Hey all,

So I just picked up a 71 Camaro, and I'm going to be starting on it pretty soon. The car has been setting (outside unfortunately) for about 12 years and is in desperate need of some paint and some TLC. The car looks to be pretty straight, and I bought it from a guy who has been a family friend for years and he doesnt recall any issues with the body. I plan to paint the car Hugger Orange with white rally stripes. My question is how far should I go with the car? I mean I have a friend who is a painter and body guy so the price is pretty cheap for labor (most of the cost is going to be in the paint), but I'm trying to decide how far I should take the car apart to paint it. I'd like to get the best paint job possible. (I am still on a budget but I plan to help with the disassembly and prep). My main concern is that the car gets a good coat of paint so that it doesnt start to rust and obviously so that it looks nice.

So my thinking was to remove the interior entirely...the engine and trans...the front fenders, hood, grille, trunk, and possibly the doors. What are your opinions on this? Will this be good enough to paint the car without any of the metal or anything else showing through?

Also, would it be best to media blast the car? Or should I just prep the car by sanding down to the base coat?

Any input or thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

It all depends on the condition of the car and quality of previous repairs and what you want to do with the car.

Even a car that has some hidden rust issues can last 20-years if it garage kept and not driven in the rain if does not have leaves or mud packed anywhere.

A brand new car in 1971 drive daily in the North was good for about 5-7 years. These cars are designed for 5-7 years of life.

All it takes is one bad repair. Bondo is rusts friend. Bondo is not a sealer it needs to be sealed so any repair that might be on the car and the bondo is exposed to the air it can and will wick water to any part of repair. So if there was a repair 20 years ago the there was any dent puller hole your going to have problems. This was the accepted way to repair a car back in the 70-80’s

The point I am trying to make is there is no way to be sure how your car will hold up. You could slap a macco paint job on it and put in a garage and 10 years from now it could look exactly the same. Or you could diassemble everything that could be unbolted, Paint everything spend 15K only to have the trunks drop, quarters and rocker rust out 2 years later from the inside out,
The only way to be 100% sure is to have the body dipped or blasted cut into all the sealed off area and fix/seal up everything. When done right you can build these into 20 year daily drivers.

I own a 67 that I have not restored. I give the car a yearly inspection where I search for any signs of problems. 3 years ago I found the hood vents where not sealed correctly the water leaked in and got stuck between the 2 layers sheet metal in the hood. I sealed up the vents repaired and blended a small area on the top of the hood and welded in some metal in the underside. I will need to replace the hood. There is no way to get into the hood to be sure all the rust is gone… It took about 12 years for that rust to show up because the only time the car gets wet is when I wash it. Had I driven the car daily I would guess that problem would have shown up in a year- 18 months.

 

Sounds like you're going plenty far enough to me, as to removing parts. Might even be a bit too far, unless you are planning to paint them internally and reassemble to do the final exterior base coat. My painter told me that everything needed to be removed for jamming, and inside painting, and clear coat. Then it all needed to go back on for the complete painting of the body, as if it wasn't in place it would be extremely hard to get a good match on the paint since metallics lay down differently on vertical panels versus horizontal panels.
I knw from another friend who painted his fenders, doors, hood, trunk, etc. off the car, then reassembled them that this is very true! His got a beautiful paint job, but had to be shot again as the metallic looked weord on everything that was shot hanging separately.
Whether you take it to bare metal or not depends on how confident you are about what's below. At the cost of even supplies I'd sure want to see bare metal, or test it with a sharp awl in the usual areas to be certain there's no rust or rot below the paint.
Removing the interior and carpet to see the floor pans is a great idea, as you don't want to fix that stuff after paint.

 

I just had my Camaro painted in pieces and I am very happy with the end result but it was not cheap. I think your wallet would make the best judgment to how far you are going to take it.

Elcid

 

Thanks everyone for all the input.

As for my budget, well like I said, I will be doing most of the work myself, with the aid of one of my friends (who is a painter and body guy). But pretty much all I'm having him do is the body work and paint. the rest will be mostly me.

What I'm thinking as of right now is that I will strip the interior of the car, pull the motor and trans, and then have the whole car blasted so I know where I stand with the car. Then I'll probably end up taking off the hood, front fenders, grill, trunk and probably the doors, (might even have to pull out most of the glass cause the glue holding it in looks like its bad). then just paint the firewall, inside of the fenders and door jams, and anything else that will be hard to reach once assembled, then just go back through and reassemble the body and paint the car.

The only other consideration I have is that my friend (the guy who will be painting the car) says it's better and cheaper to paint a coat of white before painting the orange (I plan to paint the car orange with white rally stripes). So it might be a good idea to paint the white as a base coat while the whole car is apart (which would also serve to help seal parts of the car that might otherwise be bare metal and could potentially rust). Then reassemble the sheet metal, doors, etc. and paint another second coat of white. Then tape off the stripes and paint the rest of the car orange. (I believe the car would need to be together anyways to paint the rally stripes to ensure that they come out straight/symmetric).

 

Yes, it's hard to get the stripes lined up perfectly on the hood/header panel, and trunk/spoiler, if you don't assemble them together. Some people paint the base color for the stripes first, then mask them and paint the rest the car after. Others do the reverse. It really doesn't matter, as a good paint job will have enough clear over it that you wont feel the stripes anyway, and if you do feel the edges there's not enough clear on it.

 

Very good points.

And honestly, it doesnt really have to be a show winning car. I'm not building the car to be a show winner, I'm building the car for me and others to enjoy; I'm not one of those guys who spends thousands upon thousands of dollars on a car only to have it sit in the garage 360 days a year.

Also, with the money I save on labor I can spend on parts. And really, if I take my time and do things the right way without cutting corners, there's no reason why I can't make the car a nice driveable and even showable car without breaking the bank.