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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:
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Under the hatch:
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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.
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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.
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I decided to go in all the way. Time to rip the car apart:
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Notice the inside of the fenders:
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One of the best ways to remove rust is to sand blast:
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Note to self, design a collection system for the sand next time. I got sand everywhere!!!
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My parent's garage became a paint shop for a few days.
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Primered and prepped:
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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:
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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)
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)
