59 Catalina

[kb426]

Any word on color?

[idrivejunk]

Any word on color?

Yessir. Black.

[idrivejunk]

[kb426]

Is it common to cover the whole car with a coat of bondo? I've heard that before but not from a shop that's still in business. LOL

[idrivejunk]

LOL all you like, thats a fairly direct jab, man. :? You sure go to a lot of car shows for someone who knows so little about show cars.  What you see is par for the course, my friend.

[kb426]

I meant no disrespect, Matt. You are correct, I know little about show cars.

[idrivejunk]

No worries. Less work to not show this step. I'll update when the car is finished.

[enjenjo]

Skim coating the whole car  is the way you get those great reflections in the paint. Most high end cars are done this way. Unless the owner wants a metal finished car. Then instead of skim coating it, they spray on several coats of high build primer to do the same thing. Back in the day it was done with lead, and 30 coats of "hand rubbed lacquer".

[idrivejunk]

I've posted enough builds to know that rust makes people go can't you buy a better car, and that a skim of filler sets off bad bodyman alarm when nothing is further from the truth. I've not had a customer opt for all primer rather than filler. My take on it is this: First theres an epoxy layer. Every other product is polyester until final primer.

Show car SOP goes like this

Sand off bulk of existing material to assess panels.

Blast. Epoxy. Metal work. Spot epoxy topside. 1-2 coats

Filler. Polyester primer full application 2-3 coats.

Sand, Poly primer spot application 2 coats

Sand. Acrylic urethane catalyzed primer surfacer, two coats. "Final"

Everything gets a coat or two of "wet-on-wet" sealer, probably same product mixed as primer-sealer. Sometimes it gets dried and sanded too.

Then paint, right then or next day.

The way I came to view polyester primer is as the glaze coat.

I will seize the urge to not post mud stuff or really anything body wise until its grey. My reason just follows my moral pattern... I show what I do, in detail. I respect the other guy plus don't have the ability to closely follow the works of others. Frequent updating is a habit thats really easy to break but folks do count on some level of persistance from me and I'm aware of that whether I can sense it or not. So I contribute as I can. Depend on that!

All these skims and glazes sounds like a dairy aisle. If you're confused, ask and get your head bit off, haha. But yeah perhaps I need a mud and rust disclaimer up front and a beware of junk sign. I have ups and downs and find myself with a sufficient number of projects behind me to expect repeated alarms but also... have been around long enough to observe that they only come from those who really do pay attention. So I should go past it smoothly because each car is there so long. Last week I was volatile enough to alarm myself. The one thing I may never figure is why online I'm the guy needing slack because of being young. I've been hearing how old I am from coworkers since I was thirty. Must mean I am in my prime at work. Ouch.

There were lively discussions about styling on the Catalina. I personally have throwed a whole case of shells at the shotgun approach, figuratively speaking. None of our ideas got any grip, nor did the pro-rendered idea for exhaust outlets. But I threw down a solid fresh idea that really had em staring at it. Still think my ideas for various trim revisions could possibly stick. We stuck a 7" headlight in the outer bezel and it was instantly cool looking

[idrivejunk]

For my next act, I'll replace the face of this panel. I had suggested doing so after fabbing all around it and warping and stretching the bejeepers out of it. Now its a reality. Never leave any bejeepers in anything if you can help it. Seriously, I am shaving seams at the edges and doing as little damage as possible just going for a flat panel there...

[idrivejunk]

Boy howdy.    All I have to do is stop when the music does and I might get cake?    So far, so good. Just a flat panel with a step with only a couple wiggles rolled in it. I'll bend the back edge straight down and overlap in the jamb, probably just plug welds up front also, under the molding. Then I'll see where the end seams lead me. I am thinking trim the new piece directly over the old seam with the old panel's edges knocked down so the new part is flush.

[idrivejunk]

[idrivejunk]

Here are some pics from way back that may help explain why my current task is necessary. That panel was a "hey, if it turns out good enough, we'll leave it" item. Since its going to be a black show car, they are letting me go ahead and replace it. The repairs shown below were done with the repair above in mind, knowing that fabricating the entire panel was beyond my realm and that this part should be easy if the first repair's result proved unsatisfactory. The decision to do this new piece sure made the mud man smile. But if you examine the pics and follow the story, I swear theres a foundation in logic that you can find.

Call this a prequel?

[idrivejunk]

[idrivejunk]