Introducing my Fuel Coupe-styled Tudor

@ol55 M is the Greek letter "Mu", representing the Coefficient of Friction.

Thanks for asking. I'm keeping it simple with a small grommeted hole in the center of the firewall, just below the top/bottom flange.

 

With the car disassembled, I finished a few previously inaccessible welds.




Temporary epoxy protects the bare metal.



Most of the body got a skim coat of Rage Gold a few months ago.

On those few areas that felt straight, I spread 3M guide coat and scuffed with #150 grit. Those with no low spots are ignored for now.



This is my first attempt at bodywork so I began on the roof, where a vinyl top will cover any mistakes.


The ridges & bumps got knocked down with #40 on a jitterbug...


... then 3M guide coat & #40 on a variety of boards.

More:




I realized that beautiful '28-'29 cowl top & the two sides are "saddlebacks" (concave in one direction & convex in the other direction, like a Pringle).


Math majors would call them *hyperbolic paraboloids*.


Then another thin skim coat of filler & #80 on a variety of sanding boards until the guide coat was gone, but without revealing bare metal.

Lesson Learned: If I'd spread the filler more smoothly, I could've *started* with #80.


#80:


Next: Finish everything with #80, then a bit of filler on the lows, then Motrin and #150.

 

90% ends up on the ground......
It will be worth all of the labor, once you lay down your first coat of paint.

 

Gary, you got that ‘bondo’ look about you !
Great job

 

Looks like your ready to go in and do some drywall! So how are you going to keep the “pringle” effect?

 

The secret(?) to aging?! Patience......... Grasshopper.

 

Yeah, it makes you age more !

 

Ahh, fun with old cars! You can't beat it.

 

Gary. Your work is always exceptional. You got this well under control. Un-like me , who just keeps finding and fighting with annoying little problems. But HEY, thats hot rodding in it's purist form.

 

Thanks for the kudos, fellas.

Am nearly done with #80. It's taken waaaaaay longer than assumed.
Anyone who complains about the high cost of bodywork has obviously never done it themselves.

The dark spots are guide coat lows & blue tape shows where I sanded thru filler to expose primer.

 

Darks are lows blues are highs.

body work is eeeeeeendless.
Not looking forward to the next one I do lol

 

When I get to that point I throw a coat of high build primer on. That way it minimizes all of the visual things that confuse the eye.

 

Gary. As Root stated, high build primer is your friend. Looking good buddy.

 

I always thought it sanding, sanding, even more sanding and then a dose of your favorite adult beverage. Lol

 

I screwed up.

In hot weather, body filler jumps from honey-smooth to flaming-hot-oatmeal in nanoseconds. On a 93*F afternoon a few weeks ago, I reduced the amount of catalyst in one batch to compensate. When sanding it a few days later, I marked some low spots with a pencil and the point sank into the filler like play-dough!

After calming down, I gouged out all the soft filler & ground the surrounding area down to a rock-hard layer...


...then re-filled it and checked (pencil-poked) the whole car. Fortunately, that was the only bad spot.



Pushing forward:

A smear of filler in each remaining low, then #120 on a 16" Dura-Block 'til the guidecoat disappeared.


@Dino 64 dropped by to offer encouragement and discovered a couple of flaws that my hands (or ego ) passed over.
So I did them again.

Yeah- I'm finally finished with filler & #120 and celebrating .

But first I'm trying some glaze in the pits & pinholes.

 

Must have been a strange sight to see the two of us gently running our hands over the body with a far out glazed look on our faces.
Just have to see with your hands !!
Great job

 

Just like polishing valve covers, you'll be a pro after a thousand hrs in ha ha ha

 

Looks real nice Gary. Sometimes a extra set of hands and eyes is all it takes. Good job Dino.

 

As long as you weren't chanting, but I sure would love to see a video of it!

 

For those of us not blessed to own a climate controlled work shop, the issues of too hot and too cold can be very frustrating. When I was doing both filler and paint I had to sometimes wait a long time to find days that weren't too hot, or too cold to be able to proceed forward and know I wasn't messing up the process by pushing through temps outside the range for good results.

 

Looks great!

 

My first spraying attempt beyond 16 oz. rattle cans:

TAMCO HP5310 Direct-To-Anything high-build epoxy primer:
<DTM Primers Kit | Tamco Paint Products >

This Titan Vaper HVLP gun with a 2.3 tip earned great reviews at Summit.


Full suit & mask with fresh charcoal filters 'cuz I'm no longer immortal.


This 15'x15' "booth" was once our picnic canopy.

Box fans & filters on inlet side (1) Push clean air in, (2) Maintain positive pressure to keep dust out, and (3) Eliminate exhaust explosion risk.


Exhaust filters contain any overspray.


Sunny skies, mid-70s, 50% humidity, 5-10 knot breeze.


Everything got cleaned with wax/grease remover (twice) then dusted with a tack rag.


I suited up, set the compressor regulator at 75 psi, and rehearsed my gun/hose/stepstool/body panel "dance sequence".


A little over a half gallon of primer and hardener got mixed 4:1. I chose not to add the reducer.


I set the gun regulator to 28 psi with the trigger pulled. I'm left-handed and kept bumping the fan knob with my knuckle after tuning the spray pattern.


Three coats, 50% overlap, and ~15 min flash time between coats.




Shut the door and let it dry.


Lessons Learned:

Practice, practice, practice!

TAMCO primer seems a great product at a reasonable price ($174 for the kit). The finish is a bit rough- Not adding reducer sacrificed flowout for higher film build. It'll get sanded anyway.

The gun sprayed very well but its regulator was trash. I resorted to tuning gun pressure (~33 psi) with the compressor regulator. I also made a mess while pouring, so cleanup took a LONG time.

The compressor was sufficient; it cycled a lot but that didn't seem to matter. I cracked its drain during flash times.

The disposable inline filter worked well- no detectable water, oil, or fisheyes. But its length made spraying the bottom edges challenging.

The booth was great. A bit cozy and the inside temp warmed up ~15* above outside. Its framework was too flimsy to hang the doors, so next time I'll lay them on sawhorses.

The fan/filter combo worked OK but they really weren't stress-tested. There was very little overspray inside the booth & none outside; so Wifey & the lawn are both happy.

This was a gun, compressor, booth, aptitude "proof-of-concept" exercise just as much as priming sheetmetal.

Overall I'm thrilled with the results.




Thanks to @Roothawg, @Gearhead Graphics and @Bill's Auto Works for their TAMCO spraying advice.

 

Great job Gary !!
OK, party’s over, back to sanding

 

This is my project , it’s like we’re in parallel universes or something.. a tad scary. I’m aiming for spraying color tomorrow.

 

Looks fantastic!

 

Awesome @Just Gary !

For a first time with all the new variables, you did fine!

A couple of things : the cheap regulators that come with the cheap guns are well...CHEAP! I have 4 or 5 of them laying around, I don't know why I keep thinking they will work better next time

I always use 10% reducer in the 5300 series as it will flow easier & with the level of build it has you will not sacrifice any with that much reducer. No problem though as you said...you are willing to do the sanding & that is really all the reducer does is save you sanding time!

Lastly if you were going to do much paint work, put a good in line filter somewhere closer to the booth than the compressor & throw away that filter at the gun! More paint jobs have been botched by hitting that damn thing on the floor or someplace on the car itself!

Congratulations!!!

God bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Are you selling those spray booth kits?!

 

Great idea! Looks wild in one color! Livin the dream haha

 

A job very well done Gary, looks great. One step closer to a finished hot rod. Congratulations buddy.

 

@Just Gary ,

I forgot one comment in my previous post, I know that picture of the disassembled gun was for me! Glad you took that advise, many times the price or name of the gun has less to do with the quality of the job, than making sure you clean it properly for next time!

By the way...to ensure a glass smooth paint job in the end, I would offer you the opportunity to come visit me for a "Block Party" ...Not what most would think! I have an OT Toro here that has been sitting in paint & 3 coats of high solids clear for almost a year that you could practice on!!!! By the time you did a round of 800/1200/1500/2000/2500 & 3000, you would be an expert!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/