Progress on project car

[jim_ss409]

I got the body back on today. Still plenty to do so that I can drive it to KC in Sept.

[Tom Kochtanek]

Jim, she's looking mighty fine indeed :)

If that's 60%, then I am at the 40% stage and trying to get caught up! Hope you are able to take a shakedown cruise real soon. Keep us posted with pics as your project advances. I will certainly motivate those of us who are trying to get ready for Septemeber!

Cheers,
TomK

[CDNpontiac409guy]

oooooooo man :cool: :cheers :cheers :cheers

[wrench]

I can't watch this thread!

Makes me want to cry! I'll be driving my 93 work truck to KC.

No way my car will make it.

Sigh!

(That's one beautiful convertible! The color isn't Roman Red is it? It looks to be a shade different.)

[Kirby J]

looks great .you should see mine its all in pieces .it will be another year or so before i can ride agian :p

[bobs409]

Don't believe him guys! That's just a plastic model he's putting together and taking pictures of. :D

Great work Jim! That car is getting the royal resto treatment. :cheers Looks like your at the fun stage now anyway. You can probably work on that car while wearing white and never get dirty. :p

[jim_ss409]

Now that you mention it, it does kinda look like a plastic model in the picture. :eek: It is Roman red but it just looks orange in the photo. I still haven't painted any of the other body parts and alot of the black pieces too so I've still got a ways to go. But I'm getting there.

[59fins]

Looks great Jim, consider doing the black pieces in powder coat, it is durable and when you get them back you just put them on, by the time you buy paint and material such as primers your not to far away.

Cannot wait to see it in KC, Bob's right, it does look like a model :D

[Tom Kochtanek]

Jim, I am really envious that yours is a "droptop":) That's what my Dad bought in 1962 as the family car. Wish mine went down.... (so does the wife).

I may be catching up to you soon! I now have the main body and both doors done, one attached and swinging :) Tomorrow we set the other then move the car to my house later in the week for further assembly. The hood and one front fender are primered and blocked, but the doors gave me a fit and the truck is now my enemy (in terms of fit and finish). The other fender is still stripped with no primer. It does take a bit of time, doesn't it?

Next week is Final Exam week and as soon as I get grades posted I am OFF for a few weeks before starting Summer session. Guess what I'll be doing with my time off?

Enjoy, and take lots of pictures -- we love seeing 'em!

TomK

[Tom Kochtanek]

Jim:

Powder coat might be a good option, I don't know about it all that much. My plans are to use a high quality 2K "semi=flat black" with a bit of hardener for those parts such as the radiator support, inner wheel wells, etc. Already did the frame in Chassis Black with cast coat iron for parts of the front suspension.

What did you use underneath on the pans? Did you go back with the Red Oxide primer or is it in Roman Red? What did you (do you pan to) use for a color on the gas tank? Just checking as I'm trying to make these decisions as well.

Best,
TomK

[dq409]

REALLY,,,,, REALLY SHARP !!!

Looks to me like all ya need is a milk crate, a little gas and its cruzin time !! :cool: :D

[jim_ss409]

Looks to me like all ya need is a milk crate, a little gas and its cruzin time !!

Sounds good to me! well mayby a steering wheel. I don't need no stinking doors. :D :D :D
Tom, I did every square inch top and bottom in Roman Red, except the dash it's done an ugly brownish color like the factory did it. This car was built in the US but the Chevys that were built in Canada came with the trunks painted the same color as the body. I've always liked that look so I went with it. I'm also going to paint the underside of the hood red even though it's not the way it came. Oh and the engine is also red. After finding out that the cost of powdercoating is pretty reasonable I might go that way on my next project. But on this one I've been painting all the black stuff with a color that I got from my paint supplier. It's not really black exactly. It's more like an extremely dark blue, it looks black but has a definite blue tint to it. That's the color that came up when he looked up 62 Chevy chassis paint. It has some flattener in it but it's still pretty shiney. :cool: I like it, it goes good with the red. I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with the gas tank, it's not in yet because I need a screen for the pickup tube. It's galvanized and so are the straps so I might leave them that way. I might just touch up the seams with an aluninum paint on a foam brush because I've noticed that the galvanize coating is usually thin where they crimp them together. I've also got to see how the trunk pan looks with the rear bumper on. I think it's lower than the bumper and might need to get painted black.
I'd challenge you to a race to see who gets done first but I know I'd loose because I've still got some body work to do and I might just be the worlds slowest bodyman. :cry I'm always trying to do everything myself but I sometimes think it would be cheaper to get a real bodyman to do this stuff. It's been a while since you posted a picture of your 62 and you know we like pictures, mayby you should bring us up to date. :deal

[droptop62]

Jim,
The 62 Looks beautiful! :D
It's obvious that I am partial to 62 convertibles.
Wish I hadn't sold mine.
I told myself that another one would come along, Well it hasn't happened yet.
I'll just drool over pictures of your 62. 'till I find another ;)

[59fins]

DQ! eh em.... I mean Alfred E. :rolleyes:
I was thinking the same thing!!!, milk crate and a little gas ..... he he :D

[MRHP]

That rag top sure looks nice. Wish mine looked like that. AWESOME!

[Tom Kochtanek]

Jim, your project must have motivated me suitably! Over the weekend we finished the rear quarters and both doors. They looked pretty good. Three coats deep. Four in the corners, like around the front and back windows, trunk seam, driprail, and so forth. Hit it with 2000 grit today for a few hours and it looks even better :). Since the doors turned out OK (had to do them over a few times, a bit of splatting and water infiltration) we decided to offer them up to the body. Pretty good first set of lines, passenger needs a bit of a "twist" to make it line up perfectly. It's easy with no front fenders in the way :)

Next few days I hope to finish the 2000 and use a bit of compound on the surface, then get it on a trailer and bring it home. You think you are a slow bodyman? I started disassembly last Fall, hauled the done chassis and deboned body to the paint booth, and it hasn't moved out of that booth since before Christmas :) :) :)

Still a long way to go: hood and one fender are in finished primer. Other fender is still stripped clean and I'm struggling with a tweak in the piece. Trunk likewise has a parking lot or harder ding that tweaked one section of the piece (you wouldn't know it until you tried to line it up). Then there's ALL those semi-flat/gloss pieces to hang and cover!

Here's a pic taken this afternoon, with freshly hung doors. Still wetsanding and some spots haven't been wiped down, but you get the picture!

Cheers,
TomK

[Tom Kochtanek]

Here's the other side:

[jim_ss409]

She looking good Tom. :cheers I wish I had used an extra coat or two of paint on the corners. I ended up sanding through in a couple of places. Fortunately they were only tiny spots on the firewall so I was able to fix them easily. I'd love to be able to paint without getting dust, orange peel and runs. I am getting alot of practice at sanding and buffing the flaws out though. :rolleyes:

[bobs409]

You guys should do a post on the processes of the paint work from start to finish. I spray enamels, that it! When you spray that type, you GET good at producing no runs and orange peel! :D Would love to know the color sanding process and final buffing, etc.

Start with paint type/brand and don't leave out any details all the way up to the 6 month waxing! :D

[Tom Kochtanek]

Bob:

I learned everything I needed to know over in the Paint & Body Work forum under "Chevy Talk". Bowtie Ollie moderates that exchange, and there are some real talented folks who contribute daily that give a lot -- I mean a lot -- of their time, talents, and expertise. Just like our Forum!

After reading all those materials I then put my unworthy hands out for tips from the guy who owns the paint booth. We've had teh body and parts there since December! His motivation comes and goes, but when it's on, he's great to learn from. I could never, never have done this without him.

I still don't have those "hands" that can feel waviness, but I learned that if you put a cloth under your hands you can feel more. I also learned that what I thought looked pretty good actually wasn't, and we needed to strip the panel and do it over again. Can't tell you how many times we did the doors over :)

Cheers!
TomK

[jim_ss409]

I'd be happy to explain how I did it but I doubt it's the best way. It might just encourage input from those who actually know a thing or two about body work. Aparently it's very important that the surface of the bare steel, or the old paint is scuffed by sanding or sandblasting. And they say that it should be completely grease and oil free. I tried to make sure and wipe the surfaces with thiners before painting. I've used laquer thiner for this but lately I've been using something called Wipe and Wash. It's similar to laquer thiner but I don't think it's as stong. Once without thinking I grabed the jug of regular paint thinner (Varsol) and wiped the parts down just before I started primering. As I started to paint I noticed that some of the thinner hadn't completely dried, Varsol's kind of oily. I thought I might have problems with the paint not sticking but It was fine.
For primer I used PPG's Uniprime dm They recently stoped making this stuff because it's not very good to use. The good thing about it is that it's a build primer that can be applied straight to bare metal. The bad thing is it's slow to dry completely and tends to clog the sandpaper. I think these are comon traits among these direct to metal build primers. Apparently the same ingredients that make it stick to the steel make it clog the sandpaper. If anyone knows of a good direct to metal build primer let us know what it is. As I understand it you've got to use a regular primer, or an eching primer from a spray can and then use build primer if you want. I've read that it's best to primer first and then use filler but I've put it straight on the metal without problem. I usually figure that I can re-coat paint without sanding between coats if it's been less than 24hrs.
If I was getting the car painted by a pro I would have gone with base-clear but painting it myself without a paint booth I went with a solid color paint. I also thought it would be easier getting into the tight spots underneath with the solid color. I used PPG Direct Gloss. It seems like nice paint to me. I know it's really durable because I painted the frame of a highway tractor with it a couple of years ago and it still looks good after about a 1/2 million miles of hard use. It builds up pretty thick which is good because I always manage to get dust, dry spots and orange peel and lets not forget runs or sags. :mad:
Now I'm finally in an area that I've gotten pretty good at through lots of practice. :cry I try to cut the runs and sags off with a razor before they are totaly hard. Like if I got a run painting at night I can get the worst of it off the next morning. Then I start color sanding the rest of the paint. I start with 1000grit wet-dry paper. I use a bucket of clean water with a bit of dish soap. A special soft rubber backing block is available for this at any body shop supply place and it works well. I sand then squeege the area to see how it's going. I continue untill all the orange peel is gone then I move on to the 1500 grit and do it all again. finally I use 2000 grit. I try to keep changing the water and rinceing often so that I don't scratch the paint with any grit. Be carefull not to sand through at seams and high spots. Puting tape along the potential trouble spots is a good idea. If you do go through somewhere I've been able to touch it up by putting a bit of paint on with a small foam brush and sanding it the next day. One more thing, the paper works best if it's been soaked overnight.
For the buffing I've got two foam pads one softer than the other. I use the coarse one first untill all the sanding scratches are gone then polish it up with the fine one. Ideally your buffer shold turn at about 3000 rpm. They say you should resist the urge to use wax untill the paint has cured for a month or so.
If youve got a nice paint job but only have a few minor flaws you can sand and buff just those areas if you want. I had to do the whole car. :cry
Sorry this is so long but as I said when it comes to bdywork I'm really slow. I can't even describe it quickly. Mayby with some input from guys who know what there doing we'll all learn how to do bodywork better and quicker. :cheers

[jim_ss409]

Chevy Talk 's a good idea. :beerbang Here's the link. http://www.chevytalk.org/threads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB73

[bobs409]

Jim,

What product did you use to do the final buffing after the color sand? I would like to practice color sanding and buffing on my truck. I purposely put hardner in the paint so I could do this later on when I learned how. (it's acrylic enamel-I heard you can't buff it unless it has hardner in it so im covered there) :D

Today I bought a quart of self etching primer and a quart of high build 2 part primer for my latest projects. I have a trunk lid and door im doing for my 69 Chevelle and I will also be refinishing the roof on my '63. All of these have been (or will be) stripped to bare metal so im going to use the etching primer, followed by the build primer, then block sand until im satisfied, followed by acrylic enamel paint w/hardner. (another chance to practice color sanding and buffing will await me) :D

Im a bit shocked at how paint supplies have gone up in cost but that's another story. ;)

[dq409]

Not being a body man or painter but being around a few I know I argue over solid verses color/clear coats all the time.

My view:
Color/clear coats do shine nice but,,, harder to touch up and blend.
Dark colors look dirty in sunlight. Black especially ! It never is as dark and true black like a solid color paint job.
I think it is,, no it is the light refracting through the clear that gives it a hazy off black look.

Metalics look great with a clear coat !

Solids should be solid,,,, Jmo ,,,dq

[jim_ss409]

I can't remember the name of the compound I use and I'm just on my way out of town so I'll have to post it when I get back. I think the name is something like Fairgia or something like that. Then I've got some extra fine stuff for the very last polish.