Paint, but in what order?
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 168
Likes: 14
Paint, but in what order? Putting my 96 Impala SS back together after 12 years of it sitting in neglect. The body has taken a severe beating over the years and the car needs A LOT of body work. the rear 1/4 that was destroyed in an accident and the bondo repair eventually cracked, one door was sideswiped by a hit and run driver, countless dings and dents from panels being thrown in crammed sheds etc...
Anyway, there's no way I could afford to paint it any time soon. I'll barely have it in my budget to finish the build this summer. My friend does paintwork and painted the inner fenders and radiator support for me for materials only, they came out great.
I test hung the fenders and realized that some surface rust was developing at a few places inside the fender and around the mounting tabs and it made me realize I need to figure out a plan for painting this car. What do you guys suggest? I thought maybe have the fenders blasted and have my friend paint them with the same single stage he used on the inner fenders so at least least the engine bay would be finished. When it comes time to paint the whole car I could just tape off the engine bay, scuff up the fenders and spray the whole exterior at once?
Anybody have a better suggestion? Obviously the best way would have been to paint the whole car before I dropped the engine in but I need this car running by summer and there's no way I'd have it in the budget to do that. I dropped damn near 20k on this car this year LOL
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/145918422@N04/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/145918422@N04/, on Flickr
Anyway, there's no way I could afford to paint it any time soon. I'll barely have it in my budget to finish the build this summer. My friend does paintwork and painted the inner fenders and radiator support for me for materials only, they came out great.
I test hung the fenders and realized that some surface rust was developing at a few places inside the fender and around the mounting tabs and it made me realize I need to figure out a plan for painting this car. What do you guys suggest? I thought maybe have the fenders blasted and have my friend paint them with the same single stage he used on the inner fenders so at least least the engine bay would be finished. When it comes time to paint the whole car I could just tape off the engine bay, scuff up the fenders and spray the whole exterior at once?
Anybody have a better suggestion? Obviously the best way would have been to paint the whole car before I dropped the engine in but I need this car running by summer and there's no way I'd have it in the budget to do that. I dropped damn near 20k on this car this year LOL
IMH, the most involved repair would be the 1/4 panel, followed by the door skin. I would make sure that the car has no serious rust issues, first, as A) they can be fatal; and B) you're dealing with a 20+ year old car. My point is so that you don't spend a lot of money on small things, which might be easy and affordable, but might not be practical, if the car does indeed have bigger issues that might make the car less than usable/desirable in the long run. For instance, with the bondo falling off the rear 1/4, is there rust forming underneath? Stuff like that. What I'm getting at, is don't waste time on money on "easy stuff", just because it's easy, only to find that the car is beyond help.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 168
Likes: 14
IMH, the most involved repair would be the 1/4 panel, followed by the door skin. I would make sure that the car has no serious rust issues, first, as A) they can be fatal; and B) you're dealing with a 20+ year old car. My point is so that you don't spend a lot of money on small things, which might be easy and affordable, but might not be practical, if the car does indeed have bigger issues that might make the car less than usable/desirable in the long run. For instance, with the bondo falling off the rear 1/4, is there rust forming underneath? Stuff like that. What I'm getting at, is don't waste time on money on "easy stuff", just because it's easy, only to find that the car is beyond help.
definitely no rust issues what so ever. Car was always rock solid, I stripped the floors down and painted them a few years back and there wasn’t even really any surface rust. None of the body panels have anything except maybe a little rust on wear areas like where the fenders fasten to the firewall where the paint rubbed away. Just light surface rust.
no rust under the bonds repair, I actually sanded it all down to bare metal and painted it when it cracked. My friend who is a body guy looked at it and said he’s positive the 1/4 could be salvaged.
The rest of the car just has a ton of dings and dents from poor storage. I know I probably would have been better just finding a nicer body to drop down on my chassis but this was my first car so there is a lot of sentimental value. I don’t mind spending a bit more/doing a bit more to make THIS car like new again as opposed to just rolling the custom chassis I built under a cleaner SS
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
I have a 96 and the engine area is black from factory anyways so:
When it comes time to paint the whole car I could just tape off the engine bay, scuff up the fenders and spray the whole exterior at once? — this will suffice
only thing I would be concerned with is the areas that you may get paint bubbling from for surface rust still being left on there. If you can spend the time use scuff pad etc then do the outside later when you can pop dents, use smaller amounts of filler etc
Someone repainted my 96, so many peal points it was a cheap job :/ just something to consider.
When it comes time to paint the whole car I could just tape off the engine bay, scuff up the fenders and spray the whole exterior at once? — this will suffice
only thing I would be concerned with is the areas that you may get paint bubbling from for surface rust still being left on there. If you can spend the time use scuff pad etc then do the outside later when you can pop dents, use smaller amounts of filler etc
Someone repainted my 96, so many peal points it was a cheap job :/ just something to consider.
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 50
Likes: 3
From: Kingsport, TN
indyjps has probably your best bet, paint it a panel at a time
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 168
Likes: 14
Thanks for the replies guys! Car still isn't done mechanically, but getting there. Decided to add hydroboost, had to bend up all new brake lines, fab up a gas pedal for the driving by wire etc...
I have one fender off now for easier access to the master cylinder. There is really only a TINY bit of surface rust where the bolts cinch down the fender and the paint wore away. Part of me says just sand it down and spray bomb the interior of the fender, bolt them on and paint them with the rest of the car but it kills me knowing it's not the right way to do it.
Other option is have the two fenders fully finished now; blast them, paint them and install them. I won't run into any issues with that paint not matching the rest of the car when the time comes to repaint the whole car though? I wanted the car painted with factory paint FWIW, I want to get the same shade of block/same quality of gloss as the factory car would have.
One fender is actually a little damaged from the sideswipe hit and run. Not bad, but the edge is just a little dented in. It's easy to find donor fenders for these cars so may not even be worth keeping that one. Just wondering how hard it will be to remove the fenders once the whole engine bay is together. I guess it shouldn't be too bad, but they never seem to come out without cleanly without taking the inner fender out with it in my experience.
I have one fender off now for easier access to the master cylinder. There is really only a TINY bit of surface rust where the bolts cinch down the fender and the paint wore away. Part of me says just sand it down and spray bomb the interior of the fender, bolt them on and paint them with the rest of the car but it kills me knowing it's not the right way to do it.
Other option is have the two fenders fully finished now; blast them, paint them and install them. I won't run into any issues with that paint not matching the rest of the car when the time comes to repaint the whole car though? I wanted the car painted with factory paint FWIW, I want to get the same shade of block/same quality of gloss as the factory car would have.
One fender is actually a little damaged from the sideswipe hit and run. Not bad, but the edge is just a little dented in. It's easy to find donor fenders for these cars so may not even be worth keeping that one. Just wondering how hard it will be to remove the fenders once the whole engine bay is together. I guess it shouldn't be too bad, but they never seem to come out without cleanly without taking the inner fender out with it in my experience.
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Launching!
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 199
Likes: 20
Hows this going.
Little story. First car I did a full repaint on was an 89 Formula. Had the car pretty far apart, found out I was losing access to the shop i was working in. Got the doors and quarters done had to move the car. Pulled a panel at a time into a small garage in the winter got them painted and back on. Piece at a time with black centari. Shot plenty of coats, cured them with halogen lamps. Waited until late spring to cut and buff it. Last time I saw the car was 10 years later with really nice paint.
I still think good single stage black blows base clear away.
Lets see some pics of the progress.
Little story. First car I did a full repaint on was an 89 Formula. Had the car pretty far apart, found out I was losing access to the shop i was working in. Got the doors and quarters done had to move the car. Pulled a panel at a time into a small garage in the winter got them painted and back on. Piece at a time with black centari. Shot plenty of coats, cured them with halogen lamps. Waited until late spring to cut and buff it. Last time I saw the car was 10 years later with really nice paint.
I still think good single stage black blows base clear away.
Lets see some pics of the progress.
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