Now it's 1996, our first kid is on the way, so I better get this car done. We moved and now my shop was 24x30 with a real furnace.
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I've never liked rotisseries as they take up a lot of room. I like to tilt cars on their sides, and that's what I did with the GT. (Notice the MGA is still nearby.)
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Back then, 3M made black rubberized undercoating that could be painted, so I used it with Centari acrylic enamel and that looked pretty much like the factory coating. At the time, this was going to be a factory-correct car.
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The gray primer was PPG urethane high-build something or other. I was just switching from lacquer-based primer to the modern stuff and thought I'd risk putting it under old-school topcoats. For the topcoats, I used Centari for the door jams, interior, engine bay, underside, etc., and Lucite acrylic lacquer for the outside of the body. So here's the engine bay, wheel wells, etc. getting painted.
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WIth all the jams and undersides done, I used PPG DP-90 epoxy primer as a sealer since I was a little worried about how the Lucite would get along with the urethane high build primer.
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My chemistry plans worked and the lacquer went down fine. I had a good system back then and would thin the paint 200% and put down 20+ thin coats to a pretty high gloss even though it was lacquer. The next day, I'd buff with a course pad and course compound, then go over it again with a fine pad and compound without any wet sanding. The paint wasn't as nice as modern base/clear, but much better than factory and always got compliments (and side-jobs).
By the way, the color is Black Tulip, a 1974 only color that I think is the best color in the world. So my factory-correct restoration was now a little messed up as the car is a 1973. And I usually call the color purple.
Two weeks after I painted the car, I was up in the rafters and I dropped something. It landed on the dent-free bonnet I had gotten from Engel Imports. I was bummed and put a cover over the car, thinking it would be for a few months.