So I'm new to bodywork… and I'd appreciate some answers to my questions.

[drobertson]

I am beginning the official restoration of my 1973 Charger. I plan on having the car painted plum crazy fc7 purple, with a white vinyl top, etc. The car is mostly rust free, the floor pans are solid, frame rails are solid, trunk floor is solid (minus a small rust hole about the size of a dime). The only rust areas of major concern are the doors.

What's wrong with the doors: the glass was shot out several years ago by some hunters that thought it would be funny to shoot the car (sitting in a field) after getting permission to hunt on the owner's land. Nevertheless, they aren't allowed to ever come back. Over several winters, snow and water collected inside the doors allowing some rust to occur. The floor pans are miraculously perfect though… Long story short, I'm gonna have to find some replacement doors.

The left rear quarter panel is full of bondo, so I'm either gonna pull out the big a$$ dent or just replace the quarter. Advice on that would be great.

For the front fenders, they're all screwed up from "wildlife collisions". It'll be easier to find some new ones, or save some weight and buy some fiberglass fenders. What would you do? Fiberglass? Or buy some old fenders and/or a parts car? The only issue is that I live in northern wyoming…. and these cars are scarce. Will 71-72 front fenders bolt up? I can get some of those easily.

For the hood I'll just use a fiberglass power-bulge hood for weight savings, etc. I also want a fiberglass front bumper, (can a fiberglass front bumper be chromed?)

Once I have the body all straightened out, I'll do what ever small filler work is necessary, and prime it.

Currently, I'm living in an old barn built in 1897. I am NOT going to spray primer OR paint inside of it… but can I at least prime the car outside in the open? Wyoming has almost no humidity, and I feel like it wouldn't be too hard. However I'm not sure if I'd want to paint the car outside, although I have seen incredible paint jobs in which the owner claims it was painted outdoors…

The bottom of my barn is set up like a garage though, and the car will be spending most of it's time in there. I just can't spray primer or paint inside of it. The barn is way too dusty for that anyways… pics coming if y'all want some!

What are the stages of primer and paint? What primer should I use on bare metal? Do I need to use different kinds of primer? Is the summit racing brand primer any good? https://www.summitracing.com/search...er=Ascending&autoview=SKU&keyword=primer&ar=1

What color primer would look best under the plum crazy purple paint? Black, grey, or white? Thanks.

Oh, and are the summit brand paints any good? And what guns would you recommend? Thanks! Sorry for the huge bundle of questions.

 

[crahill39]

I am not a body man, but I would say you should think hard about getting the car blasted professionally and have them epoxy primer it. I found after going through the build process twice - the first a disaster and my current a much better experience, that you need to come up with a plan and stick to it. You need to see all the flaws in the rough and address them. Try to think of how the factory put these cars together in an order and approach your repairs/build that way. As far as primer choices go, I believe the consensus isn't one particular brand, but using the same brand for primer and paint to ensure consistency and compatibility. There are so many factors that influence how to do things such as budget and time. I wish I had better advice, but experience will come as you dig into things. These are just my thoughts.

 

[69clone]

I'm way far from an expert I've actually only painted two cars ever...but I painted always outside. My 69' I painted in New Jersey (early morning 6am ish to avoid heat and humidity) I rushed at the end because it was getting hot I should have quit and waiting Til the next morning because it started drying as soon as it hit... Came out ok after a lot of wet sanding.

I moved back to North Dakota where I painted my w150 as you may know we have a bit of a mosquito issue and 20mph winds are calm. I waited Til about 7pm (luckily it didn't get dark Til 11pm) when the wind died down and before the bugs got too bad. It came out good a few bugs I picked out of the paint.
Then this past spring I painted my 69' engine bay while I had the engine out it came out almost flawless. Calm, too early in the year for any bugs. I did have it half way in the garage to get better light though. This was now in Tennessee btw. All I can say is I did a lot of research, asked the paint guys what they recommended when I got the paint mixed as they're local and have painted there. I also spent a lot of time watching videos on Eastwoods website. I would recommend you check some of them out as well. They've got videos on body work, paint, setting up your gun, etc.
From what I can tell you the works in the sanding, filler, body work... Prep. Spent over 2 weeks on my truck and a couple hours to paint it, which is the easy part honestly.

On bare metal you'll want to use an epoxy primer. I used a high build primer 2k over the epoxy followed by base and clear. The color of the primer will change the shade of purple. I used gray on both of my cars. I bought my paint locally at a ppg shop I used shopline /omni products on both except on my truck I used omni primer followed by implement paint for the black frame and orange body. (25 bucks a gallon on a farm truck instead of 250-300 made sense).
As for guns they say you get what you pay for I used a harbor freight gun for most of it.

 

[dla4567]

I painted mine in a tent garage. Only about $100, may be more now. I used an old furnace for an exhaust fan, and filtered incoming air. I also found that after buying the tools and materials. Then buying more materials to redo things I messed up, it would have been cheaper to have someone else spray it. I chalk it up to educational fees. Good luck.

 

[drobertson]

I painted mine in a tent garage. Only about $100, may be more now. I used an old furnace for an exhaust fan, and filtered incoming air. I also found that after buying the tools and materials. Then buying more materials to redo things I messed up, it would have been cheaper to have someone else spray it. I chalk it up to educational fees. Good luck.

I'm sure it would be worth the investment, being that I'll likely do more than just 1 car.

 

[drobertson]

Ok. So epoxy primer goes on bare metal. Is there any prep to the metal after sanding it rust-free? Maybe spray with carb cleaner, then spray primer after the carb cleaner dries? What color primer should be used to obtain the correct hue of FC7? Thanks all.

 

[747mopar]

Your body supply shops sell a thinner called final wash that's for wiping down a car before paint, it evaporates quick and removes waxes and the oils from your skin. Like the others I use epoxy primer over bare metal followed by the filler then prime in high build urethane primer. Block it out with a long board then guide coat to find the flaws. PPG sells some good products to treat surface rust too, I'll sand every bit of rust I can off before treating it but it neutralizes any remaining rust. Blasting is the best option but large flat panels can warp easily if blasting which is where the treating comes in handy.

 

[747mopar]

My best paint jobs have been done by hanging plastic, the static in the plastic actually collects the dust instead of it all ending up in your paint. Cover the ceiling, hang it all the way around the car touching the floor, keep the floor wet, seal out any breeze and you'll be surprised at how nice of a job you can do. Good luck

 

[69clone]

Yeah, just get a grease/wax remover at the paint store (theyll know what you need). After you go over the car with the remover and right before you pick up your paint gun to paint use a tack cloth. It's sticky and picks up anything left behind. Like I said watch the help videos on Eastwood if you can. I personally laid epoxy then added filler then I sprayed another coat of epoxy over the filler. The reason, you should lay epoxy over filler because the filler will absorb moisture which results in bubbling and cracking the paint. The epoxy seals it so moisture can't get in. If I remember right I did 2 coats of epoxy 1 before and after filler, at least 4 coats of high build primer (then I got it straight as possible), 2 base coats, and I sprayed clear Til I ran out basically.

Btw I could be wrong but if I recall correctly some plants used light gray and others used black primer or whatever they had on hand. so the shade of purple depends on the plant...possibly. There's also a lot of other factors especially with PCP since it is metallic. Temp, humidity, psi, spray pattern, etc all effects how the metallic flakes lays.

 

[JimKueneman]

You should follow my build. All in my garage and all done by me.

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/1968-coronet-500-project.114333/

 

[XMAN JR]

Its a shame you live so far away. I have a fiberglass fender id sell ya cheep. You want to use epoxy primer on bare metal, then do your body work. After that a couple of coats of high build primer. Block sand with 400 or 320 then your ready for the base coat. Find a gray or white primer.