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If the budget allows and you intend a full restoration, you may opt for a rotisserie such as this one from Auto Lift; however, they cost around $1,000. You can find used rotisseries, but be sure to get one that can support the weight of your body.
You may also need dollies to support fenders, the hood, and other take-off parts including the decklid and doors. Remember to put the dollies on wheels.
Ideally, all of these work mates need to be on wheels. Also keep in mind where you are going to store them both when they are in use and not in use, as they do take up a lot of space.
Rendering
A rendering is an image or model of what you want the finished product to look like. It is something else to consider before you dive into a project, not so much a restoration but certainly a custom paint job. Having a rendering done gives you a road map, even if it’s only a guide, that will help keep you focused.
As you can see, there’s a lot to plan when it comes to tackling a professional level paint job for your muscle car. One of our first steps when starting a new project is to make a checklist of all the things we have outlined above. Then, determine a ballpark figure of what the project will require in regard to both time and cost. Unless you have done this before, you will be surprised at the amount of time and money necessary to achieve above average results. You will no longer question the paint shop when they quote you time and materials.
A rendering can run somewhere between $300 and $1,000 but having a vision of what you want your project to ultimately look like is money well spent. It gives you a road map, a destination, and inspiration when energy is lagging. It can also generate some publicity, if that’s your goal, and it’s a very cool thing to have framed for the man cave. Steve Stanford created this rendering of Ed Chalupa’s 1967 Ford Fairlane. Steve Strope’s Pure Vision Design built the car and Mick’s Paint painted it.
We were able to follow the build and painting of Bob Florine’s 520-ci Boss Nine–powered 1957 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon. Steve Stanford rendered it and Steve Strope’s Pure Vision Design built it. It looks like a simple two-tone paint job, but you will see that it is complicated when you want to get it right.
As you saw in chapter 1, Make a Plan, you will need some specialized equipment that is not generally found in the toolboxes of most home mechanics. At this point, you might need to pause and once again ponder if this task is for you. It’s not that sanding blocks, hammers, and dollies are expensive, but grinders and spray guns can be; a good gun can easily cost $1,000. These items may be a one-time investment, and you have to ask yourself if that investment is worth it. Are you ever going to do this again? If the answer is no, then I would seriously consider having a professional shop tackle your bodywork and paint.
Something else to consider is that metal can be tricky stuff. It reacts. Hit it with a hammer and it stretches. Shrinking it back to where it started is by no means easy; it’s one of those tricks of the trade my dad told me about. Likewise, rust only looks easy to remove. Heck, you just cut it out, but replacing a panel or even a quarter panel is not a task for the inexperienced. You can certainly learn as you go, but you have to ask yourself if this is the project to learn upon. Inexperience can actually create more problems than what you started with. The result will be that you end up having to go to a body shop anyway. You might as well have gone to a professional in the first place. It is important to know your limitations and come to terms with them.
If this is a path you want to take because you want to learn, that’s great. If possible, get a panel from the same car or at least the same era and practice on that before you begin. Bash it. Hammer it. Heat it. Shrink it. See how the metal reacts and responds to your input. If you put a dent in it, can you persuade it back into shape? In the old days, a body man would spend years doing an apprenticeship, as Mick did, learning his trade and honing his skills. Don’t think that you’re going to become a professional overnight from learning on just one job or from a YouTube video. Patience is the name of the game. You can’t be in a rush; remember, more haste less speed.
If you find you need to replace a panel, and find a reasonably priced match, be aware that replacement panels don’t always fit as you hope they would. Sometimes, they barely fit where they touch. They could, therefore, need a lot of work, if not major surgery, before they align properly.
What You Need
You’ve decided to move forward. That’s great! Obviously, a lot of the equipment you will need can be rented from your local auto body shop or from places such as The Home Depot and other rental facilities, but be aware that these tasks invariably take much longer than anticipated and planned for. You have to plan accordingly, knowing that what you thought would take a day will undoubtedly take two or more. The extra days will cost more and that will affect everything you do in each step afterward. As we have said and will say over and again, all this needs to be thought through and planned for.
Stripping Equipment
Mick prefers W.M. Barr’s Aircraft Paint Remover from Klean Strip. Other products are available including aerosol options. However, if a non-fluorocarbon option is available, I prefer that to an aerosol. Besides the actual stripper, you’re going to need a slew of associated products including mixing cups, brushes, scrapers, bucket, Visqueen (a brand of polyethylene plastic sheeting) to protect the floor, and masking tape and paper as well as the aforementioned safety gear. You’ll also need a couple of workstands on which to support any removed panels.
Chemicals
It’s amazing how many chemicals you will need to complete the whole restoration process. The list includes: cleaners, degreasers, adhesion promoters, Quick Check, Guide Coat, etc. These items are explained in chapters 9, 10, and 11.
Masking Tape & Paper
Some shops appear to use whatever is on hand to mask a car, but any old tape and paper just doesn’t cut it. If you’re on a budget, you might be inclined to use newspaper or something
