[fixitmattman]

Well after 10 years, the car was about due for some body work. Even with the great love and attention this car gets, crap still rusts with time.

Behind the license Plate:

Under the hatch:

Just to show a few spots.

So it was time to fix it up. This was a job I wanted to attempt myself, so I decided to take the plunge and go through with it.

Before I actually painted the car, I wanted to make sure it didn't look like hell. So I practiced on this piece of sheet metal.

Hmmmm, runny, but show's potential.

Eventually I ran out of sheet metal, so I grabbed a piece of cardboard. By now I was getting much better results. The only ripples there are from the profile of the cardboard.

I decided to go in all the way. Time to rip the car apart:

Notice the inside of the fenders:

One of the best ways to remove rust is to sand blast:

Note to self, design a collection system for the sand next time. I got sand everywhere!!!

My parent's garage became a paint shop for a few days.

Primered and prepped:

And then I tried to paint the car :roll:
So throughout this whole ordeal I was doing quite well. Most things came apart smooth. Only had a half a dozen or so bolt's I snapped heads off of, that I had to drill out and clean up with a tap. I primered all the bare metal with expoxie primer with my spray gun. It came out amazing. Sanding went well. However, when I tried to lay the enamel all I got was orange peel and runs :x Some spots came out really well, but most of it was pretty bad. It was a particularily humid day. Come to find out humid days + painting cars = no good. I only got about 1/3rd of the way through painting the car before I decided to call it quits. During the next 2 weeks after work I had to sand all the orange peel down. Brutal. Anywho, due to working 6 days a week I didnt' have time myself to paint the car again, so my friend and his dad offered to do it for me. They've done painting for me before and did a real good job. They have restored several vehicles and their work is really good. Come to find out with talking to them, they also tried to paint a car that day and had the same problem. I showed them a few pieces of un-sanded work I had and they said the same thing, humidity. They had the exact same finish as me and all. So it wasn't I was a bad painter, just I had bad weather. That made me feel better becaus I cried as much as the paint did after I saw what I had done 8O

Anywho, got it all back together today. Here's the result:

Not bad I think. I also saved around $1800 by doing it myself, even with the screw-up and paying my friend to do it. Just some small stuff here and there to look after, but overall I'm very happy. The body should for sure last me the 3 more years I want out of this car :wink:

Matt 8)

 

[TurboSupra12]

very nice

if u dont mind, how much did it cost to pay your friend?

 

[fixitmattman]

2 cases of 28 Molson Canadian.

But I supplied a fully prepped car. All we had to do was dissassemble a few things, mask, then paint.

Matt 8)

 

[superdave]

Looking good. I have always done all of the prep work on cars I was painting and then had a friend who owns a body shop to do the spraying. It costs a couple of hundred more than spraying it myself, but he knows what he is doing and has a professional spray booth. The prep work is mostly grunt work unless you have rust issues or major body damage. Saving $1800 sounds about right if since you did all of the disassembly work.

 

[ericg240]

looks amazing, good work!

 

[zzyzzx]

If you don't want your license plate bolt holders to rust out so much replace the bolts with stainless steel bolts. In fact, I hope you did repalce as many trim bolts with stainless steel as you could.

And what's this about only keeping the car only 3 more years after doing all that work? The car looks great.

What kind of paint did you use? I was in a marine shop (boating supplies) over the weekend looking for some stainless steel when I cam across some gloss black polyeurethane paint that I would most likely use. For now I'll keep on using gloss black rustoleum on my bumpers because I'm just going to get hit again in a couple of months again anyway so why bother, etc.

 

[DeathSlinger00]

you're crazy matt. although, im very impressed! i lack the know-how and the patience for that sorta thing. the only cars i paint are those little models you get at hobbytown usa. (oh man, i have a '68 merc cougar i still need to finish!!)

but yeah, great job man! by the way, did i already mention you're crazy?

 

[Electronikal]

NIce WOrk man,

Where did ya bought your sand blasting gun from? I saw one at like Home hardware..or places like that...but i wounder if it would be anygood...i guess its not as important as a spray guun...but anyways

i need one bad to overhall my wagon's body too

 

[escortlx96]

Great job matt.The car looks great and you did a real good job.I am waiting to get a house before i strip mine down and paint it myself.

 

[Juggernaut]

Ooooh... shiny...
Very awesome restore.

 

[fixitmattman]

If you don't want your license plate bolt holders to rust out so much replace the bolts with stainless steel bolts. In fact, I hope you did repalce as many trim bolts with stainless steel as you could.

And what's this about only keeping the car only 3 more years after doing all that work? The car looks great.

What kind of paint did you use? I was in a marine shop (boating supplies) over the weekend looking for some stainless steel when I cam across some gloss black polyeurethane paint that I would most likely use. For now I'll keep on using gloss black rustoleum on my bumpers because I'm just going to get hit again in a couple of months again anyway so why bother, etc.

The fasteners have already been replaced with stainless hardware :wink:

Three more years is at least how long I need to keep it to get me through school. I'll keep the car going as long as I can just to see how long it'll go.

For paint I used ppg Omni Acrylic Enamel. I still had some of that paint left from when my hod was done, so I just got some more paint.

I know the car will rust out again in time, but I needed to cover up where the paint had flaked off.

you're crazy matt........ did i already mention you're crazy?

He he, my parents also mentioned that to me several times as well

Thanks for the kind words everyone

Matt 8)

 

[zzyzzx]

know the car will rust out again in time, but I needed to cover up where the paint had flaked off.

Hard for me to say, since dcars don't rust like that where I live but I would expect the car to look nice for longer than 3 years if you used decent paint. I have no idea how well Enamel holds up vs Polyeurethane, etc. And like everyone else here implies:

I wish my car looked that good!

 

[Beaverboy]

Matt, once again you show us all how to do it right the stock way. Very Very Very Very Very nice.

I'm going to be getting started (again) on my 320i project, every soon. First on the list.. sandblasting and painting. Going to be invading the 'rents' garage and turning it into a paint booth. I'm trying to find an easy way to blast the bottom of the chassis as well. Not doing soo well (can't afford one of those roll-on-its-side thingy's). I may be begging you for advice in the coming weeks.

 

[Steve]

nice! 8)

 

[96EscortLX]

Hey Matt, do you and/or your friends wanna make some money and redo some of the paint on my escort??? Same color and everything as yours - I just don't have the know how, the area to do it (no garage), or time! Just gimme a price, I have another car that I can drive while it's gettin done!

 

[highanddry]

Ok, I'll join in and say "nice job" too. You have way more patience and determination abour body work than I could ever have. I think Beav posted a few months ago about having utmost respect for people who take the time to do body work. I'm the same way - 'cos I know I couldn't see the work through.

Only one negative comment - your friends' choice of beer is brutal *barfs*.

I'll pay you/them a dozen cases of the beer of your choice if you can make my Escort look as good as yours. The only condition is you have to accept the job sight unseen.

 

[fixitmattman]

Only one negative comment - your friends' choice of beer is brutal *barfs*

Personally, Canadian isn't my first choice either, but it wasn't for me was it, well ok, a few were for me

As for all the offers to take on work I'm kinda flattered

Actually, I have to decline. I was lucky enough to find time to do my own car. And one of the reasons my friend did it for me was because I no longer had time to do it myself 8O Actually, I probably could have squeaked it in there, but it was their professional advice I gathered while we worked on it that was probably what I wanted more :wink:

Matt 8)