Start to Finish Home Body and Paint Thread.

[KCarGuy]

I wanted to start a Thread that everyone can show off their "At Home" Restorations or Paint Skills.
I know that there are some "Big Dollar" Professional Jobs that have been done on some Great looking Rides.
But this is for the "Do it yourself" Group.
Some are Quick Jobs and Some are as Good as the Pro Jobs done right out of your Driveway or in your Garage.
There will be some Old Paint Jobs as well as New Ones.
We all get Better and Learn from each Job that we do.

I will start with the First Full Paint Job that I did on a Friends Duster.
I used DuPont Lucite Acrylic Lacquer Paint back then (32 years ago).
We started by Stripping most of the Paint off with Paint stripper.
Then Sanded it down to the Metal, or Previous Bodywork.

 

[KCarGuy]

We found out that the Drivers side Quarter Panel had been replaced already once before.
My Buddy also wanted a Custom spoiler Molded onto the Trunk.
We did that, cleaned up all the bodywork and repainted it the same color Green.

 

[KCarGuy]

After Drying a few days, we started wet sanding the Acrylic Lacquer Clearcoat with 600, then 1000, then Buffed it all out.

 

[KCarGuy]

Another Garage Job was a 1971 Z/28 for a Co-worker.
It had a Horrible "Thick" Paint Job that was cracking, 1/2 Pinstriped, a Non-Painted Fiberglass Cowl Hood and Lettering that screamed for the Local Police to Pull it over.

Plus a Leaky Intake Manifold and NOS system that was faulty.
Fixed all that too.

 

[KCarGuy]

As I was sanding it down, I found out that it was painted white first, then Blue over that.
After Repairs, Primed it, Blocked it...
Sealed it with Velvaseal...
Painted it the Blue Metalic...
Wet Sanded it, Layed out the stripes and Painted White...
Wet Sanded again and Clear Coated with a Pearl added into that.

 

[KCarGuy]

My Co-Worker took it home for several weeks, then came back for final Wet sanding and buffing.
But came back with different wheels and tires that rode better.
You can see the Pearl in the Blue...Kinda a Purple look!

 

[KCarGuy]

Another "At Home" Job was on a Friends 1969 Camaro.
It started out as a Yellow Straight 6, Plain Jane Camaro. (I have no before photos)
Only Original Part left on it at this point was the roof and floor Panels.
after it sat like this for his college years, we thought it was time to wet sand and polish it finally.

 

[KCarGuy]

Then at the last Minute, my Buddy Dave wanted to throw some graphics on it...nothing too overpowering, but simple.
I used 3 colors that I had left over...
A Deep Red Metalic from my Dads Buick.
A Blue from a Friends Turbo Mustang.
and a Gun Metal Gray from another Mustang.
We went the "Cheap and Easy" Route by using Newspaper!

 

[KCarGuy]

After letting the Clearcoat dry, we wet sanded it and polished it out.

 

[KCarGuy]

He showed the Car and Raced it Hard for a few Years.
It now had a 396 Big Block Motor, a Turbo 400 with a Chevy Vega Convertor.
(he went through several)
and a 373 posi 12 bolt rearend.
Then it got hit square in the Drivers Door!

 

[KCarGuy]

After Fixing the Door and fender, The Engine Took a ****!
Ripped it out, Completely went through it and rebuilt it.
And Back on the Road!

 

[polydan]

Ahhh, the ol Firestone Super Sports. Mine were L60's. First "fat tires" I had!

 

[drewski]

My daily driver. Drove it for 2 yrs. with a primered left front fender. Had some fascia damage, lots of walmart dents and chips in the sides, crease in the hood.

And ready for the road again.

 

[Justin C]

Heres a link to the pictures of my project. Its a 1966 Ford F100 that my grandpa had. Theres a lot of work on this i will just let the pictures tell the story.

http://s1023.beta.photobucket.com/u.../66 Ford?&_suid=13593377061660979285823021508

http://s1023.beta.photobucket.com/u.../66 Ford?&_suid=13593377061660979285823021508

 

[KCarGuy]

POLYDAN...Yes. Old' School. My First "Fat" Tires were Bias Belted Goodyears that I had to Color in the Letters with a Tire Pen.
They were on my 1962 Ford Fairlane.

DREWSKI...Nice Job on Cleaning up and Giving your Ride some Personal Touches!
Its a lot of work and time, but well worth it!

 

[Joe69]

Here's the best I can do. I don't have any pics of when I first got it because they were all film pics. You remember film don't ya? No scanner either. I bought it in '89, and started shortly after. I had already done the mechanicals, and replaced the floors and repaired the inner fenders before I got a digital camera. These pics are body work, start to finish.

 

[KCarGuy]

JUSTIN C...Can you post your Pics? I usually dont click on any Links (keeps my computer alive that way).

JOE69...Sweet Mustang! Love that Color! Painting in your garage sure makes a Mess doesnt it? My floor in my old garage would just bead the water right up!

 

[KenS]

Hope it's not presumptuous, but KCarGuy's work needed a little better showcasing than faded snapshots.

 

[dwright406]

I've done a lot of paint work out of my small garage.

Here's my '70 Camaro, it started out like this:

Laying down the clear here:

Finished up and on the road.

 

[MP&C]

Here's what I started with, the gold paint was hiding quite a bit of rust in need of repairs....

Fabricating/replacing rusted trunk weatherstrip channel....

Fabricated quarter panel patch panel....

Drip rail fabrication....

....and installed

rear window channel repair...

Finished project....

Complete build thread.....

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86935

 

[dwright406]

My current project, I'm building this one for a friend.

I installed new quarter panels, inner wheel wells, trunk drop off panels, new front fenders and hood.

Jambs painted, we're going back to the original midnight bronze.

Fenders, header panel and valence panel painted:

It's still a work in progress, but it's coming along.

 

[KCarGuy]

KENS...Thanks. I have lots more old photos to scan.

DWRIGHT406...Love the Transformation from Plain Jane to Muscle Car, and the Road Track Camaro to what looks to become a Muscle Car again. Nice Work!

MP&C...I love your work...Great time and detail to the Bodywork, and Great Looking Drag Car! I copied some of your ideas on your Build, on the Last Chevelle that I did.
(Door Holder for the Floor Jack).

 

[KCarGuy]

Another Second Gen Camaro that I did...
An Original 1972 Z/28
I was going to just replace the Drivers Door Skin, and Paint from the Doors Forward, since the owner had already replaced the fenders, Nose and Installed a Used Hood.
But the Original Pewter Paint was thin, So I Repainted the entire Car, Laid out new stripes and Clearcoated it...

 

[KCarGuy]

How about a Plum Crazy Purple T/A 340 Challenger?
Repaired some Dings, Dents, Chips in an Original TA.
Repainted it, Cleared, Wet Sanded and Buffed...

 

[KCarGuy]

After it was all Buffed and Cleaned.
We then Laid out the Original Decals (Ordered by a Catalog)
Thats my Buddy Mike from the Duster helping out.
This Car was in Mopar Magazine and the Owner owned 2 Dodge Dealerships and asked me to run his Body Shop.
(Which I did for 2 years...Big Mistake on my Part)

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Can anyone play?? My Jeep that suffered from the "Ugly headlight syndrome" and needed to get back to her roots. I paid $1000 for her back about 2003 and still have her today (granted... her age is showing!)

So we add some real Jeep CJ parts to fix that!

With little bracing, CJ hoods get ugly chasing damage!

Then a little work to fix the rot on the sides (no before photos sadly, but patches were welded in place)

Now, with a fair bit of tweaks and mods... she looks like a real Jeep!
All sanded down and washed awaiting paint.

True to the home shop paint... I made a mess in the shop with this one!

And all painted up in a nice red!

 

[MP&C]

Nice! I didn't know the front ends would interchange like that between series. A definite improvement

 

[KCarGuy]

FIREFYTER-EMT...Yes You can Play! I love that conversion! and with a Name like FIREFYTER_EMT, your Jeep was just begging to be painted Bright Red! Nice Job!

 

[drewski]

Picked up this 77 Trans Am back in the late 80's with a crushed 1/4 panel,damaged rear fascia, and a 400 with a dead miss. With the help of my wife we replaced a bad cam in the engine, repaired and repainted the body and were on our way to a street machine event in Pigeon Forge, Tn 2 wks. after we got it.

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Thanks... I wish she still looked that good! The conversion is pretty straight forward, there is a little cutting on the grille shell that has to be done to clear the steering box and the narrower frame at the grille. Plus the mound needs to be moved, but not hard at all. A 1" body lift may make everything clear. Other than that, the rear flares were swapped to the CJ style "rounded" flares and the extra holes welded.

A couple years back after hitting a tree in a snow storm I had to replace a 3/4 nose and decided to swap over the tailgate to a CJ gate too. More welding on the hinge holes, and adding some hinge mount plates for the new hinges, but also pretty straight forward.

Right now, she is sporting a flat camo green paint job.
It's about ready to be retired, the frame and body are getting a bit soft, and I am looking for a late 90's early 2000 Jeep Sahara TJ to replace her.

 

[KCarGuy]

Here is My Wife's 1974 Nova.
(Her Very First Brand New Car)
It Came with little Mini Hubcaps, a 350 Automatic. I added my 1968 Impala Hubcaps.
First Photo was going to HS Prom, later I added Custom Dual Exhaust and Ralley Wheels.
Then Pinstripped it.
But by 1982 it had seen better days.
It was a daily driver that had never been Garaged.
So I tackled it with a Friend (on a Very tight Budget).

 

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

No laughing at my 4-door g-body

 

[KCarGuy]

Bodywork being done and removing every dent.
It was Primed, Wet Sanded.
Painted, Wet Sanded.
Stripes Painted, Wet Sanded.
Clearcoated, Wet Sanded. and Buffed.

 

[Joe69]

[QUOTE
JOE69...Sweet Mustang! Love that Color! Painting in your garage sure makes a Mess doesnt it? My floor in my old garage would just bead the water right up![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, it made a mess, but it gave a me a good excuse to give the garage a thorough cleaning. It hasn't been that clean since

Joe

 

[MP&C]

Quite a bit of this one was done in the driveway

Amazing how someone can pull out of a side street and right into the side of something this big and YELLOW....

Stripping off the bent pieces...

Making new ones...

Test fit...

Ready for school...

 

[KCarGuy]

Some Great work out there.
Keep sharing what you've all been able to do out of a Garage...Its Refreshing to see the Skill Levels.

 

[KCarGuy]

I am going to continue with My Wife's 1974 Nova Transformation...
It went from a some what Stock Daily Driver...
To a 335 4 bolt main, 3200 Fairbanks Stall, B&M Turbo 350, 12 bolt 4:10 Posi Daily Driver.

 

[KCarGuy]

To Getting the Bodywork done all over again...
And wound up a Street Strip car with a 406, NOS.
Running 10.88

 

[Scottsdale10]

Hey i have a quick body work question if you guys don't mind.. I don't understand block sanding i mean i get why you do it but every video i have ever seen talks about using a guide coat to show highs and lows... None of the videos ever say what to do about the highs and lows i mean if it's high do you tap it down with a body hammer? If it's low do you add more filler and re prime? Thanks

 

[KCarGuy]

It depends On How High and How Low.
The Best thing to do is work the Sheetmetal as close to Straight as Possible.
There are ways to shrink sheetmetal if its too high, including a shrinking Hammer.
Too Low can be as simple as another Coat of Epoxy Primer and another Guide Coat.
Most Guys have there own special way of dealing with it.
Like anything else, there is the Down and Dirty, and the Slow and Steady.