When I buy a car as a project, a
fter checking it out mechanically, I look at the condition of the body , make sure there’s no rust . I trusted my dad to pick me up a 280Z, he had just picked up a one owner 79,25k on her and a garage baby. She was like brand new, and he got her for 1,500.00. So I gave him 2500.00 so he had something to play with. He finds a 79-2+2 it’s wedged between two cars. It looked clean from where he said he was standing. Paid the guy 2,000.00 and drove it home . Once he got it home and in the garage, he almost had a heart attack. Rust everywhere, even worse to hide the rust , dude spread Bondo over the rust and then sprayed over it. My little brother got out a body work hammer ? tapped one of the wheel wells and the whole wheel well fell off . My dad , drove to Lake Havasu to pick me up , but didn’t have my car . Right there I knew something was wrong. On the drive to San Clemente, he kept making excuses about the car . Well it was getting dark out and the lighting sucked. It was wedged between two cars so I couldn’t see it . I was never so bummed out in my life . I couldn’t believe he paid for it . It had cancer everywhere. Floor board , running board, wheel well’s, hatchback. I wanted to cry . There was no restoring her . I had to improvise, bondo,fiberglass, chicken wire . I removed all the rust , then I replaced parts that could be replaced, the wheel wells, I put a wide flat on them , then i blocked the entire car . Cost a lot of time and money, but
she was **** when I was done. So I look at the condition of the body , dents etc,. Once I’m happy with it, I decide what color I’m gonna paint it . If it’s the same color , or dark you really don’t have to worry about primer (only places that are bare),I’ve sprayed magenta over black , even red over black and it came out nice . If your going light , like white or a pearl, I’d take it all the way down, then primer it, then spray it . At ultra limousine, I had a friend that had a red Ferrari and he wanted it magenta. We roughed out the paint (wet sanded it) taped it off , then sprayed it right there on the building floor . Normally I would have used the paint booth , but Vinnie Burgman the owner had his Corvette in there. It came out nice . Lightly sanded it , then buffed it out , he was stoked and it didn’t cost him 8 grand ?.I don’t have to block my Z. Take off the clear coat , tape her off , then spray it . There’s a lot more to it . I have to take off the front and rear bumper, hang them and I have to clean up the mud flaps and splash guards ( spray and clear coat),I’ll use the same paint that’s listed on my pink slip. The number Nissan used.
It’s all in the details. The more time you spend preparing the car the better the paint job. A perfect tape off= a perfect paint job. While I’m at it I look for any rubber trim or weather stripping that is dry rotten, needs to be replaced. Weather stripping is another thing that can make or break a good restoration. Another thing is if it needs body work and I bought it , knowing I had to repair it . I do it right . Replace the wheel well if needed. But if it’s a situation where you have to do dent repair, I use sheet metal , lead rather than a lot of Bondo. Bondo is good for small areas, but a large area I’d try and go with lead, fiberglass, or any other way possible. Bondo is easy to detect. Body shops tend to go overboard with it. Wow! Sorry for the long reply.