While stripping our panels we realized there were several areas on the body
that might create a future problem, these were areas with exposed metal
seams. Places like the lower door skins, inner hood sides, and door jambs
could fail over time if we just used a standard filler. If we welded our rear roll
pan and hood supports we would distort the sheet metal leaving us with more
body work. Luckily, 3M has introduced a line of panel bonding adhesives that
are truly amazing and have revolutionized the auto body industry. This
family of epoxy based adhesives is made to fit a special tool that mixes
two parts as they move through the combining tip, blending as you
squeeze. Preparation was as easy as getting down to bare metal by
sanding the areas to be bonded. Once they were clean we laid a bead
down, much like working a tube of silicone, and then mated our pieces
together while cleaning off the extra material with a wet fingertip. We were able
to now shape our bonded area like a standard filler with no worry of future paint
failures. These areas were then sanded and prepped along with the rest of the
panels for the painting process.
that might create a future problem, these were areas with exposed metal
seams. Places like the lower door skins, inner hood sides, and door jambs
could fail over time if we just used a standard filler. If we welded our rear roll
pan and hood supports we would distort the sheet metal leaving us with more
body work. Luckily, 3M has introduced a line of panel bonding adhesives that
are truly amazing and have revolutionized the auto body industry. This
family of epoxy based adhesives is made to fit a special tool that mixes
two parts as they move through the combining tip, blending as you
squeeze. Preparation was as easy as getting down to bare metal by
sanding the areas to be bonded. Once they were clean we laid a bead
down, much like working a tube of silicone, and then mated our pieces
together while cleaning off the extra material with a wet fingertip. We were able
to now shape our bonded area like a standard filler with no worry of future paint
failures. These areas were then sanded and prepped along with the rest of the
panels for the painting process.
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Well after several trips to the painter's shop, we managed to get all the pieces
of our car delivered. The first plan of attack was to strip off the shipping primer
that came on the body. This primer is a protective coating that is applied at the
factory to combat the corrosive elements of garage life on your new steel body.
The plan was to work the body in several sections. Each area was first stripped
down to bare metal and assessed for imperfections before any body work was
started. A series of dollies were then used to reshape most of the high & low
areas before it was prepped & shot with a chromated version of PPG's DP-40.
This epoxy sealing primer has superior adhesion to metal. A thin coat of filler
was then added to correct the problem areas. Once all the different exterior
sections were complete the body was prepped and shot with a light colored
PPG K-38 High Build Urethane sanding primer. A darker colored "guide coat"
was then applied to help contrast any high & low areas before the 180 grit rub
down. After the sanding was complete the body was prepped and shot with a
coat of PPG DP-90 black primer and set aside to cure as the many smaller
pieces received the same treatment.
of our car delivered. The first plan of attack was to strip off the shipping primer
that came on the body. This primer is a protective coating that is applied at the
factory to combat the corrosive elements of garage life on your new steel body.
The plan was to work the body in several sections. Each area was first stripped
down to bare metal and assessed for imperfections before any body work was
started. A series of dollies were then used to reshape most of the high & low
areas before it was prepped & shot with a chromated version of PPG's DP-40.
This epoxy sealing primer has superior adhesion to metal. A thin coat of filler
was then added to correct the problem areas. Once all the different exterior
sections were complete the body was prepped and shot with a light colored
PPG K-38 High Build Urethane sanding primer. A darker colored "guide coat"
was then applied to help contrast any high & low areas before the 180 grit rub
down. After the sanding was complete the body was prepped and shot with a
coat of PPG DP-90 black primer and set aside to cure as the many smaller
pieces received the same treatment.
| Full Body Workout |
Well after 9 months of nights & weekends, the loooooooooong dust covered
hours of prepping for paint are finally starting to pay off. We where finally going
to shoot some paint. For anyone who has made this painstaking journey there's
a strange payback when the gun is finally filled with your finish color. Reflecting
back, we went from being as dusty & dirty as one can be to a new version of
clean freak where not one speck of dust was allowed to the dance with our
color. Yet when the last passes where put down it was all somehow all worth
while. My request of being allowed to participate in this whole process from start
to finish was granted allowing me to learn some of the many tricks of the trade
that go into a nice paint job. My exposure to this process in it's entirety has
taught me how much hard work really goes into a beautiful paint job. So when
your painter says, "There's a lot of labor in a nice job", he's not BS-ing you!! If
you still don't agree I encourage you to spend a day with him and see how
intimate you will become with a simple piece of sheet metal. What I was able to
take away from the journey was the pride in knowing that I had a hand in the
process of putting color on our project 32.
3 tips I learned very early in the journey:
1. Coarse grits get you straight, fine grits get you flat
2. Your hands are good eyes too
3. Wear a mask !!!!!!!
hours of prepping for paint are finally starting to pay off. We where finally going
to shoot some paint. For anyone who has made this painstaking journey there's
a strange payback when the gun is finally filled with your finish color. Reflecting
back, we went from being as dusty & dirty as one can be to a new version of
clean freak where not one speck of dust was allowed to the dance with our
color. Yet when the last passes where put down it was all somehow all worth
while. My request of being allowed to participate in this whole process from start
to finish was granted allowing me to learn some of the many tricks of the trade
that go into a nice paint job. My exposure to this process in it's entirety has
taught me how much hard work really goes into a beautiful paint job. So when
your painter says, "There's a lot of labor in a nice job", he's not BS-ing you!! If
you still don't agree I encourage you to spend a day with him and see how
intimate you will become with a simple piece of sheet metal. What I was able to
take away from the journey was the pride in knowing that I had a hand in the
process of putting color on our project 32.
3 tips I learned very early in the journey:
1. Coarse grits get you straight, fine grits get you flat
2. Your hands are good eyes too
3. Wear a mask !!!!!!!
