Well I guess it's decided then...

"Bandit" (2bandit) 03/10/2014 at 20:36 • Filed to: Emma

2

20

I will be doing bodywork and primer (and possibly top coat) myself. I know some of you have done those things before and I want your wisdom. How did you do it and what would you do differently the next time? I have access to a 60gal air compressor, a DA sander, and a hardware store is located a mile away from me.

The body has no rust but does have quite a few small dents. I've already done all bodywork on the trunk lid, nose, and passenger fender. The hood has one dent and has already been sanded. The driver fender hasn't been touched yet, nor has the rest of the car. The fenders and nose are currently off the car. Sanding starts tomorrow after school.

jkm7680 > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 20:37

0

Do you know how much the shop will charge after you do the prep work?

Bandit > jkm7680 03/10/2014 at 20:40

1

No but at this point I'm really angry at the shops since I got screwed by the guy who had my car for 3 months and did nothing to it.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 20:40

1

MCM has you covered for those small dents

jkm7680 > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 20:41

0

Ouch! Sorry about that. I hope you unleashed hell on him.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 20:42

3

Filter your air! Try to get water based paint. Make sure that there are no bugs/birds/critters that can mess it up. You'll have a certain time window to paint spray all the paints. Make sure the temperature is ideal for the paint. Get a good spray gun. Practice on somebody else's car. Bribe your neighbors so that they don't call the cops.

Bandit > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 03/10/2014 at 20:44

1

Thanks. I didn't think about that.

Bandit > jkm7680 03/10/2014 at 20:45

0

Yeah... I'm not too pleased. He won't be getting any of my future business.

Sn210 > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 20:46

0

Good luck and keep us posted! Just take your time

jkm7680 > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 20:50

0

That really sucks. At least you didn't have to pay for storage fees. Units are expensive as shit, unless you have a garage. Then he basically just stole it for a while.

deekster_caddy > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 21:01

0

I went to evening classes at the local voc tech and let the instructors show me what to do. I painted a few door panels and parts of other cars getting practice for the one I want to be perfect. It will be quite a while before that one is ready to paint, but it's always getting closer and closer. But I have a feeling you are ready to move faster than me.

desertdog5051 > Bandit 03/10/2014 at 21:52

1

Primer the already filled dents. That will tell you how they will look after paint. Primer is a great truth teller. You can see the finished results without the finish coat. If it is not what you want, sand off the primer and add filler and sand again. Keep in mind that the contour you need often cannot be done with a flat sanding tool. Good luck.

TheLOUDMUSIC- Put it in H! > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 03/10/2014 at 23:04

0

Is this the voice of experience I hear?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > TheLOUDMUSIC- Put it in H! 03/10/2014 at 23:17

1

Yes.

Old-Busted-Hotness > Bandit 03/11/2014 at 06:47

2

Pick up a lot of visqueen and seal off your paint booth area. Tape in a furnace filter to let air in. Wet the floor down to keep dust to a minimum. Some sort of respirator's not a bad idea.

Back when I was painting cars you could still get solvent-based paints; not sure if that's the case today. But if it is, they're definitely the way to go rather than water-based. Drying time is much faster. Old-school lacquer will dry by the time you put the gun down and looks fantastic when it's buffed out. Old-school enamel takes longer to dry but goes on thicker, so there's more to work with when you're color sanding. But it's hard to beat the finish of a modern (still solvent-based) base/clear. The advantage there is you can sand some of the boogers out of the color before the clear goes on.

Do the door jambs and inside lips of the hood and trunk first.

Clean the hell out of everything, even the parts you're making off. Air has a way of dislodging anything you don't want in your paint and plonking it in the middle of the hood. When you're sure it's clean enough, clean it again. Then use Prep-Sol to remove skin oil, wax, etc.

Don't freak out if you get a run, drip, or orange peel. You can sand & polish that out. Since it's your first time, you will make mistakes. Don't expect it to be perfect.

Practice on some junk panels to learn your technique, how much to overlap, gun distance, speed, etc.

A guide for getting the color density right: Get some black and white floor tiles, put them side by side and see how many coats you need to make them the same color.

Remove anything removable and paint separately.

Get a wheelie seat for doing the rockers. It's a lot more stable than squatting or kneeling.

30-gallon trash bags make good wheel masks.

Takuro Spirit > Bandit 03/11/2014 at 13:20

1

Shouldn't be TOO hard. I myself have limited experience with body work, but at least it's something you can do and learn as you go, and if you mess up, its easy to learn from mistakes and try again, with minimal costs.

So long as you have a clean dry environment to paint it in, it should come out nice if everything else is done and set up properly. I can't wait to get to that point with mine someday.

Speaking of which, I have a line on a nose for my car locally, so we may not have to set something up for that if you were planning on it. But just in case (and for my own sanity), if you WERE to sell me the nose you have, what would you ask for it? Email me thru takurospirit at gmail.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Bandit 03/11/2014 at 16:50

1

I saw this ages ago, but I've been at work so I couldn't post.

What sort of paint are you using? There's two main types, cellulose and cyano-acrylate. Cellulose paint needs a lot more layers so it's easier to blend it into existing paint. It's also an older tech so your Trans-Am probably has cellulose paint from the factory.

Cyano-acrylate paint (or 2k/2-pack paint) is a lot harder and tougher when it dries and only requires 2 or 3 coats of colour. However, it's really nasty stuff. The solvent is cyanide-based, so breathing it in is a really bad idea. It won't likely kill you, but it will leave you with asthma-like breathing for the rest of your life. A good respirator is a good idea for any sort of proper paint-spraying, but it's vital for cyano-acrylate. It's recommended to use one that's fed air by the compressor, with the feed to the compressor piped away from the area in which you're spraying. It's also probably a good idea to put up some warning signs if anyone might be wandering into the place in which you're spraying.

Actual tips for prepping and painting. A lot of wet-and-dry and a bucket of warm water is a good idea. It'll take a long time to flat it back, but painting is all about prep, and the more effort you put into that the better it will look. You'll want to get it nice and dull before you spray your primer on. You will also probably create low-spots that will show up in the final coat. You'll want to gradually grade these out to the level of the surrounding paint.

The primer will probably end up with an orange-peel like texture, which will need flatting back as well.

Oh, and degreasing is important too. Any little specks will repel the paint and cause little fisheyes in the coats of paint.

Bandit > Takuro Spirit 03/11/2014 at 18:37

0

Awesome! Keep up that parts hunt. No email needed, I don't even know.

Takuro Spirit > Bandit 03/11/2014 at 20:43

0

My problem is I can't find it as a whole, yet. But there's one guy on eBay with all the parts I need from the same car listed separate, save for the cover, and he's only an hour away.

I just don't want to pay too much then find one at one of the swap meets this summer at a much cheaper price.

Bandit > Takuro Spirit 03/11/2014 at 20:48

0

That's how I came upon two noses and 12 seats. I get a set and then immediately find another one for much less than I paid the first time. I scored a correct style brand new (from 1979) spare tire for my car for $5 at at the last swap meet I went to.

Takuro Spirit > Bandit 03/11/2014 at 21:17

0

I just can't wait to dig out stuff to post for sale/trade. Hoping that since all these parts everyone else have are coming out since the weather is nice-ish, I can make some trades. Also, I never had a car with swap meet needs, so this should be an adventure. I just need to borrow a vehicle big enough to squeeze a whole interior in, if I find one.