Posted by Todd Wilson on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 at 1:24AM :
In Reply to: Need help from painters posted by Dan on Monday, July 25, 2005 at 5:32PM :
I suppose I should put in my 3 cents here. I have not had time to build a serious web page on my restoration of my 1971 Dodge Charger. I just finished up my Charger a month or so ago. It was last winters project. Starting around the 1st of September 04 and Ending Officially June of 05.
First off I do not think you have enough of an air compressor to do anything. I had a 5hp 20 gallon unit that would run a small sand blaster and a DA sander for short periods of time. I quickly found out I didnt have enough air for a car project. I found a damaged frieght unit( there I go being cheap again!) 6 HP 30 gallon and plumbed it and my original unit together and ran both of them at the same time. Plenty of CFM and reserve air. I ran the dog poo out of both of them during this project. I used the cambell Hausfled water filter. The 120$ unit from the farm store. It worked GREAT!!!!!!!!! Got me a big jug of the blue beads to change out when they soaked up moisture.
If it was me I would only sand blast parts or frame pieces. Chances are on the PW body will will not warp it but you will pit it. Sand blasting on a car sheet metal can warp it sometimes.
I would use a DA Sander with 80grit paper to strip down body parts. Once the body is stripped to bare metal then its time to patch in your metal pieces. You could hammer and dolly other areas at this time also.
Depending on how you do things and some do it differently then others...........
On my 71 I used PPG DCC products. We used an expoxy primer on the car first thing. Then we used Rage Extreme GOld Filler to fill in low spots. Patch panel weld areas and so forth. Then you spend lots of time with an air file and a hand block sander smoothing things. I mean LOTS of time! I'm not talking about 2 afternoons on a weekend but 100+ hours sanding and sanding and putting on more filler and sanding to get it smooth and perfect. I suspect a PW would be easier then my Charger as its not as curved in some places.
After that we sprayed with K36 primer and then on to the paint. Then we wet sanded the paint with 1000-1500-2000 grit paper and LOTS of water. Then it was time to buff the paint.
I set up a plastic tent inside my 2 car garage with a home built ventilation system. It worked well. I had to do this 2 times. After all was said and done I still had some dirt in the paint. I suspect most of the dirt came from the nooks and crannys of the car and was stirred up via the paint gun air. YOu cannot see this unless you are up close and personal with the body. If you can accept this maybe happening then you can do it in your house. Climate control is something else to think about. There are different temperature reducers for the paints. What ever temp you get you need to plan to maintain the temperature during the paint and drying (flash process). Most garages are not equiped to properly heat and deal with the fumes you are going to generate. At one point we had to heat the garage and shut down the heater and paint. Wait 45mins to an hour and then fire up the heater again. AT one point I think the temperature cooled too fast while the paint was flashing and created a texture/look in the paint. I forget what its called. Its ever so slight and in a small area. Being that this was mid april we did not have flying insects to deal with yet. Something else to thing about is the bugs issue. The fumes were tremendous. We painted at night so you couldnt see the fumes coming out of my ventilation system. I had many filters inline to stop particles and plastic draping the window. It did not scatter paint outside the garage. It did very well. Some would say not having sealed motors and light bulbs is dangerous. After talking with lots of people about this as long as you dont let the fumes build to a dangerous level you are ok. Some will still argue this with me. I am putting this all out for you to think about.
I understand now why a GOOD paint job costs lots of money. The time involved is tremendous. I am sure with experience this cuts down some as I had never done a project like this before.
This project was the hardest thing physically I have ever done in my life. I compare it to roofing a house.
The tools I had were not what I would call professional grade or tools that would hold up any length of time in a working enviroment. These tools did their job but would not last being used like this day in and day out. For a project like this at the house they will be fine but plan to hose something during the project.
Tools I had to buy for the project
Extra air compressor,hose and filter probably about 500$ for all 3.
Hobart 135 MIG 600$
Found out right away an auto darkening helmet is needed for sheet metal work. I wasnt good enough to close my eyes like they do on OCC to tack things on. Safety was always on my mind and my eyes were not going to get MIGGED! 150$
DA Sander 80$ (Do yourself a favor and buy the cheap cambell hausfeld at the farm store for 40$)
Air File 120$
4 different sanding blocks. The flexible rubber DURA BLOCKS are great!
Do not buy sand paper from the hardware store or the Home Depot.
Find you an automotive paint supply store. Buy their stuff in bulk! It will save you LOTS of money! I found this out about mid way into the project.
640$ in paint and primers.
100$ in the rage filler. 99% of it will end up on the floor in dust. I am sure with experience I could have used less as there were times I sanded found a low spot. Put more on,let it dry and sand again,find a low spot again,put more on, let it dry, sand it again over and over again.
I found a deal on a buffer 80$ on sale
I then spent about 130$ or so in buffing compounds and the pads for the buffer. If you do not wet sand and buff the paint your finish will look like a orange peel. Some people do this and some dont.
I got a good deal on a DevilBiss GTi millenium paint gun. 275$ regularlly 500$.
34 cases of beer.........What ever that cost me........
Here are links to photos in no particular order. Feel free to ask questions or email me. I am no expert but I did do this in my garage last winter. Its not 100% perfect but it turned out pretty good. You will be one of the few who are truely one with your vehicle when you are done!
http://www.chargerfever.com/71restore/index.html
A problem encountered mid way lack of experience I would assume prevented me from seeing this sooner. Dodge truck used in solution! Redneck Auto Body at its finest!
http://www.chargerfever.com/problem/index.html
Putting it back together! Just as much work!
http://www.chargerfever.com/71sun/index.html
Todd
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