1963 Dart 170 2 Door Post Resto

[Mineallmine]

Not a bad idea. Only concern I would have is that foil could possibly scratch the paint if you scrunch it and then accidentally rub it against the painted areas you are trying to protect. Still good idea as long as you are careful.

Got the rest of the front of the car taped up today. Just need to add the foam tape around the doors and cover the wheels and then prep the shop for painting. Again, gotta say I really like the drop cloth sheet from the dollar store for the underhood area. One sheet was enough to cover the hood and entire engine bay and wrapped down through the grille area under the car. Was wondering how I was going to manage to get the grille area taped up.

 

[Mineallmine]

Finally got out last night and as I had enough epoxy left over I decided to prime the rest of the small parts that I had ready to go. Came out pretty good. Really happy with the headlight rings. Going body color on the outer ring. They were dented up pretty badly and while I was able to get them close they weren't perfect, so I sanded off the anodizing and did some body work to smoothen them out to look nice. They will be painted green and the face and inner will stay polished aluminum. It will pull the headlights back into the body do they don't look like they protrude as much. This will help as I have already tucked in the front bumper with the custom bumper I made. Should look pretty good.

Now to get a new valve in the spare rim and mount my spare. I will do this in primer as I can tape up the tire using the playing card trick. If I try to install a new tire after paint guaranteed I'll scratch up the paint.

Then hopefully final cleanup and prep for paint by the end of the week, early next week.

 

[Mineallmine]

So, it finally happened. Color. Never came out perfect but for my first try I'm happy with it. Need to dust it off and clear it now. The sides came out really good. The only real issue was the roof. Got a couple flecks of dust in it and I think there is a little shadowing. Won't know for sure if it will show until clear. But like I said, for the first time that I've ever sprayed a full car it looks good. Probably shouldn't have picked a dark heavy metallic color for my first try. lol. It's going to be a driver anyway and it does look good. I'm just really picky.

Thank god for good respirators though.

 

[barbee6043]

Roofs can be problems. I just have to ge thigh up above it and shot more down than at such an angle. Takes 4 coats for the roof for sure for me. I ain't a pro either!! ha But I should be way better by now!

 

[Mineallmine]

Well, clear is on. Love how shiny it is. Have a lot more dust and debris in the top panels than I would like but will consider trying my hand at wet sanding them out. Will try on the trunk or hood first so if I don't like how its going I can always reclear that panel. Loving the color and how straight the car came out.

All in all I guess it's pretty good for my first time every painting a car

 

[barbee6043]

The amount of self satisfaction is HUGE, right!???? Great work!

 

[mopowers]

Man, that turned out great. Good for you!!

 

[abdywgn]

Excellent work!

 

[B-i-n-g-o]

That looks great!!!

 

[Mineallmine]

DISCLAIMER: Heavy picture thread

Got some parts put back on the car over the last few days. Loving how its looking. Got the new tail lights in. Had to rewire one as the wires broke off at the socket. Drilled out the wire with a super fine drill bit and forced open the crimp a little and reinserted the wire and recrimped. Worked really well.

Test fit the grille. Then cleaned it up and soaked all the clips and hardware in evaporust. Wasn't happy with the chips in the semi-gloss black so I sanded and resprayed it. Looks great reinstalled. Put the new bumper I made on for hopefully the last time too. Really cleans up the front in my opinion. Has the look I was going for. If you didn't know what the original looked like, you would think it belonged there.

Hasn't been without issues though. Somehow, the base coat seeped into the inside of the car (despite what I thought was a really tight taping job...every seam and hole had tape or foam tape...but it's there) and settled on most horizontal surfaces. I wiped off some off the dash the first day and it came off really easy so I never though any more of it, but I never had time to commit to the entire car as I had to work and now it is fighting me immensely trying to get it off. Any tips for what is best to wipe this off with without damaging the clear? Am also reading up on wet sanding as I got the dust in the hood roof and trunk lid I would like to take care of. Have never done it before so I want to know what I'm doing so I don't screw it up.

Have a NOS hood emblem for it and sail panel emblems that look great. New handles and locks. Had a new mirror, but that isn't going to work as my car had a different mirror installed apparently (4" hole spacing. 2 post mirror won't fit. Didn't think to look at that before paint).

Overall I'm happy with the progress. This is the first car I've painted myself fully so I'm pleased with how it looks considering. Have gone way farther in the restoration than I have before (or initially planned...but we all know how that goes). Can't wait to get the headliner in and finally install the glass and finish the interior. Won't look any thing like the car I brought home initially.

 

[Mineallmine]

More pictures.

Have tools ordered to try my hand at polishing the light scratches out of the stainless before install too

 

[Scamp Rhonda]

More pictures.

Have tools ordered to try my hand at polishing the light scratches out of the stainless before install too

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Beautiful! As far as the dash goes, what ever you use to clean up the dash will also affect the clear coat underneath it because they're basically the same materials. I would say some cutting and buffing would be in order? Start with 3000 grit maybe? For the body I would proceed with caution if you've never cut and buffed before. The videos on YouTube make it look easy, but…. I would start on one small spot, maybe the lower rear quarter panel and go through the whole process, cut and buff with different grits. When that turns out to your liking you can then do the rest of the car the same way.
I know there are others here with way more experience in this than me so I hope they chime in and share their knowledge. Again, beautiful car!

 

[abdywgn]

Just beautiful! Hope the top of the dash doesn't reflect too much in the windshield.

 

[Mineallmine]

Beautiful! As far as the dash goes, what ever you use to clean up the dash will also affect the clear coat underneath it because they're basically the same materials. I would say some cutting and buffing would be in order? Start with 3000 grit maybe? For the body I would proceed with caution if you've never cut and buffed before. The videos on YouTube make it look easy, but…. I would start on one small spot, maybe the lower rear quarter panel and go through the whole process, cut and buff with different grits. When that turns out to your liking you can then do the rest of the car the same way.
I know there are others here with way more experience in this than me so I hope they chime in and share their knowledge. Again, beautiful car!

I plan to do a lot of research before trying my hand at color sanding the paint. My plan is to start on the trunk lid with around 1000 grit (maybe finer). It will take more work but less chance of blowing through the clear on my first try. Worst case scenario is if I don't like the results after buffing, I can just cover the rest of the car, give it a light sanding and hit it with another coat of clear. The trunk can be isolated from the rest of the car so I am thinking that may be my best bet.

 

[Mineallmine]

Just beautiful! Hope the top of the dash doesn't reflect too much in the windshield.

Have considered that as well. I already have planned that if it's too bad I can always tape off the interior and hit it with a quick shot of satin in the recessed area. Will have to wait and see.

 

[Scamp Rhonda]

I plan to do a lot of research before trying my hand at color sanding the paint. My plan is to start on the trunk lid with around 1000 grit (maybe finer). It will take more work but less chance of blowing through the clear on my first try. Worst case scenario is if I don't like the results after buffing, I can just cover the rest of the car, give it a light sanding and hit it with another coat of clear. The trunk can be isolated from the rest of the car so I am thinking that may be my best bet.

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Is it green, or is that reflection from the drop cloths? Either way it looks great. Also, I see you've left it a slant 6. Is that your final plan? I think it's super cool.

 

[Mineallmine]

Yes, it i

Is it green, or is that reflection from the drop cloths? Either way it looks great. Also, I see you've left it a slant 6. Is that your final plan? I think it's super cool.

Yes, it is green. It is actually the new rendition of the F8 green. I took the code off the 2020 challenger. I love the color. It looks different depending on the light it is in. The metallic flake is actually gold, not silver like most.

The slant is the plan for now. I want to drive it lots, so cheaper on fuel is better. I may upgrade at a later date, but nothing concrete in the plans as of yet. I have a 273 sitting on a cart to be gone through and have also toyed with the turbo idea for the slant. I've even looked at the baby hemi idea. When I finally get bored with driving it this way all over the place I can decide then.

I want to get one of my next projects finished first, so I am never without something to drive around and enjoy.

 

[Red383]

Looks great, nice work.

 

[Mineallmine]

No turning back now...

First run across the trunk lid before work today with the 1000 grit. Went less aggressive than the 600 due to the fact I'd rather take longer than accidentally blow through the clear as this is my first attempt at this. Got almost all of the orange peel gone (wasn't much to start with) and almost all of the nibs gone. Have a couple more that need one more light go maybe. Not going to go overboard as I don't want to go through. The one spot I was worried about looks like it was in the top of the clear so that was a bonus.

Plan is to hit it with the 2000 grit at 90 degrees to the first pass (a few of the videos and sites I watched reccommended this), then again with 3000 in the original direction. Then I can decide if I want to get crazy and go finer or if I'm comfortable going with polish at this stage. I plan to polish by hand (I know it's way more labor intensive but again, with lack of experience I don't want to risk burning the clear, plus I like to have a "feel" for what I'm doing. Always did it this way) so I may go finer to minimize the work required to remove the fine scratches.

Stay tuned...

Hopefully the next follow up isn't me prepping for paint or clear again

 

[RustyRatRod]

I think it's gonna be fine. That's a beautiful color!

 

[Mineallmine]

I think it's gonna be fine. That's a beautiful color!

Thanks. I was going for something a little different. Really love how it goes with all the body lines. Can't wait to get it all together and out in the sunlight

 

[Mineallmine]

So, today I went back at the trunk again. This time I went at 45 degrees to the 1000 grit with 2000 grit. Then after that seemed good, I went up to 3000 grit again at 45 degrees to the 2000 grit (90 degrees to original). Then finally (because I had it already) I did a pass at 5000 grit in the same direction as the 3000 grit. Looking at it not I don't see any imperfections any more. Its super smooth and is already starting to show reflection again without any polishing.

Never got any color when sanding so I am pretty confident I never went through the clear.

Next up is to hit it with the compound. I ordered Meguiars Ultimate compound. I was torn between this and the Meguiars 105, but as the clear is still new and the 105 is more aggressive I opted to try this. Again, I am new to all of this, so I may be mistaken on my choice. Hopefully not.

I am hoping I can buff it up by hand as I have almost no experience with the buffer and don't want to burn the paint. I have a variable speed rotary buffer (makita) and wool cutting/buffing pads, but am not sure if I should be using something different to polish first. I am reading different opinions.

 

[Scamp Rhonda]

So, today I went back at the trunk again. This time I went at 45 degrees to the 1000 grit with 2000 grit. Then after that seemed good, I went up to 3000 grit again at 45 degrees to the 2000 grit (90 degrees to original). Then finally (because I had it already) I did a pass at 5000 grit in the same direction as the 3000 grit. Looking at it not I don't see any imperfections any more. Its super smooth and is already starting to show reflection again without any polishing.

Never got any color when sanding so I am pretty confident I never went through the clear.

Next up is to hit it with the compound. I ordered Meguiars Ultimate compound. I was torn between this and the Meguiars 105, but as the clear is still new and the 105 is more aggressive I opted to try this. Again, I am new to all of this, so I may be mistaken on my choice. Hopefully not.

I am hoping I can buff it up by hand as I have almost no experience with the buffer and don't want to burn the paint. I have a variable speed rotary buffer (makita) and wool cutting/buffing pads, but am not sure if I should be using something different to polish first. I am reading different opinions.

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Looks like you're proceeding in a logical order. There are so many options for buffing to choose from, this is where experience comes in. All the different polishes that Maguire's and others offer can be truly mind boggling. I think your patience will pay off. With the clear coats that you've applied all should go well.

 

[Mineallmine]

So, another update. Got the trunk compunded. Went over it with a DA buffer and orange pad using combination of Meguiar's ultimate compound and VSS from Chemical guys.

Bought a new Torq buffer (my wife actually made me...definite keeper ). Went over it and it looked ok but had some scratches left over. I think it picked up a little when I was wet sanding. (Remember I AM new to this...lol) I went back over the scratched spots with 3000grit and again with the compound and they are gone. Actually, looks really good.

Still a little more work with the compound and then onto polish. Moving onto the hood next, then roof, or vice versa.

The first 3 are when I started. The last is where I finished. Not bad for my first paint job and first time wet sanding and polish.