Painting the 58

[tripowerguy]

I tell you I thought that my car was not to bad but as I keep digging it just keeps coming up with things that need repair. I took off the weather stripping from the doors and where the metal clips hold it on the door I have a lot of rust at each place on the bottom of the door. I have ordered new weather stripping from Auto City Classic. My question is what can I treat the clips with to stop the rust from forming? This car looked so good, I guess they're like women, powder and paint makes them look like what they ain't. Roy

 

[dq409]

Roy, I use ACDsee for my photo software. It`s easy to use and will resize buy pixels, and manages the albums great !
You can download the trial version and give it a try.
I like easy to use software and this is idiot proof,,,,dq
LINK,,,, ACDsee Link

 

[59fins]

"My question is what can I treat the clips with to stop the rust from forming? "
I am not sure what clips you are speaking of, on the 59 you have the holes in the door which go around the inside edge of the door that the w/s pushes into, but there is a (for the lack of a better word) gromment that goes into the hole first, again on the 59 that gromment is plastic, if there is rust around the hole on the sheetmetal, the area should be sand blasted if possible or wire brush on a drill as a very miminumuse some metal conditioner and use a 2 part epoxy over the rust such as DP from PPG, (that is what I use), I am sure all the paint systems have an epoxy 2 part primer.
Ask Auto City Classic if they have the clips, or do the clips come with the w/s, with some luck the clips will be plastic push in's, if that is the clips you are speaking of.
Don't be discouraged, just like anything that is worth doing, it usually looks worse before it starts looking better, if you are finding things that you would of just painted over, you would of been that much more mad when you found them later in the form of a blister, AFTER you spent all that cash on paint and materials plus all of your time.
Any Pics yet?

 

[tripowerguy]

The old weather stripping had metal clips, no plastic. I have ground the holes down to shiney metal and I am going to clean up the inside of the door as best as I can get at it. Then I'm going to use Por- 15 on the inside. The holes are not rusted out but I'll bet in a couple of years they would have been. It is just dumb to put some thing on the inside of a door that is going to rust.

As to the photos, I'm going on the link that Dq gave me and see if that software can solve my problem. With all the stuff he is able to put on this site it should be good. This Kodak camera and software limits you on being able to resize photos. My granddaughter's $45 camera is great. That is what I used to send pictures of the exhaust. It is terrible to pay 6 times as much for a camera and it won't let you do anything except print pictures. I'll keep trying or drive 50 miles and borrow my granddaughter's camera. The car is looking good, Butch the body man keeps finding things that I think looks good and I have to sand down and refix, then more primer. I have the top all wet sanded and most of the hood and deck now I've got the car up on jack stands and am going over the rockers and under the doors. No wonder they want $5000 to paint a car right. Roy

 

[59fins]

I bet the new w/s will have plastic clips, that will help stop corrosion.
I used the hell out of POR-15, I hope it is as good as they say it is.
Sound like you are on track and have a good forman, to keep you on track, Yes you can see why they charge what they charge for restorations / paint jobs. paint & materials are out of site and so are labor costs, but for the labor, not anybody can do body work.
Are you going to be in KC in Sept? I am debating that, but I am not into the racing thing.

 

[tripowerguy]

Yeah, I'm going to KC in Sept. and it is not a race, it is going to be a get together of all us strange W engine people. I'm sure that a lot of people are going to just bring their car and socialize. I'm a race nut. If I had a bicycle and another bicycle came along side I would race him. I'm sure that not everyone has my sickness. I would hope everyone on this forum and others that have an interest in these cars and engines show up. Life is to short to miss out on happenings like this. I hope that Phast Phil is bringing things together so that all will be included. It would be boring if it was only a show and shine or just a drag race or just a tech session, I think it will be all that and then some. Just to look at some of the displays that are going to be there is going to be worth the trip. If Aubrey can drive 1800 miles for a 57 4 door Chevy the you can come and see something that are going to be awesome. Roy

 

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Hey Roy... I never went 1800 miles for a 4 door ...
I got paid to deliver a bunch of stuff... then a 4 door happened to be available to bring back

On the weatherstrip clips. I think I like the plastic better. The metal ones chip the paint as you install them, and are prone to detriorate.

 

[tripowerguy]

Well naturally I would not get all the facts right before I opened my mouth. Anyway, going 1800 miles in the winter in Canada is quite an endeavor whether you're getting paid or not. I just would like as many W motor junkies to show up as possible, to talk engines, cars, bench race and drag race.
I never thought to ask if the clips are metal or plastic. I guess I'll find out this week when they come. Butch is going to do the painting of the car. We are going to build a plastic paint booth in my garage. It should be ready for paint in about 2 days. The big hangup right now is the weather. I need to move the car outside so I can wash it and clean the garage floors and walls. I can't wash the car in below freezing temps.: Roy

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

I'm impressed!

Roy:

Ready to paint in 2 days! Hey, how did you get ahead of me? This weekend warrior is still removing paint on the left side of the body....

Take lots of pictures (I am!) and wait until the weather warms up for a day or two, even in a heated garage. That always happens in Missouri in the winter months, but then I'm tempted to play a round of golf balls

Hope she turns out just spectacular! Remember the prep is where it counts, and the base that you paint up from

Can't wait to see her shine (mine, too)!

Cheers,
TomK

 

[tripowerguy]

Well I spoke to soon, Butch found some spots on the back fenders that were low so I had to sand them down and use spot putty on them. Just now shot those spots with primer and am going to re-wetsand. I just can't see those spots, Butch takes flat black paint and dusts it over where your going to sand and as you block sand the low and high spots show up. I sure can't see them although flat primer doesn't show like glossy paint. It is supposed to come a big snow storm tomorrow so I'm sure I'll be more than 2 days probably next week. My $800 paint job is getting close to $2000.:eek: My wife was lamenting yesterday about how much it was costing and I said I just wanted to get it finished. She said," that car will never be finished!" Roy

 

[59fins]

That guide coating is the best way to find low spots, I did it several times, $2000.00 for a paint job is still by any standards pretty cheap these days, and the investment will make the car worth much more than that, Wives go to school to learn those little guilt tricks, but at the end of it all they get over it, your not spending time in the bar, she knows where your at and you can remind her when your driving the car this summer how nice it looks and thank you for being so generous with my time .... you know, the school men go to to suck up to there wives ... he he!
Do not be in a hurry, paint when the conditions are right and now is the time to look for inperfections, cause once the paint is on, it's hard to go back and start over cause your not happy with it.

 

[TomO]

Roy – Ahhh yes…the wife. I started out with a spouce approved plan to fix the lower qtrs front and rear of the Impala and repaint below the trim estimated cost $800. Same old story – this phase of the project ended with several time more than planned spent. I ended up with paint/interior and some new exterior trim for the Impala. Best thing is that the wife now ENJOYS riding around in the car and is actually is proud of it. Our kids love it as well. We take it on family trips several times a year.

To fix these cars up is a heck of a lot of work and takes a heck of a lot of money – but if it something that you plan to keep it is well worth the investment.

I cant wait to see your car after the body/paint!!!!

TomO

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Cost of quality materials

Roy, IMHO $2000 is a great deal

So far I have spent about $1400 in materials alone. No that didn't include a compressor and an air suit with oxygen! That was 2 gallons of 2K primer, 2 gallons of Ermine White, a gallon of "semi-flat" black, and lots of hardener and reducer. Plus sand paper, tack rags, etc. No tools It really adds up, even with a "painter's discount".

Just imagine what kind paint job you get for $299 at McPaint's
(That would be Maaco, Earl Scheib, whatever).

I can't wait to see that '58!

Cheers,
TomK

 

[tripowerguy]

You know I don't know how those cheap paint places can do it that cheap. Like you said, the 2k primer, hardeners, etc. are costly. I'm putting on base coat, clear coat and my color coat was $148 gallon. The paint wholesaler that I bought it from said that he had some that was over a $1000 a gallon. He told me that when I made a comment about how exspensive the paint was. 3M masking tape was $26 dollars for 4 rolls of 3/4 in. and 1 roll of 2in. I'm using that to mask off the 2 tone paint. Well it's snowing now so I guess it is time to hibernate for a few days. :evil Roy

 

[62Belair409]

Im looking at a new project 62 Biscayne. Does anyone have an estimate of the cost of walnut shell blasting a full car body and also sandblasting a frame and all associated chassis components ?

This thread has been some great reading !

Thanx Dave

 

[tripowerguy]

They don't have anyplace around here that does that. There are some sandblasters here, but I think if you're near KC that there should be someone up there. If Phil Reed looks in on this thread he might know of someone.
Started painting the 58 today, my heatpump would not make it hot enough for Butch so I put some portable propane heaters in there to bring temp up to 80 degrees. If you do this be sure and shut them off and take them out before painting can go BOOM! The clear coat says 77 degrees is the best temp to apply it at. I'm taking pictures as we go along so I've got a record as to what I did. Hopefully I can do something and get them on the site. I need to work at that but I haven't had time to sit a fool with it. I'm to busy sanding and other things to spend at the computor. Butch wanted to work today because of the temps outside got to 41. We went to church and then bought my wife a new dress because we're going to a Valintines dance that the oldies and goodies radio station is putting on. I don't think I can have all the chrome on the 58 by fri. but would be great to go out in that and dance to some old time rock and roll. Roy

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Costs for blasting

Dave:

I have a guy here in Columbia with a sandblaster, and he charged me around $250 (including materials) to sandblast an X-frame and all the disassembled components. This included all the front and rear suspension parts, the rear end, drive shaft, you name it. If it was there after I lifted the body, he did it. Used a lot of sand, but he recycles it. Be sure to get all the hardened tar and packed/caked grease off, it makes their job easier (and sandblasting doesn't remove the tar).

I've not used the "walnut" approach, but about 4-5 years ago I had my '63 Corvette coupe "media blasted" (a plastic media used on these fiberglass components) and the charge was around $500 (high end professional resto shop). I am still finding those damn particles all over the car, even after a total restore At first, I thought maybe it was just the ductwork, but that stuff turns up everywhere!

Good luck!

TomK

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

P.S.

Dave:

Forgot to add this: This summer I tried my hand at stripping my '61 BA 2 door coupe using chemicals (aircraft stripper). It had a well worn original acrylic lacquer job on it, and it went quickly. But it does make a mess -- I did it outside at the farm, on gravel, and just slung that stuff around (hope there are no DNR Nazi's snooping about).

The '62 SS I am now in the midst of was done by hand. That's right, by hand! No power tools. No chemicals. I wanted to see if it could be done. One side was original lacquer, the other repainted once. It takes a loooooong time, lots of patience, but the results are satisfying. It also builds great hand strength

Next time I plan on using power tools and an air compressor! You get smarter as you get older... (so I am told).

Best,
TomK

 

[62Belair409]

Tom

Thanx for all that info, I think i have a plan put into place for my next project. I've always liked the idea of the "stip it to bare metal" philosophy, as all the ills can be found.

Thanx Much
Dave

 

[59fins]

The media blasting is good to take the paint off, and yes in panels like the hood and decklid, you seem to keep getting that stuff coming out all the time, but it boils down to time vs cash, like flying vs driving to a destination, we fly when we want to save time, usually costs more, but we are buying time, media blastic is buying time, you take the car to thier shop and it comes back done, no mess (except what is mentioned above) and no shop cleanup, you are ready to start on the car, more money? you have to ask your self what your time is worth, if you have nothing but time, hand stripping or chemical stripping, or DA'ing the car down, sand paper wear and tear on compressor, and the fact you cannot get in the cracks or inner panels very well, you can justify it any way you want. every car seems to tell you how it should be done.

There are many different media materials out there and I have heard of the walnut shells I am sure it works just like the others, I think I spent $750 to have EVERY panel, inside and out stripped and to me it was worth every penny, then all I needed to do was start working on it, but I also hate stripping paint, one panel is not so bad, but a whole car makes me loose interest real fast.
Now I did the frame and the bottom of the car, the frame I dissasembled and took out to my brother in laws farm, rented an industrial sand blaster and it took about 700 lbs of silica sand, the 250 mentioned above sounds pretty good right now, but I took the time to get every little nook and cranny I could, I was happy with the results. but left a pretty good sand mess at the brother in laws :
Roy how did the paint come out? don't worry about pics yet, you have other priorities, but we will hold you to them. :eek: