Repainting Part 2

[james curl]

Steve, the paint job looks great. I do not know if most people realize how much work is involved in blowing a car apart like you have to paint and reassemble. You would be looking at between eight thousand and twelve thousand to have what you are doing done by a paint shop. It took me two and a half weeks just to remove, label and package all of the trim, hardware, fenders, trunk, hood, all of the glass, the interior garnish moldings, bumpers and splash aprons on a 51 Plymouth business coupe I helped to paint and do the body work on. The hard part was not all of the sanding or polishing but the re-assembly. You have to be so careful installing the tracks and seals for the glass, and reinstalling the doors, trunk, fenders, all the lights, trim, it takes so long and you have to be so careful not to scratch or chip the paint. I admire anyone who does that mush work on his or her car, if I did mine like you have done yours I would be afraid to drive it.

[NatesSedan]

Amen! Seeing how far this thing has come in 3 months is just incredible. It really has been fun seeing the progress. I just took a look back at the original thread to see it again. You really must buy your "build team" a cold one when this is done.

[steveplym]

Yeah what started as an engine swap in Nov-Dec. '07 restarted as bodywork and paint. I started this project in April. Knew what I wanted to do and came up with a plan.

This is the third vehicle I have done this thorough a paint and redo on in the last 8 years. It is a lot of fun and frustration all rolled up in one.

Sure I scratched up some of the paint putting it back together, but it is a much cleaner and nicer job with things all apart. Easier to work with too.

Luckily I started with a car that was fairly straight and just needed a new paint job. Otherwise this would have been a much longer process.

[eric wissing]

Steve, It is looking fantastic. Eric

[John Mulders]

Steve, followed the pics for a while, great work !

John

[steveplym]

Front fenders are buffed and I got the grille installed as well. I went ahead and cleaned up the car and did some more polishing on it. Make it look a bit better.

Roof needs to be sanded and buffed next. Hope to get the dash out Friday night and get it painted as well.

More pics.....

[woodie49]

Steve,

The paint looks fantastic. I love the color and careful work you have done matching all the inside trim.

My '49 was recently painted, but it looks as though the last steps of sanding and buffing were not done. The paint seems fairly thick with a lot of orange peel.

Can sanding and polishing be done a couple months after the fact? I have thought about having it resprayed, but would like to try to polish out this job first, since the job looks decent overall.

Where can I find the right steps to do the final sanding and polishing? I am trying to locate a good paint guy to do this, but barring that, I might do it myself, since the alternative is a respray. What product did you use to do the final rubbing and polishing?

If mine comes out looking half as good as yours, I'll be happy.

[steveplym]

Steve,

The paint looks fantastic. I love the color and careful work you have done matching all the inside trim.

My '49 was recently painted, but it looks as though the last steps of sanding and buffing were not done. The paint seems fairly thick with a lot of orange peel.

Can sanding and polishing be done a couple months after the fact? I have thought about having it resprayed, but would like to try to polish out this job first, since the job looks decent overall.

Where can I find the right steps to do the final sanding and polishing? I am trying to locate a good paint guy to do this, but barring that, I might do it myself, since the alternative is a respray. What product did you use to do the final rubbing and polishing?

If mine comes out looking half as good as yours, I'll be happy.

Usually clearcoat can be sanded and buffed fairly easy several months after the fact. Single stage enamel that had hardener in it is a bit more tricky, but I've done it.

I've been sanding with 1500 and finishing it off with 2000. I've been working on the roof all evening and I have a lot of dry spray on it. I went ahead and sanded it with 1000 grit and finished it with 1500 and 2000. I'm sanding flat areas with a block and corners, edges with a sponge block. Gotta be careful with that heavier sand paper on the edges.

I purchased a rubbing compound that is a 3M brand from Napa. It is working pretty good. I've also been using a good product called System one X3 cutting polish. I got it from a bodyman friend of mine. You can purchase it on polishandwax.com. It says you can use it exclusively, buff with a wool pad and this polish, then go over it with a foam pad with the same polish. It does not burn the paint and is quick and easy to use. For a do it yourselfer I would say try this stuff. It seems I can't get all the sanding scratches out with the compound, so I go back over it with this stuff and a foam pad. Works wonders. It is also very good to use when buffing by hand.

Here's a link to the stuff. https://polishandwax.com/shop/products/SYSTEM-ONE-Polish-Quart.html

It is about $34, but I paid that much just for the compound. The final glaze from 3M is about $35 too. I've been using it, but don't like it as much as the system one stuff.

I bought a buffer from harbor freight, wool pad from O'reilly's, and 3m foam pad from a local auto parts store.

[woodie49]

Wow! Great info. Thank you for taking the time!

[steveplym]

Wow! Great info. Thank you for taking the time!

No problem. Let me know if I can be of any more assistance.

I finished sanding and buffing out the roof today. That is quite a job. Glad it is over and roof is looking really nice. Gotta paint the dash this weekend. I took it out this evening. More pics forthcoming.

[woodie49]

Steve,

Eagerly awaiting more pix. This project is looking fantastic and it is really fun to follow it in the forum. All the enjoyment and none of the frustration!

Is your dash single color or wood grain? Interested to see how it comes out as well.

[CNP934DC]

Wow. Great job. My sedan needs some touch-up but previous owner had no record of the paint used (brand/color etc.) This looks so much like mine I was wondering if you can tell me what brand and color paint was used.

[steveplym]

Steve,

Eagerly awaiting more pix. This project is looking fantastic and it is really fun to follow it in the forum. All the enjoyment and none of the frustration!

Is your dash single color or wood grain? Interested to see how it comes out as well.

Well I've been awful busy finishing the car. I took a few pics today I'll have to post them tomorrow as I left my camera out in the garage.

Dash is painted body color and was put back in this evening. Trim rings and hubcaps are back on. Rocker trim is back on. I sanded and buffed the hood tonight and will be doing the rear fenders tomorrow.

Bumper filler panels were painted today and should go on with bumpers tomorrow.

Frog follies in Evansville, IN is about 180mi from my house. I'm trying to get this car together by tomorrow evening, test drive it about 20mi or so and take off on Friday morning. We'll see how it goes. I took three days of work to finish the car before the show. So hopefully it will happen.

[steveplym]

Wow. Great job. My sedan needs some touch-up but previous owner had no record of the paint used (brand/color etc.) This looks so much like mine I was wondering if you can tell me what brand and color paint was used.

I used paint from TCP Global. Purchased it online and selected from their color chart.

Here's a link to their site and the color. http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/rsp1509.aspx

[eric wissing]

Wow. Great job. My sedan needs some touch-up but previous owner had no record of the paint used (brand/color etc.) This looks so much like mine I was wondering if you can tell me what brand and color paint was used.

I think it would be possible to use a paint store's color scanner to get an exact match to your paint. They do it for house paints, maybe for auto paints too. Someone with knowledage will have to chime in here. Eric

[steveplym]

Well I've got a second before I head back out to the garage, but here are some updated pics.

I've got one fender sanded and buffed. Getting ready to do the other one shortly. Hood is on, that was fun, finally got those pesky hood springs on.

Rest of trim is going back on slowly and bumpers are now on.

Looks like I'll work late tonight and finish putting it together tomorrow morning. Gonna test drive it and check all the bolts again. Then load it up and off to the show. Hope I have a trouble free weekend, because I've worked on this car enough this week.

[NatesSedan]

Nice work Steve. Congrats on finishing! I am sure it wasn't easy as goals seem to take twice as log as you plan. Good luck at the show and...oh yeah don't forget the camera!

By the way how did you do the dash? Did you tape the trim or remove all of it?

[woodie49]

That is just a fantastic looking job. Good luck at the show!

Thanks for posting this. It has been a fun project to watch.

[steveplym]

Nice work Steve. Congrats on finishing! I am sure it wasn't easy as goals seem to take twice as log as you plan. Good luck at the show and...oh yeah don't forget the camera!

By the way how did you do the dash? Did you tape the trim or remove all of it?

Thanks Nate. I removed all the trim on the dash. Made for a much nicer job. I'm going to finish the car tomorrow morning and will take more pics this weekend. Thanks for the compliments!

[Normspeed]

Looks great, the paint sure came out nice. When you get a chance, I'd like to hear about the hood spring install. I've heard of a method involving a piece of chain and a 2 X 4 down on the floor...? 47 Heaven needs some fresh hood springs & could use the info too.