Paint and Body Fox Body Painting 101

It was a NC State Bureau of Investigation car. I can only assume it was regularly parked next to something where this door was either opened into something, or vise versa. I've been inside the door installing Fatmat, there's no evidence of any damage . The dings are very shallow. Do you have a favorite filler?
 
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It was a NC State Bureau of Investigation car. I can only assume it was regularly parked next to something where this door was either opened into something, or vise versa. I've been inside the door installing Fatmat, there's no evidence of any damage . The dings are very shallow. Do you have a favorite filler?
Evercoat is one brand I use regularly. 3M makes good products as well.

You say those are extremely shallow, so a glaze coating will probably work fine. The main reason I like a glaze coat for little dents is that it spreads very smooth since it is a thinner product. So obviously it won't fill a deeper dent though, as it has some flow characterisitics.

You can use a finer grit sandpaper to block it out as well, like 150-180. This will help with your primer when it shrinks back as it hardens and dries.
 
Not a fox, but I wonder what you might have to say about this.

I have a '66 Mustang coupe I'm getting from my in-laws. It's been tucked away in a garage buried in junk for the last thirty years. We finally got it out yesterday and there are some body issues that are already evident. I plan to have it blasted, at which time I'm sure there will be a few more surprises.

Until then, one of the obvious problems is the hood. How would you go about fixing this? The front lip of the hood is bent downward.

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Not a fox, but I wonder what you might have to say about this.

I have a '66 Mustang coupe I'm getting from my in-laws. It's been tucked away in a garage buried in junk for the last thirty years. We finally got it out yesterday and there are some body issues that are already evident. I plan to have it blasted, at which time I'm sure there will be a few more surprises.

Until then, one of the obvious problems is the hood. How would you go about fixing this? The front lip of the hood is bent downward.

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Aftermarket hoods are cheap. Then ones I've used restoring classic mustangs have been fairly nice too.

If you don't want to go that route, beat it out for the bodyline on the edge of the hood to be "right". Then work on pulling out the dent or pushing in high spots. Mud a little, primer, block and live happily ever after....
 
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Dave, how does this trim piece come off? I need to redo it in trim black

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I'm not Dave, but I know how to take that off. There's a screw at the end of the door (handle end), open the door and look for it, remove the screw and slide the trim towards the rear of the car. It'll come right off. You have a sharp looking car !!
 
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Hmm, aparentky one of the pins that holds the trim on is MIA. Are these available? How would I install?

Dew wipe could prob use some replacement as well . Starting to bubble right there


I need to go order 2-3 cans of SEM trim black now

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Aparentky LRS has new belt molding and retainers for pretty cheap.

Now debating if I should go with the repros, or keep my originals


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Preparing a car for paint is a tedious JOB !!!
I know I'm slow, but this is taking forever and a day. :dammit:

Bossed
Truth there. Key to it is when you get frustrated with a panel (or the whole thing for that matter) is to walk away for awhile and relax. Frustration doesn't lead to a straight panel.

Take a break, have a beer, relax a little. Think over what you're getting done, then go back. So, yes, I mean for you to literally to get physically away from the vehicle. Trust me on this one.

Also, focus on each area you are working on. Stop thinking about the whole job, it gets overwhelming when you consider the whole thing. Take the left fender and make it the best you can. Go to the right fender next, use what you learned from the left one on it, and so on and so on....

Keep in mind that when you are finished with a panel, you can forget about it. Also don't forget there are only two fenders, only two bumpers only two doors, etc.. You don't have to fix a hundred of each, just those two and you're done.

Keeping your mind fresh is so incredibly important when you want your mustang to turn out nice. Frustration and worrying about time will make for bad bodywork, bad paint, etc. It'll take how ever long it takes. I spent a year on my red car on bodywork, plus more for smoothing, mini-tubbing and other improvements.

Don't get a firm schedule in your head, this isn't an HCI swap that you can have done in a couple weeks.
 
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Dave, here's the scary part, I haven't even started that part yet. I'm almost ready to spray the backside of the doors and trunk lid, and the jamb areas behind those items. Just trying to get it masked up has taken much longer than I anticipated. Like I said, I've been accused of being slow before, but it's just because I want it to turn out nice. I realize the end result, may not show the effort given to do a good job, but I knew that going in. Thanks Dave, for the tips and encouragement.
 
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Ok, not sure if this has been covered.

But I'm trying to figure out what primers I'll need when I do my car.

I plan to take the doors and fenders down to metal ( lots of chipping paint)

So my plan was to get etch primer and polyester primer. But I'm wondering if I would be better off just using 2k urethane. primer. With the polyester I'll have to find a bitter tip to shoot, for 2k I'm worried about shrinking.
 
Ok, not sure if this has been covered.

But I'm trying to figure out what primers I'll need when I do my car.

I plan to take the doors and fenders down to metal ( lots of chipping paint)

So my plan was to get etch primer and polyester primer. But I'm wondering if I would be better off just using 2k urethane. primer. With the polyester I'll have to find a bitter tip to shoot, for 2k I'm worried about shrinking.
You're right with the etch primer, get a good two part etch if you will be stripping entire panels.

The primer is your choice, polyester primers are MUCH higher film build than a typical polyeurethane will be. We used to use it all the time for hail jobs before the paint less dent repair guys got a solid foothold in the business. It'll fill those little dents easily. Problem is blocking it all out will require a heavier grit sandpaper. We used to consider it sprayable bondo.

Polyester really does require a bit more work, but is fantastic for the light hail job repair. I haven't used it in maybe 15-20 years though. So I'm not sure what's out there now no the improvements made since then.

Polyeurethane primers do shrink back a little, but if you have the time to let it sit for one week, two would be better, I doubt you'll see much of any problem that is caused BY THE PRIMER. No guarantees on the rest of the work;).

Oh yeah, you are most correct about the tip needing to be larger. From what my near useless memory recalls, we used a 1.8 to a 2.1 tip on the primer guns.

We forgot to mention epoxy primers btw. I don't really use them much anymore, but they were fantastic for covering over paint areas you were worried that would lift. Like over the old lacquer systems from the way back time machine. Not sure where technology is on them either nowadays.
 
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As I'm reading online, it almost looks like I'll be better off with epoxy instead of self etch. I'll be spripping , priming, high build priming, then blocking, and priming more as needed.
 
As I'm reading online, it almost looks like I'll be better off with epoxy instead of self etch. I'll be spripping , priming, high build priming, then blocking, and priming more as needed.
I'm surely not knocking it, I've just been away from that type of product for so long that I can't speak really authoritatively about it.

It seems there was something about it that I wasn't thrilled about, I'll have to think about it for awhile. I know as a sealer, it was a wonder child for problematic paints.
 
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subbing. google has plenty of contradicting opinions on the epoxy vs etch debate, from what i'm gathering though is that etch may be more suited to a production shop, while epoxy may be better for situations like most of us hobbyists are in where a project may spend a lot of time sitting between stages (more moisture proof). obviously not a pro here, i just do a lot of reading.