I have an '86 T-type I bought last year as a daily driver here in Chicago; excluding winters of course. Anyway, the car is far from what I consider nice. Since I have my GN, I'm considering tackling a repaint on my own. The car isn't nice enough for me worry should I mess up. That said, I'd like to give body work and paint a shot on my own and in my garage. I'm not even a novice when it comes to body and paint. I'm open to any suggestions about where to start. I have no idea what the bare metal looks like under the current paint. Thanks in advance for your time.
Would like to give it a try:
- Thread starter Tom R
- Start date
Is this something a newbie could do?First thing first then. Use a magnet and check for bondo. If you find minimal bondo then start searching this section. There's a bunch of threads showing how to do body work. There are even a few showing how a full body off resto is done.
Pronto
Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2002
I watched V8Killer has do a couple of home style paint jobs. The real issue is the prep. Smoothing out everything before painting is paramount to the job looking any good. It can be done but if you no experience then you will be spending a lot of money on supplies and such for a so-so result. I would try to find someone that does bodywork on the side to see if they could help you.
John Larkin
Sublime Master of Turbology
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
It is expensive to start out. You are going to need several tools: a body hammer, a shoe heel dolly, a long sanding board, a sanding block, a dual action sander, painters tape, masking paper and lots of sandpaper in various grits and sizes. You also need an air compressor, a spray paint gun for primer with an air pressure regulator, a blowgun, primer/sealer, lacquer thinner, dust masks and a paint respirator.
If you need help with a shopping list, I would be glad to help. R&E Paint Supply in Arkansas is the cheapest I have found for body supplies and they do ship to your home. Harbor Freight has most of the hard items you'd need. Don't buy cheap tape or sanding paper - it's a waste of money because you'll use more or it won't work. At minimum use Norton or Mirka; 3M is the best though. And you can get all that on Amazon.
If you need help with a shopping list, I would be glad to help. R&E Paint Supply in Arkansas is the cheapest I have found for body supplies and they do ship to your home. Harbor Freight has most of the hard items you'd need. Don't buy cheap tape or sanding paper - it's a waste of money because you'll use more or it won't work. At minimum use Norton or Mirka; 3M is the best though. And you can get all that on Amazon.
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BeltlessBlower
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2006
I would recommend taking autobody 101 at your local community college.
1. It will teach you some of the skills that you will need to complete the car.
2. It will connect you with people with higher skill levels then what you currently have.
3. Most community collages let you bring in a project to work on for credit (e.g. your car)
4. You get access to tools/paintbooth.
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
1. It will teach you some of the skills that you will need to complete the car.
2. It will connect you with people with higher skill levels then what you currently have.
3. Most community collages let you bring in a project to work on for credit (e.g. your car)
4. You get access to tools/paintbooth.
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
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