Thread: Prepping a 79 ford for paint, bondo cure time?

Tweet

Red,

Any shop that paints will do the taping, how well and whether they use fine line and lifting tape is the key to keeping the overspray off the trim and weather stripping on the truck.Of course before you bring it down to them, you should stop at a self wash that uses a high pressure wand and make sure you spray all the nicks and crannies to remove any dirt behind the window moldings and up in the wheel wells, as contamination is caused by not cleaning the vehicle first and having dirt and dust fly out from these area, even when masked off properly. As for prep of the body and filling the ding with plastic body filler, first make sure to prep the ding by sanding all the old paint off of it before filling it in. Use a spatula of a filler board to put the filler on as smooth as possible and as light as possible to fill in the ding. If you have to, after initial sanding you can always add more (less is more in this case and mindset) to build it up slowly. As stated above, drying time depends on temperature and humidity conditions, but figure on 20-30 minutes above 65 degrees, if you like, leave it for an hour just to play it safe and it will most certainly be dry by then (if you remembered the hardner that is). Prepping the rest of the body, if you are using a MAACO in your area, get there $99.95 "Value Prep" service, as that will remove the majority of the chips and scratches in your old paint. From experience, if you choose to do that part yourself you WILL use far more than the $99.95 just in materials to do it properly. Finally, sanding wise, you want to start with 180 grit, then move up to 220 grit (to remove the sanding scratches that the 180 leaves), then finish it off with 320 grit (to remove the sanding scratches that the 220 leaves). The single stage enamel or urethane paints will go over the 320 grit sanding marks and you will never see them. If opting for a base/clear paint job you would work your way up through the 400, 600, 800, 1,000, and even sometimes 2,000 grit sand papers for a true mirror like shine (again for base/clear only)......Any other questions in regards to this, just let me know, as my shop paints between 16-38 cars a week and I have yet to have a complaint about the quality of the finished product to date (I am a bit more anal than your typical MAACO owner about what leaves the shop though).


Bill S.