Hey guys. Some of you have been giving me some great advice in Da Nailhead board and in pm's. So now that I've got the major part of the engine work done, I've finally started making it look nice. I've decided to go with a two tone color scheme with blue and white. I'll make use of the lines and curves of the body for color transitions. It's hard to explain, but I'll keep posting pictures as the work progresses. Right now, it's a lot of filling and sanding. I did get the first coats on the hood and the trunk already. I know you may think I'm crazy, but I am brushing the paint on. It's a glossy oil base paint. (rustoleum) Brushing it on may not look the best, but it's extremely durable, doesn't devour my wallet, is easy to touch-up, easy to aply, and I think it looks good if done right.
looks good so far... you can also roll on the rustoleum... just search $50 paint job and you'll find TONS of info
Ya, I would get better results if I rolled it on. The paint brushes do tend to leave a few more lines than the roller would, but I like the control I get with a brush - especially since I'm painting a car with a lot of detail in it's body. I've gotten a lot more blue paint on, but fixing all the little holes really takes up most of my time. I don't have hardly any of the chrome stripes, panels, and decals that were originally on the car. I don't plan on trying to find them either, so I have a lot of attachment holes to fill in as you can see on the open passenger door. My dog, Toto, isn't a very big help. She usually just sits on the seat while I paint and wonders when we're ever going to be ready to go cruising. :grin: ha ha.
It's been a very cold winter, and without a garage, I've had to wait for a long time to continue painting. Finally we're starting to get some warm days and I've been getting a bit of paint on the old Buick. My girlfriend is helping me a little to. She was doing the very detailed paint work around the headlights in the picture. It's still kind of cold, so she's wearing a scarf.
Im not gonna lie when I first read this I thought it wasnt going to work out but the car looks pretty good. Maybe ill make a sleeper skylark one of these days and do the $50 dollar paint job. Louie
Actually, you're kind of right Louie. A friend of mine runs a paint and body shop in town. He says my car look fine, as long as you're atleast 30 feet away. ha ha. It's good enough for me, and I guess that's what counts the most. I've been doing more body work. I have found that expanding foam sealant works good for the medium sized rust holes along the bottom of the body. For those really large rust cavities, I chopped sheet metal off of an old microwave oven and attached it with stainless screws and marine grade epoxy. I also put up a picture of when we took out the seats and rust proofed the inside floor. I had some extra yellow paint, so I used it here where hopefully no one will ever see it. This is really fun. I feel like Picasso when I'm painting, except my canvas is about 20 feet of steel. Rock and Roll.
I think I finally finished sanding on the big repair spots today. Has anyone one heard that you should wear a mask while sanding epoxy and fiberglass?? he he. Just kidding. I know the sanding picture is a little gross, not only am I surrounded by horse crap, but my dog is also licking itself in the background. I removed the back driver side door to repair a broken hinge. It kind of gives it a jeep feel without it there.
I think the paint looks great. I asked about this method awhile back and was hoping somebody would show pics start to finish. Now, this must be the best picture of any Buick on this site! I laughed so loud I woke up the baby when I clicked on this picture after reading your post.:TU:
I'd like to see more too, really looks good so far.:TU: The Rustoleum will preserve the metal and it's nice to not have to worry about scratches, dings, etc. which you can repair with this type of paintjob, very inexpensively.
I'm basically done painting the outside. FINALLY. Though I still have some more to do on the inside, like carpet, paint the dash and trim pieces, and cover the seat. I don't have any pictures of it totally finished, but I'll take some and post them. Here's a couple pics from two weeks ago when I was still painting. Where ever I used epoxy or had rust, I used Rustoleum's brown rusty metal primer. That stuff is absolutely incredible. I painted some really rusty floor pans on my 1960 Ford Ranchero about two years ago and still have not seen a speck of rust return where I painted. Painting metal with this thick gooey oil base paint is like dipping your parts in oil. It totally stops any oxygen from touching the metal, and that seams to totally stop the rust. I wouldn't really recommend to most people that they paint the visible body of their car with brushed-on Rustoleum like I did because it does leave brush strokes, but I sincerely believe Rustolem is the best thing for painting floor pans, engine compartments, inside fenders, under body parts, and any under body framework where you want to stop rust. I'll post some good pictures of the finished product as soon as the sun comes out. It's been rain and clouds here for days. Also; Crusader101, You are definitely right about this paint being easy to repair, which is really important since this car is now my only daily driver. I don't think I'll ever have a big-money-paint job on one of my cars, unless it's a car that I never touch.
It really looks like its turning out nice....:TU: I have an '84 Lincoln Town Car and was given an estimate of $2400 for rust repair and new paint...after reading up on the $50 paintjob, I used Brightside marine paint (Flag Blue) applied via small foam rollers and brushes, and between wetsanding and compounding it came out very respectable in appearance. You could further enhance your paint job with some wetsanding and compound buffing. But it certainly looks very good now based upon your photos.
All Done! With the outside paint, that is. Although a car like this is never truly finished. We're finally getting nice warm sunny weather here in Kansas City. So I gave the Buick a bath and got some good pictures of her. I have to be honest: The pictures make it look a little better than it looks in real life. Don't get me wrong though, I am very very pleased with how well she looks - especially for how much work I've put into it all. The pictures just don't show the brush strokes which you don't notice until you get with in about 8 feet anyway. Anyone standing atleast 15 - 20 feet away has no idea I used a brush to paint it. I just moved up to Kansas City about a week ago. I've lived here before, and there's a great community college here that I've attended before. They offer a great engine rebuilding class in which the students bring in their own car, pull out the engine themself, and rebuild it themself. This summer semester will be the second time I have taken this class. And I got a A last time. he he Though I won't be rebuilding the Buick, it already runs just fine. Instead I'll be rebuilding my 1972 Honda Z-600. I used the Buick to tow my little orange Honda all the way to Kansas City(about a 250 mile trip). My mileage was actually the same as if the Honda wasn't even there since I drove a little slower while towing it. I absolutely love driving the Buick - especially now that I'm mostly done painting the outside. But that Honda will get over 55 mpg with it's two cylinder, 600cc motocycle engine! Rock and Roll. This is going to be a fun summer.
