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Repainting 72 Satellite argent lower to body color and welding molding holes near NY

Jackal499

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I'm very close to purchasing a blue 72 Satellite that has the Argent Silver lower with the molding removed so it has a bunch of holes along the sides where the rivets were. Does anyone know of a good shop or place that can weld the holes and repaint the Argent Silver portion to body color? I don't intend for it to be a show car, but I obviously want the blue to match up well and I don't want to break the bank. I'm around the NYC area. I'm also trying to get an idea of how much a job like this would cost since I'm not looking to repaint the whole car. I can't tell if it's True Blue, Evening Blue, or something else, but the pic I posted is the exact color combination. Thanks guys

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That does not look like a factory 1972 blue to me, unless it's B7.

The fender tag will have a code for the original color.
(it may also be under the door panels and/or carpet)

You can get paint photo matched at most auto paint supply stores.

It might be more difficult/expensive to blend if the car is currently base coat/clear coat.


Lets see/hear more about the car.
 
That does not look like a factory 1972 blue to me, unless it's B7.

The fender tag will have a code for the original color.
(it may also be under the door panels and/or carpet)

You can get paint photo matched at most auto paint supply stores.

It might be more difficult/expensive to blend if the car is currently base coat/clear coat.


Lets see/hear more about the car.

The seller doesn't have a pic of the fender tag and the car is at his second home the next state over, so I won't be able to check it out until I see the car in person, I'll ask though

As far as I know, the paint is base/clear coat

Those marks on the paint in the pic is just sticker residue. It also shows some of the molding holes that need to be welded

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That's going to be a tough to blend that. Also, welding up those holes after it's been painted ; your going to get burn marks from the welder that will damage the adjacent paint causing an even bigger job. One of two things you can do is either redo and raise up the level of the argent or put the chrome trim on. I think the latter would be the best solution.
 
The seller doesn't have a pic of the fender tag and the car is at his second home the next state over, so I won't be able to check it out until I see the car in person, I'll ask though

As far as I know, the paint is base/clear coat

Those marks on the paint in the pic is just sticker residue. It also shows some of the molding holes that need to be welded

View attachment 1001563

Honestly, I think I'd rather just keep it with the holes exposed over putting the moldings back on. No offense to anyone who has moldings, but they completely ruin the appearance of the car for me personally. Do you think a proper blend can't be achieved with that color or is it just a matter of keeping the cost down? If it's the ladder, how much do you think a job like that would cost to do it right and fill the holes along with repainting the Argent sections body color? $2,000? Maybe $3,000?
 
Hundred dollars per hole (one hour each at 100/hour) plus the hours to paint, blend and clear?
 
So what's the verdict? Leave the holes or weld up holes and paint work?
 
Hundred dollars per hole (one hour each at 100/hour) plus the hours to paint, blend and clear?

That's quite a bit more than I was anticipating. I might just look into getting a used gas MIG welder and fill them myself, then just get it color matched from there.

So what's the verdict? Leave the holes or weld up holes and paint work?

Now that I'm thinking about it, I feel like I can't just leave it with the holes exposed either, each time the car gets wet or I wash it, I risk getting water behind the panels, potentially leading to rust issues.
 
The holes should go all the way through.

It's actually better to have the water travel through unimpeded than to have it trapped and sitting behind the trim along with dirt and leaves for days, weeks, etc.

Does it look like there's any filler around the holes? That means extra time to remove enough around them to get good exposure of the metal to weld to and limit the burning potential.

I agree that trim is kinda hard to find and can be pricey. Esp for a full set.
 
If you are around Poughkeepsie N.Y. I highly recommend Northeastern auto body. I get lots of compliments on my paint and minor body work including by some body men. I removed everything I could but still have it legal to drive it to the shop. Saved bucks.
Price was reasonable IMO. Paint color matching has come a long way. Diy body welding is tricky. Have to be careful with panel warp. If it's a driver you may want to try Maaco but keep expectations low. Whatever you do get estimates.
 
if there has already been body work in those areas it will rear it's ugly head when prepping for welding. you would potentially be hundreds of dollars ahead to just close them up yourself and grind them smooth, and finish them off for paint. it's really not that difficult. then decide where to go from there.
 
The holes should go all the way through.

It's actually better to have the water travel through unimpeded than to have it trapped and sitting behind the trim along with dirt and leaves for days, weeks, etc.

Does it look like there's any filler around the holes? That means extra time to remove enough around them to get good exposure of the metal to weld to and limit the burning potential.

I agree that trim is kinda hard to find and can be pricey. Esp for a full set.

I'm not sure if there's any filler there, I don't think so though. The pic I posted is one of the only ones where you can clearly see the holes, the rest are too far away, so my guess is as good as yours. The seller didn't believe there was any previous body work.

If you are around Poughkeepsie N.Y. I highly recommend Northeastern auto body. I get lots of compliments on my paint and minor body work including by some body men. I removed everything I could but still have it legal to drive it to the shop. Saved bucks.
Price was reasonable IMO. Paint color matching has come a long way. Diy body welding is tricky. Have to be careful with panel warp. If it's a driver you may want to try Maaco but keep expectations low. Whatever you do get estimates.

That's what I'm looking for, specific places where people had good work done. I'll check out Northwestern Auto Body. Though it's a little further than I'd like, if they did good work it's definitely worth checking out. I personally wouldn't take it to a Maaco though, they could be hit or miss and I want a clean, permanent solution that I won't have to worry about again in the future.

if there has already been body work in those areas it will rear it's ugly head when prepping for welding. you would potentially be hundreds of dollars ahead to just close them up yourself and grind them smooth, and finish them off for paint. it's really not that difficult. then decide where to go from there.

Hopefully no previous body work has been done. The seller said everything is aligned properly and there's no sign of any previous damage. If I was to do it myself, it would just be a matter of buying the equipment to get the job done and being careful so as to not to warp the panels as Joe mentioned.
 
That's quite a bit more than I was anticipating. I might just look into getting a used gas MIG welder and fill them myself, then just get it color matched from there.



Now that I'm thinking about it, I feel like I can't just leave it with the holes exposed either, each time the car gets wet or I wash it, I risk getting water behind the panels, potentially leading to rust issues.

Ask yourself , am I comfortable with leaving the holes alone? At first, maybe. But as time goes on owning the car; every time you approach the car you will be saying to yourself those holes are an eyesore and you'll have people always asking are you going to be putting the trim on? You'll always have to be explaining that.
How dead set are you in buying the car? I bet you can find a nice 71 or 72 done just as nice without the trim and no holes. Welding up the holes and doing body work is going to create potentially bigger problems. Once those holes are welded up , you need to fill and block sand those areas or you will see depressions down the side of the body. Then, comes matching the paint. The paint is going to have to be blended over large area so you don't see any variations of that metallic color.
 
Yep- the associated body work to make the surface even is likely to take up about 4-6 inches all the way around the holes.

...at least 2 inches if the welds are nearly perfect and the panels are very straight.
 
If you want the Redneck solution, fill each hole with JB Weld, and use a silver or blue (or other color) tape stripe to cover the filled holes. Not perfect, but surely cheap and probably effective.
I use JB Weld for patching small rust holes, vice Bondo. Harder to sand, but makes a good filler that doesn't absorb water...
 
If you want the Redneck solution, fill each hole with JB Weld, and use a silver or blue (or other color) tape stripe to cover the filled holes. Not perfect, but surely cheap and probably effective.
I use JB Weld for patching small rust holes, vice Bondo. Harder to sand, but makes a good filler that doesn't absorb water...
Good idea. I kind of stated a solution similar to this. Also, after the JB Weld is dried and smoothed out, the stripe is a good idea. However, another approach is to respray the argent, but bring up the argent higher to cover up the level that the holes are along the body.
 
IIRC the separation is right on the body line.
 
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My old paint job from about 30 something years ago. I didn't have holes in the sides, but I added the red stripe and stick on molding. Painted the silver with a spray can.
 
I appreciate all the ideas, but I'm definitely going to do it right and weld them rather than use JB Weld. I'm also pretty set on having the car one uniform color, unless we're talking about hood/fender stripes with a Road Runner hood. I don't think it would look right if someone were to increase the height of the argent silver area to go above the holes, it would no longer flow with the body lines of the car.

Anyone else know of any other people or shops they had a good experience with in NYC or the southwestern CT area?
 
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