I guess this section is better suited for this kind of a thread than the introduction area. For those who haven't seen it, this is what I'm trying to do. Lately I've been focused on the body. When I finally got the wood grain vinyl all off, the chrome I wasn't crazy about, and the whole body sanded, I was still left with a mess. Lots of dings, a couple major dents, and a few spots that I'm just going to accept as flawed. I've been painting it using the roller method and have at this point gone through 3 full quarts of paint and half a quart of filler, and will probably need as many more quarts of paint before the car looks half way decent. Right now from some perspectives the car does not look half way bad, even when its sunny. Looks can be deceiving though, a more accurate view is this: In this picture you can see that the finish is fairly rough in spots. The best I can explain it is I have three different problems going on at once with the paint. First; with the acrylic so thinned with mineral spirits, it loves to make runs. You just can't put a coat down on the whole car and let it dry with this paint. You have to do a small section, like the hood, and sit there going over it with the roller again and again and again because runs will start to appear as the paint tries to self-level. If it starts to dry you sometimes have to rewet the roller with paint when going over it to take out runs as they form. I've left the car thinking the paint has set, with it looking smooth, and come back to find a few runs from the paint moving after I've walked away. This is more frustrating because the paint is so thin that if you sand out a run, it will take at least two good coats to cover up the sanding marks. Second, I have been getting a lot of bugs in my paint since I am doing this out side, like with the runs I have to sand trouble spots off and then do 2 coats to get it to look right again. I think this comes down to what time of day you work in. I have done much of this at dusk, when I work in the morning I get far less debris landing in the paint as it dries. I am going to have to find a garage to use for the very last coat to make sure nothing gets in it. Lastly, I am getting streaks in the paint. The sides of the car have perfectly vertical lines in the finish all along the entire sides of the car. It is quite odd since this has yet to happen with the tailgate. Only happens on vertical surfaces, and generally just the doors & rear fenders. I've ruled out contamination, prep errors. Each coat seems to make these lines finer and finer, but they're still nonetheless there. I thought maybe it was from the direction I was going with the roller, so i tried it both ways and it made no difference. The finish seems to take on these "stripes" after it sets. I will paint the car, leave it while it is tacky and it looks fine. Come back to it a few hours or a day later and the stripes will be in the finish. At this point I might do twice as many coats, and then just try to polish whatever I am left with to see what it looks like. Any polishing compound or wax I should try? Ideally something that does not require a wheel. But my biggest problem is with the roof. These are dry pictures btw, the paint is fully cured & hard as nails. I keep getting a very rough texture on the roof. The roof probably has more coats than anywhere else on the car, yet it keeps coming out rough. I've tried sanding between every so many coats and that only seems to make things worse. I don't care so much about the hood or front nose/fenders since those are all going to be replaced when I can find a buick front end anyway, but the roof is the biggest part of the car so I feel I have to get that part right for it to look decent. I would not be surprised if I end up using a quart of paint just in trying to get the roof right. I am thinking of using vinyl pinstriping tape to do the flames. I figure I will do the sides as I had planed in the rendering, with the intention of redoing the front fenders when I replace the front fenders. I need a purple paint to use for repainting the steel stock rims. I am going to guess I want something that can handle heat well? Like engine paint? Brake caliper paint?
I've never considered an Acrylic based paint, but I guess it can be done with a roller. I used Rustoleum (who also make Tremclad here in Canada). I used the instructions from the old Moparts.org thread, and adjusted the mixture for humidity and temperatures. It dries in 12 hours per coat. I used 3-1/2 quarts to do 8 coats. Using a flat paint must be a challenge with a roller job in Acrylic paint. Can't imagine how frustrating it must be. My total cost to paint the car inside and out, (no glass, no wiring, no headliner) was just over $218, including spray cans for tight spots). Canadian bucks. Probably $180 USD$. The original documents from Moparts.org thread are on page 8 of the thread. Pics start around page 18. I did mine outside too, and wetsanded the bubbles, streaks and bugs off before applying the next coat: http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=711 Here's my paint shop : I wouldn't use anything to smooth it out, until you get a good coat on it. If you really have to wait for a month to let the paint really cure and seal up. maybe use spray cans on the roof before you continue rolling more on the roof. You can always buff out the overspray.
Rustoleum is an acrylic based paint, isn't it? Or is it linseed based? It's actually a satin/semi-gloss paint that I'm using, which is why it looks so shiny in the spots that are smooth (like above the tailgate). When it comes out right, it looks great. When it's as hot as its been lately, it dries FAST. I can put down a coat and have it dry to the touch in under an hour, and hard within a few hours. I can conceivably do a couple coats in the morning and a couple more at dusk each day it doesn't rain. However when the stuff is thinned it actually manages to seep threw masking tape adhesive, getting paint on chrome trim parts that were actually taped properly the first time. I have had hit & miss luck with rustoleum spry cans. The flat blacks tend to clog the nossles very easily. I find I have to use 1/3 to 1/2 of a can before it will work correctly. Their flat black also tends to "flash dry" if you use it on a hot black car, that's been in the sun, in near 90 degree weather. By flash dry, what I mean is the paint will start to dry before it hits the car, and won't lay down properly. The satin black does not seem to be as prone to either problem. Paint costs so far have been 40 for 4 quarts of the satin black, 35 for all the black primer it took [and even that wasn't enough to do the whole car]. I will probably end up needing another 20-40 dollars of paint to get this all smooth. Not counting tape, sand paper, rollers, etc. The vinyl pin striping tape was another $20. I couldn't find a purple that matches my rendering anywhere. All the purples I was finding were either a really dark purple shade, or pale lavender shades. I didn't want to go with a really dark shade because then it might not show up the way I want it to, so I had to go with one of the brand's lavender shade [which is closer to my interior fabric anyway: & no, it's not glittery that's just from the flash]. I still don't quite know what I will be doing for the interior. The headliner in the front half, which I had left on the car, is starting to sag so I am tempted to pull it out as well now. I am tempted to get some thin sheet metal and see if I can find someone to wield it to the roof support braces to use it as a headliner, but I have visions of that idea turning into a slasher movie in an accident. I have, however, figured out how I am going to do the casket rollers. First call cars don't always use them anymore. Now they make roll strips which are basically really shinny & slippery metal bars that go down on the floor length-wise. They look sort of similar to the stainless strips that go between wooden planks on wooden truck beds, and the idea is that the body bags & church trucks just slide on them without touching the floor. Now if only I could find a cheap source for them. I do have to find a way to make the floor level. Is it normal for B-bodies to have uneven floors back there? IDK what I'm going to do about that, the first two floor sections seem to be level but then that 3rd one [counting from the rear bumper inward] is a good inch or more taller. When the flooring was carpeted the gap wasn't all that visible but with it all removed [that was a job as frustrating as taking all that vinyl wood grain decals off] it showed itself as a problem. I should probably paint all those sections before I get some flooring to put over it.
The heat is what's doing it. I painted in the evening. I got the wet sanding down to 2.5 hours for the whole car, and did other stuff. If it was a cool day, then I'd paint another coat. If you read those thread documents in my Roller Painting post (page 8), you'll find that everyone painted in shade. One guy even painted his Camaro in a Home Depot underground parkade, because his apartment parking stall was outside. There's lots of funny stories in those threads, as well as pics. You might look for the station wagon roof slides or some off an SUV or van, for your floor rails. I just bought a spare parts rack complete for $10 at a local pick and pull junkyard. Anyway, I'm glad to see you're pressing ahead. Here's a couple of 'motivating' pics for you: And one of our own member's results on his Ranger: http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9463
Gonna be a neat ride! Go to your local recycle yard and look for some stainless strips. At least around here you pay scrap prices for stuff out in the yard, so there are some good deals to be had.
Well I haven't been on here for a while so I figure I should give an update. The break lines are shot so I am at a point where I don't know how I am going to proceed. I was driving home from work in the rain one afternoon when I go to stop at a stoplight and the car damn near did a 180 on me. I figure maybe there was some oil on the ground or something like that and don't think anything of it until I got to the next time I had to stop. Then I hit the brake pedal and the car pulled, hard & fast, right into the oncoming lane. Now I knew there was something wrong with the brakes so I drove home [carefully]. On the way the brake light came on [a bit late, don't you think?] so I put two and two together and realized a line burst. Sure enough, when the cap to the reservoir was pulled it dumped all the brake fluid under the driver's door. The line that runs on the driver's frame rail from the front to the rear rusted out and burst. The whole damn thing has to be replaced. Whoever designed the brake system on these cars needs to be shot and sent to the Iraqi front, and then shot again. They put the line on top of the frame between the frame and the body. They have a series of bolts on top of the frame that holds the lines to the frame but there is no way to get anything in there. No socket, wrench, etc. The body is going to have to come off. I'm so frustrated I am seriously considering scrapping it and going back to Mopars.
Well If was mine I wouldn't scrap it. I would just reroute the brake lines inside the frame rails and say to heck with the old ones. Just my Good luck Rick
I just did the brake lines on my Parisienne wagon (the same body as your olds) and it is very doable. Get a set of those ratcheting box end wrenches and it is no problem to take the bolts off that hold those clips. It can also be done with regular box end wrenches but it is just more of a hassle. You can also get preformed brake lines from www.inlinetube.com for about $200 for a complete set. They even make stainless ones, which I chose so that I would never have to do them again. They are listed under Impala wagon brake lines. Don't scrap it for something that is this easy to change. I don't think it even took me 4 hours to change all 7 lines.
Well beyond more than normal, I'm very confused whith this OLD thread..... Looks Like StickMans Ride, but it does'nt...Looks like Stickmans home also. ???? ??
