I work for Beer

[bobplyler]

It's solid lifter, with shims to adjust the clearance.

If you do that much work for beer, how much will you do for a keg?

[ez2wire]

I tend to be paid in Case increments on the order of 2 cases a week

Prefer bottles of a darker maltier hue

Also Keg wouldn't work as I don't have a kegerator and keg won't fit in refrigerator.

Recently the Beer of the Day has been Newcastle Summer Ale.

[ez2wire]

Just after paint




So Some BEFORE and AFTER Pics..

BEFORE



AFTER



Surprising what you can do with Black Vinyl Spray Paint, and Gorilla tape

BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER


Note the bumpers.. Sanded them down, and painted with etching primer, and Dupli-Color Silver Rim Paint, then had two coats of clear on top of that. $30 "Rechrome"



Ran light on paint and missed the Rockers.. so I painted the rockers with truck bed liner..



I think it looks pretty good actually.. Like I intended it to be this way.

[124JOE]

looks mutch better

[ez2wire]

Thanks

Think I know what the "original" brushed on paint was, a $34 Gallon of Rust-o-leum Industrial Red from Home Depot.. It was a dead match in color, and I could tell it wasnt house paint. So this fits what it was probably painted with.

BTW..

Final cost in Materials for bodywork was in the $400-$500 range

Final paint cost $175

$75 in Materials (Clear & Hardener), Paint as mentioned before was free as it was a collection of 4-6 different left overs from my buddies shop.

$100 to my buddy to paint.

Total for Paint and Body about $600

Again is it perfect..? Nope.. does it look good from 5-10 feet away.. ABSOLUTELY

Does it look a world removed from what showed up at my doorstep.. ? No doubt

BTW Before Pics 10/1/11 - Current Pics 11/8/11

Who says it has to take years to restore a car or a big budget.. ?

[Exit98]

Yeah, but don't be too modest.

You have a knack and the knowlege for good fast practical work.

There's a lot to be said for that, just as we can admire the guys like Brady who work at the other end of the spectrum.

[ez2wire]

You have a knack and the knowledge for good fast practical work.

I will admit I'm proof if you have a limited budget, you can "resurrect" a car for a decent budget and in a reasonable amount of time. Even if your skills are good but not great

Also helps to have enough time on your hands and willing to commit your weekends, and 4 hours a day after work on the project.

just as we can admire the guys like Brady who work at the other end of the spectrum.

Thats for sure.. the cars that guys take 3-4 years or more to get finished.. are usually the cream of the crop show winners and trailer queens and they are always beautiful works of art. I really wish I had the talent to do that level of work.

But since I rarely have the money to "invest" in that level of work. Nor the patience for that level of detail. My restoration work is suited more towards the daily drivers seen at a Wendys Parking lot on a nice Spring Saturday or Friday night .

Good to know your own limitations and accept them

[fiat218]

did u even sand this body ? look like u painted over a few spots on the hood

[ez2wire]

I did sand the body.. A lot..! There are a few imperfections, but none I see in the pics.. Are you looking at the before pics..? As the above pics show before and after..

[fiat218]

AFTER
it looks ok thru pictures, im not slamming u, relax

[ez2wire]

Just wondering where you saw anything on the hood in these pics..

But I know you had to be joking, all you have to do is look at the pics of the areas on either side beside the top, and rear trunk.

That said in a perfect world I would have chemically stripped it to the body. But knowing the extent of rust and filler, and fiberglass I DID SEE, I sure didn't want to get too far down and find even more. So I sanded down with 60 grit, and smoothed out with 220 grit, filled or smoothed rough areas where needed with bondo or USC All-Metal where holes or Jersey rust existed, primed with a build up primer, sanded and repeated as needed 3-4 times. Even then I wasn't perfect, but close.

Also should note that only the doors got replaced ( due to rust and poorly working windows due to rusted pulleys, etc... )

But the rear trunk lid, and hood were NOT replaced.. those were reused.

Oh and if you look at the Before pics:

1) You can see in some of the pics the pin stripe on the body that was under about 3 coats of paint.

2) There was also a glued on door ding strip on the side of the car that had been taped over and painted around at least 3-4 times so when it came off there was literally a cavern in the paint.

3) Lastly if you look around the wheel arches, there was a plastic wheel arch "trim" that was painted over at least 3-4 times as well.. When it came off. Well lets say I had to rebuild a number of areas of the wheel arch lips. Its amazing what you can do with tape and USC All-Metal. The stuff hardens like metal, but works like bondo. It good for filling and repairing things like a missing 1" of fender flare.

4) Lastly, did I mention the car was painted with a Gallon of Rust-o-leum Red Industrial Enamel paint with what looks like a old used brush taken out of a parts cleaner..?

I wish I had taken better during pictures..

So with all that work, there are still areas that you can see the "old bodywork" bleeding through..

Again far from perfect, but from my experience "perfect" usually takes a professional a week and costs about $6000 for a "cheap" perfect job. I did this myself in a garage for $600..

Also not sure I mentioned it before. This was the first time I ever took on a complete car and didn't pay anyone to go over my work before it got painted. I have patched a few fenders, welded in a few floor boards, patched a rusty rocker or two.. but always had to have someone go over my work before paint. I never did bodywork as extensive as the whole body. But I felt considering how bad the body looked when it came to my garage, I couldn't let it leave in that condition and I obviously couldn't make it any worse than it already was.

[fiat218]

relax

[Newell33]

Excellent job for what you had to work with for a canvas and budget. Keep up the good work!

[ez2wire]

Seeing your avatar, i can only imagine what my body would look like if i went down that far. Looks like you started with a really nice body. At least relative to what i started with.

[124ADDHE]

Good work man! most people would have had a f-ing fit when they saw the car in its original state, it really looked to be hiding all sorts of major damage and now its a great car that will make someone quite happy