[b-man]

Originally Posted by scott70

I appreciate the shiny paint. I get the patina thing here and there ...Clear coat over rust and dents is a little weird to me.

I also appreciate the beauty of a nicely bodyworked and painted car.

I’ve also learned to lower my expectations and enjoy an unrestored car, especially one that probably needs 20k worth of metal work before even thinking about putting paint on it like my old bus.

I dislike clear coated patina personally.

[b-man]

My Tempest is a nice 20 footer. Has mostly original paint that’s thin on the hood and trunk in a few spots, some body shop paint matches as well a few small dents.

It’s far from perfect but looks good going down the road.

Won’t be going to paint jail.

[amcmike]

Originally Posted by HoovDaddy

A complete strip down including restoration of the chassis, powertrain, body, interior usually takes 5-6 years for our club from start to finish. 3-6 guys working every Saturday and I give the car owner homework during the week. Mechanical work can be done year-round in Michigan with heat, but body/paint is limited to June-August. We do all the work on the cars ourselves including engines, but I hate headliners. Every member works and learns, then we do their car. The owner only has to supply the garage, invest in tools, parts, and food, no labor. 2022 is the first year since 1995 that we don't have a major build to work on.

For these owners and the club, it's not always about the time, it's about the bantering and the memories. And the wives wanting their garage space back.

Very cool club, and some really nice cars!

[TAKerry]

Good Luck OC, hope they make their deadline. I do my own paint and body work to keep my car with a 'clean record', lol. However, I am pushing 15 months now with my motor in "MOTOR JAIL" if that counts.

[carcrazy]

Put myself in my own personal paint jail over the winter with my 67 GTO. Had a few things that always bothered me and removed the vinyl roof. Going to respray the entire car. Hope to be out of jail in the May/June timeframe.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by HoovDaddy

A complete strip down including restoration of the chassis, powertrain, body, interior usually takes 5-6 years for our club from start to finish. 3-6 guys working every Saturday and I give the car owner homework during the week. Mechanical work can be done year-round in Michigan with heat, but body/paint is limited to June-August. We do all the work on the cars ourselves including engines, but I hate headliners. Every member works and learns, then we do their car. The owner only has to supply the garage, invest in tools, parts, and food, no labor. 2022 is the first year since 1995 that we don't have a major build to work on.

For these owners and the club, it's not always about the time, it's about the bantering and the memories. And the wives wanting their garage space back.

Time to work on my Firebird!

Love this! Community is what it's all about.

[72projectbird]

My 70 is currently in an almost 2 year metal fab/paint jail scenario. It sucks, but that car has to be perfect, so I try not to let it bother me.

That said, I've resorted to painting my own cars as long as they dont have to be 100% perfect (although I'll try and make them perfect).

I painted a few over the last two years. A 69 Fastback Mustang, a 73 Brewster Green T/A, and a 77 W72 Y82

[napster]

[QUOTE=72projectbird;6325686]My 70 is currently in an almost 2 year metal fab/paint jail scenario. It sucks, but that car has to be perfect, so I try not to let it bother me.

That said, I've resorted to painting my own cars as long as they dont have to be 100% perfect (although I'll try and make them perfect).

I painted a few over the last two years. A 69 Fastback Mustang, a 73 Brewster Green T/A, and a 77 W72 Y82

You do really good work. Love the '73 & '77.

[HoovDaddy]

Nice work and there is satisfaction in doing it yourself whether it's the entire project or just a part of it. Above all, as long as you have good neighbors. lol

[NeighborsComplaint]

All my body shop experiences have come with complimentary winter storage, even when started in April.

[Tim Corcoran]

The cost of a good paint job is outrageous most people don't want to re-finance their house to paint a hobby car which is why I decided to paint it myself. Of course a paint job is never just a paint job you still need to do body work, chrome bumpers, replace rusted trunk pans, polish stainless trim replace rubber seals around trunk and doors interior molding and detail etc... No matter how the paint comes out I am sure it will look better than it does now. Actually I am looking forward to the project a lot of work but it will be in my hands and I will work at my own speed. So if it's in paint jail at least it will be my jail.

[64speed]

My Bodyman was 10 hours away. He called and sent pictures every day!

[Stuart]

I have a '66 F-100 pickup that spent time in paint jail. It was close to done and was actually in the paint booth getting the first coat of paint, when the shop got shut down for an EPA violation. They padlocked the doors, and my truck sat untouched in the booth for months, until one day the shop owner called me to let me know he was going out of business and the bank was coming the next day to seize the place. So, I had to break it out of jail before they got there...I scrambled around and found another shop that could finish the work, then got a rollback truck to pick it up and haul it over to the new shop. They were able to finish things up and I finally got the truck back about a year after when it was supposed to be done.

Fortunately, things went much smoother for the next car I had done, a 1986 BMW M535i. That shop kept me updated with weekly phone calls and emails with photos, the work progressed as planned, and I got the car back right on schedule.

[OCMDGTO]

That reminds me of my worst paint jail experience from the early/mid 90s. It started out good. I was doing a foundation next door to a guy with a red 67 GTO in his driveway. We got to talking, worked out a deal, and he ended up doing a nice job painting my old 70 GTO. A year or 2 later I hit some ice on a bridge and did a few 360s in the same car. It needed both quarters, a fender, and new front bumper. I tried to use him again going through insurance this time. He took it to his bud's shop, running it through his bud's business since body work was just a side hustle for him. My insurance check got cashed and my car sat for 2 months with zero progress. I arranged to pick it up with the shop owner. Dude was late and I used bolt cutters on his lock to get it out. My door had a new crease in it that wasn't from me. I finally got my money from the shop owner and $400 for the door from the guy that was supposed to fix it. I took it to another shop that also took their time. On one of my visits to check on the car I was shocked to see his shop was deserted. I finally tracked him down to find out he moved my car and parts to his new shop without telling me. He eventually got it done, what a disaster.

[ZeGermanHam]

Ugh, that gives me cold sweats just reading it.

[Tim Corcoran]

Any stories of the first time you (anyone) painted your car at home? I'm not talking about a pro but an amateur with no autobody/painting experience

[tjs72lemans]

That would be me. I am no painter, but, I had painted a single stage on my 46 Willys Jeep at my employer's paint booth for my first paint job. My 55 was my second there in base/clear (all priming and bodywork done at home garage). Then I did my first paint job at home in my double car garage. It was my 80 Fiat Spider Convertible. Small car, so I thought small quick job. I did do the hood, trunk, doors and pieces at work. Body at home. I didn't know why, but later realized my compressor was too small to keep up with my new HVLP gun. I was not getting the coverage I wanted. Taking longer than expected, then the gnats moved in (they must've smelled something they were curious about). I had to quick finish the second coat of clear and stop. I wanted a third coat, but couldn't do it. Luckily, my cut and buff worked out and it looked good. It wasn't until I decided to paint my Lemans a few years later that I realized my compressor was too small for such a big job. This time I had a screen across my door to keep bugs out! I had a lot of orange peel to cut and buff, but I was happy with the outcome.

[HoovDaddy]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

Any stories of the first time you (anyone) painted your car at home? I'm not talking about a pro but an amateur with no autobody/painting experience

Junior and senior year in high school co-op I worked at a Ford dealer as a painters helper. With a little knowledge my buddy and I decided after graduation we would paint cars in my dad's garage. I had a '64 442 at the time and I decided to do a wild paint job with all the latest techniques that were shown in the latest issue of Dupont News (1970). This car would sell some paint jobs if it turned out. Dad had a compressor, we had sander, but no polisher, so we had to wet sand and hand rub all the cars. Everything we did was lacquer. In 1970 a gallon of the best Dupont lacquer was about $25 and all the supplies to do an entire car were less than $100. We could do a full job like below in one week. This style was popular back then.

We cruised Woodward Ave. almost every night of the week so with that exposure and word of mouth we had steady summer jobs for 2 years doing custom paint. We made mistakes and thought we screwed up peoples cars really bad sometimes, like painting lacquer over enamel, but you learn how to fix what goes wrong. Then the neighbors killed it, too many noisy cars or maybe the paint fumes. My buddy went to California to do it full time, and I went to College.

The light blue portion of the stripes and the panel painting was Metalflake. The blue faded to Plum Crazy with added flake. The side panel had Imagineering (the thin stripes) and Cob Webbing both done in Plum Crazy. '68 Camaro hood scoops mounted to sheet metal risers. It took 24 double coats of clear lacquer to bury the flake and cob webbing. I sold the car 2 years later for $650 and it hadn't started to crack yet. I still dabble with car builds and paint.

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

Any stories of the first time you (anyone) painted your car at home? I'm not talking about a pro but an amateur with no autobody/painting experience

It can be intimidating. When researching what you need, and what steps you need to follow it can become confusing awfully fast. You'll get 10 different answers from 10 different people.

When I started doing my own stuff, I just jumped in with a full paint job. I used NAPA brand primer and paint, and quality fillers like Rage Gold. I took my time doing the body work, constantly block sanding and checking my work.

I like base coat clear coat jobs, as it allows me to wet sand the car totally flat and smooth. I haven't mastered laying clear down flat enough to be happy without wet sanding it down, but on a classic car I'd be wet sanding it regardless.

I actually painted that 77 SE I posted with Summit Racing paint. I think all the materials cost $500.

Heres a pic of the door and roof before I wet sanded it. Anyone who's done bodywork on a 2nd gen knows those doors are a pain to get straight. They're huge and flat, and unforgiving in black.

[bdk1976]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

Any stories of the first time you (anyone) painted your car at home? I'm not talking about a pro but an amateur with no autobody/painting experience

I did my 65 GTO 100% at home in a 2 car garage with absolutely zero previous experience with body work or automotive paint - minor rust and moderate body work, epoxy/2k primers, bc/cc in a light metallic (iris mist). I did get a few runs in the clear but that was easy to remedy and block flat.

Lots of work and a ton of preparation, but if I had any complaints about work or progress, all had to do is look in the mirror. After almost 15 years it has gained some scratches, scrapes, and dings from driving, but overall the paint still looks great and has held up great with a lot of time outside in elements and quite a bit of local driving.

I can't fathom sending a car away to "paint jail" - hell now that I've moved on from a packed 2 car garage to a large shop, I plan to keep everything i possibly can 'in house', outside of a couple of engine machining processes and chrome plating moving forward.