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Trying to get the '55 Nomad complete, so I can start on the recently acquired '63.
I figured I would give the paint and body a try, as I wanted to complete the process myself.
I cannot believe the amount of work that goes into prep, and then onto the final product of actual paint.
I now have a HUGE amount of respect for those paint and body artists out there!
I literally had no idea of what it took to complete this process.
After hundreds (over 400), of hours, I was finally able to complete the paint. Most of it went pretty well, but this fender gave me fits!
Finally, after the fourth time, it came out real nice! It started with a small defect and then just snowballed from there. Fortunately, this was the only piece that I had significant issues with.
I'm sure the pro's and more experienced guys could have cut this total time down at least by 50% if not even a bit more. I just wanted the ability to say that I did it myself.
These skills are genetic and can't be learned - I don't have the chromosome - ask me how I know! I have buddies that have threatened to 'unfriend' me if they ever caught me painting anything again...
And I love the guys that want a "driver quality" paint job (meaning show quality but just for 1/2 the price). They don't have a clue about the prep....
I've painted two fiberglass cars and I agree - it's a lot of work. Outside of maybe a dremel and 2 inch ro-loc sanding discs to take off flash, molding lines, dish out cracks, rough cut glassed in repairs, I don't use any power tools on the body phase - just too easy to distort a fiberglass surface or character line. I can even imagine a steel car potentially worse if the body needs a lot of straightening and maybe a few patch panels. It's a tough job but when it's done and turns out nice - it's something to be proud of.
Half the job is having ALL the right tools, meaning a bigass 7" bulldog grinder, air files in various lengths, Sureform files, dent tappers, etc.
I think you can cut those hours by 75% or more, if you have the experience.
Strip, prep, paint, color sand, clear, clear sand, and buff on my Corvette took my painter about 70-80 hours. And it is flawlessly straight.
Doug
Hey Doug,
I couldn't agree with you any more.
I think the key word you pointed out is "experience"! Of which I have little of.
I'm sure that if the job was performed by somebody who knew what the hell they are doing, they most certainly could have beat my time by at least 50%, and probably more (as I stated in my original post). LOL!!!
But it's still kind of cool that I was able to complete it.
I've painted two fiberglass cars and I agree - it's a lot of work. Outside of maybe a dremel and 2 inch ro-loc sanding discs to take off flash, molding lines, dish out cracks, rough cut glassed in repairs, I don't use any power tools on the body phase - just too easy to distort a fiberglass surface or character line. I can even imagine a steel car potentially worse if the body needs a lot of straightening and maybe a few patch panels. It's a tough job but when it's done and turns out nice - it's something to be proud of.
Man....I'm even more so apprehensive on the '63.
With my inexperience, I definitely don't want to sand down the sharp lines/edges of the fiberglass body.
I'm afraid I could really cause damage to the lines of the body and the contours down the sides as well.
If I do tackle a large portion of the '63, I definitely will not utilize power assisted tools.
The body work on a wrinkled up car is where the skill comes in! On metal cars I will not touch them with bondo or fillers! If I can't get it straight to a high build primer, then I am not done with the body work! I weld to get things straight also and even weld if the panel gap won't adjust to my standard! I strip all of the paint off totally!
And if you want to paint. Get a few model plastic kits and start on those! Good place to build your techniques! It is just kind of at a miniature level! Solid colors or translucent colors are harder! Metallica and pearls and flake job easier to spray for me to consistency!
I stick to to a particular product line for material compatibility! I blow thru to clean the gun regularly! Takes me two minutes to do that! I have an extra canister for primer for my HVLP and unscrew the paint and run the primer through at spray at some cardboard, then I go dry and just shoot air and then paint back on test sprays at cardboard to ensure pattern is good, before going back on the car on aim! With flakes, you could get a hole clog on a nozzle, so I have some dental picks! If the pattern going onto the car sours, I get off of the car immediately! I usually hit the cardboard to check pattern after or before every pass!
I thought your car panels looked pretty good in those pics.
Half of "experience" is watching a pro do it. The other half is YOU doing it. Several or more times.
My general rule of thumb is no matter what I try with any mechanical complexity, it takes me six times as long the first time, as it does the 50th time.
Of your fiberglass car, it is hard to screw up with a rubber sanding block and piece of old radiator hose (for concave areas,and inside curves like above the wheel well flares, and center panel to headlight area on a C1) with 60 grit sanding paper for roughing, and finer for finishing work. Yeah, it you are not familiar with power sanders, keep them away from the edges and lines. I don't like DAs on fiberglass, as it is too easy to end up with a wavy car. a 12" or longer airfile is usually OK on flat areas for an amateur as long as you aren't stoned or drunk.
Doug
Originally Posted by ptjsk
Hey Doug,
I couldn't agree with you any more.
I think the key word you pointed out is "experience"! Of which I have little of.
I'm sure that if the job was performed by somebody who knew what the hell they are doing, they most certainly could have beat my time by at least 50%, and probably more (as I stated in my original post). LOL!!!
But it's still kind of cool that I was able to complete it.
Innovation and ingenuity are a best friends when doing fiberglass body work. Here's what I mostly used on my Cobra replica.
I like blocking big areas with a hard, straight piece of wood and self adhesive sandpaper. I've gone to Lowe's and picked up a big ruler in hardware just to go back and find the straightest piece of poplar or oak that I can find and then put the ruler back on the rack. But not many places on a Corvette that are flat enough to make use of that. But a good contour body gage has been real handy at times.
To finish and contour rolled cockpit edges, wheel well lips, tight inside corners, and so forth I came up with this rather non-descript collection of odds and ends for smoothing filler and sanding.
I thought your car panels looked pretty good in those pics.
Half of "experience" is watching a pro do it. The other half is YOU doing it. Several or more times.
My general rule of thumb is no matter what I try with any mechanical complexity, it takes me six times as long the first time, as it does the 50th time.
Of your fiberglass car, it is hard to screw up with a rubber sanding block and piece of old radiator hose (for concave areas,and inside curves like above the wheel well flares, and center panel to headlight area on a C1) with 60 grit sanding paper for roughing, and finer for finishing work. Yeah, it you are not familiar with power sanders, keep them away from the edges and lines. I don't like DAs on fiberglass, as it is too easy to end up with a wavy car. a 12" or longer airfile is usually OK on flat areas for an amateur as long as you aren't stoned or drunk.
Doug
Hey Doug,
The panels, especially the long panels on the Nomad turned out extremely well, especially for a novice. I utilized the heck out of a 30" sanding block.
I had guidance that would check on me and provide direction on most every aspect of the process, and I was very thankful for that.
Sanded, primed, blocked. Sanded, primed, blocked. Sanded, primed blocked. I did the body four times, and the hood, doors and fenders six times!!! But very happy with the way it turned out.
But again, a pro would have probably had it done in two, or three at the most.
The metal was very straight prior to the process, so all I kept sanding was the primer/filler. And I kept taking off most of the primer each time.
As I said earlier....a lot of respect to those professional's who have perfected the process.
Sounds like you're pretty meticulous Pat, as a lot of guys would probably have left the imperfection on the fender and just kept moving. That slows down a do-it-yourselfer even more. You have more courage than me. The only thing I've done with a spray gun is a chassis. While I can do fiberglass work, I can't fineness it enough to be paint ready. Same with metal.
It looks like you are doing a great job.
Body work kicks your but. Its a young man's job especially the initial stages of block sanding, filling, repeat x10.
Gotta ask, did you get the guns in order to do the body work or did they come from doing the body work?
Body work kicks your but. Its a young man's job especially the initial stages of block sanding, filling, repeat x10.
Gotta ask, did you get the guns in order to do the body work or did they come from doing the body work?
LOL! I just keep going to the gym 5 days a week, trying to keep up with the youngsters!
Looked at all the methods and after talking to others I used kleen strip "aircraft stripper" followed with lacquer thinner. It's DUBS process. You will be grateful to have the lacquer thinner.
No loss of crisp corners and beats manual sanding by a mile. But is still smelly and generally odious.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C1 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2017 Corvette of the Year Finalist
2016 C2 of Year
2015 C3 of Year Finalist
Nice job Pat. The car looks great I give you alot of credit for taking on the painting. I've prepped a few cars over the years but never painted them. There are a few naturally gifted guys around here that can really paint. I did the grunt work and they did the skillful work.
Pat,
The Nomad looks very nice and straight..
After I retired I went to work for a body shop to get some experience.
Doing that for 4 years gave me a great appreciation for body work, painting and the skills involved. 15 years later my hands keep reminding me of the experience.
I don't paint due to poor color vision but I have body worked and prepped 5 or 6 Corvettes. I have found that the pre 61 Corvettes are easier to prep since the majority of the surfaces are "round". On the 62 and up the edges need special attention to keep them straight and just to keep them. I have done 2 62's striping them with 80 grit on a DA and never had a problem. The key to any rotary tool (DA, buffer, etc) is to keep them moving, which I am sure you realize.
I can't wait to see the Nomad completed and the 63 also.
BTW, is that electric assist power steering?
Bruce B
05-27-2017, 10:03 AM
Paint & Body Skills
