Thanks Jeff! Yes, I will be there even though the car will be at home. Oh, and @ebfabman, I took your advice and bought real masking paper. It will take me a lifetime to use a roll this big, but it's the size they had and it was only $18….waaaaay cheaper than the paint. LOL
Nice work, sorry you won't get the car to SK but look forward to seeing you there. I'm sure you said somewhere earlier but are you going to paint the same color?
Yes, for now I am just painting it back the same green, but without the flames, etc. Ultimately, it will be sea foam and dark green, but that is a ways off. Having it all green with no flames will make it easier to do my other planned changes and then just blend in the spots so it stays looking decent….I already have too many cars with primer spots all over.
Thanks guys! Hopefully it will start looking like something again in the next few weeks. Drive safe Dan!! We will try to hook up this weekend.
Started on it Mid November. And took 2 weeks off a Christmas when I was out of town. Worked just every Saturday for 6-8 hours and quite a few evenings.
That's about the same schedule I have been on. I first pulled the back window in October. I messed around a few weekends here and there during Nov and Dec but have really been putting in the most time since Feb. I've been able to put in 6-8 hours a day, Fri, Sat, Sun most weekend.....I'm blessed with a patient and indulgent wife!
WHY paint the roof at all...??? There's nothing wrong with the primer...nothing wrong with driving it to Indy in primer...!!! Next question from me...are you planning on repainting it the same color...??? R-
Well, you already got the paint color question answered. Why paint the roof? I don't want to take it back apart again to paint it later. I could just paint the window openings, but it's no more work really to paint the whole roof than just the window openings.....at least was my theory when I blew it apart in the first place. I like your multiple use options for the masking paper ebfabman....not sure my wife will want her Christmas presents wrapped in it tho. Maybe I'll branch out slowly and just start with covering the painting bench....I've found I can be messy mixing paint.
David, you missed the part about drawing on the paper. See, you draw Christmassy things all over it and then use it to wrap gifts.
Took last week off to enjoy the Round Up and finally got back to work on the car today. I was hoping to get it into paint this weekend, but that won't be happening. Blocked the high build at 180, 220 and then onto 320. I wish I woulda stopped at 180 and just gone ahead and shot more primer as I had blocked through a lot of the primer by that point. But, I continued on thinking it would all be ok when I wet sanded it. After the 320, I decided I was just kidding myself and I should shoot another round of high build before I paint it. So, I got it all remasked and prepped to shoot, but after 7 hours of sanding today, I'm beat and just don't have it in me to do the easy part. LOL Not sure if I will get to do that tomorrow yet or not. The good news is it should be a lot straighter than it was before I started....the question now is how well can I lay down the paint? Got all my new windows back from being cut and got the rubber and rebuilt vent windows back this week from Carson at Street Rod Glass in Riverside, CA. He did a great job and I'm most pleased with him making a couple of silk purses out of pigs ears. So, short of sewing the new headliner and fitting the stainless, once I get it painted, it's mostly a bolt together operation to get this puppy back on the road....finally.
LOL...so true. As I hit the shower I was sad I had a full time job thinking if I had a few more 8 hour days in a row it would really start to look like something. I guess if I did it for a living, doing it all by hand would be out of the question. I have an air file, but I've never felt like I could do as good a job with it as I could by hand. Sadly, my arms don't seem to be bulking up any from the work out and I'm still a stick arm. Haha!
Getting closer. Nothing much to show, other than my total lack of fingerprints. It's all wet sanded and nearly prepped for paint. Goal is to lay down paint on Friday. Maybe, just maybe, after I get the chicken coop sorted out on Saturday for our new chicks, I will have enough time left to install the windshield and dash and be able to drive it once again while I finish the rest. Still on target to have it all back together for the road trip to Indy next month...but only the top half will be painted. LOL
Hit the shop by 7:30 this morning and started masking and cleaning. By lunch I was ready to start the fun part... 2 coats of black sealer, 3 coats of base and 3 coats of clear later, I hit the shower at 8:30 after shutting the lights off on this... Only 12 bugs in the last coat of clear. LOL just what on earth does a bug see in clear? I mean really! LOL I guess after I get it all back together and then paint the bottom half, I'll sand and buff it.
man all of the effort you have put into this car is paying off! it looks great so far I can't wait to see it back together.
Lookin' good Doc! After reading this thread and seeing how busy you are with your job and home life and all, I'm impressed how you still manage to find time to do so much of the work yourself. Keep up the great work! E
Looks like you're makin some serious progress there. Better that the bugs are in the last coat of clear rather than the first. What's that term that everyone says, oh well that'll buff right out .
Before I opened the thread, I didn't think a Merc could be dorky, but you're doing good work making it right.
Lol. Thanks guys. Feels good to have the paint on finally....at least on the top half. Lol Now to chuck the windshield and dash back in so I can drive it while I finish up the rest. But, of course they are calling for rain this whole next week...prob best to not drive a car missing most of the windows on a rainy day. The plan is to knock out the headliner over the long weekend next week....but today I gotta fix a chicken coop. lol
Now, you sound like me Dave. It seems I am typically working on chicken pens or horse fence. Today is fence.
Nice work Dr. Dave, glad to hear it will soon be back on the road. Hope to catch up with you again at one of get-togethers!
Finally starting to go back together. Got the windshield in and stainless cut and installed yesterday along with the hood and trunk back on. Had to move my daughter today so not as much progress as I had hoped. Got the new wind lace sewn up and new tack strips in, so tomorrow I will get the wind lace up and finally be able to put the dash back in, which will once again make it a running and driving car. We don't need all the windows installed to drive it do we? After trimming the stainless to fit, I got the bonus of being able to find out about how much my a pillars are chopped by measuring the removed piece. Taking into account the width of the cut off wheel, we get pretty close to 3.75 inches. I forgot to post this earlier....I got the patch panel @slddnmatt made me for the hacked out section of my package tray. I just had him make straight beads rather than the chicken feet the factory piece had. I just tacked it in figuring that is good enough to be solid and will worry about welding it totally when I cut out the back window and readjust it one day. Matt made a great piece and it fit perfectly. Give him a call if you need any sheetmetal for a Merc made....he even takes special requests. Once the dash is back in tomorrow, time to start the headliner. I have decided rather than make a regular headliner like I took out, I'm going to go ahead and attempt a front to back pleated headliner....just like the Hirohata. Let's see how this turns out....
The Jalopy Journal
