Seeking Auto Body and Paint Tips for my 68 Charger

[Kern Dog]

Have you considered vinyl wrapping instead of painting? I am definitely not any body work expert and my car is for my enjoyment and I drive it. I just wrapped it in a glossy color after 5 years with the matte 2 tone that I put on in 2020. All of my crappy prep work under the vinyl was still the same as when I first wrapped the car. She sits outside year round.

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Holy crap. That looks great !

 

[KohrtRacing]

It's great your jumping in and giving this a try.
For you 1st job I know you want a metallic but you have a very good chance it will stripe on you. Silver and gold are the worst but all metallic paint can and will stripe if your not used to painting.
My 2 cents is pick a nice solid color you can live with.
Race car , I would say single stage and don't mix product brands once the spray guy comes out.
Remember each dent has a crown around it aka a raised area like the lip of a crater.
Those have to be worked down along with the dent being dollied or picked out.
Get some long boards for sanding and stick with them. Dura block makes a nice set.
Do not sand with your bare hand and fingers use the blocks.
Spread your filler past the area you think needs filled, when guys 1st start they just try to fill the ding over and over, drag the filler 5" past.
Evercoat makes some nice filler, I would start a new guy with their [ rage ] ,
Good luck to you.

The more I talk to folks, the more I’m of the understanding you really shouldn’t shoot metallic single stage. It really needs to be two stage. Going to dig more on research here.

Definitely have a ton of sanding blocks, also a SCT, DA and I did pick up a dura blocks kit. Just about completely sanded on one quarter so beginning to migrate around. Thanks for tip on ever coat.

 

[KohrtRacing]

Have you considered vinyl wrapping instead of painting? I am definitely not any body work expert and my car is for my enjoyment and I drive it. I just wrapped it in a glossy color after 5 years with the matte 2 tone that I put on in 2020. All of my crappy prep work under the vinyl was still the same as when I first wrapped the car. She sits outside year round.

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Looks really great man!

 

[1967coronet]

The more I talk to folks, the more I’m of the understanding you really shouldn’t shoot metallic single stage. It really needs to be two stage. Going to dig more on research here.

Definitely have a ton of sanding blocks, also a SCT, DA and I did pick up a dura blocks kit. Just about completely sanded on one quarter so beginning to migrate around. Thanks for tip on ever coat.

Even the 2 stage base clear metalic jobs will stripe if your mix, distance, fluid , air , and arm speed are off.

 

[Black_Sheep]

Lots of good body and paint content on YouTube.

Paintucation By Kevin Tetz

Kevin & Paintucation have been producing award winning instructional content since 1999 when Kevin formed Paintucation. A TV career followed, as well as being an automotive journalist, a published author, and a public speaker & brand ambassador for several international companies all...

www.youtube.com

Paint by Curry

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

Jo Daddy's Garage

I'm a long time mechanic with a lot of experience working on classic cars and hot rods. Hope to get people excited about their cars, and getting them back on the road. I work on classic cars including Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles, studebakers, and many more. I do detailed how to style videos...

www.youtube.com

JustMoparJoe

General Mopar Shenanigans. Mopars only. Bracket racing, simple how to’s, and restoration projects.

www.youtube.com

And many more…

 

[Kern Dog]

The more I talk to folks, the more I’m of the understanding you really shouldn’t shoot metallic single stage.

Everything that I paint has had to be sanded and buffed to get rid of flaws and orange peel. It is dusty out here and even when I try hard, there still may be bugs or an eyebrow that lands in the wet paint.
A good painter can spray and walk away.
I’m not that good. I’m decent but not great.
Trying to sand and buff a single stage red, black, blue or any solid color is pretty straightforward. You sand until the surface is ready to be buffed.
If you spray a metallic and then try to sand it, you’ll be cutting into the actual gold or silver metallic particles. Doing so can make the finish look really weird. If you are a good enough painter to spray a metallic and leave it, that is fine. Otherwise you’d want to spray a metallic base coat with clear over it. You then sand the clear to a smooth finish and buff it.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Same here. That is how I made myself go from this:

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To this:

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You gave yourself A cups?

 

[Canadian1968]

To be honest you can make your head spin with all the steps involved in body / paint work. I've been doing it for 20 years now. There is a very big difference from restoration or a basic collision job. The biggest part is right off the start. As soon as you open up that bare metal you really need to have a game plan. The longer you leave it open, the more chance it's going to rust , or your repair are going fail. Climate and time are thr biggest contributor.

The reason for expoy off the start is that is the only product that creates a water/ moisture barrier. Once applied as first step , you are effectively sealing the metal. Everything done on top now how a great foundation to bond to , and no chance of moisture being trapped under it. You may burn threw in some areas during your body work but they should be fairly minimal. There are other products such as pre treatment wipes that create a chemical protective layer to the bare steel for smaller area. You can then start applying your polyurethane or polyester primers ove top of that .

Body work is an art and is only learned threw experience. You can watch all the YouTube videos you want , but the real learning will come with a block in your hand. The same and more so goes for painting. Theory is one thing and real life is another. Ideally having someone with experience there with you is hands down the best way to go. When you don't know what or when your doing something wrong it's hard to correct !

It's a rewarding process when it's done, but if it's your first time , be ready for some bumps and bruises . But have fun !

 

[Ron Kirkpatrick]

I feel like I’m fully up to the challenge. Maybe it’s my ignorance, confidence or likely my stupidity. I’m going for broke for this first one with Metallic but lots of body work is ahead. I’m expecting 200-300 hours of body work but maybe that’s on the short end.

Google my name. My website will come up. I also custom paint. I can walk you through the steps on howto do your car. I can show you how to get your car straight.

 

[Ron Kirkpatrick]

I hand make panels out of steel and aluminum. No bondo. There’s nothing wrong with filler. On your car you will be using filler and block sanding. If you want I can send you short videos on how to. I have you tube channel. Seven two fo 968 six two fo 5.

 

[Ron Kirkpatrick]

I also do airbrushing.

 

[Ron Kirkpatrick]

If you need advice let me know. I’m always up to help out.

 

[wwheel]

I am in the process of stripping the paint on a non-Mopar that had prior body work. What I found is that in many places, surface rust formed under the filler that was applied on bare steel. Bondo absorbs moisture and this can easily happen. This showed up on the paint surface as tiny pimples that you could wet sand out. But that is NOT good. Spray epoxy primer on bare metal first and then apply the filler on top of that. Final coat after body work and before paint is of course an epoxy seal coat.
I use CMA Strip-it-dry paint stripper. Wonderful stuff. Also used Squeeg's Epoxy primer - Squeeg's Kustoms|Coatings|Epoxy Primer Filler Kits Mixes 1 to 1 and super easy to use and won't break the bank.

Good luck...