Follow along as I paint my car myself [pics]
02-07-2005, 09:36 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Follow along as I paint my car myself [pics]
Bobs post on his buildup was very imformative, Bob you're my inspiration, so I'm gonna take a shot at doing a post like it about a novice (me) painting a car for the first time.
I recently got 2 estimates to paint my car one was $6400 the other was $7200. Due to the fact that I'm cheap and I couldn't stand to let my car sit in someones shop for 6 months, I have chosen to tackle this myself. I can do anything mechanically to a car, this is the first time I've tried bodywork, I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Time will tell.
I'm following Lars paper on painting a corvette. If anyone could walk me through this I'm sure he can with his knowledge of these cars. His paper on this can be found here http://www.corvettefaq.com/listing.asp?group=5 Look down the page for Corvette body repair and paint basics by Lars Grimsrud
My paint had little spiderweb cracks all over and was flaking off at the nose. It also had little bubbles under the paint all over. I have no idea what caused these, heat maybe? This is the original paint that was on the car new, anyone have any ideas why it was doing this? I also scraped off some of the flaking paint on the nose some time ago and sprayed it with black primer that comes in the spray cans so that it wouldn't look so bad. I'm tired of looking at it this way and am finaly ready to do something about it.
Here is a before pic
Included in the estimates I got was 40 hrs @ $45 an hour to strip the car ($1800). Where they came up with 40 hours is beyond me. I've stripped it in 11 hours with beer breaks. I still have a couple of areas at the bottom of the fenders and the bottom channel of the body to strip. I think I'm going to sand these areas as it's hard to get a razorblade to act right there.
I recently got 2 estimates to paint my car one was $6400 the other was $7200. Due to the fact that I'm cheap and I couldn't stand to let my car sit in someones shop for 6 months, I have chosen to tackle this myself. I can do anything mechanically to a car, this is the first time I've tried bodywork, I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Time will tell.
I'm following Lars paper on painting a corvette. If anyone could walk me through this I'm sure he can with his knowledge of these cars. His paper on this can be found here http://www.corvettefaq.com/listing.asp?group=5 Look down the page for Corvette body repair and paint basics by Lars Grimsrud
My paint had little spiderweb cracks all over and was flaking off at the nose. It also had little bubbles under the paint all over. I have no idea what caused these, heat maybe? This is the original paint that was on the car new, anyone have any ideas why it was doing this? I also scraped off some of the flaking paint on the nose some time ago and sprayed it with black primer that comes in the spray cans so that it wouldn't look so bad. I'm tired of looking at it this way and am finaly ready to do something about it.
Here is a before pic
Included in the estimates I got was 40 hrs @ $45 an hour to strip the car ($1800). Where they came up with 40 hours is beyond me. I've stripped it in 11 hours with beer breaks. I still have a couple of areas at the bottom of the fenders and the bottom channel of the body to strip. I think I'm going to sand these areas as it's hard to get a razorblade to act right there.
02-07-2005, 09:40 PM
#2
C6 the C5 of tomorrow
Member Since: Nov 2000
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Sweet!
Can't wait to see the progress.
I've taken a few paint classes and painted a few things. It's not that hard. I'm convinced it's possible.
But I have to wait till spring
:
Can't wait to see the progress.
I've taken a few paint classes and painted a few things. It's not that hard. I'm convinced it's possible.
But I have to wait till spring
:
02-07-2005, 09:43 PM
#3
Drifting
Thread Starter
There has been a lot of threads latley as to which is better chemical or razor blade. I haven't tried chemical, but I can tell you the razor blade is not as bad as you think it is. I've had a few people in my other thread ask how to do this and it's kinda hard to explain...so I drew pictures 
I don't know how everyone else does it but this is what worked the best for me. When startin your first cut angle the blade slightly and try to push the blade at a smooth steady pace, try not to use short rapid scrapes as this will cause more nicks. Sometimes on the first cut on a fresh panel you have to do it like that to get it to cut but after the first cut use long steady paced cuts. Here's how I like to make the first cut in a panel
After you have a strip cut out of the paint believe it or not the hardest part is done. For the second cut I take the tip and leaving the blade on the strip that you have already cut push it into the paint at an angle to cut out a V about half the width of the blade like this
Then using half the blade in the paint and the other half in what you already cut push it steadily untill you fall off a body line or reach the bottom of the panel. Like this
Keep repeating this process until all is done, Like I say ,this is what worked for me. Using the tip and half the blade you will wear out blades faster than using the whole blade but a $1.99 a ten pack just wear them out and get a new one. I went through 3 packs of blades.After the first fender you will get the hang of how much angle to use on the blade.
I don't know how everyone else does it but this is what worked the best for me. When startin your first cut angle the blade slightly and try to push the blade at a smooth steady pace, try not to use short rapid scrapes as this will cause more nicks. Sometimes on the first cut on a fresh panel you have to do it like that to get it to cut but after the first cut use long steady paced cuts. Here's how I like to make the first cut in a panel
After you have a strip cut out of the paint believe it or not the hardest part is done. For the second cut I take the tip and leaving the blade on the strip that you have already cut push it into the paint at an angle to cut out a V about half the width of the blade like this
Then using half the blade in the paint and the other half in what you already cut push it steadily untill you fall off a body line or reach the bottom of the panel. Like this
Keep repeating this process until all is done, Like I say ,this is what worked for me. Using the tip and half the blade you will wear out blades faster than using the whole blade but a $1.99 a ten pack just wear them out and get a new one. I went through 3 packs of blades.After the first fender you will get the hang of how much angle to use on the blade.
02-07-2005, 09:43 PM
#4
Drifting
Thread Starter
I have a couple of spots of the fiberglass to repair in the rear quarter where a tire blew out on the original owner but here is the progress so far. I'm also going to change out the wavy urathane bumper for a fiberglass one. I'm probably going to glass it into the rest of the rear
These are the holders I used. The blue one is stiffer and worked better on the flatter parts, the yellow one has a lot of flex and worked best on the more curvey parts. You can find different thickness blades too. I used thinner blades on the very curvy areas.
I'll post more as I get more done. If you see me doing something wrong please tell me!!
These are the holders I used. The blue one is stiffer and worked better on the flatter parts, the yellow one has a lot of flex and worked best on the more curvey parts. You can find different thickness blades too. I used thinner blades on the very curvy areas.
I'll post more as I get more done. If you see me doing something wrong please tell me!!
02-07-2005, 10:47 PM
#6
Team Owner
Member Since: Jul 2004
Location: Redondo Beach, California
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I decided to paint my 1968 in the early 1980's just because I wanted to learn. I was to be painting in lacquer, which is a good paint for learners. (It was also, the original paint type used by the factory I believe,) A lacquer paint job requires many layers. If you make a mistake, you just sand off that layer, or that part of the body, and do it again. Another great thing about lacquer is that you don't need a super dust free paint room and you don't need heat lamps. Lacquer dries very quickly. Ok, I know that lacquer is probably outdated today. Here in Southern California, body shops can't use it and it's not as durable as some of the modern paints. Lacquer chips easy. Anyhow back to lacquer...
I bought a big Sear's air compressor that came with a paint gun. As I kept trying to paint the car, the finish just looked awful. For instance, runners. Also, I was spraying a metallic lacquer, the LeMans Light Bright metallic blue 1968 color and there were color/metallic variations. I kept sanding out my blemished layers of paint. I'm talking about wet sanding the whole car to remove blemished paint. This was very tedious. I did this MANY times. Then it dawned on me. The Sears paint gun was a cheapy model. So I went and bought a Binks profession gun. ($250 ??) The difference was like day and night. The Binks immediately began laying down beautiful coatings. The runner and color variation problem just really disappeared....Ok,Ok you can get a runner with Binks but you have to be negligent (or distracted).
I don't know how many times I really painted my car and then wet sanded everything off and started again. Maybe 10 times? I was really persistent. I finally got a pretty good lacquer paint job. It wasn't a really super professional finish - certainly as good as factory original. But I didn't pay many thousands of dollars. Anyhow, what's the point of paying $6000 and up for a paint job, when you're out on the freeway and stones or sand blow off of a construction truck?
Also, when I painted my car... I only painted the paint!!!! I didn't paint the non-painted portions of the car like a lot of other body shops will do. I removed all the chrome, all the emblems, all the weather stripping , and carefully masked off everything else.
I bought a big Sear's air compressor that came with a paint gun. As I kept trying to paint the car, the finish just looked awful. For instance, runners. Also, I was spraying a metallic lacquer, the LeMans Light Bright metallic blue 1968 color and there were color/metallic variations. I kept sanding out my blemished layers of paint. I'm talking about wet sanding the whole car to remove blemished paint. This was very tedious. I did this MANY times. Then it dawned on me. The Sears paint gun was a cheapy model. So I went and bought a Binks profession gun. ($250 ??) The difference was like day and night. The Binks immediately began laying down beautiful coatings. The runner and color variation problem just really disappeared....Ok,Ok you can get a runner with Binks but you have to be negligent (or distracted).
I don't know how many times I really painted my car and then wet sanded everything off and started again. Maybe 10 times? I was really persistent. I finally got a pretty good lacquer paint job. It wasn't a really super professional finish - certainly as good as factory original. But I didn't pay many thousands of dollars. Anyhow, what's the point of paying $6000 and up for a paint job, when you're out on the freeway and stones or sand blow off of a construction truck?
Also, when I painted my car... I only painted the paint!!!! I didn't paint the non-painted portions of the car like a lot of other body shops will do. I removed all the chrome, all the emblems, all the weather stripping , and carefully masked off everything else.
02-07-2005, 10:58 PM
#7
Melting Slicks
You go eddie, i'll be watching. great strip job
02-07-2005, 11:03 PM
#8
Melting Slicks
Looks like your doing a good job. Keep up the postings, as I'm thinking about a color change in a few years.
Anyone ever paint their vette with Emron?
Anyone ever paint their vette with Emron?
02-07-2005, 11:20 PM
#9
Race Director
I'll be watching closely as well Eddie. Please go on posting with as much detail as you can. I've planned to do the same thing as soon as I finish the mechanical issues with my car. I plan to start in March.
Good luck.
Good luck.
02-07-2005, 11:46 PM
#10
Race Director
go Eddie go!!!!!!!!!!!
good job keep up the postings....be sure to tell us the time you spent....it gives a us a better appreciation of whats going on...
good job keep up the postings....be sure to tell us the time you spent....it gives a us a better appreciation of whats going on...
02-08-2005, 12:39 AM
#12
Team Owner
Member Since: Jul 2004
Location: Redondo Beach, California
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Chemical strippers.
Ok, they'll take off paint. However, the fiberglass body often has cracks,crevices, etc. Lets say there's a microscopic crack in the body. Let's say you use a chemical stripper and the stripper flows into the crack. Now later you paint the car. The stripper is still in the crack although it's now covered with your new very expensive paint job. It's a warm day. The stripper then bleeds out and blemishes your new expensive paint job. Chemical strippers don't seem to be a good idea to me. Maybe I'm not up to date. Once again residual stripping chemical in body cracks and crevices seems lethal.
As for the razor blades, seems like a good way to nick up the body. Particularly a good way to put some nicks on the front and rear fender crease lines. My guess is that a media blast is the best to remove paint. Media blasting is often used to remove paint from aluminum aircraft bodies. (resin beads, walnut shells, etc) Media blasting and wet sand paper seem to me to be the best way to remove paint. They're effective and very safe. (hand sanding near the body crease lines. On a C3 if you ruin these lines, it's probably impossible to really restore them with bondo.)
To get mirror like surface finishes on your Corvette, you need to do block sanding that ultimately finishes up with very fine grit sandpaper (1500?). This is to avoid waviness in the body surfaces. Then polishing compound for the resultant mirror finish.
....and then another problem is to get even and thin seperation lines between the hood and body and the doors and body. This is another labor intensive activity. I once knew a Corvette owner who said he paid $1500 just to have his hood fit the body...This was not for paint and also there really wasn't a hood to body fit issue for "normal" people. The hood fitment wasn't originally that bad. The owner was an compulsive obsessive personality who had to have a perfect fit. Fitting involved fiberglass build up (resin and finely chopped up fiberglass).
Ok, they'll take off paint. However, the fiberglass body often has cracks,crevices, etc. Lets say there's a microscopic crack in the body. Let's say you use a chemical stripper and the stripper flows into the crack. Now later you paint the car. The stripper is still in the crack although it's now covered with your new very expensive paint job. It's a warm day. The stripper then bleeds out and blemishes your new expensive paint job. Chemical strippers don't seem to be a good idea to me. Maybe I'm not up to date. Once again residual stripping chemical in body cracks and crevices seems lethal.
As for the razor blades, seems like a good way to nick up the body. Particularly a good way to put some nicks on the front and rear fender crease lines. My guess is that a media blast is the best to remove paint. Media blasting is often used to remove paint from aluminum aircraft bodies. (resin beads, walnut shells, etc) Media blasting and wet sand paper seem to me to be the best way to remove paint. They're effective and very safe. (hand sanding near the body crease lines. On a C3 if you ruin these lines, it's probably impossible to really restore them with bondo.)
To get mirror like surface finishes on your Corvette, you need to do block sanding that ultimately finishes up with very fine grit sandpaper (1500?). This is to avoid waviness in the body surfaces. Then polishing compound for the resultant mirror finish.
....and then another problem is to get even and thin seperation lines between the hood and body and the doors and body. This is another labor intensive activity. I once knew a Corvette owner who said he paid $1500 just to have his hood fit the body...This was not for paint and also there really wasn't a hood to body fit issue for "normal" people. The hood fitment wasn't originally that bad. The owner was an compulsive obsessive personality who had to have a perfect fit. Fitting involved fiberglass build up (resin and finely chopped up fiberglass).
02-08-2005, 06:09 AM
#15
Senior Member since 1492
Originally Posted by 68/70Vette
Chemical strippers.
Ok, they'll take off paint. However, the fiberglass body often has cracks,crevices, etc. Lets say there's a microscopic crack in the body. Let's say you use a chemical stripper and the stripper flows into the crack. Now later you paint the car. The stripper is still in the crack although it's now covered with your new very expensive paint job. It's a warm day. The stripper then bleeds out and blemishes your new expensive paint job. Chemical strippers don't seem to be a good idea to me. Maybe I'm not up to date. Once again residual stripping chemical in body cracks and crevices seems lethal.
Ok, they'll take off paint. However, the fiberglass body often has cracks,crevices, etc. Lets say there's a microscopic crack in the body. Let's say you use a chemical stripper and the stripper flows into the crack. Now later you paint the car. The stripper is still in the crack although it's now covered with your new very expensive paint job. It's a warm day. The stripper then bleeds out and blemishes your new expensive paint job. Chemical strippers don't seem to be a good idea to me. Maybe I'm not up to date. Once again residual stripping chemical in body cracks and crevices seems lethal.
02-08-2005, 07:16 AM
#17
Drifting
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by bobs77vet
go Eddie go!!!!!!!!!!!
good job keep up the postings....be sure to tell us the time you spent....it gives a us a better appreciation of whats going on...
good job keep up the postings....be sure to tell us the time you spent....it gives a us a better appreciation of whats going on...
Well this all started last wednesday when I was bored and trying to figure out what to do to the car next. I was actually getting ready to go to the paint store to get some stripper and decided to give the razor blade a try. I worked on it for 2 hrs wednesday afternoon till it got dark and had 1 fender and door stripped. Yes, I'm working outside because I don't have a garage.
The Ex got or main house in the divorce and I got our cabin on the lake. Unfortinatly it doesn't have a garage, so you do, with what you have I guess. I'm just glad we have mild winters 
Thursday I was pumped up and got 3 more hours in. After the 2nd day I had the front fenders and both door stripped
I didn't get to start back on it till saturday, I worked on it for 6 hours, to finish, to where you see now. That was with beer breaks
and not being in a hurry.So I have 11 hrs in it so far. The hood is new so it doesn't need stripping, but even if it did, it would go in about a hour. The top goes fast, it's easier to get more leverage on it. The bumpers are in great shape paint wise, so they don't need anything but sanding, and the rear is being replaced.
I've left the all lights and hardware on for the time being because I have an appointment with my trans shop today to install a new torque converter and modify my valve body and boost valves. The torque my 383 is putting out overpowers the boost and line bias valves and won't let it manually shift from 2nd to 3rd at high RPM's (above 6000) without letting off the gas. After it comes back the bumper comes off, as will all the lights and hardware.
02-08-2005, 07:25 AM
#18
Drifting
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by ICEMAN59
How do you strip the detailed places like the t-top frame, door jams, inside tail lights, etc.
I'm just going to degrease them and scuff them up.The bumpers would probably buff out on my car, So they didn't need stripping. It would be next to impossible to strip them with a blade though. Especially on a rubber bumper car. I think it would be better to hand sand these areas. I'm still going to hand sand the bottom channel and the outside lip on the fenders. I tryed it a little on one, and saw that I would end up nicking it up too badly. So I'll just go the sanding route on those places
02-08-2005, 07:40 AM
#19
Drifting
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by 68/70Vette
Chemical strippers.
Ok, they'll take off paint. However, the fiberglass body often has cracks,crevices, etc. Lets say there's a microscopic crack in the body. Let's say you use a chemical stripper and the stripper flows into the crack. Now later you paint the car. The stripper is still in the crack although it's now covered with your new very expensive paint job. It's a warm day. The stripper then bleeds out and blemishes your new expensive paint job. Chemical strippers don't seem to be a good idea to me. Maybe I'm not up to date. Once again residual stripping chemical in body cracks and crevices seems lethal.
As for the razor blades, seems like a good way to nick up the body. Particularly a good way to put some nicks on the front and rear fender crease lines. My guess is that a media blast is the best to remove paint. Media blasting is often used to remove paint from aluminum aircraft bodies. (resin beads, walnut shells, etc) Media blasting and wet sand paper seem to me to be the best way to remove paint. They're effective and very safe. (hand sanding near the body crease lines. On a C3 if you ruin these lines, it's probably impossible to really restore them with bondo.)
To get mirror like surface finishes on your Corvette, you need to do block sanding that ultimately finishes up with very fine grit sandpaper (1500?). This is to avoid waviness in the body surfaces. Then polishing compound for the resultant mirror finish.
....and then another problem is to get even and thin seperation lines between the hood and body and the doors and body. This is another labor intensive activity. I once knew a Corvette owner who said he paid $1500 just to have his hood fit the body...This was not for paint and also there really wasn't a hood to body fit issue for "normal" people. The hood fitment wasn't originally that bad. The owner was an compulsive obsessive personality who had to have a perfect fit. Fitting involved fiberglass build up (resin and finely chopped up fiberglass).
Ok, they'll take off paint. However, the fiberglass body often has cracks,crevices, etc. Lets say there's a microscopic crack in the body. Let's say you use a chemical stripper and the stripper flows into the crack. Now later you paint the car. The stripper is still in the crack although it's now covered with your new very expensive paint job. It's a warm day. The stripper then bleeds out and blemishes your new expensive paint job. Chemical strippers don't seem to be a good idea to me. Maybe I'm not up to date. Once again residual stripping chemical in body cracks and crevices seems lethal.
As for the razor blades, seems like a good way to nick up the body. Particularly a good way to put some nicks on the front and rear fender crease lines. My guess is that a media blast is the best to remove paint. Media blasting is often used to remove paint from aluminum aircraft bodies. (resin beads, walnut shells, etc) Media blasting and wet sand paper seem to me to be the best way to remove paint. They're effective and very safe. (hand sanding near the body crease lines. On a C3 if you ruin these lines, it's probably impossible to really restore them with bondo.)
To get mirror like surface finishes on your Corvette, you need to do block sanding that ultimately finishes up with very fine grit sandpaper (1500?). This is to avoid waviness in the body surfaces. Then polishing compound for the resultant mirror finish.
....and then another problem is to get even and thin seperation lines between the hood and body and the doors and body. This is another labor intensive activity. I once knew a Corvette owner who said he paid $1500 just to have his hood fit the body...This was not for paint and also there really wasn't a hood to body fit issue for "normal" people. The hood fitment wasn't originally that bad. The owner was an compulsive obsessive personality who had to have a perfect fit. Fitting involved fiberglass build up (resin and finely chopped up fiberglass).
Good advise
I'm not really looking for an NCRS paint job. The body lines can be off just a little bit and I will still be fine with it. I just want it to look good from a few feet and to be able to say that I did it myself.
Actually, the crease lines were some of the easiest parts to strip without nicking it. The flat part of the panels where you start the first cut got the most nicking and it even isn't that bad. I'm going to spray it with the sealer and primer and block it out one time before I start dealing with them. I think a lot of them will cover in this process. If they don't, at least I will post it here, so eveyone else thinking about going this route will know what to look out for. But as small as they are I don't really look for them to be a problem.
I an going to adjust my hood fitment a little bit. The drivers side front part sits a little lower, below the fender line, than the rest. I think I can bring it up level with washers, but I still have a long way to go before I get to this part of it.
02-08-2005, 08:11 AM
#20
Race Director
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Your doing a great job Eddie and I will follow along and see how it turns out. I did my own paint job in the driveway myself years ago and it turned out great.