The car looks very good as it is right now, any more pics of the rest of the body? Are you only replacing the passenger side? What's the purpose of the rubber hose though? [&:]

 

heres a couple of pics of the restore i did on one of mine

kinda scary lookin sry to hijack your post but thought it would be good to see what they look like with no skin

 

WULFFTRUBLE: nice picts.

Maldito X: I only needed to replace the passenger side quarter. The driver's side was in relatively good shape. Just a few dings and dents to fix. I really don't have much of the body picts as of yet. They are coming.
The rubber hose is for smacking my kids when they touch my car....ha, ha,ha. Just kidding.
I wrap a piece of sandpaper around it to get the small curve areas, such as below the rear windows along the quarter flare. It's flexible and yet maintains a flat surface in contact with the body when used properly.
I know there are plenty of custom sanding blocks on the market (ton of cash) but I'd rather use some basic ingenuity to save the cash for other parts and paint supplies.

 

damn!

 

This is the spray gun I borrowed to shot the primer. I think he said it was $19 at Harbor Freight tools. I love the HVLP guns, they spray so much better than the old cup guns and I get ALL the paint on the car. (nothing left in the bottom of the cup)

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Holy cow. That is crazy looking, reminds me of freddy krueger lol. Awesome.

Johnny, are you learning as you go? Or do you already have relatively good knowledge about bodywork? It's good that you know how and where to spend your money. If you bought every tool you needed to do the job without improvising, your fundings would be cut short very fast I think.

What are you going to be doing next?

 

I do have some past experience with body work but, I am not expert.
I just apply what I've learned over the years by doing it myself and watching some of the pros work.
Also, talking to paint supply reps at car shows can give you some insight as to how each product is designed to be used.
I had an awesome job during my college days working for Fennel Enterprises in So. Cal. I watched the body-guys coat and sand body parts until they were smooth as glass. I can only hope that my panels will be as good.

If I had to explain the process, it would be like this:
• Replace panels or weld in section with major damage (ie. sliced, torn or rusted metal)
• Hammer & Dolly dents to get the panel flat as possible
• Clean the metal with metal prep or lacquer thinner
• 2 coats of epoxy primer
• first layer of Bondo (shaping)
• sand with longboard (40-60 grit)
• sand with longboard (80-100 grit)
• Everlast Glazing Putty for large scratches and minor repairs (sands like chalk using 120 grit)
• 1 coat of sandable primer (primer filler)
• Guide coat with can or contrasting color (spray can)
• Longboard again with 120 grit then 220 grit
• pin holes and last chance fixes with the Glazing Putty
• sand again
• Sealer primer entire surface
Now it's ready to paint!

Disclaimer: *This is my method. Someone else could do it differently, so take what you will from it.*

It really just takes patience. Body work is the most critical part of the process because paint will NOT hide any imperfections!
I'm almost done with the rear section, next I'll check the roof and then the doors... then, the fenders, valance and hood. Any order. Whatever I feel like working on at the time. This is a weekend project for me, especially now that the days are shorter.

 

I'll keep your method in mind for when I finally start working on my Camaro

Would it be a bad idea to use a steel wire wheel to take off all the paint from the car as well as remove any surface rust? I dont know if it would leave any deep scratches in the sheet metal, or if it's a bad idea to strip all the paint off or not. Since you used those disc pads.

So any new pics? The shorter days are disappointing, it's night time by 6pm over here

 

I wouldn't use a steel wire wheel. First, it won't do much as far as taking off the paint...very slow process. It will help a little on rust but that obviously after the paint is gone.
Depending on the number of coats you have of paint and repaint, I would stick with the stripper pads. They don't gum-up like sand paper and are much faster than a wire wheel.

That being said, I had about 5 coats of old paint on my car, so I used a chemical stripper to get down to the primer layer. The brand I use came with a squirt bottle sprayer attachment and I got it Home Depot for $19/gal. It helps to get the stripper on the side panels without losing so much on the ground or melting your brushes away. I found that even on the flat surfaces this spray method helps to waste less chemical brushing and it goes further so I can strip more of the car with the same gallon can.
This strippers contain a chemical called methylene chloride and burns like *$##! when you get it on your skin. Where chemical gloves and place some newspapers on the ground below the panel you are working on currently. This makes the clean-up easier and safer. After the melted paint dries on the newspaper, you just fold it up and dispose. Where some safety goggles too because the spray can get back into your face and blind you. If any chemical gets on you (don't worry, you'll know it) grab the garden hose and wash it off. It will be okay.
The chemical is neutralized with water as most of them are.
For the rust... well I think we've talked enough about that on this forum. A quick search should get you plenty of feedback there. Most all of the rust remover/dissolver type products use Phosphoric Acid. This is usually applied to the rusted panel, rinsed (neutralizing process) and then dried and sanded with fine grit paper.

After that, your ready for the process I outlined above.

Have fun!

 

Here's a few more picts. My dad and I built a dolly for the car last weekend, so I can roll it into the garage now that winter is on the way. We just took some scrap metal from a junkyard and made it so it can be torn down after I'm done. The body work is coming along. I'm just a few weeks away from getting the primer surfacer on it.

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