48 Desoto Project

[classiccarjack]

Can't wait to see it with paint on it.  Nice work!

[52b3b Joe]

Another day in the garage yesterday, and the car is ready for ready for paint. We just need to clean the garage better and mask it off. We are planning to paint it next weekend if everything goes well. We definitely don't want to rush it since we don't have to. Hopefully I don't destroy all the work with a bad paint job! 

[Gregarious13]

Looking Good!

[52b3b Joe]

Well, tomorrow is the day! I spent two nights this week getting the garage prepped for painting, and I have the hood and rear fenders back off and ready. Tonight I'll get the surfaces of the car clean and mask it off. Tomorrow morning I'll be spraying a ton of black paint! I hope it all goes well! I did change the exhaust fan set up again. The box fan wasn't cutting it, so I put my big exhaust fan in its place. It moves a lot more air. 

[Bingster]

Just be careful of any electrical sparks. The mist will be very concentrated in there. Have fun! Can't wait to see it done. Wish it was my '47. I'm painting mine black as well, so this will be good.

[52b3b Joe]

2 minutes ago, Bingster said:

Just be careful of any electrical sparks. The mist will be very concentrated in there. Have fun! Can't wait to see it done. Wish it was my '47. I'm painting mine black as well, so this will be good.

 

Yeah, I worry about flash fire too with sparks and the furnace! The exhaust fan is "explosion proof", but the furnace sure isn't! I always turn it off when spraying. Crank the heat up before I start, and turn it back on after most the over spray has cleared out. 

[pflaming]

I'm impressed. You must know how to hold a spray gun to spray black! I'm afraid to spray clear! 

[Bingster]

Well, if you have an explosion proof fan that's great. I thought you might be using a house fan. 

[52b3b Joe]

It's black again! It went pretty good. No runs or sags, and minimal to no orange peel, BUT (there's always a but lol) I had some moisture problems  with the air compressor. I ended up with quite a few spots on the final coat that I'm not too happy about.  I'm hoping I'll be able to wet sand and buff them out, but we'll see. I am definitely happy with the body work though! 

[Bingster]

That looks great! Now, that's single stage, right?  Is that one coat or two or three wet coats?  Looks like it has a nice gloss.  I hope you will give some insights into re-aligning the hood and clip, etc.  I'm debating whether to remove the hood for painting. But I guess it's just something to learn. Good job.

[46Ply]

Realling looking good!  With this slick new paint job, how does the interior compare?  Show us some interior shots!

[52b3b Joe]

18 hours ago, Bingster said:

That looks great! Now, that's single stage, right?  Is that one coat or two or three wet coats?  Looks like it has a nice gloss.  I hope you will give some insights into re-aligning the hood and clip, etc.  I'm debating whether to remove the hood for painting. But I guess it's just something to learn. Good job.

 

Thanks! Yeah its single stage. It's Automotive Art Motocryl. I paid $120/gallon for it, so it was pretty cheap. I put a light tack coat on each panel first and did two medium-heavy coats. The front clip and hood alignment is a matter of trial and error. It took a lot of time to get it as nice as it is. The biggest thing is to get the door gaps as best as possible before lining up the front clip. You may have to adjust the doors a little after the clip is on, but the closer they are before you fit the clip, the better off you are! The hood on this car doesn't fit as good as we'd like, but it will work. I don't think the gaps were great on these to begin with out of the factory. 

 

4 hours ago, 46Ply said:

Realling looking good!  With this slick new paint job, how does the interior compare?  Show us some interior shots!

 

Lol, the interior is none existent right now. Its all original but in Ok shape. It will be good enough for a driver quality for the time being. We are planning to put it back in as is for now. It'll be a project for a later time. I'm not even sure I have any pictures of it before we took it out! 

[52b3b Joe]

Today was spent wet sanding and buffing (just when I thought we were done with sanding on this car...). We took the car down to 2000 grit and I hit it with a course compound to start bring back the shine. The next step will be a fine polish, then hand glaze. The water in the paint made a lot of craters that are down the the primer in spots. We sanded out what we could, but some we are going to have to live with. I touched up all of them with a brush before I quit today, and am hoping I can wet sand them lightly again to make them go away. I'm pretty happy with how it is coming out. It's just going to be a driver, not a show car. It's a little hard to believe the drivers side is as straight as it is with all the damage it had! 

[Bingster]

That looks really nice. I'm going to do mine single-stage as well.  Base/clear is very impressive, but I think that these cars when new were more like yours than very, very high gloss. I'd be very happy with your results. So how did the spots turn out from water in your line?

[Bingster]

Sorry, I just saw your explanation about the water spots. I was too busy looking at the photos.

[Gregarious13]

Looks great!

 

Greg

[52b3b Joe]

I finally finished the cut and buff on the paint, this weekend. My arms are pretty sore! It looks good for a DIY job in a dirty garage. I also put the rear fenders on for the last time! I still need to push the fender welt in though and tighten the bolts. 

[casper50]

It does look good.

 

[DonaldSmith]

I just love the compound curve of the trunk lid on these sedans.  The rear end looks kind of like a rhinoceros' butt. 

 

[52b3b Joe]

Getting there slowly. Sure takes a lot of time to polish and reinstall the trim! Some of the chrome definitely needs re-plated, but that can be done in the future. Tonight I am planning to band-aid the exhaust in hopes of getting it on the road for now (and so it can be driven to a shop sometime this summer).

[RNR1957NYer]

Looks sweet!  I always thought putting the chrome back on was the home stretch in a project.

[52b3b Joe]

1 hour ago, RNR1957NYer said:

Looks sweet!  I always thought putting the chrome back on was the home stretch in a project.

 

Thanks! It is on the home stretch, but there is still a lot to do! We need to paint some more small parts, order tires, get new door glass cut, install the wiring harness, and install the interior. But for the most part, that should take too long. 

[Bingster]

I love looking at your '48 as inspiration for my '47. Time is the big obstacle for me at the moment.

[52b3b Joe]

1 hour ago, Bingster said:

I love looking at your '48 as inspiration for my '47. Time is the big obstacle for me at the moment.

 

I definitely understand that. This project sat for a few years torn apart before we actually dove into it. It takes a lot of time and dedication to see any project to completion! 

 

[52b3b Joe]

Thought it was time for another update. Things are still progressing. Most the trim is on the car now, which turned into more of a project than I thought. The front bumper is a pretty decent used bumper, but the rear is NOS, and it was coated in some sort of protetant (cosmoline like). That stuff was TOUGH. I spent probably 5-6 hours with paint striper and a paint stir stick to get all of it off. It did do it's job though, the bumper is in great shape. We also have the wiring harness going in. The engine compartment conections are nearly done, but nothing under the dash yet. Last night I took the wiper motor apart and cleaned it up with freash grease. It seems to be working pretty nice now. The than that, I took some of the electrical switched apart, bead blasted them, lubercated them, and painted them. The exhaust is done now too. I'm hoping it will last a couple years. All the small stuff takes a bit of time!