1971dodgedart/6
Well-Known Member
how did you strip the paint that well? chemical?
My 70 Dart
- Thread starter Louie70Dart
- Start date
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Chemical stripper, (methylene chloride, also one with phosphoric acid, gel type stripper) and a LOT of elbow grease with a DA and 80 grit paper. Actually, paint was so old that it came off very easy. Hell, the weather gave me a good start.
My skills at body work are seriously lacking. I have that dent on the rear wheel, drivers side. Actually a crease, it happens to be right at the line above where the wheel well trim goes. I'm thinking about just paying to have a body shop do it right. I just hope all the holes I've drilled at my attempt of repair won't cause problems. After the car show today and only seeing one A-Body, (blown drag car), I would like to get mine going. But I'm a stubborn a-hole and sometimes don't know when to give in! LOL. I have tomorrow to do it. Thanks.
Well, I didn't get that dent fixed, but it looks like I might be able to do it. A little more work and I should have it, I hope! Anyway, the trunk is real good! When I looked at it when the surfacer was still wet, I couldn't see any low points. WOOHOO! Now the hood is a different story. I will recoat tomorrow, I have a three day window with the surfacer so I'm good there. When I looked at the hood when wet, you can see a LOT of low spots still. The pictures don't lie. LOL. I knew it was going to be work, but I will get it. Learned the hard way from the trunk. Thanks for looking!
Looking good Louie. Taking it one step at a time is the way to go. I am just slow at it myself.
And I have noticed very few A-bodies at the shows around here. Or anywhere around here for that matter. I can't wait to get mine back together. Good luck.
And I have noticed very few A-bodies at the shows around here. Or anywhere around here for that matter. I can't wait to get mine back together. Good luck.
I asked some questions of a body shop guy who did three restos of Mopars. I liked him on the spot! Anyway, his suggestion is to sand the hood down to metal and use icing first. Well, I am going to do just that. The Icing is easier to sand and it's lighter. If I do it right I should be able to get it real smooth so I won't have to do a lot of sanding. Here goes!
Well, I stripped the hood again. Mixed up the icing and applied it. Ran out so I had to get more. I stayed over at work yesterday applying a clearcoat using an electrostatic spray gun. Now THAT thing throws out the paint! Also can hurt you seriously, if you put your hand in front of it while paint is coming out, it can penetrate the skin. It has a pump that converts the incoming air to very high pressures. 3000 PSI. 30 to 1 pump. So I got home last night and did not do anything to the car. Got off at 2:00 today and picked up the Icing. Applied it over the rest of the hood and then sanded it off. Looks possible for surfacer. Will apply guide coat then shoot the surfacer either tonight or tomorrow. Pics are of the hood while stripping and after sanding the filler stuff off today. The stripper took off all of the previous surfacer and primer and left me with very little sanding to do. Sanding was for today. Man, I thought it was the dust bowl in the garage. LOL. Sorry to be long-winded. Thanks for looking. Oh, just noticed in the picture of the bare hood. If you look, you can really see the hail dents. WOW. Thats what I'm working with.
jrlegacy23
68 Barracuda
That seems like a lot of work for just the hood. Good Luck!!
bayyum
Well-Known Member
good work man!
Seems like a lot of work? Would be nice if I wasn't so cheap to go buy a better hood! LOL But you're right, it is a lot of work and I am too cheap to get another one.
jrlegacy23
68 Barracuda
I was reading my post back, I did not intend to offend. It is one of those things that if you can do it, go for it. I am not patient enough for body work.
No no no. I was not offended sir! I got your intent. Why I put the part in there about me being so cheap. Which is true. Hell I own a fishing pole that I bought in 1979 for $11.00 that I still use. The guides had notches wore in them, I spent $12.00 getting new guides put on it. I spent more money getting it fixed than I paid for it in the first place! LOL.
I decided to change colors. The blue I was going to use at first was to tough to spray for my skill level. So I went to my second choice for color. Well, it really was my first choice. Gold, gold was the color of my old '71 Swinger. Man, I loved that car. It was nothing spectacular, it was just COOL! So I did some practice spraying on the front valance that I had primed in yellow. That yellow is a good backing color for that gold paint. When I first looked at the valance, I was not happy with the way I applied it. It looked like splotching and stripes. I put it on the car to get an idea of just how bad it was. Well, it didn't look bad at all! So I clear-coated it and let it go. I'll have to wet-sand the clear coat and respray another coat, but it's good for now. I did pick up some artifacts/crap, but it will sand out. The base gold only had one small defect/junk in it. That stuff dried real fast. I just pour it in the gun and away I go. Thanks. And I am NOT upset by that other comment. I do agree with it! It is a lot of work.
gts340
Well-Known Member
My cousin has almost the same car. 70, B5 318 automatic Swinger. I sold him the car a couple years ago. He's right up there in Menomonee Falls.
I have a flat 70 hood for sale if you interested. It will be out for the Belvidere show in two weeks.
I have a flat 70 hood for sale if you interested. It will be out for the Belvidere show in two weeks.
Bummer, I'll be in Colorado at that time. If I can't get this hood straight, and you still have that one after the meet, I'll take it off your hands. Sound good? Thanks.
needsaresto
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Nice progress!
A hint for spotwelding. Make a circular motion with the mig gun. Start on the thicker piece and take no more than 2-3 seconds to complete the spot weld.
Butt welding is fine but the lap weld mentioned above will be much easier and stronger.
Filling in holes is a cinch. Just need to put some sort of backing behind the hole that wont stick. Copper,aluminum etc. I just flatten a piece of copper pipe and stick a handle to it.
A hint for spotwelding. Make a circular motion with the mig gun. Start on the thicker piece and take no more than 2-3 seconds to complete the spot weld.
Butt welding is fine but the lap weld mentioned above will be much easier and stronger.
Filling in holes is a cinch. Just need to put some sort of backing behind the hole that wont stick. Copper,aluminum etc. I just flatten a piece of copper pipe and stick a handle to it.
I'm going to leave the fender trim on it. As far as holes from where I used a puller to fix a dent, I found that the Icing I use tend to flow through the holes and mushroom on the other side. So that works out. Thanks for the advice though. All is greatly appreciated.
needsaresto
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Filler in holes wont last,but hey go ahead and do it your way,lol..
I had a dent I was trying to fix, well I was not happy where I was at with it. I wailed the hell out of that panel with a hammer hoping to knock the bondo out. It did not budge. Besides, the holes I drilled for the puller are 7/64. Is that too big? I guess I'll find out. But thanks for the support! Oh, I did say I was going to go with the trim after all. Thanks for looking! One more thing, did anyone ever try using screws? I mean screw them in as far as you can and then grind the heads down. as long as it's a similar metal, (steel to steel), it should be ok. You think?
Been on vacation since the 9th of July. Went out to Colorado. Took the old Skyline Dodge metal emblem with me. Met a member out there named "Jaws". He has a real nice vert Cuda! Felt it deserved, (emblem), to stay in that area anyway. Hope you enjoy it Dave. Anyway, here in SE Wi., it is real humid out. Only able to work about an hour at a time until the sweating gets to bad. Good news is I think the trunk is good to go. Just put a base on it and then the gold tc, then the cc. The hood is taking a little longer, but getting there. It's just too stinking humid! Will post pics later. Thanks for looking.
Ok, here is the pic of the trunk. Did use guidecoat. Grainy because of no tripod and used 1600 ISO. Will prime it and then 400 grit sand, then it will be ready for topcoat. Hood is taking longer. Hood is more jacked up then trunk. I can only hope hood comes out ok.
Better pic of trunk and one of hood. Kinda frustrated at how it's going at times. Am I goofing things up? Well, when I looked at the hood after a couple of days, I think the hood is that messed up. I mean, how else can I have steel showing in two places and the guide coat is still there? I'm using a sanding block that easily covers the distance. I'll keep going and see how it looks after the primer goes on. That will tell it for sure. Thanks. Any tips, please feel free to add them. I DO listen and will follow if it makes sense.
No pictures today. But I've decided to keep the car B5 blue. I want to use Sikkens if it's the right price. I do work for the company so I want to keep the cash in the family so to speak. Lot less work and money in the long run. Won't have to do anything to the engine compartment or the interior, (paint). Not to mention that it is the original color. Been lazy here the last several days, have not worked on it, going to go out tonight while it's cool and work on it. Going to mask off the hood and use some surfacer on the hood, then guide coat and block it. I think I'm close enough on the hood to do that. Also would like to prime the rest of the car, the surface rust is starting to get a foothold again. For those who remember Mayberry's Deputy Barney Fife, I'll "nip it in the bud"! LOL
Been almost a year since I posted to here. Still working slowly on the car. Went to a car show Sunday the 17th of July. Next to a real nice Charger I saw this hand written sign that said X-heads for sale, then a phone number. Well, I called the number last night and talked to the guy. Heads have stainless steel valves, some porting done, the bowls, and polished up. Dual springs for valves. Said he spent a lot of money on them several years ago. His Kid lost interest in cars and went to bikes instead. So, the heads have been sitting in the basement NEVER used. Some surface rust but overall look like they came from the machinist. I think I got a good deal. I want to have them cc'd and the springs checked out. I want to know exactly what I have. I got them for $350 for both. Nice to of run into a good deal like that.
FINALLY finished priming the whole car. The surfacer I'm using is beige in color. I got the bright idea to tint it blue, the surfacer that is. Made up my mind to get off my butt and and work on it and at least get the darn thing surfaced. Today the weather was perfect for painting, 79F and 50% RH. I did get most of the passenger side sprayed. Will do more tomorrow. Could not get car out of garage cause of masking and neighbors car in the way, in front of the garage. So took pictures with my phone. Not the greatest but you get the idea. I bought this masking plastic made by 3M that has tape on it. Just the right size for the windows! Well worth the money. Enjoy the pictures.
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