That’s real cheap for a gallon of paint.
I wish my paint was that cheap.

 

@DougUSMC I’ll say it again, man, you don’t mess around!
No particular vids, but some specific youtube names who have many vids that I’ve watched:
Lakeside Autobody
Paint Society
Those two have had me watching for hours on end. They cover quite a few different aspects and approaches to handling rust, prep, blending, touch up, etc. There are plenty of others who I’ve watched specific vids on (restoring plastic, removing trim, stuff like that), but those two I’ve watched the most about body and paint. Hope you find some of their stuff to be useful!

 

I can’t believe we live in an age where we can actually say that.

 

Look at the prices of LS intake manifolds now vs before covid. Absolutely insane how much they’ve gone up.

 

Awesome, thanks!!
(I say that now, but I'm betting my OCD-a$$ is cursing your name after I lose 10 hours of my life getting sucked down the YT rabbit hole this weekend.)

I still don't say that, it's insane!!

Look at the prices of LS intake manifolds... Everything now vs. before covid.

Fixed that for you.

 

Awesome, thanks!!(I say that now, but I'm betting my OCD-a$$ is cursing your name after I lose 10 hours of my life getting sucked down the YT rabbit hole this weekend.) Yep, that's usually what happens to me!

 

Ok, I have been defeated...

I spent a long time finding the seam between the rear quarter panel and the lock pillar cover. I worked it up and down, all the way back through the top, split the bonding strip, worked it around the top. Trusty heat gun by my side. Figuring out how the bottom wrapped around. Figured out how the top was riveted (twice).

It. Would. Not. Break. Loose.

It cracked the rear fender lower at the bonding strip.

It defeated me.

It didn't stand a chance against my cutoff wheel though...



Now I have to go back and figure out how to get it out of there. Once I could see back in there I realized that the lower half is in a U channel of the rear fender. I have no idea how I'm supposed to separate that out without cutting it out. On a happy note, the latch pillar actually looks pretty damn good.

The driver side I didn't even fool around, just cut it out. That pillar looks even better.




I think I have the sickness, because now I'm thinking: Do I keep going and remove the rear fender lowers so I can get to every inch of the birdcage?

I'm thinking NOT, so I moved onto something more fun:

Cleaning seatbelt retention plates. The before and after is just shocking.




Oh, and this also happened today.



I couldn't find a cheap enough oven on FB marketplace, so I bought that little toaster oven for $30. It should get up to and hold 400 degrees, so the plan is to try a couple of simpler pieces before committing to running a whole new circuit to power an oven in the garage...

 

That newly exposed (striker panel) part does look really good. Dang shame it took so much glass cutting to get at it only to discover it. I think I have that very same toaster oven, given to me after helping my wife’s co worker install a new microwave over their stove. I am looking forward to seeing your powder coating. I’m convinced on it’s superiority. I have always been a primer/sealer/paint guy and intend to never let mine see a damp road, but would feel a lot better if everything was powder coated. Seat belt plate came dang clean. Too bad that get’s hidden, because I’m sure it will look night and day once done.

 

Good luck getting the chassis into that toaster oven!
A lot of guys have bought freestanding stove/ovens used and have them in the garage for powder coating.
I wish I had the room in my small garage for the equipment I need so I wouldn’t have to keep paying other people.

 

I know, right? I'm not too mad though, because now I'm going to clean the entire birdcage down and treat/paint it. I'm just trying to decide if I'm taking off the entire back end and having it sent out for Powder Coating or doing it myself at home with paint. PC is definitely the way to go, more on that below...

Yup, that's my plan. I've been keeping an eye out of FB marketplace for a decent one, and planning for a new outlet in the garage to support it. I found this cheapo on FB close to my house so I could start playing with the kit...

I spent an hour or two working on it, and it really IS as simple and awesome as it looks.

First I degreased parts using Eastwoods Pre, then I hung them from the rack:



These were my first run, so I put the setup in the oven to see how it fit. They look like they're touching the element, but they're not.



I took the rack back outside, and spent a bit of time learning how the gun works, then coated them. It's pretty simple, once you get used to using 2 hands at once and learning how to move the tip of the gun to get good coverage. I coated them outside because I didn't want to worry about cleanup, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't too bad but it's nice to not worry about it at all.



Next, back in the oven for 25 minutes. The first 5 at 450 degrees, until the powder heated up and went shiny, then another 20 minutes with the temperature lowered to 400 degrees to cure.



This is what they look like out of the oven. Back outside to cool down a bit, it's about 55 degrees here. I also stuck a second batch in the oven while these cooled.



Reminder, here's the parts getting blasted, these are the top left set. These were all pairs, so I did one of each to show before and after. The first of each pair is (obvs) before blasting, the second is after blasting.



Back on the workbench on another rack to rest once they were cool enough to touch. The transformation from before to after is pretty amazing! Aside from some roughness from the removed rust, they look almost brand new now!! This is the finished product, after one coat. I'll probably try a second, just to see if I notice a difference.



Here's the second batch, just out of the oven and cooling.



I learned a few things here about prep, setup, and getting working. I'm definitely a convert to Powder Coating, I can't believe the results AND how simple it is! I will say though that this tiny oven won't cut it in the long run. I have a good bunch of parts that are already waiting to be coated and the majority of them (> 80%) won't fit in this little thing.

It looks like I'm going to have to pick up the pace on finding a full sized oven...

 

Very nice!

 

Looks FANTASTIC! Nice knowing that, if you keep it, those parts will be good to for yeaaaaaars! Looks as good as a well primed/filled & coated job, but that durability!
BTW, one other youtuber with good paint vids is Garage Noise.

 

Thanks gents! The hope is that it not only looks great but also protects the parts. I called a PC company and they gave me a quote to get the whole frame blasted and coated. I'm seriously considering it...

Today I got most of the day to myself for The Birthday, so we made more progress on stripping the frame. The front suspension is off!

I started by removing the shocks, then using a ratchet strap to keep the spring contained while removing the upper ball joint castle nut. I had my floor jack up under the lower arm to keep it from dropping while I worked. After the nut was all the way out I used a 5lb mallet as The Pursuader to whack the upper arm a couple of times until it dropped out.



I took good pics of the upper arm shims before removing each of them so I at least have a baseline for reassembly.



After both arms were off I had to disassemble everything, starting by drilling out the old rotor rivets.



Disassembly was pretty simple after that.



Both sides completely disassembled. I'll be blasting all the parts and powder coating them.



After that the power steering system came out and the whole front end was nekkid.

Yes, the rotor is sitting on the front of the car on purpose. With the whole front end disassembled and the rear still on the car, it's so back heavy that when I removed the power steering pump the front started lifting up. The rotor is all that's keeping it from flipping up.



Tomorrow being Veterans Day is another play day for me. I found a used oven, so I'm picking that up first thing, then a trip to Home Depot to get the supplies to add a new outlet for it in the garage. I'm also planning to hit Eastwood for more powder coat on the way home and I'm hoping to coat some of the larger pieces tomorrow.

 

I powder coated my frame and it came out amazing.
Before you do, download one or get a copy of Jim Shea’s Chevrolet Corvette Power Book.
There are numerous things in the Power Book you’ll want to do to the frame while the body is off, such as welding the stitch seams and adding gussets for strength.
Especially if you plan adding a little hp to the drivetrain.
If you are thinking about upgrading the suspension or steering research if there are any brackets or pieces welded to the frame.
Also if you plan to swap transmissions will there be any necessary welding.
I thought I had everything covered but didn’t realize I needed to weld on the clutch z bar bracket to the frame until after it was powder coated.
A couple tips on powder coating:
See it the shop will zinc prime the bare metal prior to coating.
Make sure to mark every hole or threaded nut so they do not coat the holes or threads, otherwise you’ll add a lot of your time cleaning coating out of clearance holes and threads.

 

You get soooo much done in a day!
I bet with that oven you’ll be showing a bunch of nice parts real quick, since you have so many parts already blasted and waiting. Hard to believe you just started on this such a short time ago.
Oh, are you having to do anything with that FastEtch prior to the coating, or just go over it?

 

I just stumbled across this build and was shocked how much you have gotten done in about 2 months! Bravo. Maybe the time to upgrade the front suspension with tubular parts while you are in there... or C4/C5/C6 front suspension/brake parts?!?!

 

Oh My....not enough duck tape in the world to wrap my around my head !
Years ago, I did a '68 Nova similar to your job, not as bad in places though.
Good enough though to get me an article in Super Chevy magazine.
Actually you are doing fantastic work, good luck and be sure to display the finished product.

 

Thanks, this is awesome. I'll have to do more studying to make sure it comes out right!

It's all relative. Today I started great: picked up the oven from FB marketplace, ran to Eastwood to grab more powder coat and blast media, hit Home Depot to buy the things needed to add a 50A oven outlet to the garage, stopped by an electrical supply store to grab some 6/3 romex, got home by 10:00AM so I could install the outlet before running to my kids' school for Veteran's Day lunch.

Wait 'til you hear the outcome of *that* CF...

OH, and I haven't done any of the parts that were coated in Fast Etch. I've been going over every part with Pre before powder coating, and I think I'm going to do it with the parts that were treated with the Fast Etch as well. I'll make sure to call those out when I post the results.

Thanks! Though the thread actually started last August, so I'm over a year into it.

Thanks, will do! My personality is that posting to the forum is a bit of a forcing function to keep me motivated. If I know it's been a while I have to get a bunch done. I'm cooking along pretty well now because fall is hitting hard. In about a month it'll be too cold to work in the garage long, so I'll probably be taking a break from Dec - Feb. I'm trying to get to a good stopping point before then.


So, to finish the story:
I got the new box cut and set in the wall, ran the romex into the garage panel, started stripping the wire to install the outlet and...
I got 6/2 romex instead of 6/3.
The oven outlet (and it'll do double duty for a welder) needs 240, so I need 6/3. And it was the ELECTRICAL SUPPLY STORE that gave me the wrong romex, not Home Depot.
So I called them to get the right wire set aside, showered, and ran to lunch at the kids school.
I came home after lunch, changed, and threw the wheels and tires into the truck. Ran over to Mr Tire, dropped the wheels, ran BACK to the electrical supply, got the right romex. Ran home, got the wire run, just about done when I realized I got the *wrong circuit breaker* (Square D vs Square D Home).
I called a local mom & pop hardware store, ran out to get the breaker, stopped by Mr Tire to pick up the rims without tires on them, and went home to finish the outlet install.

New (to me, REALLY needs to be cleaned up) oven:



First large pieces.



They fit easily in the oven, which REALLY needs to be cleaned inside.



Cooling on the rack


Have I mentioned how much I love powder coating??



The current haul. The smallest pieces on the right were done in the toaster oven, all of the pieces to the left of those were done today in the new oven.



Once I finish powdercoating everything else that I've got lined up, these bad boys are next.



I picked up a few different color powders. I plan to do the wheels and brake dust shields in a chrome, and I want to hit the brake calipers in red.



Soooo, I *did* get a lot done today, but...

Imagine how many more things I could've knocked out without so many wasted trips!!

 

Good job!

 

Before you do the wheels in chrome powder, test a small piece just to see how you like it.
I had my powder coat shop do a couple parts in their chrome powder and instead of coming out looking like polished stainless steel, they came out looking more like a bright silver with no reflection.
I had the shop redo the pieces because they did not have the same reflected shine as their sample and they came out the same silver color with no reflective shine.
They still look nice, but not what I was hoping for.