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- Thread starter Derek69SS
- Start date
I see you're reverse taping all your color laps, are you moving your tape every coat? It's a pain to do it that way, but I fully understand the restrictions of painting in anything less than a pro booth. Have you discussed your technique to cut/buff those areas?
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
Yes, Dad was owner/operator of a small town body shop for about 35 years. I worked with him through High School to learn the skills, but he strongly discouraged us kids from doing it for a living.
He retired about 5 years ago.
For the rest of the car we'll paint it at my brother's shop, since he has a home-built paint booth with better ventilation. I wanted to do the roof separately so I didn't have to worry about leaning on or dragging a hose across another panel. It was also easier to do now with the doors off... tall car, short guy with short arms.
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
Not sure what you mean.
Jambs are all painted first, then knock those edges off when I final wet-sand the primer with 400. There will be a tape line in the door jamb where I overlap. Not much can be done about that unless you paint the car all apart. I don't have the space to paint it disassembled.
Painting the roof, I put the tape line on a seam under the drip rail, so it will not be seen. Paint edges around the windshield and back window will be hidden under the trim.
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
We made a lot more progress this week. Cale with some help from his brother AJ got the 406 and Saginaw 4spd installed into the car, and repainted and installed a vintage set of Appliance headers with 4-bolt collector flanges.
I block sanded both fenders multiple times, and now have them in their final coat of primer to be wet sanded for paint. Doors were also primed their last time. Core support blasted, primed, some pitting filled and sanded, and painted.
Cale stripped the extra hood and I welded up the hood bird and emblem holes.
Last night we hung the doors, and tonight I'll paint the fender jambs, then Tuesday night we'll hang the whole front clip. Hood will need some straightening and test fit on the car before we bodywork it.
I block sanded both fenders multiple times, and now have them in their final coat of primer to be wet sanded for paint. Doors were also primed their last time. Core support blasted, primed, some pitting filled and sanded, and painted.
Cale stripped the extra hood and I welded up the hood bird and emblem holes.
Last night we hung the doors, and tonight I'll paint the fender jambs, then Tuesday night we'll hang the whole front clip. Hood will need some straightening and test fit on the car before we bodywork it.
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
Previous owners turned this garage into a apartment, then I knocked the wall out to turn it back into a garage, but left in all the cabinets. Also has a really nice full bathroom... kind of a shame I'm getting everything covered in overspray, but it's really nice having a separate small garage just for doing bodywork and not having all that dust and overspray in my main shop.I guess it's not really the kitchen.
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
Grandpa came over last night to help align the front end sheetmetal. This was a struggle that fought us every step, caused by one incorrect part.
The core support that we got with the car is for a '56
It's about an inch wider than a '55 core support. It bolted up to the 55 fenders, but we spent a few hours fighting the fender fitment before I sent Cale out to measure the core support of my '55.
Once we figured that problem out, we removed the core support and aligned things the best we could without it. Since everything moves so much without that support, the final panel gapping will have to wait for another time.
Also, the 2nd hood was a struggle as well. I think we'll be better off going back to bare metal on the first hood and spending more time hammering and shrinking.
The core support that we got with the car is for a '56
It's about an inch wider than a '55 core support. It bolted up to the 55 fenders, but we spent a few hours fighting the fender fitment before I sent Cale out to measure the core support of my '55.
Once we figured that problem out, we removed the core support and aligned things the best we could without it. Since everything moves so much without that support, the final panel gapping will have to wait for another time.
Also, the 2nd hood was a struggle as well. I think we'll be better off going back to bare metal on the first hood and spending more time hammering and shrinking.
Wow, that sux that the supports are different widths. But glad you figured it out so quickly. Good work.
I'm surprised to hear the core supports are different, you'd certainly think GM would've used the same stamping as the 55's, guess the 57's are also different than either 55 or 56
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
Yeah, all 3 years were different. Also 6cyl vs V8 were different as well, so 6 different core supports for tri-5.
6cyl being longer needed more room, so the radiator is mounted to the front of it. V8 mounted it to the rear, closer to the engine.
I came close to buyinga plum crazy painted (faded) 57 coupe with a 6 cyl & 3 on the tree to drop my 454 in, bet Id been pulling my hair out with problems lol
Looks great 
.......the 57 is very unique as it drew fresh air from around the headlight and ducted it into the HVAC system.
.......the 57 is very unique as it drew fresh air from around the headlight and ducted it into the HVAC system.
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
On Saturday Grandpa came over to help shoot the car. It worked really well having 2 paint guns going, so we could keep from getting dry spots. It wasn't without hiccups, though. I had a user-error with my gun and got a few drips of basecoat on the trunk area that we needed to let dry and block sand before we could continue.
Cale shot a little basecoat but most of it was sprayed by Dad and myself.
Cale shot a little basecoat but most of it was sprayed by Dad and myself.
Derek69SS
Veteran Member
Tamco doesn't recommend fast reducer in their clear, so we did medium and just tried to keep it warm enough... we had a box-fan in the window and varied the opening of the door to control how much air it could draw in so the heat could keep up.
Looks fantastic, and again, such a great color on a '55. I've shot a flow coat on the last 2 projects, which is a bit more forgiving on the peel and makes the final cut much easier if needed at all. Takes more time, but imo, well worth it.