OK. Been busy with work but I'm ready to post more. I decided to focus on getting the interior painted first. Prepped the dash, garnish moldings, door jambs for paint. The process for the whole car was block to 180, applly epoxy primer, apply polyester primer then block to 320, urethane primer/surfacer then wet sand to 600, apply sealer, color and 3 coats of clear, then sand and buff. I started by painting all the interior parts.
Next came prepping the body and body parts for polyester. Eagletucky had stripped this car to bare metal and had a local bodyshop do the initial round of bodywork and put it into black primer. Luckily, they did a pretty great job as a base. We blocked the car to 180 and found only minor issues. I even got my boy to prep all the jambs in the car. I decided just to scotch bright grey all jambs and not do any additional bodywork on those. Before the polyester primer I addressed the few minor low spots.
While sanding the body, I worked on getting the hood and deck lid in sealer. And I stripped out the insides of the fenders, treated them with rust inhibitor in preparation for sealing them. Plus prep on all the small parts
There was some minor repair on the fenders. Got everything into the booth for sealer and polyester primer.
I just went through this again when it came back to the top. Needless to say, it is a nice solid car and you've done some great work on it. One thing I want to mention is that in the photo of the engine, I see someone took the time and care to find a regular top radiator hose that fit it correctly. It's just a thing with me, but when I see an otherwise nicely done car with flex hoses on it, I'm always a little disappointed.
Then the car went into the booth. My shop typically closes between Christmas and New Years so I thought I could get my car painted in the 10 days of shop time I had. Not to be, even with help. Couple of my staff helped along with Tierod periodically through the break. I got it just to the point of color before I had to go back to normal production work and work on the car after hours.
Guide coat and sand the polyester primer to 320. I painted the deck lid hinges body color during the polyester primer so that I could tie them down through the rest of the process.
Then back in the booth with everything for the urethane surfacer primer. Someone on my staff suggested I use the dry guide coat (I usually use rattle can for this). It is very nice, a little harder to see during the sanding process but applies uniformly across the whole surface. And always Mexican bakery donuts on hand.
You guys do great work-show quality. I am doing mine in the same theme but I dont have the time,skill or facitity to do what you are doing. Mine is an actual 60s survivor so I will leave it the same other than lowering and fender skirts etc (tail dragger). I plan on starting this year. A long way to go.
What a great ride!! You seem to be taking a near perfect 51 to the ninth degree. My 2nd car was a 51 coupe also, bought in 1954 it to was a great car and I did some simple changes for the time like dual pipes, nosed and decked, skirts, curb ticklers and a coon tail from the antenna..I was cool!! I got to ask though what is that rig hanging that looks like the wing of an airplane?? Ralphie
i'm jealous! didn't like the steering wheel at first, but it grew on me. does that engine swap use a dropped tie rod?
Yes, it has dropped tie rod. I was mixed about the steering wheel too, but after you see what I have done with the dash it fits even better visually.
My company specializes in the fabrication of large scale public art. The project you see in the background is going to be a pedestrian bridge in Ft Worth designed by the head of Computational Design Research at NIKE. I'll load a couple photos - it is really cool - the walls of the bridge become seating in the middle. The steel you see in the photos will be entirely clad in an envelope of Spanish cedar and will look like a wooden bridge. That's the broad stroke description... we did a ton of work doing digital development to make the project possible.
Looks like a real solid start! Eagletucky spent 2 years on this car after he got it. By the time it's done, I'll have had it a year (I did drive it for several months before tearing it apart - so I'm lucky). Never can build them as fast as you want...
I am not much of a Ford guy but I do like most of the 50's years, 51 and 56 being my favorites. To my eye the 51 dash was always the neatest looking one they ever made. Years ago my buddy had a 41 Ford coupe and I helped him cut down a 51 Ford dash for it and it looked bitchin.
Wow,that bridge is pretty cool, looks like you'll need a long trailer to transport it Oh, nice shoebox too.!
Yea, I have to agree on the bridge. That is pretty dang cool! Being an engineer and somewhat of an artsy guy too...I can really appreciate that! Oh, and the 51 is going to be sweet too. I had a 51 F1 that was similar although not near as nice. It had a 55 Chevy 265 and OD transmission in it that looked like it could have came in it, but I am sure it was put in sometime in the late 50's or early 60's. Subscribed and looking forward to seeing the final product once painted.
Alright. First thing was to get the car in the booth and paint the door jambs, under side of hood and deck lid. Taped a pocket in the doors so I had enough room to paint.
Now that I think about it, before the car went in for paint, I painted the underside of the hood and deck lid with the small exterior parts. Hard to show the color I used - in some light/angle almost black, in direct sunlight mahogany metallic. Later photos will show the color better.
Taped the jambs after cured and moved on to the big day. Was able to load everything in the booth to paint all parts at one go. First black sealer, 2 coats + 1 fog coat then 3 coats clear. Always looks so great just in base color. I used Dynacoat for all products - my jobber was setting up the product line and gave me a great deal on cost.
Then the task of sand and buff. 1000, 1200, 1500 dry then 3000 wet. So much sanding. Did the interior first thinking it could go in while I was working on the body. I should mention again I got help throughout the process from Tierod, Uncle Scooby and Eagletucky (who built the car). Picture here of the dash installed after buffing. Did I mention I thought I could get the car painted in the 10 days I had off between Xmas eve and Jan 2? Spoiler alert - the car is now finally together as of Saturday 16 of May.
I took a detour during the sand and buffing phase to make a custom dash insert panel. Simple hot rod... ignition, lights, heater and USB ports. So I filled all the blank holes in the dash panel for a smoother/cleaner appearance. I backed the holes with aluminum tape then 2 layers of fiberglass veil, then bodywork. I color matched the seat insert and painted it flat clear to look soft and contrast the gloss dash. I cut all the speaker holes by hand and Tierod suggested the use of the Ford emblem you see in the photos. Throwing in a "before" picture.
Body paint color is fantastic and looks great with the interior colors! Really nice. Will be watching to see more. Mike
The Jalopy Journal
