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Buy with confidence! If for any reason you're not completely satisfied with an item, simply return it within 7 days and the purchase price will be refunded.
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We ship world wide. All international orders must be paid online. Checks or money orders drawn on non-US banks will not be accepted.
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Automobile Restorations
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Although this one isn’t over-restored like so many, and it does get driven, Jim McNiel’s historic Hirohata Merc custom is probably finished better now than it was the first time. It’s even won a couple Concours trophies already. But the body still hasn’t ever been off the frame.
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The paint job outlined in the last chapter is by far the most common, whether in professional bodyshops or in home garages. It’s the type I have done on the majority of my own cars.
Now we’re going to take it further, by removing all glass, doors, trunk, interior, probably driveline, maybe even the body from the frame.
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I did one paint job in which the car was completely stripped of interior, glass, driveline, and front- end sheetmetal, but the body was left on the frame and the doors and trunk were never removed. The reason these were left on (they were fully gutted of glass, handles, latches, etc.) was because they fit fine, had never been hit or removed since the car was built in 1953, and this vehicle was completely media-blasted, which removed all existing paint, primers, dirt, and so on, inside and out of all components. Removing the front sheetmetal and original driveline not only allowed easier installation of new front suspension and engine and transmission mounts, but also made it easy to modify, detail, and paint the firewall before anything else. Naturally there was a lot of trial-fitting of components along the way, but generally the process went like this: the firewall and body (including jambs, inside trunk, etc.), were painted first, along with the hood, front fenders, splash aprons, and so on separately. The dash and window frames were painted a different color to match the upholstery. All the painted components were color sanded and rubbed out. Then the frame was sanded and painted gloss black with spray cans, the underside of the floorboards were similarly sprayed with black undercoating, and certain under-car and under-hood parts, such as the gas tank, were sprayed body color. Meanwhile the engine and driveline parts were assembled, painted, and detailed separately, and then installed. Next came all new glass, including rubber gaskets, channels, and felt strips, at a glass shop. Then the front sheetmetal was very carefully reinstalled and aligned, and all chrome trim, grille, bumpers, and so on were added. Finally, new gauges were installed in the dash, along with accessories such as air conditioning and stereo system. The car was fully rewired, and, last, the interior was reupholstered. I mention all this to present the steps of “building” a car in one real-case scenario. It can vary to some degree in other situations, as we shall see.
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People often talk about “frame-off” restorations. That’s an incorrect term. I have one car, a ’32 Ford roadster, that will get a body-off-frame paint job when it’s ready. I’ve already had the body off the frame a few times. It’s no big deal with a car like an early roadster, and it’s the type of car that deserves this kind of restoration and paint. But I am not at all a fan of taking big ’50s-and–later car bodies off their frames just to paint them. It’s usually a waste of time and a huge amount of effort. More importantly, that’s not what this book is about. It’s about painting your car at home in your garage, so that you can do the quality of job you want, and save a whole lot of dollars doing it yourself. I doubt that your garage is equipped for removing full-size auto bodies from their frames. Which is not to say that you can’t do show-quality paint jobs, if you want to, right in your garage. Our example for this chapter is a perfect case in point. One of the most famous custom cars ever built, it won plenty of shows back in the ‘50s, and has won plenty more since being restored, and its body has never left its frame.
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Despite the seemingly simple list of basic building/painting steps we presented in Chapter 1, we have already seen numerous cases where that sequence shouldn’t, or couldn’t, be followed. The restoration of the famous Hirohata ’51 Mercury, built in the Barris Kustom shops in ’52–’53, actually follows that recipe closer than it might appear. Longtime owner/keeper/restorer of the car, Jim McNiel, began by rebuilding the engine and mechanicals (painting and chroming parts as he did so).
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After removing all external trim, we showed the car being stripped to bare metal in Jim’s garage in Chapter 2. After he did minor bodywork, Jim etched, sealed, and applied several coats of high-fill primer to the body, block sanding several times between coats. That was the state of the car in this photo, in Jim’s garage, when time began running out for the car to be finished in time for a large museum exhibit.
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That’s when Hershel “ Junior” Conway, who began his illustrious painting career at George Barris’ shop as a teen, volunteered to paint the car, in original lacquers, in his shop in the short time available. With Junior steering and Jim helping, this is how the car looked as it left Jim’s driveway.
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You can see that the rear window and side glass have been removed, with their custom moldings, but the headliner is still in place, so these areas had to be fully masked. Junior is carefully hand-sanding the side-window lip, especially in the tight corner where it meets the top.
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Several things here: Removing the doors allows access to the otherwise impossible-to-reach area around the hinges and inside the front fender. It also allows easy and thorough sanding of the jamb areas of the doors (which Jim is doing), as well as in the body. And you can see Junior spends as much time and attention sanding down under the rocker moldings as he does on more visible body areas.
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All this preparation makes the actual spraying of paint onto the body relatively easy. The reason Junior is wearing a simple mask is because PPG provided old-style (non-toxic) lacquer for this restoration. How he lays it down so smooth and glossy, I have no idea (other than decades of practice).
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A spray booth is not critical for lacquer, especially without clear, such as this. While he did the body and doors in the booth, he did the other parts in the shop, either propped on stands or hanging from racks.
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Previous | Next
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This has been a sample page from
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How to Paint Your Car on a Budget by Pat Ganahl
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If your car needs new paint, or even just a touch-up, the cost involved in getting a professional job can be more than you bargained for. Fortunately, there are less expensive alternatives-—you can even paint your own car at home! In How to Paint Your Car On A Budget, author Pat Ganahl unveils dozens of secrets that will help anyone paint their own car. From simple scuff-and-squirt jobs to full-on, door-jambs-and-everything paint jobs, Ganahl covers everything you need to know to get a great-looking coat of paint on your car and save lots of money in the process. This book covers painting equipment, the ins and outs of prep, masking, painting and sanding products and techniques, and real-world advice on how to budget wisely when painting your own car. It’s the most practical automotive painting book ever written!
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Click below to view sample pages from each chapter!
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Introduction - Budget Painting Chap. 1 - Automotive Painting Chap. 2 - Paint Stripping Chap. 3 - Bodywork Chap. 4 - Painting at Home Chap. 5 - Paint Products Chap. 6 - Paint Preparation Chap. 7 - One-Day Paint Job Chap. 8 - Sand and Paint Chap. 9 - Full Paint Jobs Chap. 10 - Restorations Chap. 11 - Sand & Buff
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8-1/2 x 11" Softbound 128 pages Approximately 400 color photos Item: SA117 Price: $22.95
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Click here to buy now!
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This is a great book that any enthusiast will love, whether it's your first paint job or your 50th.
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Other items you might be interested in
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Custom Painting Custom Painting shows how to produce eye-popping custom paint tricks. Easy to read and filled with 100s of hints. Includes practical advice on choosing the right paint, spray gun preparation, and touch- up techniques, etc.
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Price:
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The Paint & Body Handbook In this book over 450 illustrations and easy to read text are used to explain how to repair dents and rust, replace body panels, repair aluminum and fiberglass, perform sectioning, use lead and plastic filler, weld patches and panels, shape sheet metal, perform spot repairs and color matching, prepare the surface for final paint, choose paint supplies and equipment and apply top coats, graphics and pinstripes. You'll also find the latest information on body working tools, environmental regulations, and current paint equipment, techniques and products.
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Price: $18.95
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Fiberglass and Other Composite Materials For many years race cars of all types have been constructed with lightweight materials in addition to aluminum and steel. These include fiberglass, kevlar and carbon fiber. This space age technology is also being applied to many street cars, street rods, boats, and light aircraft. Carbon fiber is now used in everything from tennis rackets and golf clubs to bicycles, telescopes, camera tripods, and hundreds of other products. This book offers the latest technology and equipment to help you construct and repair your own lightweight body panels and components.
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Price: $18.95
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