacing factory NVH (Noise, Vibration & Harshness) sealants and foams. Kevin Rock pulls the braces down while Jason applies the Duramix 4274. Clamps are applied where necessary, and allowed to dry.

The rear spoiler needed to be fitted prior to paint, so holes are measured and marked for drilling on the trunk lid.

Jason John drills the deck lid for attaching the rear spoiler.

New masking paper is applied, and the car is wiped down with PPG DX330. It is then again primed with DP40LF in order to get a completely smooth base.

Route 66 Motorsports owner Bill Jelinek has been doing paint and body work for 30 years. Desiring a red that would pop, Bill created the custom "American Heroes Red". When that red started landing on the fenders from Nick's spray gun, we knew it was exactly the right hue for the project.

The body shell and panels receive three or four coats of the Deltron 2000 Jelinek-created "American Heroes Red" that is mixed with DT885 reducer. The smoothed firewall creates an engine bay exclamation point on color selection.

As soon as Nick is done with the basecoat red, instructions are followed for proper drying times. Afterwards, two coats of DBC500, an intermediate clear coat, are applied. At that point, the body shell and panels are sanded with 600 grit paper and ready to get its signature graphic treatment.

Lines laid out are for placement of the stars.

Russ Scholl is called upon to lay out the graphics and work his skills with the air brush. Star templates are held against the car painted grey.

Once the graphic is laid out with the 3M Plastic Tape, the entire hood is masked off.

DBC9700 is applied to the hood for a great look. Attempts to walk away from the cowl hood epidemic often result in a final product that looks gaudy, but the Stinger hood on the PAH 2 Camaro looks fresh and right.

With basecoat and graphics completed, Bill clears the car with four coats of PPG DCU2021 Clear, using DCX61 Activator and DT885 Reducer. No one is allowed in the paint booth when the clear is applied so as to minimize dust in the booth. Father and son, Bill and Nick, stand proudly next to the freshly cleared shell. The graphic couldn't quite be called ghosted in, but it definitely has the perfect subtlety that the Jelineks were hoping for.