Paint Job DONE

[Lloyd]

Been gone for awhile, Ive had my head stuck into this paint job on my 39 and its has been a hand full.

 

I started this paint job months ago and it has been a learning experience from the beginning. Mostly about how much I don't know. I think if using just a solid color it probably would not be to hard but if your talking candy, pearl or even metallic its a whole new ballgame. 

My first plan was two tone, light tan on top and a burnt orange on the bottom both metallic paints. Then I was going to cover both with a candy tint. Started with the door jambs, painted top, taped off and sprayed the bottom, looked pretty good although the edge was harder then I wanted, then I sprayed the candy over both. This is when I found out candy has to be applied really even and consistently. Its a tinted clear and anywhere its applied heavier then its darker in those areas. In another words it needs to be applied by someone that has a lot of experience. Figured out there was no way I could spray the entire car using this plan. So I decided to stay with the two tone and then cover both colors with pearl mixed into the clear coat. Sanded the door jambs back down then repainted the two tone, then cleared with the pearl. Once again, pearl has to be applied very evenly, I cant do that either. Plus I'm having trouble getting the soft edge between the two colors and on my 39 where the chrome ends behind the rear door I need the colors to meet at a soft edge. Thats going to be a problem as well keeping that consistent.

So enter the new plan, a solid color metallic. I wanted a dark copper color but could not find one I liked except House Of Color and that was to expensive. I've been using Kirker paint products from Auto Body Toolmart. During my paint research I came across a forum where they were saying that Eastwood paint is Kirker but rebrands it. Looking at Eastwood I did notice the MSDS and application/mixing directions were identical to the Kirker paints. What I decided was to get a dark brown metallic (Bourbon Brown) and then mix some of the burnt orange (Atomic Orange) into it - 2 parts brown, one part orange. Worked pretty well and I had a great looking copper. Sprayed the whole car with two coats base and clear each. Looked great in the garage but when I pulled it out into the sun, nothing but splotches, tiger stripes and orange peel. It looked terrible..

Metallic is hard to paint to..

So I sanded the door jambs, DA'd the entire car with 800 grit. Did not take it all the way down, just removed the gloss. Then I tried it again. This time I was about out of the orange so I used what I had left and bought another full gallon of the Bourbon Brown - it measured out to be 1-1/4 cups of orange. Didn't lighten it to much but I could see it in there.

Two base coats and two coats clear. Darker brown then what I wanted but the real problem this time was orange peel, real heavy and a lot of it and I still had a couple light spots. I did not use a reducer because the directions said it wasn't needed. I used a medium activator and the clear is high solids 4/1.

So I sanded it back down, resprayed the lights spots then went over it with 3 coats of clear this time using a slow reducer and slow activator. It laid down a LOT better except for some dirt nibs and a couple runs.

I'm done painting..

Not really the color I was shooting for and its a bit more pearly then I thought it would be but thats it..

Gotta get back to my real job but next time home I'm going to color sand and buff - never done either one of those before either - then put it back together.

 

If your thinking of painting your own car and like me never done it then I might suggest not jumping straight away to some of the more exotic effects like candy, pearl or even metallic. It takes some practice to get those on and look decent. Its a lot of work to get it all painted then sand it all back down. If you don't want to turn it into a major project then it might be better off paying someone to do it for you.

 

I learned a lot about painting a car, mostly its not all that easy. But I wanted to paint it myself and I'm glad I did. Maybe later on I might try it again but right now I'm moving on. Color sand and buff, then put it back together. Ive got the headlights, tail lights and some fog lights to install and get working plus a turn signal. The brakes are a little tight and transmission linkage needs adjusting. Then I'm going to try and get some tags for it.

 

Also got a cracked window on the front passenger door. I'm hoping I can find a place to get just one window and not have to buy a whole set.

 

Posted a few pics, first one is the original copper. Thats 2 parts Bourbon Brown, 1 part Atomic Orange. Other pics is the color I was left with, 1 gal Bourbon Brown and 1-1/4 cups of Atomic Orange.

 

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[casper50]

I like the 2nd color way better.   The window is flat glass any glass place can cut you one if you take the old one in for a pattern and some will have their own pattern.

[Bbdakota]

Nice! And your experience is exactly why I'm not going to attempt to paint mine! I've done the firewall, door jams, dash, steering column and such but those big outside panels will tell on my lack of experience. Nice job!

[Lloyd]

4 hours ago, casper50 said:

I like the 2nd color way better.   The window is flat glass any glass place can cut you one if you take the old one in for a pattern and some will have their own pattern.

Thanks Casper. I'll check that out.

[Lloyd]

2 hours ago, Bbdakota said:

Nice! And your experience is exactly why I'm not going to attempt to paint mine! I've done the firewall, door jams, dash, steering column and such but those big outside panels will tell on my lack of experience. Nice job!

Thats probably the safest - and maybe in the long run - even cheaper bet.

[BobDeSoto]

They told us in the Navy that if it moves - salute it - if it doesn't move - paint it!

 

[Lloyd]

38 minutes ago, BobDeSoto said:

They told us in the Navy that if it moves - salute it - if it doesn't move - paint it!

 

 

I work on a boat. That’s an old saying but every time someone says it the next thing said is “what color is the engineer?”!!

[Andydodge]

Lloyd.....I do like the colour............lol............btw what did you paint it in?............lacquer or 2 pack?...........personally I will never use 2 pack myself as you need the proper breathing gear etc, I use lacquer and find its a much easier paint to use for amateurs like me.......I painted the Dodge last in 1978 and have done a few touch ups over the years..........my Dodge is painted in a 1971 Oz colour, Mahogany Metallic..........regards, andyd 

[Lloyd]

Hey Andy. How you been?

car looks great! Using lacquer never even occurred to me. I used urethane. Base then clear. And yep I had a mask, gloves and paint suit. Ventilation in my garage was a problem. I got two doors so first time I closed the opposite door on two box fans blowing in and cracked the bottom door on my ‘paint booth’. Used a mini gun on the door jambs so they weren’t bad at all but first full spray with a HVLP full size gun it was OK with the base but lot of overspray during the clear. Second time I just opened both the doors all the way no fans at all. Glad you brought this up because that’s something else needed for the DIY using urethane is a decent paint booth and ventilation. If I decide to do it again I’ll take a look at lacquer. Be another year or so I think. Like I said, this has surely been a learning experience. 

Thanks for the tip.