1970 Dart Swinger FINALLY UNDERWAY

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Yep got your PM, appreciate you gettin them out so fast. I love the progress too but I'm probably going to be bringing it home next week some time, I want to at least get the passenger quarter panel welded on before it comes home. I ended up well over budget already with the unexpected things that popped up, coming to terms with that fact that I can't spend any more on my car right now. :(

Looks like I'll have to learn how to paint :glasses7:
 
FomocoReformed said:
Yep got your PM, appreciate you gettin them out so fast. I love the progress too but I'm probably going to be bringing it home next week some time, I want to at least get the passenger quarter panel welded on before it comes home. I ended up well over budget already with the unexpected things that popped up, coming to terms with that fact that I can't spend any more on my car right now. :(

Looks like I'll have to learn how to paint :glasses7:
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I feel your pain. About 15 years ago I got a couple of quotes for body work and paint done on my car and about fell over. Needless to say I learned to bodywork and paint. You can do it, just ask a ton of questions and get a buddy that paints to help walk you through it. It's not that bad.
 
Body work is super expensive. Once you do it yourself you will find out why. Materials are expensive and it is very labor intensive. If you do all the prep and block the car down you can have a shop spray it for not much money over the cost of the paint then the car will be done. Check out autobody101.com that is a good site.
 
Yeah the material cost has been less than the labor cost so far, the labor is friggen ridiculous and that's what killed me.

Right now it's looking like I'll at least be able to take it through next week, the body man who's on my car has 78 hours on it so far and is already done blocking the drivers side, just has to weld the passenger fender and rear crossmemeber. If I take it through next week I should be able to bring it home blocked and ready for primer. He works fast.

At the least I'll be painting it myself, really wanted to do F8 green but I think a satin black might be a more do-able option for me, maybe with a gloss black hood and cowl.
 
Yeah the pictures don't do justice to just how much pinholing and swiss cheesing revealed it self all over the body. The whole hood is full of tiny tiny little pinholes but no rot. Odd.
 
FomocoReformed said:
Yeah the material cost has been less than the labor cost so far, the labor is friggen ridiculous and that's what killed me.

Right now it's looking like I'll at least be able to take it through next week, the body man who's on my car has 78 hours on it so far and is already done blocking the drivers side, just has to weld the passenger fender and rear crossmemeber. If I take it through next week I should be able to bring it home blocked and ready for primer. He works fast.

At the least I'll be painting it myself, really wanted to do F8 green but I think a satin black might be a more do-able option for me, maybe with a gloss black hood and cowl.
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The hardest part about blocking these cars is keeping these beautiful body lines nice and crisp. Many guys will try to blend them and it doesn't look right. Keep it up Eric, you can do it.
 
That's a good point I didn't even think of how tough blocking around the body lines would be. Thanks for the good wishes, I'm doing my best with what I can get a hold of.

I had a harbor freight gift card so I went out and got some stuff to paint today, got their more high end 1qt spray gun (was gonna get the gravity feed that thing looked way too cheap) and a couple inline moisture separators. I think I'm going to use the old hood to practice on before I shoot the car since I've never done this before.

When I'm getting everything prepped to shoot the body color are the door jambs and engine bay done with only a coat of base and no clear? Looking through paint threads that's just what I'm guessing but I'm really not sure. Should I do the wet sanding by hand or with an orbital? I feel like with the orbital theres more of a chance for me to sand too much, but doing it by hand I don't want to end up sanding it unevenly.

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FomocoReformed said:
looks like I'll be picking up a 40 gallon belt driven compressor soon, will this be a good compressor for painting?
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All my paint jobs have been on a 25 gal tank with a 6hp motor so you should be ok.
 
not to critisze your work, but you put all this money into the car, how bout you have them put it in primer for you, and just tuck the car away till you can afford the paint job that it deserves. . my .02 it has awsome work done, do not kill it with a orange peel looking crapshoot, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NEVER PAINTED BEFORE. AND IF IT IS METALLIC PAINT,IT IS EVEN HARDER! awsome looking car!

you are doing it backwards!. most people will trow 10 gallons of bondo on it, and pay big money for a awesome paint job. it is like puttin lipstick on a pig!.lol
but with you, it is like you are trying to hide all the beauty with a so-so paint job
 
The 40 gal compressor will run a lot,depending how quick it refillswhich depends on the cylinder head and motor. Likely a single stage? If it is I'd eventually add another tank,get the capacity up to at least 60,better if it's 80.
 
needsaresto said:
The 40 gal compressor will run a lot,depending how quick it refillswhich depends on the cylinder head and motor. Likely a single stage? If it is I'd eventually add another tank,get the capacity up to at least 60,better if it's 80.
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It's a 5hp 3 phase

340plot said:
not to critisze your work, but you put all this money into the car, how bout you have them put it in primer for you, and just tuck the car away till you can afford the paint job that it deserves. . my .02 it has awsome work done, do not kill it with a orange peel looking crapshoot, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NEVER PAINTED BEFORE. AND IF IT IS METALLIC PAINT,IT IS EVEN HARDER! awsome looking car!

you are doing it backwards!. most people will trow 10 gallons of bondo on it, and pay big money for a awesome paint job. it is like puttin lipstick on a pig!.lol
but with you, it is like you are trying to hide all the beauty with a so-so paint job
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Yeah bondo is exactly what I didn't want to do, having the bodywork done and done right was my biggest priority. I can at least get it to primer I know that. I'm still tumbling around ideas on what to do about paint though. 6 large for a paint job is a little rich for my blood right now haha.
 
Oh O.K phases is your electricity requirements,so it uses 240 volt. Single and two stage are methods of compressing the air. Generally a 2 stage will provide a ton more air,but cost's at least $1500 for a 2 stage 60 gal compressor,as they are more of a pro/shop thing. Most of us only ever buy single stage for home use
 
If it takes you twice to get a good solid paint job you still saved money and learned a new trait.Don't listen to him.Just wet sand the base coat and the clear and you will be happy.Just do alot of research.Like I said I have a 26gal 6hp compressor and while I'm useing my wire brush or my 4" cut off the compressor will kick on and then back off while I'm still going hard with them so painting will not over run that compressor as long as its not an oilless.Any compressor is limited to the ability of the motor to catch up and refill the tank tank before too much pressure is lost so if you have a good motor the tank size isn't as important but an 80 gal sure would be sweet to have.
 
mopar410 said:
If it takes you twice to get a good solid paint job you still saved money and learned a new trait.Don't listen to him.Just wet sand the base coat and the clear and you will be happy.Just do alot of research.Like I said I have a 26gal 6hp compressor and while I'm useing my wire brush or my 4" cut off the compressor will kick on and then back off while I'm still going hard with them so painting will not over run that compressor as long as its not an oilless.Any compressor is limited to the ability of the motor to catch up and refill the tank tank before too much pressure is lost so if you have a good motor the tank size isn't as important but an 80 gal sure would be sweet to have.
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Well said! I have a spare 25 gal air tank.I plan to plumb it into my existing air line from my 60 gal single stage. At least you get lots of steady air volume,very important t have constant air psi when painting metallics.
 
Ah thanks for the clarification on the compressor, it's a single stage. I think a 5hp oiled running off a 220 should be able to keep up just fine.

I am pretty sure I'm going to paint it myself though at this point. I've been coming up with a plan for it. I'll be constructing a paint booth in my garage using painters plastic, duct tape, and a filtered intake fan for air circulation and to keep dust from coming in. If I can already get it back primed all I have to do is wet sand then base/clear. Though it's getting cold here now so I might have to wait until spring before I paint it (no heated garage, bah humbug) unless we get some warm days before winter.

I'm worried about what the quality of the paint job is going to be, I will do a good job with it as you can see when I set out to do something I get OCD about it being done the right way. I'm a perfectionist with this car and like I said before I've got the old hood and few other things I'll be practicing on before I shoot the car.
 
Thats what Im using,it's a 5 h.p motor 60 gal tank and 220 volt. Yes it works excellent. The motr will eventually fill the tank after a heavy round of painting,but it does the trick.

One thing about hvlp guns. They require hi volumes of air vs high air pressure. This means they like big air hoses as well . My compressor had no problem with my hvlp gravity feed. Youl should be fine. Prep work is the secret to good paint.

And keeping everything super clean. I worked in body shops for years,so if you have questions ,fire away.
 
is a gravity feed better than a suction feed gun? I have a suction feed gun now, 4cfm @30psi, minimum 50psi max 80 with a 1.7mm nozzle on it.

Yeah keeping things clean is what I'm really trying to focus on, no dust or particles or anything like that.
 
I dunno if it's better. It takes some getting used to,having the paint cup on top of the gun. I found it easier to use than the suction type. It's all about personal choice. Just go with what works for you.
 
Ok good to know, when shooting the door jambs and the engine bay is that done with the same paint as the base? I feel like it's not common practice to clear those areas.

I've seen some people do it with custom mixed enamel then base/clear the rest of the car.

Some good news, dropped my z-bar reinforcement off at the shop to get tacked in. Went over some numbers while I was there so we could see how much could get done before I run out of money. The body man who's on my car assured me he'd be able to work a little faster and get it to primer within my budget. Real good guy, and he's already fast this guy can cut and have a new quarter panel fully welded and sealed before lunch.
 
i think the "custom enamel" they speak of is just a sigle stage paint which is what was used on these cars new.it shines without haveing to go thru a second paint process to clear it.I've actually concidered painting my whole car with single stage poly and wet sanding it,then clearing over it.IMO is that poly is a stronger base than just a two stage job and you can clear it as well but it adds about 1/3 to the price.thats one reason some ppl single stage the engine bay and jams so they dont have to pay extra in clear for those areas that dont really see alot of traffic.
 
thats what I was thinking of doing in mine but I was worried about ending up with a noticeable line between the two different paints

trying to decide if it would be better to just base/clear the jambs and engine bay
 
Use the same system for all. A paint match problem will occur if you dont. The trick is to use those foam seal/tape things available at the supply shop. Paint your door jambs etc,and mask it off well so overspray doesnt collect on it.There is foam masking material,comes in a big roll so you mask it all off with the foam stuff and close the door etc.. There are different sizes also. It's been at least 10 yrs since I worked in a bodyshop,so there may be better stuff out now and hopefully someone will speak up.

Paint all panels on the vehicle,not off,as this can affect the way the paint lay down,ie; laying the hood or doors on sawhorses will again create a slight mismatch in color,as the paint is settling on the surface at a different angle than the rest of the car.

And dont paint heavy up to your already painted door jamb. Use a light touch,try to prevent building up a paint line. Blending thinner can help with this.
 
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