Projects Official Rough Bodywork And Paint Job Thread, Post Your Pics

Hey all, for those who don't have the mega bucks, or have won the lottery, but still want to spruce up your cruiser, and have done minimal amounts of body prep, but did some sorta paint job anyway. Let's see your pics, and stories behind your budget paint job.
In my case I have done a few cars, no expert by no means, and still learning. My truck, is a 1955 Dodge Fargo, next to no rust, dings dents and some creases.
I have stripped the truck, primered a few times,fixed some of the worst damage, but do not plan to either pay for someone else or to spend a whole lotta a time now on finessing each panel before painting.
I could leave this old tank in primer, but primer is not my thing, this truck stays in a dry building too.
So going to level out some of the waves, and shoot on a paint job, using industrial grade enamel paint and hardener, will shoot on using either my gravity feed hvlp, or going to borrow Buddys Binks model & suction gun.
I hope to get the basic prep ready by the end of this weekend and paint the cab on Sunday or Monday.
So lets see some of your more quicky paint jobs and the stories behind them....

 

I built this Deuce pickup in 2007 and due to it being in fairly good shape we scuffed it up and shot it with Kirker Semi-Gloss black,,not a professional paint job but looks pretty good and holds up well.

Paint and supply's was around 159 bucks. HRP

 

That's a big bunny.

The bunny is now gone...but I swear it was there.

 

HRP, that deuce pickmeup, looks damn straight, my truck isn't straight, but not too bad either. I do have the time now, and would like to find a better nose section and right front fender, as well as rear fenders someday.
So my logic for now, is to give her a quick spray, finish getting all mechanical s right, and some interior work too. I have not rust to deal with at least, just some surface corrosion here and there. So quick paint, fix up drive her around. I will have a lot more time in the future to do it right...

 

....amateur Krylon job in three days...about $200....

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=820959

 

Knocked the bodywork and paint out on this old heap in a weekend.



Had to get it done so quick so I could go to Tennessee and pick up the new 34 project.



The 34 was a quickie paint job too....



OK, not really...I had about a bazillion hours in this one...

See ya, -Abone.

 

Yup my old beater truck ain't gonna be babied either. I have done some body work, but not going to go too crazy with it, at this time...truck and that 34 looks great.

 

I had some time in my coupe, but I did it myself. It was my first experience with paint and body... not perfect but didn't turn out too bad. The truck is my friends, and was brush painted. I like it, too.

 

Jeff,every time I see your truck I think about my old '65 Ford sitting in the barn,it might be time to drag it out and get it back on the road! HRP

 

I kept a lot of the dings and dents that my '33 had accumulated throughout it's life. I'm not that good of a body worker to get it perfect anyway, and I hate to own vehicles with expensive and beautiful paint jobs. I worry too much about parking lot dings, blemishes from normal use, etc, and this takes away from my enjoyment of these vehicles. So for this truck, I left the little dents and dings, stripped the old layers of paint off down to the Henry metal and shot it with good old Rustoleum primer and top coat. I mixed in hardeners and I wax it often, so far so good. I know this kinda thing is frowned upon by many, but I don't care, it fits my needs just fine. Here's the shitbox....

 

Looks good VooDoo, the Rustoleum brand rusty metal primer is awesome stuff. I know a old skool dude down in Georgia, sandblasts all his metals, acid treats, rusty metal primed, then 2 k urethane primer surfacer and filler work, and either acrylic enamel or urethane paint jobs for final top coats, never had an issue in his 30 years of doing it this way

 

3 days prep. 250 dollars paint and supplies. Fading bad and shows all flaws. Spend time on the bodywork.

 

looks damn good when i take it out though

 

So shoot on some new paint, finesse body later.
In my case, it is an old truck, used for hauling and the odd cruise in, so I do not need a "killer" paint job, yet.
I hope to re-do all, with donor panels at some future date, so do not want to rip apart a truck I drive now, cal it impatience, infact with my work and family commitments at the moment, do not have the patience for a lot of body work....PS your camino looks good from my house

 

those 59 el camino's look great---i hate that i sold mine...

 

I came real close to having to pull the trigger and sell it. Would have been the smart move, but, things are slowly getting better. It'll buff out .
This Studebaker cost about 120 dollars to paint,(total,sandpaper, tape and all)It is industrial enamel. I spent about 4 hours with a jitterbug sanding the car, and sprayed it. With both cars, I knew I could not do them right, and didn't want the car in primer and pieces. I always considered both paint jobs as sealers until I could do it right. The cheap industrial enamel on the Stude is now 6 years old, has not faded a bit, and it sits in the Fresno sun. I am going to color sand and buff it, to see what will happen. In both cases, I now wish I had actually prepped the body. The blue hides its sins, which are few, very well.

 

Well, as I was told by my Auto-Mechanics teacher years ago when I talked about a "cheap , quick paint job" , his reply was "Boy , never do a quick job , it always shows , it don't take anymore money to do a good job , it just takes a little more patience , effort , and gumption"...It's been 26 years since I was in school , and everytime I hear someone talking about a paintjob , I remember those words....

 

Looks great Eric, I also painted a car a 47 Chrysler coupe, with International Paint industrial gloss enamel, with hardener. I t dried to the touch in about 1 hour.
How do you mix your paint for spraying, what type of gun, tip size, amount of coats etc.
I have been using a gravity feed type gun, with 1.4 tip, tip size is a little small for this type of paint, a 1.7-1.8 would be better like a Binks model 7, which I have also used a few times...

 

No body is doubting that spending a lot of time to get all panels right is the key to a premium paint job.
The focus of this thread is those who have for many personal reasons did basic or minimal prep and painted there hotrods or customs, with economical products.
I would never spray over rust, peeling paint, but some minor dings or unevenness, okay by me for this purpose.
It can be a very time consuming effort, working a panel, filling, priming, guide coats blocking, to get nice straight panels. Most cannot or will not have the ability, talent or tools to do this, if your don't have the cash, you are hooped. So do what you can, primer, cheap paint, and get your ride coated and protected, and looking presentable, drive and enjoy.
Where I live it is 3 miles to pavement, limestone dust controlled road, my needs are not for perfection just yet, so am giving the ole girl fast prep and paint, almost done, hope to paint Sunday or Monday..

 

I use a 60's or early 70's "richard Yale" spray gun.(Binks knockoff from what I was told) It has the original tip, don't know about size. I do 3 coats. I mix just by the instructions on the can. The Stude was dry to the touch within about an hour also.

 

I hope I don't offend , but , that merely sounds like an excuse not to finish the car....

 

What defines "finished"....LOL Most are rolling projects, BTW, what makes you assume any of the posters are making excuses not to finish there vehicles.
Maybe some of the others can elaborate.
To be honest, some or many do not have all the resources and plain old hard cash to justify big buck$ and time to get there body perfect and in a high quality paint, many do not have the interest in it either.
Your shop teacher , although I am sure knowledgeable and a great mentor, was schooled in enamel and lacquer finishes. My mentor who owned a autobody shop from 1957 to 1997, always told me, "paint and grease don't mix", do mechanics or paint, is he 100% right, not always.
It takes a lot of money and time, if you are even able to do good body prep, if you pay someone to do it, it will cost a whole lot of money for the"Time to do it right".....

 

I consider my truck "finished".....it runs great, stops awesome, steers great, can be driven in rain, snow and sun legally and safely, and it has a coat of protective paint on it so it won't rust. To me, that's finished.

My driveway is very long and graveled, so to put a mega-dollar/mega-labor intensive paint job on it makes no sense to me. I'd be washing and fixing it every weekend instead of driving it. That wouldn't make me happy. My dented and Rusto-painted truck makes me happy. It's not everyone's cup of tea, I get that. But it's MY cup of tea.

 

Good thread, keep em comin'. I'm getting inspired.

 

These three were painted with rattlecan Dupli-Color primer and get a coat of Gibbs protectant about once a year. The '45 Chevrolet pickup was first painted in 1995. The '30 Chevrolet coupe in 2007. The '49 Pontiac coupe in 2011.

The pickup was passed on to my son in 2011 so I could have room to build the Pontiac.

If interested, Photobucket pictures from beginning to current for each:
1945 Chevrolet pickup
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127319892@N07/sets/72157662354913553/

1930 Chevrolet coupe
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127319892@N07/sets/72157664269083112/

1949 Pontiac
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127319892@N07/sets/72157664705724855/

 

Painted this in my driveway.....

 

I needed some color on it for a wedding 12 years ago. I didn't have time money or expertise for a high quality paint job. Martin-Senior primer.

 

My 59' I did an apprenticeship at a local shop. We did lots of block sanding, guide coat, and wet sanding but we kinda used alot of bondo..like filling in a cab roof seam and bedside seam. I also didn't order new patch panels for my cab corners. But after awhile I just decided I wanted to just get the truck running. I kinda regret half-assing some stuff but it looks awesome from a distance and I'm young so I can always redo it later on down the road.

 

Well, truth is , my Auto-Mechanic's teacher really did tell me everything I told you earlier , but , just like everything else , I kinda yanked your chain just a little , here is my ride...hope nobody is pissed , just wanted a little bit of a debate....lol , $37 5 star laquer primer , Duplicolor spraybomb flames , and a buddy of mine hand painted Ol'Fatty on the trunklid , total cost , about $300.00 total , including artwork...

 

Hey you old hound dog, you had me fired up a bit, not that I didn't think I could convince you of my frugal ways here. You a good ole Boy like me I see. Very nice lookin machine you got there....