Optimus Prime - The '68 Coupe

[gregski]

In this post I would like to share with you the process I will go through to prime (or primer) I don't even know which one is proper, my 1968 Mustang coupe.

Why primer the car?

Well it looks like crap, and in order to get motivated to turn a wrench on it I can't have it look so depressing. Also I want to protect it from rust and prep it for a paint job.

I am doing this post for two reasons.

1. To ensure I stay motivate and committed to get this done.

2. To solicit your help and advice along the way.

A little background about myself. I am a computer nerd by trade. I have never primed and or painted a car before. I did however wet sand, primer, and paint a motorcycle before, and boy that was a lot of work. I swore never to do it again.

I don't have the money to have this professionally done and even if I did I would still attempt it myself to learn and enjoy the process and the results. My budget is to spend $100 per month on the car to bring her back to a daily driver condition.

Now to set our expectations. I am not going for A results, B is good enough for me. Now that is not saying I will put in half @ss effort into this, I will work my butt off, but A being the work of a professional with years of experience and all the proper tools, my B is going to be the best an amateur can expect. Also I allow myself to make mistakes and roll with the punches.

So sit back pop open a cold one or pour yourself a hot cup of coffee and don't hold back those "otta boys!" LOL

 

[gregski]

A blank canvas.... well sorta.

Ok, so first thing's first. What are we up against here? Let's see the canvas if you will. Well here it is, the way she looked the day I bought her. Some of you may have seen it already when I bragged about landing this beauty for a mere $800 bucks and a firm hand shake, others may have been spared till now.

 

[KreagerM]

It just needs a little wax, right? J/K good luck bringing this old girl back, can't wait to see your progress

 

[woodsnake]

You can do it! Just remember, if it was easy, everybody would do it!
DON'T QUIT!

 

[gregski]

... good luck bringing this old girl back...

yeah, I call her my Ex get it since it has those darn X's all over her (they were put on there by the county telling the previous owner the next time we come out to your property all your Mustang's marked with the X's will be towed) so I rescued one of 'em

also it pisses off the wife when I tell her I'm going to see my Ex every Friday night

 

[Jeffrey]

yeah, I call her my Ex get it since it has those darn X's all over her (they were put on there by the county telling the previous owner the next time we come out to your property all your Mustang's marked with the X's will be towed) so I rescued one of 'em

also it pissed off the wife when I tell her I'm going to see my Ex every Friday night

I like the Xs, you should keep them! At least the one on the trunk.

 

[HDTony]

Wow its rough, but im thinkin its not as bad as she looks. Stripnher down and get to work.

 

[gregski]

Plan B

so I have to be honest with you, the original plan was simple, buy the car, run by the local AutoZone and pick up 10 cans of gray primer for $1.99 each, put on some Lynyrd Skynyrd and hopefully by the time the last track of Nuthin' Fancy plays I would have a rattle canned gray car... BUT [and for those of you who have ever taken on a project car, you'll agree there's always a but] then I decided to learn how to properly remove surface rust from the roof and more importantly keep it from coming back. I also learned that not all primer was created equal. So Plan A quickly turned to Plan B.

PLAN B

Phase 1 - The Rusted Roof

Phase 2 - The Trunk and Rear End

Phase 3 - The Doors and Door Jams

Phase 4 - The Front End

I decided to break up the project into 4 phases for the following reasons. First I knew I could only work on the car on Fridays, and there's no way I could strip, prep, and prime the entire car in 1 day, [not even if Chip Foose and the crew of Overhaulin' did return my phone calls, but they didn't] I also did not want to strip a section to bare metal, like the roof for example and have it sit naked for weeks if not months until I was ready to prime it. Also working on a section of a car would keep me focused and give me a sense of accomplishment, [we do live in the age of instant gratification after all]. So just like my daddy would say if he was into cars, we start at the top and move our way from front to back, well sorta. We start at the top and move our way from back to front, since we don't have a hood, in hopes that we acquire one by the time it's time to do the front, LOL.

However priming a car in phases does have it's downsides. I would have to clean up after each phase, not only the car, but my work area ie the garage, but also the spray gun, etc. rather than just once at the end. I would need to run to the store for primer 4 times, (I like a fresh small can of primer, that they wiggle for me that day, rather than a large can I open and try and reseal and then sits on a shelf in my garage for weeks and settles).

More on the types of primer and my choice later...

 

[NasaGT]

You already know this - its cheaper to buy primer by the gallon. You can always take your paint back to where you bought it, or Lowe's or Home Depot and have them shake it for you. I used to do that before I bought a paint shaker from Harbor Freight. Probably the greatest thing I've ever gotten from Harbor Freight was that paint shaker.

 

[Red5oh]

You can look at the pics of mine when I first got it and how it looks now... its good to save them!!! Good luck and ask questions if you need them.

 

[pyroman]

I'm liking this thread simply because I will be trying to do something similar

 

[gregski]

You can look at the pics of mine when I first got it and how it looks now... its good to save them!!! Good luck and ask questions if you need them.

YOU ARE MY FRIGGEN HERO, welding, EFI, and I love those rims

 

[gregski]

I'm liking this thread simply because I will be trying to do something similar

thanks, I checked out your site, and I would not paint that green Mustang, two words for you "Pa Tina" lol, however have you heard of or considered a product called POR15 for the inside of your trunk, I can't wait to brush on some of that in my trunk.

 

[pyroman]

thanks, I checked out your site, and I would not paint that green Mustang, two words for you "Pa Tina" lol, however have you heard of or considered a product called POR15 for the inside of your trunk, I can't wait to brush on some of that in my trunk.

Ah sweet, unfortunately I've been lazy and haven't touched that site in probably 7-8 years

The paint has gotten much worse and it wasn't done very well to begin with. Since that site I've put in a new engine, suspension, new shock towers and in fact repainted the front end (aprons, frame rails, etc) with......:drumroll:....POR-15

Goodluck to you, I'll be following this!

 

[gregski]

Weapons of Choice.

Introducing the starting line up.

1. 5 Inch Random Orbital Electric Sander - Harbor Freight $20 bucks

2. 4 Inch Angle Grinder - Harbor Freight $15 bucks

3. Eye Protection - too old to remember where I got them

4. Air Mask - Home Depot $40 bucks

If our 5 inch work horse orbital sander is the Running Back, then that makes the 4 inch angle grinder our Full Back. So just as you rely on the RB to get you the easy 6 yards on a first and 10 ie strip off a coat of paint, you need the FB to get you that tough yard on third and 1, ie grind the rust off of those stubborn places.

Under the Safety First Column, we have the eye goggles, a must when using the wire wheel on the angle grinder, loose wires fly all over the place, and for those fans of oxygen, the air mask.

These four tools are a must, I will add the optional nice to have tools in the next post.

 

[gregski]

Nice To Haves...

Standing 24 inches tall and making a career out of sucking is our clean up hitter, the mighty Shop Vac aka R2D2. Not necessarily a must have, but definately a nice to have. $30 bucks from Harbor Freight and I love it, works great.

One of these triangular tool jobies, but only if you can borrow it from a your friend. It does get into those hard to reach places if you don't want to rely on handrolics and elbow grease.

Full face shield (Home Depot), it has it's place but in the winter it fogs up from your breath and it makes it difficult to see, gloves (preferably one for each hand, and not 3 sets for the right hand only, remember to kick the dog for that one) also from Home Depot.

now time for a Disclaimer and I hate disclaimers, but...

This is not a How To Prime Your Car post, this is How I Primed My Car post. Your help and advice is greatly appreciated, however I am not an expert body man / painter, nor do I play one on TV!

 

[gregski]

Phase 1 - The Rusted Roof

I know what you're thinking, are we gonna sit here and list all the cheap tools, or are we actually gonna get something done? LOL

So we join the action late in the first quarter, where Greg has jumped out to an early lead having completed Phase 1 - The Rusted Roof of the project.

What? How the he11 did he do that, this post just got started?

For an instant replay and excruciating step by step detail please visit the original post entitled http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/823770-restoring-rusted-roof.html

Below are some photos summarizing the strip down process.

 

[gregski]

Phase 1 - COMPLETED

Oh man it's a re run! Hang on, we're just getting up to speed.

And here are the photos of the primer being applied and the finished product. Remember although I had no runs, at this phase of the game, runs are not a big deal as they can and will be sanded down. Same can be said for the orange peal, which again I am happy to report I managed to avoid. Pardon me while I try not to sprain my elbow padding myself on the back.

 

[Pony66]

Roof looks great. I did my car piece by piece as well.

 

[KreagerM]

The roof turned out great