1952-59 Ford my 4.6 dohc powered 57 Custom, aka, doing it the easy way

I was wondering how it was going. You are on your way!

 

Looking good! I understand the decision to just fix it yourself. That is the same decision I always land on even when I don't have time...

 

Looking good! Be back to normal in no time.

 

I like doing things myself anyway, then I know it will be right.

 

Well, here was my dilema....In the beginning I wanted to do some of the work to keep some of the $ in my pocket for other items. I have a friend who has been my car mentor for years that is having a mid-life crisis it seems...looking for a change in life. I totally understand that as I went thru 2 or 3 major life changing decisions. He was willing to do the work, but there were question marks all over when he could get it done.
The shop I next talked to that I had mentioned was not ok with me doing stuff like replacing the door and having it in primer for them. They wanted bare metal so they could see what they were working with. . I can totally understand that in some instances, but my car was entirelly done by me to begin with, so what was the difference now?? were they going to totally strip all panels that had even minor damage? No, of course not, so once again, what's the difference between something I was doing now or something I did 4 years ago? They could do the work immediatly, but to be honest I figured they'd be looking for things to add $ to, never mind leaving me with some in my pocket. They do excellent work, but not having deep pockets, I just didn't feel comfortable with them as a choice.
The third shop I talked to is probably the highest regarded custom body man/painter in town. However, as expected, he was looking at late August at the earliest before he could do it. He is a one man shop with a helper and runs 3 or 4 projects at the same time, so this one had "body shop jail" written all over it.
As you mentioned, Bob, I know if I do it it will also be done right, as the shops I mentioned would have done, but this way I end up with 2/3 of the $ in my pocket for other expenses. Besides, I've gotten use to driving it messed up...put 2 hours on it yesterday. Just too nice of a day not to go for a local cruise.

 

Best to be the master of your destiny. This is what scares me about painting my car... having it hung up in limbo for months. So every buffoon who asks me when I'm going to paint it... they have no clue what goes on with the process. My tattoo artist, her husband paints cars on the side, he's a rep with Sikkens. When I'm ready I'll go see him. He has to do it quick since he rents spray booth for anything he does.

 

Well.... I've got a small clue of what is involved, since I threw in many hours of work at the body shop when I had the accident, hoping to save some cash. I also shot some primer. I'm almost done with the garage build (pics soon) and I'll give it a shot at body work to see what I'm capable of. But I wont venture painting it. I'm not sure if one can save some cash painting his car if he's inexperienced. Most likely the outcome wont be acceptable and lots of needed money will be wasted on paint and consumables, only to have it all redone.

 

But remember....the guy you think about bringing your car to, at one point in his life had never painted a car either.
Read, read, watch videos, practice, practice. Hold your breath and take the plunge.

BTW, got sidetracked on another project, but related. I've said many times I've been working in a dirt floor shed. Last fall when I replaced my differential, I laid down some 2 x 6's and 3/4 plywood under the back end of the car to make the job easier and safer. I liked how that worked out so well, I decided to clear out the garage and add the wood floor all over. Had 12 sheets of plywood (OSB actually) deliverd this morning with 60 2 x6's. That should get it done, or at least most of it. Also, I had insulated the roof a few years ago when I re-roofed, but never insulated the walls because I had too much stuff to move to get to the walls. All that stuff is being moved to get the wood floor in, so I also had them deliver some rigid foam insulation.
Oh for a real garage!!

 

Reminds me of me. Once you get over the initial shock of screwing things up, remorse, etc. you get back to work doing what you know you can do as well as anyone. It always amazes me how fast I can mess up, like in a split second and then hours to fix it. Keep at it. It doesn't have to be finished today!

 

Well, my side project is pretty close to done. I now have a wood floor I car actually roll things around on. Definetly quick and dirty, but it's functional, and I've gotten to cleaning out those corners that have been building up with ****, good stuff, and stuff I didn't know I had.
I just couldn't stand the thought of the bodywork project on the dirt (vinyl billboard material covered) floor again. I even bought a cart for my mig welder because I can now roll things...also bought a work stool on casters, lol, and I may even pick up a creeper.
I'm also getting the walls insulated...will help alot with the heating and cooling.

 

Looks good, nice to get off the dirt floor, just keep a fire extinguisher close
In case any flammables get spilled or welding spackle smolders

 

yes, for sure. I do almost all of my welding outside. Kind of a pain with the mig shielding gas on a windy day, but my garage has always been too close-quartered to weld inside safely.

 

Good job Tex. I like it.

 

Finally got back to the car yesterday...got 5 or 6 hours in on the front fender. A few more hours today and it'll be ready for the epoxy primer over the repaired areas. A few areas on this fender are really difficult to shape and get right.
The first stage of the plan is to repair all the damaged areas panel by panel and epoxy prime them individually so it'll be able to be driven. Problem with that is I want to do the high build primer all at the same time, so it'll mean having to sand the epoxy primer when that time comes...a major pain.....that epoxy is tough. If I were doing it as a body shop would, all the epoxy primer would also be done where needed, and if the next step was done within a window of time of a day or so, the epoxy would only have to be scuffed, not sanded. Big difference in difficulty. I also made a decision to repaint the entire lower car. At least I bought enough paint to do so. I am using the same brand base coat, but everything else is changing brands because the Matrix brand I used the first time on the primers and clearcoat are no longer available locally. The Advantage brand is what I switched to. The high solids primer is primarily a high build primer...(love that stuff...if you look at the headlight area in the pic where I ground off the damaged stuff, it's the lighter primer under the basecoat. It's like spraying on a light layer of body filler for smoothing/blocking. The darker primer under that is the epoxy primer. Anyway, this new 2k high build primer has a feature that will be perfect on my application. It can actually be used as a high build, which I need on the repaired areas for the final blocking, but it can also be used as a lighter surfaceing primer where a high build isn't required. This would be over previously painted areas that'll be scuffed/blocked after scratches and nicks have been repaired. The primer can also be used as a sealer. each different usage of that same 2k primer requires a different 3rd component in addition to the activator which is all that's required for the high build. I really like the sealer capability as one problem area I had when I originally painted the car was getting the acrylic sealer I used to lay down flat enough. A sealer is important because in addition to sealing off the fillers and stuff from the paint solvents, it can be tinted to put an even color coat under the base coat.
Back a year or so ago I posted some pics of the hood I had resprayed and talked about the new clearcoat I had to use because I couldn't get the Matrix any more. This new stuff layed down much nicer than the Matrix, and is the Advantage brand I'm going to use for this repaint, except I'm using their high dollar premium (high solids) "Euro" clearcoat this time. Hope it works out.

 

Opps...forgot the pic. BTW, I can't believe how much difference having an even floor to work on makes....I love my rolling stool. Couldn't have used one before on the dirt floor. Really helped on the old knees! Also, in the pic you'll see some "soft sanders" on the fender..the yellow and orange ones. They come in a package of 8 different shapes and I love them. I used all 8 the first time I did the car and they pretty much covered most of the different shapes needed on my car. lifespan isn't too great being a softer foam, but I lucked out and found a new set at the Pace swap meet a few weeks ago.

 

The pic above.....I'm no body expert for sure, but this is what I aim for. I try to get the metal as close as I can so that a thin coat of filler (I use Rage Gold) will get the shape pretty close. Sanding should reveal the metal's high spots peaking thru as you get to the final shape. This tells you the filler isn't too heavy. If you don't have these bare spots peaking thru, it is probably insicating the metal wasn't as close to the final shape as it should have been. The headlight surround/fender caps on these fenders were replaced on both sides, and the headlight surround in particular took about 6 hours each of handwork to get them close enough to even be welded on. I have the most filler on this car in those areas shown in the pic. Necessity because the headlight surround panel just wasn't close enough to the shape I wanted/should have been. In the "old days", this stage of bodywork would have to be near perfect. Not so much anymore with the 2k primers available. You just need to be close, and do the final blocking/smoothing/shaping with the primer and guide coat.
One more note...those bare spots peaking thru need to be a soft blended area. A hard edged bare spot would indicate an area that is probably too high and needing to be brought down before proceeding.

 

Solid work Texas, thanks for the tutorial.

 

Thanks Rui. Today I'm going to get the epoxy primer on the front fender's reworked areas.
Tommorrow the car is going to my friend's hot rod shop to figure out why my A/C stopped cooling. ...lol...another "just cause I built this thing doesn't mean I can fix it" thing. He's pretty good with A/C systems and has a set up to pressure check the system for leaks. Actually could be a leak, an electrical problem or a compressor problem. A leak would be the most likely culprit, but also the hardest to find/fix. I'm doing this now because if it is a leak it's posible the front right fender will have to be removed to get at the bulkhead on the cowl/side panel. If the fender has to come off, I want to get it done before repaint. When I had the system charged 4 or 5 months ago, it p***ed va***n and pressure tests.
Yesterday I ordered a pro-grade spray gun from Eastwood. It's a Devibliss Finishline Plus gun with 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 tips. I've got a fairly good Sharpe gun, two Arwata Air Gunsa guns, and an old Craftsman made by Devibliss. This new Devibliss should be the cat's meow though. On sale for 300. + shipping., so it's not a top level Sata, but should be better than what I had, especially in the metallic basecoat spraying. Looking forward to using it, but for the next month or so It'll be sitting on my shelf while my primer guns (air gunsas) are being used.
I was thinking about buying an air supply breathing system, but aside from the 5-800 cost, I was having a hard time getting around the thoughts of having two hoses to contend with while painting. My breathing is pretty bad, so I need to do something more than I have in the past when spraying this stuff. I had used the cheap 15. mask/filters. After reading about Isocyanides being absorbed thru the eyes as well as breathing into your lungs, I bought a 3M full facemask setup yesterday.Kinda pricey at 140. plus 40 for additional lens protectors, but we're talking health issues here. The fresh air system is definetly the better way to go if alot of painting is going to be done, but this full mask/filter setup should be ok...at least it's a big step up over what I was using.

 

Great improvements alright. Health is a concern while doing most of the stuff we do. When I have to do some heavier non water based painting, I also use a full face 3M mask, but I borrow it from a friend surfboard shaper and gl***er.
I wish I had friend with a hot rod shop..
Keep it up

 

You need to spring for a self contained breathing system. The cost is far cheaper than having to haul a oxygen tank around behind you in latter years. I have done body work for 40 years and the new paint will kill you. It can absorb through you eyes, skin nasal p***ages. You need to wear long sleeved clothes or painters coveralls and a full face mask with no skin exposed. Most of my body shop friends are dead, because the idea of "I am just gonna spray a fender or shot a small area" meant they didn't use any protection. Dragging the extra hose is miserable, but watching my friends die of cancer or not being able to get a breath of air is pretty miserable too. Wear a face mask when sanding filler or primer also. End of my preaching.

 

It took me so long to finish my 40 coupe that the o rings dried out and I had to replace them. Not fun but now it cools great. Thanks Vintage Air.

 

Yep...I forgot one posiblity..it could be the Vintage Air unit. Fortunatly I just bought it about this time last year. I had done all the setting up with their mock-up unit. Which reminds me, the guy I lent it to in Phoenix disappeared in January.

 

The epoxy primer over the reworked area s. Pleased with the results..not perfect, but only needs to be good enough to get the final finishing after the high build primer is applied.
The first pic is primarily the area of the fender that got damaged the worst, and the second pic shows how much my door got moved up and in ...aside from the damage.

 

Looks real good. I have pretty bad asthma... from 2nd-hand smoke as a kid mainly. So I have to be ultra careful with anything I use. I fixed my brother up with good PPE when he did my paint work and he was fine. The MSDS sheet on my paint (acrylic urethane) was pretty frightening.

 

Shot that paint in your garage, did you Texas?
Looking pro!

 

BTW, I know this isnt the garage jornal, but wat did you use for insulation on your walls?

 

it's just 1/2" rigid foam, with aluminum facing both sides. Not a high R value, but it's enough to keep the Texas sun from radiating thru. I used the same thing under the sheet metal roof, and it worked surprisingly well there.

 

This might not be the place to discuss this, but it is helpfull. I've got sheet metal roof also and some condensation occurs. Brick walls stay confy and warm but the metal roof rapidly cools down at sunset. So the moist in the air condenses at dew point. I'm still waiting to see what happens before deciding how to insulate, since the concrete floor is still drying and relative humidity hasnt yet stabilized.
I have done some experiments and have found that lightweight pine wood only 5mm thick seems to be as effective or even more effective at blocking heat than 30mm insulating rigid foam. Dont know what I'll do.. But it is damn cool to finnaly have a garage. Been working on it till 1am for the last days. Get home from work, hit the garage, go get something to eat, take care of the little one, hit the garage...
Keep it up tex, regards

 

Been busy...just not on the '57.
Condensation is rarely a problem here in Texas....we're just a notch above desert conditions here.

 

OK,when is the match race ? LOL