I kind of get offended when someone asks me in a sarcastic way why it cost so much to get a car painted. A good friend of mine does very good body and paint work, and I know how much time he puts into it. It's much more work that what he gets paid for.

I helped with some of the blocking on my car. I went home one night after blocking and my wife had supper done. My glass had condensation on it and when I picked it up to take a drink it slipped right through my fingers. I had no finger prints left.

Yeah, bodywork is an art form. I just don't have that kind of concentration level or patience to do all that hand labor. I also don't have the eye for low spots and medium spots and high spots. I could spend 40 hours nonstop in a greasy garage, assembling an engine block but four hours sanding a body panel? I'd be bonkers.

More power to ya, Dave.

Thanks, guys. Yes Freddie, you’re right in saying that. And I have a rule that I don’t just do paint jobs for people. Many I’ve flown with say, “Can you paint my 1983 xxxx”. And when I reply with not only a description of the work involved, the materials tab, and then the final price, the reaction is all the same; “I can get it way cheaper at Maaco!!!!”:rolleyes2: Yes, you can, and please do! That’s what they were made for and if you get a good shop , it’ll be a decent job.:biggthumpup: I only paint the cars I fully restore since it’s just too much work and logistics involved otherwise. Now, the Cuda and Steve-O are exceptions since it’s really more of a combined restoration, sort of, and it’s Steve, and we all know Steve!:biggthumpup:

Out to the shop....:cool2:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

...aaaaaand another 8hrs of blocking. Ugh. I'm telling ya, this could be the best new cardio-workout ever!

Here is the start and the low spots on round 2 of 220. They're getting less and less but then others pop up where none were before! :hmmm: This is some sort of Ethic Far East Aqua Persuasion (that's about the best I can do to be politically correct:bs:) for sure!

But this just in, Steve said he's going for that "Day 2" look, so the bucket of white house paint look it is! Phew! Now I can relax and paint it tomorrow! :biggthumpup:

Cheers :beers:
Dave

Final 220 block and then prime!

The lower rear valance was really fighting me, so this side is way better. Need to work on that body line, but the gap is way better. Next up... the other side! :biggthumpup:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

I'm going to invent the automatic continuous feed sanding blocks! They advance the paper automatically as you block. The faster you block, the faster it advances!! Comin' in HOT!! :rolleyes2::tongue:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Actually, I'm kind of diggin' the pastel, Van Gogh thematic elements you've got going there. Keep it up, it's becoming the talk of the art critic community. You're the Bob Ross of body work.

The front is now down to 320. Way happy with the body lines. A few dings still to smooth over but not many more left.... finally!!

I'm rolling into days off and with out any major issues popping up I should be ready for paint by Thursday. No, Steve...it won't be painted Thursday, but definitely this month! Woohoo!! I needs to head up to the paint store for the final round of supplies.

What's next? The car gets rolled out, washed, then I will take the air gun to it to blow it dry, then a wetsand of 400. Then another wash, then a go over with a pencil and a shop light to look over for any pinholes I may have missed. Probably one last light prime followed by another 400 wet round to make sure it's ready.

Time to go surprise Dad with baby back ribs for lunch! Happy Father's Day you's guys! :beers:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

It looks great, Dave.

Thank you, Tim! :biggthumpup:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Ha! Yeah, that's about how I feel Darrel!:thumbsdown:

Rear valance workout day along with a couple areas I had to rework. Sometimes, I just wish I could look the other way when it comes to some things. But I can't, so back out comes the filler, 180, 220, then 320. If I ran a fulltime body gig my motto would be "We're not happy until you're not happy":scholar:

So am I happy? Sort of. But it's getting closer and closer! I don't think the gaps could get any better on the rear valance. Just a tad more to do on that rear body line. This thing was removed and reinstalled about 5 times today. It will be painted off the car so I want fitment perfect just like the front is. Or I could fit it after paint since that would make a real entertaining read! :eek2:

Bumper fitment and prep later this week. Tomorrow I'll get the rest of the car to 320 again, wash, then go over with the pencil and light to find all the other crap I missed:thumbsdown:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

----Now, That's the way to do it!......Bill S

Washed the car, spot primed some areas, fixed a few other areas. Another 320 block tomorrow followed by 400 wet, then another wash. Loaded up the top with some wax/degreaser and happy with the reflection of those shop lights on the roof!

But of course there's a set back. And that would be the elastomeric bumper paint additive not flexing. My paint supply guy says I may have gotten either a bad can or one that's way old. Either way, I'm headed to the shop tomorrow to get base and another can of the flex agent. Round two on the bumpers.... ugh. :thumbsdown:

It's just about ready and of course everywhere I look I see something I missed. :mad2: Out comes the pencil and the shop light for the final round. Then it'll go onto the rotisserie in preps for purps!!:headbang:

Cheers
Dave

400 wet, minor imperfections to fix, but she's ready for paint! Now it's back onto the twirler and I need to build another Jigasaurus for the valances to be painted off the car since they have to be removed to install the painted bumpers anyway. Along with that, the bumpers will be mounted on that contraption too. Last thing is the side mirrors. Paint early next month for sure then it's off to Steve so he can continue the thread until she's finished! :biggthumpup:

More to come....

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Go Man Go!!!

Go Mango? I thought it was In Violet?!?! Now I’m confused....do I return the gallon of DBC I just bought?:crazy:

Getting closer Steve-O!

Cheers:biggthumpup:
Dave

Bring on the Great Grape Ape!

We all know it's getting closer when it goes back on the rotisserie! Once again, another round of "find the crater" featuring Mr. Pencil and Professor Shop Light. The blue tape lets me know where to use the glaze quickly since that stuff sets up in a nano-second! Is that hyphenated? :hmmm: No matter, after the pinhole fill, spot prime and then another rerun of everyone's favorite: Wet Sand with 320!:biggthumpup:

Now that this is done it's one more round of 400 wet then the painting begins. It'll be in stages like the Bee: undercarriage first, then the trunk/ engine bay/ interior, then exterior.

Stay tuned... more to come like "Where'd that hole come from? " and "It looked better in primer.":grin::bs:

Cheers:beers:
Super Dave:biggthumpup:

I've got 2 questions. First, when you remove the rotisserie do you go back and paint the areas where it was bolted on? Second, what causes the pin holes?

Hi Freddie,

The rotisserie is bolted where the bumper brackets go and those areas are epoxied already under those mounts. It’s spaced away enough that it’ll be painted pretty much everywhere it needs to be (visible) and any unpainted parts will be covered up when the bumper brackets gets installed. But for protection, I will mix up a couple ounces of single stage and dust those areas with the touch up gun prior to the bumpers going on.:biggthumpup:

The pinholes can be from one or two things. Usually an air bubble in the filler, or they will be in one of the heavier high build primer coats. Sometimes with the filler, if a piece of debris finds its way in there accidentally, it’ll be removed when sanding leaving a little void. But usually it’s all from air bubbles in the primer or filler showing up.

Make sense?

Cheers:beers:
Dave

We're masked off! A preponderance of purple will protrude from the perfectly primed pans in panoramic picture postcard form! :dunno:

What a day....:biggthumpup:.

Cheers:beers:
Dave

I am psyched! So is my 87 year old father who always wanted a purple car but life got in the way (and 5 kids). :-) I can't wait to send him some photos.

You really make my day, Dave! I look for your posts each day to see what you've come up with in words and work.

Well thanks, Robert! Luckily my cranial capacity of mindless drivel knows no satiety! :thumbsdown:

It was a purple haze of psychedelic proportions! The first step was an even coat of tinted epoxy to replicate the dip primer. Once that was done I raised the car as high as it could go on the rotisserie. I wanted to paint the car in this position since this is how it was painted in the factory and the overspray should be pretty close without having to work to make it look correct. I then busted out da base and sprayed that after the epoxy flashed for 60 minutes. To get the proper overspray pattern, I turned the air valve up to the max. See, these new-fangled HVLP guns don't do much wasting of materials with overspray. So to remedy that, I made a knob setting for velocity according to the material I use. Pretty simple really. :scholar:

After this flashed, I mixed up a small batch of clear with 30% base added. This allowed me to get the single stage gloss look on the edges of the floor pans, wheel wells, and inner fenders. I didn't want to spray the clear directly on the base since I didn't want clear overspray anywhere on the pans which would tight the epoxy. A reduction on the nozzle fan size and an increase in material allowed me to get the small details that was on the car originally like the trunk brace edges getting a little dusting along with the opposite edge of the trans tunnel.

The underside of the frame rails, just like originally, were just primed.... no color or very, little. Remember, the painter didn't want to paint the frame and any color inside the wells is from painting the fenders.

Overall I'm happy with it! Now it's unmasking time, then remaking time for engine bay and trunk! :headbang:

Cheers
Dave

...and some more! :headbang:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Last few.... onto the trunk and engine bay! :headbang:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Such a momentous occasion. Now I'm gettin' verklempt here.

WoW!!!, talk about attention to details.

That is awesome.

True dat, Brother D!:haha:

Another 3hr masking job and the floors and trunk are ready to go! Black sealer first since this is what the exterior will get too. Seems FC7 likes the dark primer base better than the light gray. Less streaks.

One will notice the trunk latch painted. That's correct for Mopars. Also, I installed the bolts on the trunk latch mechanism so they get painted too. The latch mechanism isn't installed, rather, a bracket is installed where that goes which.... probably with a piece of wire... will hold the trunk down when the guys on the line painted the exterior. Since my underside and trunk is painted along with the jamb, the trunk will remain closed when I paint the exterior but to simulate the correct look afterwards, the latch mechanism bolts are installed and painted.

Engine bay tomorrow! :smile: Think I need more FC7 and clear.

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Man! You are an inspiration.

Dave - When you work, it must look like a time-lapse video.....except it is real time! Outstanding progress!

Thanks, Guys! Just went out to unwrap the masking paper. Man, nothing like the feel of fresh clean on a car. Has a similar feel to Christmas morning with a new toy! Refreshing to see paint!

More tomorrow!:burnout:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

Lmao

Actually, the trunk latch could be painted or unpainted depending on the build date of the car. It was a change to the paint procedure during the '70 model year. Same with cowl blackout. But if you found evidence as to what was on yours, that's cool.

See? That's what makes you my idol, Jim. It's the details like that! Didn't know that about the 70 trunk latch and yes, mine was painted. Did they use a different hook or something? Wonder why the change. I have that factory diagram about the cowl blackout, and mine had it from what I can tell by the sleuthing I did. Any idea when it stopped being done on the cowl? :scholar:

Engine bay painted! Might do the door jambs tomorrow but I'm on call the next three days, then out to Taylorsville, IL to get my Flight Instructor rating reinstated. Been trying to do this for almost a year and the latest fiasco was this stupid cough. But so far it's a go! Plus, I need another gallon of FC7 and the paint shop was closed today. :frown:

More to come!

Cheers:beers:
Dave

OK Dave, time for another novice question. I noticed that the holes in the firewall are masked off from the inside. Would something like this have been done at the factory or would they have let the paint fog through those holes into the interior?:hmmm: Or maybe there was something in those holes when it was painted?:dunno: