I have a 40 pickup that due to cost, I am going to attempt to do paint work myself. i have tryed to plan my stages to paint and what to use and wanted someone who has done this before to tell me if i have it right, and the proper materials. 1 have cut and welded in new patch panels for all rusted thru or thin metal. have welded up most all cracks and major welding done. 2 lightly sand blast all EXTERIOR only parts to remove rust pits from the metal that is still strong, but has rust pits and get metal clean to primer. 3 wipe down all metal with a wax grease remover or just blow off with clean air???? 4 paint everything i can get to with like dupont epoxy primer. 5 spray with some type of wand or something the insides of the doors that i cannot get into very easy with eastwoods rust converter after maybe scrubbing the inside the best i can with a putty knife and wire brush. then spraying eastwoods rust encapsulator being carefull to keep off all exterior surfaces for finish paint. the insides are just light surface rust from 70 years, no pits or scale, and i just want to prevent anything from rusting thru over the years i want to keep it. 6 lightly skim coat any bondo needed to smooth any patch panels or low spots OVER the epoxy primer after a light scuffing of the epoxy primer. 7 lightly scuff the truck and spray mabe a hy fill primer like k 2000 over all exterior surfaces to fill light rust pitted metal. 8 spray a light guide coat and block sand and reprime all surfaces till I am happy. 9 wipe down and paint with the best brand and color i can afford to seal the primer from the elements this will be my first paint job and any tips to save money or screw ups is greatly appreciated. thanks howard
completely disassembled, doors off, cab off, all in pieces so basically no tape work. just put on saw horse and spray.
wear proper and good respiration while painting, especially with the epoxy primer so you don't mess yourself up.
Always wipe it down. You want the metal completely clean. Sandblaster can stretch and warp metal. Chemical strippers can get into cracks and seams and reemerge to lift the new paint. Grinders can heat warp the metal. Each has its place and you have to learn how to avoid each of these potential problems. It's too bad the materials are so expensive now. When I was learning if you screwed up you just stripped it and started over. No big expensive deal. Now a screw up is an expensive deal. Have to you talked to Tasco and Gladwin for advice on what materials to use? What sort of top coat are you going for? Solid color? Metallic? Candy? Flake?
any parts that were welded need to be prefit, also to save time and money the bottom sides and edges can be painted after the final prime step, reassembled and painted as a whole. this allows a lot of stuff to be reinstalled to avoid scratches in the final paint and allows a final time to get things fitted perfect. good luck.
as far as sandblasting i was going to do my self with a low pressure unit that will take time but be safe on warpage. i only want to sand blast to get all the nooks and crannys and also get any pits out of the rust pits. any alternatives to get the pits out of the rust other than sand? do i just blow the dust off for epoxie primer after sand blasting or wipe down with wax remover? i will use all protective respirators. i will hopefully end up with a solid color thats maybe a 20 footer lol
sandblasting is good, just be careful of wide flat panels ie; hood, door skin, etc. then quick sand with 180 grit. with the products today, time and hard work and it will look good through a magnifying glass!
After I blast my sheetmetal, I go over it with a DA with some 80 grit paper. Smoothes it a bit, and removes any stuck sand grains in the metal, which can cause problems later. Hand sand where the DA won't go. Low pressure and care prevent problems with blasting. You might want to use a metal prep after DA'ing the metal, if it is compatible with your primer.
one thing that concerns me is "lightly scuffing" you need to give the metal a tooth for the "bondo" to hold onto if it is only scuffed you are going to have stuff falling off probably won't even stick through the sanding process. I like to at least hit it with 80 grit on the da if not 40 depending on the size and depth of the low spots.
You are headed in the right direction: You have a plan, you've asked for advice (which has been great), now you will need to adhere to the advice, and have lots of patience.
should i take down to metal to bondo? i was told i could lay my bondo directly over dupont epoxie primer. i just figured it would not hurt to lightly scuff it. if i need to take it down to metal by sanding with 40 or 80, should i just blast it and keep in garage till my body work done by bondoing directly to the sandblasted metal then resand any surface rust when i get the boy work done later then epoxie prime? seems like a waste of time and product if i sandblast,prime, sand, bondo and reprime with epoxie, then prime with k 2000 then paint. sorry for all the questions, just trying to save money most and some time. THANKS AGAIN for everyones replys.
Working in the auto body profession for a good portion of my life, I cringe when a person comes up to me and asks me for some "tips" on how to do body work on their own car. The truth is that to successfully turn out nice work, it takes experience, and the proper tools. With the high price of paint and materials it's easy for a "Do it Your selfer " to waste good money for bad results. Read and re-read all of the body work related posts here under the TECH section. They are well written by very generous Hambers.
i did bodywork for about 18 years and finallyafter 10 years was fairly proficent, but everything has changed i used to lacquer prime after work was done, kept a primer gun full at all times, its different now we used to paint all cars and trucks with alkyd enamel and they turned out fine, its the easy way out but be sure to lay down a good coat of primer the thing i noticed doing some work on my rod was that it took me about 8 times to get things nice and smooth, keep working untill it looks good or it will show up like carazy if you are unsure about spraying get someone to come in and shoot it I spent most of my year in Nam spraying trucks and got a lot of experience, and they were all sprayed outdoors there so when i went to body school at least i could do something I always wanted to do bodywork from about 8 the grade in school after reading a raceing book and how they repaired the car and all through high school visited the body shop every day to check out their work
dont be afraid to ask more questions as you go, because there will be. I will add 2 cents on seam sealer. Its paint-able, and adds smoothness where you have been patching the floor or other spots that couldn't be ground smooth.
I prefer to do as much metal repair as possible before any stripping or rust removal/conversions. Why? Because when you do strip/prepare/clean the surface to bare metal you also condition the welded areas. That bluing on the steel is any filler's enemy. It may stick now but not for long. You may want to try a metal conditioner like PPG Metalprep on the minor surface rust. If you want to strip to bare 1st then use a phosphate conversion coating to prevent flash rusting. It works like Metalprep but you leave it on. As you prep, when you see that nice bluish/goldish look to the steel it's ready and as clean as it can be. You have about 1hr in the right conditions to cover it up with no issues at that point. When using those products just remember they're acids and protect your hands. For rinsing, 2 tricks you can use to avoid excessive flash rusting. Use distilled water and prep and rinse in stages (like top to bottom), or hook up to a laundry tub and rinse with hot water. The heat helps evaporate the water faster. Still, lots and lots of compressed air IMMEDIATELY to dry. I don't like wax n grease remover on bare steel. better to just keep it clean and keep yours and others dirty dick-beaters off of it at that stage. That area of the job is something you do from start to finish. Not really a "couple evenings" task. Rags on bare steel leaves little snags and fibers. You'll hate seeing that shit sprout out of your epoxy. For the record, epoxy priming is a do or don't thing on clean bare steel. If the steel is etched and clean go right to primer/surfacer and save yourself a few hundred dollars. You can also go right to a polyester primer over the bare steel if your surfaces are a bit shakey. Filler over epoxy can cause lifting around the filler if you're not careful. The solvents in the filler soften the epoxy base, you go to recoat or reseal and get a halo that won't go away. Everything above is good advice too like 80grit after blasting and such. I do seal down before surfacers with epoxy, but more for stopping surfacer solvents from soaking into the fillers if used. BTW, polyester primers are like liquid bondo. If you decide to go that way get the gun cleaned immediately after. You have maybe 1hr of spray time if you didn't go too heavy on the hardener. Don't mix it all at once. Good luck and ask often.
blasted, thanks for taking the time to write such details. i really needed the extra tips and reasurrance that i can do. I understand some of the "PROs" on here get mad when some of us do it yourselfers that cannot afford a PRO job and want to have pride they done it there self ask for help, but atleast yourself and others take the time to help us. THANKS AGAIN duste01 thanks for the seam sealer idea, i forgot it helps alot. thehighlander, thanks to for all your detailed input and tips. i have saved this thread so i dont loose all the valuable info, now just gotta save a few more pennies and get my gang plan wrote out so i dont miss any valuabe steps or cut myself short in money in the middle of paint. thanks to all again, sure i will have more dumb questions!!! howard
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