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HELP! I need somebody...(going to finish this car myself).

QOTHL

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I need somebody
(Help!) not just anybody
(Help!) you know I need someone
Help!
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured (but now these days are gone)
(And now I find) Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
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All joking aside, I'm posting this thread to ask for ANY help regarding tools, materials, etc. to finish the paint work on this car. Current circumstances have presented the situation where I would rather spend the money to buy things like a rotisserie, paint, etc. than pay the shop to do work I can do myself. The car has been there for two years and two mos and they now have time to work on my car since there isn't a lot of collision work.

A lot can happen in two f--king years, like I finally learned how to do this after working in a body shop for six mos. Someone tried to tell me I couldn't do upholstery on a Charger but they were wrong and that is a whole different rant.

This is the Fritz R/T, one owner, Dr. Fritz who paid cash and drove this wonderful car until 1983 and then parked it in his garage. It's all original #'s matching everything, nothing has been screwed with or changed. The interior was dirty but virtually perfect - needed new seat covers, foam, etc. which I have already done - crap, almost everything has been done for this car and has been sitting on a rack of shelves for the past two f'g yrs. Any new/replacement parts have been ordered and is waiting with the rest of the stuff.

I'm breaking out of "painters prison" and getting this car done and not be subject to someone more interested in making money on collision work while they sit on my $$ and my car and tie up what I have already invested in it.

So, any help/advice would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!


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Common Body Shop Practice. I feel your pain. Been there more than once.
 
Every time I think I am moving slow on my project, I think of the others whose cars sit in body shops for 3-5 years without being touched and I feel better.
 
Every time I think I am moving slow on my project, I think of the others whose cars sit in body shops for 3-5 years without being touched and I feel better.

Agree and car being gone that long makes one nervous :(
 
Paint work is a little different. I'm not saying you can't do it yourself by any means. You can easily do 95% of the prep work yourself. Blocking, sanding, priming and more of the same. Buy the rotisserie and do everything you can. When you think it is ready for paint have a professional look everything over and see if it is actually ready. When it's ready and you think you are ready try your painting skills on the trim out. If that works out for you, you can always make an attempt on the outer body. My preference at this point is to have a painter do the actual spraying in a good paint booth. Runs and sags, as well as dust and dirt happy easily without the proper booth and a excellent painter. With the cost of paint and materials, I see that part as something that would be more cost effective for you. As always it's my opinion.
 
Paint work is a little different. I'm not saying you can't do it yourself by any means. You can easily do 95% of the prep work yourself. Blocking, sanding, priming and more of the same. Buy the rotisserie and do everything you can. When you think it is ready for paint have a professional look everything over and see if it is actually ready. When it's ready and you think you are ready try your painting skills on the trim out. If that works out for you, you can always make an attempt on the outer body. My preference at this point is to have a painter do the actual spraying in a good paint booth. Runs and sags, as well as dust and dirt happy easily without the proper booth and a excellent painter. With the cost of paint and materials, I see that part as something that would be more cost effective for you. As always it's my opinion.


Didn't want to sound like a big blow hard but I did a lot of painting at the body shop. The guy teaching me had me weld the panel on the RAM, prep everything and prime, paint and clear then taught me how to buff. He challenged me that I couldn't do it without getting runs. He was...WRONG! Came out perfect. He's one of the nicest guys you could meet but has an enormous ego and that rattled him. The manager told me later that this guy didn't want me to do a good job because I made him with his 40yrs experience look bad. I'm slower with things like bondo because before I did the job on the Nissan in the photo, I'd never done it before. The fender had a massive crease from nearly the top of the fender to the wheel opening. They showed me how to use a uni-spotter and slide hammer so I pulled it. If you notice, the bottom of the fender in front of the tire is warped. I pointed that out to the manager and it turned out the bracket was broken.

I painted that blue POC then practiced blocking it straight. That was the first nearly full car I did, then fixed some minor damage on my Challenger, primed, blocked, painted and cleared it. This will sound like I'm making excuses but the less than ideal conditions of the paint room taught me a lot. Other than the truck, everything I painted was metallic.

The painter at the shop that has had my car hostage for over two years is a really good painter. He thinks I'm made of money. I will practice before I do any painting on the car just to get my shoulder in shape for holding a gun with a full cup. In fact, if I get the rotisserie I'll do the undercarriage, and trunk instead of paying him $2500 to prep and paint all of that and then another $1800 for materials. I've seen some really good videos on Youtube that helped me a lot on painting and especially on applying clear.
Thanks for the advice. I'm just wondering where is the best place to get tools and supplies.

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Agree and car being gone that long makes one nervous :(


Tell me all about it. I had the sheet metal etc. done with factory welds at AMD Installations, which did not make this shop happy but AMD was $6K cheaper and the car is like factory. After having it in their shop for over two years, they are claiming that the rear valance is pushed in on the P side and that AMD did it in order to get the piece to fit up. AMD Installations takes photos of the whole process. I went back and looked at the photos and it did not look like that when they were done...I took photos of the car when it came off the trailer at the shop and it doesn't look like it does now. They claim it didn't happen there because it is dented with no scratches...just google "dents no scratches" and see how many photos come up. Then of course they want me to pay them to fix it.

I'm going to pick up the car and do the repair myself. I'll be damed if I'm going to pay someone to fix something I can do myself and that they damaged.
 
Didn't want to sound like a big blow hard but I did a lot of painting at the body shop. The guy teaching me had me weld the panel on the RAM, prep everything and prime, paint and clear then taught me how to buff. He challenged me that I couldn't do it without getting runs. He was...WRONG! Came out perfect. He's one of the nicest guys you could meet but has an enormous ego and that rattled him. The manager told me later that this guy didn't want me to do a good job because I made him with his 40yrs experience look bad. I'm slower with things like bondo because before I did the job on the Nissan in the photo, I'd never done it before. The fender had a massive crease from nearly the top of the fender to the wheel opening. They showed me how to use a uni-spotter and slide hammer so I pulled it. If you notice, the bottom of the fender in front of the tire is warped. I pointed that out to the manager and it turned out the bracket was broken.

I painted that blue POC then practiced blocking it straight. That was the first nearly full car I did, then fixed some minor damage on my Challenger, primed, blocked, painted and cleared it. This will sound like I'm making excuses but the less than ideal conditions of the paint room taught me a lot. Other than the truck, everything I painted was metallic.

The painter at the shop that has had my car hostage for over two years is a really good painter. He thinks I'm made of money. I will practice before I do any painting on the car just to get my shoulder in shape for holding a gun with a full cup. In fact, if I get the rotisserie I'll do the undercarriage, and trunk instead of paying him $2500 to prep and paint all of that and then another $1800 for materials. I've seen some really good videos on Youtube that helped me a lot on painting and especially on applying clear.
Thanks for the advice. I'm just wondering where is the best place to get tools and supplies.

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I like your skills, you had a good teacher and your pictures look like more than 6 months training and doing. I say go for it.
The shop you worked in must have a supply house that they deal with, or you can easily find one and setup an account. Most suppliers are good at letting you know what to use with what. I would shop for tools on line. Also I think I saw a used rotisserie on this site a few weeks back. Your training in that shop should be telling you what you need and what works and what doesn't. Wish you the best.
 
I've had similar experiences with body shops. If you don't mind, what did AMD installations charge for the work?

thanks J

Tell me all about it. I had the sheet metal etc. done with factory welds at AMD Installations, which did not make this shop happy but AMD was $6K cheaper and the car is like factory. After having it in their shop for over two years, they are claiming that the rear valance is pushed in on the P side and that AMD did it in order to get the piece to fit up. AMD Installations takes photos of the whole process. I went back and looked at the photos and it did not look like that when they were done...I took photos of the car when it came off the trailer at the shop and it doesn't look like it does now. They claim it didn't happen there because it is dented with no scratches...just google "dents no scratches" and see how many photos come up. Then of course they want me to pay them to fix it.

I'm going to pick up the car and do the repair myself. I'll be damed if I'm going to pay someone to fix something I can do myself and that they damaged.
 
Heck if you still have access to a paint booth paint it yourself. 99% of paint work is the prep.. (you know this by now working in a shop) If you lost access to the paint booth do what I did and build your own. I've seen paint jobs come out of really good booths with dirt nibs and the like. If your going base/clear don't worry, you can wet sand the base coat before you go clear and if the clear has nibs in it no big deal cuz your gonna cut and buff anyways...my 2cents.
 
Sounds like you’re in a good position to get money back from the shop after you get the car home. Pictures tell the story. Body shop jail happens to lots of folks
 
I've had similar experiences with body shops. If you don't mind, what did AMD installations charge for the work?

thanks J


Well, to answer that accurately, it all depends on what needs to be done. Knowing what I know now I would have saved some stuff that got replaced like the door skins and deck lid. (I'm still going to save the deck lid since it's not painted yet and I know how to do it thanks to someone on the forum, although I already purchased an original replacement). Also, had I known about it, had the shell cleaned chemically rather than blasted. I found out with my R/T SE that sand can get in to the frame rails and who knows where else. AMD I. will blow out as much as they can - the shop that did the previous car did not. As someone pointed out on this forum, if you get it dipped and e coated, it will never rust again and your baby will be safe from that death forever.

The nice thing about AMD I. is that you can go online on their website and get a quote. For example, if you know you need quarters, it is a set price, period the end. You can see a price list for everything they do. They also get all AMD parts at a discount and my shop couldn't beat them. Just be careful to check any parts they send off with the car and make sure they are in good shape, better yet, get AMD I. to do it if you can't be there. I'll rant for a moment - I got two front fenders when I got the car and they sat in the shop for two years before they looked at anything and then tell me they are damaged. AMD I. should have inspected them before sending them off and I didn't know any better and the shop should have seen this sooner than two years. Don't let that happen to you.

You can see videos on Youtube, some of which are time-lapse of the work they do. They restored Ted Stephens Daytona, which was a mess with multiple damage to the frame and parts missing because he sold them! or they were too damaged to fix.

To answer your question about my car, it took $20K to get it to this point. I have photos of all the rusted stuff they replaced. As soon as the car comes in they have a lead man go over the entire car on a rack and do a preliminary estimate of what needs to be done. The rear frame rails were shot - as well as a lot of other stuff as you can see. These guys also don't fart around. You may be on a waiting list to get in, but once they start working on your car, it's maybe four weeks. None of this bull about "we don't knbow how long it will take until we get in to it..." There are probably a lot of guys on this site that can do this kind of work. I don't think I would take this much on with my lack of experience. I wanted it done right and have the factory spot welds.
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Didn't want to sound like a big blow hard but I did a lot of painting at the body shop. The guy teaching me had me weld the panel on the RAM, prep everything and prime, paint and clear then taught me how to buff. He challenged me that I couldn't do it without getting runs. He was...WRONG! Came out perfect. He's one of the nicest guys you could meet but has an enormous ego and that rattled him. The manager told me later that this guy didn't want me to do a good job because I made him with his 40yrs experience look bad. I'm slower with things like bondo because before I did the job on the Nissan in the photo, I'd never done it before. The fender had a massive crease from nearly the top of the fender to the wheel opening. They showed me how to use a uni-spotter and slide hammer so I pulled it. If you notice, the bottom of the fender in front of the tire is warped. I pointed that out to the manager and it turned out the bracket was broken.

I painted that blue POC then practiced blocking it straight. That was the first nearly full car I did, then fixed some minor damage on my Challenger, primed, blocked, painted and cleared it. This will sound like I'm making excuses but the less than ideal conditions of the paint room taught me a lot. Other than the truck, everything I painted was metallic.

The painter at the shop that has had my car hostage for over two years is a really good painter. He thinks I'm made of money. I will practice before I do any painting on the car just to get my shoulder in shape for holding a gun with a full cup. In fact, if I get the rotisserie I'll do the undercarriage, and trunk instead of paying him $2500 to prep and paint all of that and then another $1800 for materials. I've seen some really good videos on Youtube that helped me a lot on painting and especially on applying clear.
Thanks for the advice. I'm just wondering where is the best place to get tools and supplies.

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Sweet! When can I drop my car off? :)
 
Heck if you still have access to a paint booth paint it yourself. 99% of paint work is the prep.. (you know this by now working in a shop) If you lost access to the paint booth do what I did and build your own. I've seen paint jobs come out of really good booths with dirt nibs and the like. If your going base/clear don't worry, you can wet sand the base coat before you go clear and if the clear has nibs in it no big deal cuz your gonna cut and buff anyways...my 2cents.


The shop I was working at is in MI and I live in KY. It's not the greatest place to paint and the guy teaching me complained about it all the time. Someone on this forum sent photos of his paint booth that he built with PVC and plastic sheeting. I can do that. The guy in MI also showed me how to take out dirt, which we had a lot of in there. He often said we'd probably be better off painting outside.
How did you build yours? Got any photos? Although I did it on a small scale to get an imperfection out, I've been told you can't sand metallic base.
 
Sweet! When can I drop my car off? :)


I appreciate your confidence - I studied for years with one of the best illustrators in the country (Joe DeVito) and we've known each other for over 30yrs. I have pissed and moaned to him about this situation and when I sent photos of the cars I painted he said: You'll probably do a better job (than the painter I've been waiting on). If you go to his website, you'll see this guy, Joe, is a pain in the *** for accuracy and detail. Learned a lot form him and if I sucked he would have kicked me out of his studio.

I hope to post photos of the car, Fritz, during and after I paint it. I'd love, LOVE, to help people get their cars out of painters prison. I've been talking to restorers who have heard many stories about the biggest "killer" of a car project is the painter and one is looking forward to seeing my car when it's done. Wait and see what you think of my car. Like I mentioned, I did my seats for this car and my R/T SE after someone said I wouldn't be able to - I only lost points on that interior for the headliner that I paid someone to install (I'll be doing it in the Fritz). So, thanks, I really love doing this and hope to keep doing it as long as possible.

PS I plan to use PPG paint and clear.
 
Why dont you talk to your locak car nuts and get a recommendation? Im sure every area has a local ( not a shop) that takes on projects and delivers quality within a reasonable time frame? If youre expecting a high end rotisserie build...
 
I like your skills, you had a good teacher and your pictures look like more than 6 months training and doing. I say go for it.
The shop you worked in must have a supply house that they deal with, or you can easily find one and setup an account. Most suppliers are good at letting you know what to use with what. I would shop for tools on line. Also I think I saw a used rotisserie on this site a few weeks back. Your training in that shop should be telling you what you need and what works and what doesn't. Wish you the best.


I really appreciate the compliment. I wish I had started this years ago. That's a good suggestion - for paint I have chosen Kolor Korect for this car. I know they'll get it right. It will be PPG. I've been getting tools from Painters Supply. I wanted to get an idea of what people on this site thought because Mopar owners tend to have higher standards. I found the rotisserie you mentioned and have contacted the guy.
 
The shop I was working at is in MI and I live in KY. It's not the greatest place to paint and the guy teaching me complained about it all the time. Someone on this forum sent photos of his paint booth that he built with PVC and plastic sheeting. I can do that. The guy in MI also showed me how to take out dirt, which we had a lot of in there. He often said we'd probably be better off painting outside.
How did you build yours? Got any photos? Although I did it on a small scale to get an imperfection out, I've been told you can't sand metallic base.

I started off building a 8 x 8 x 8 modular panel booth to do some smaller parts, then I expanded the size to fit the entire 17 foot long Charger in ( 12' x 20' now ). Constructed out of 2 x 2's, poly sheeting, some filters and of course I had to build my own blower system which I used a repurposed squirrel cage and fit it into a plywood box. Since I didn't want to spend a small fortune on a explosion proof electric motor I designed the blower with the motor outside running the squirrel cage, works better than I had hoped actually. The system as a whole is built to be modular. I can take it down and resize it to what ever I need at the time... It controls the overspray, bugs, dust and evacs the vapors easily.

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Every time I think I am moving slow on my project, I think of the others whose cars sit in body shops for 3-5 years without being touched and I feel better.
....holy crap, ain't that the truth. I just got my floor pan in straight and I feel like a wild-man.
 
I started off building a 8 x 8 x 8 modular panel booth to do some smaller parts, then I expanded the size to fit the entire 17 foot long Charger in ( 12' x 20' now ). Constructed out of 2 x 2's, poly sheeting, some filters and of course I had to build my own blower system which I used a repurposed squirrel cage and fit it into a plywood box. Since I didn't want to spend a small fortune on a explosion proof electric motor I designed the blower with the motor outside running the squirrel cage, works better than I had hoped actually. The system as a whole is built to be modular. I can take it down and resize it to what ever I need at the time... It controls the overspray, bugs, dust and evacs the vapors easily.

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Thanks! That looks great! Looks like it's in your garage or is it outside?
 
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