A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Hi all,

I've been reading so much great information on this forum. Thank you to all that take the time to impart their wisdom. In my reading it became apparent that I needed a plan before I start painting this beast so I thought I'd lay it out here so you all can tell me what I'm missing and where my plan could be better.

The truck is running and driving and I'm going to miss cruising around in it, but she's loud inside the cab and the rest of the family doesn't love it so much! The plan is to put together a driver that I can still throw crap into the back of with out having a coronary. I want it to look nice, but not that nice, and make it comfortable for the family to ride around in.

Here's how she stands:
Attachment 2064717
Can we get some long bed love?! It's a truck - more is more!

What I know I need to do:

+ remove the really crappy paint that is chalking off. My plan is to sand with 80 grit on the DA. Do I really need to go to bare metal or can I get away with leaving whatever is good from the original paint?

+ cab corners, rockers, inside roof on passenger side by windshield, and the driver's bed side all need to be replaced
Attachment 2064718
Not a good fix!
Attachment 2064719
Even more reason to replace the left bed side

+ Something has to be done around my drip rails in places. Is there a "pretty good" fix for this or am I in for a big job?
Attachment 2064720
Attachment 2064721

+ Giant dent in the passenger door from the hinge stop failing
+ Lots of holes in the floor and dash from various farm type "add ons" to be patched
+ Pretty big ding on the roof that needs to be pulled out.

I'm planning to work piece by piece starting with the hood which is in pretty good shape and move towards the parts that need more work once I have some sea legs. I'll disassemble, sand it down, do the body work and epoxy primer it. Then on to the fenders, doors, bed, and cab. I'll also get some paint on the frame while it's apart - what's a good choice for that?

Once all the pieces are ready I'm planning to reassemble and fit everything. Then I'll move it in the garage with the bed pulled back a bit and hit it with a couple of coats of high fill primer, block it, and paint it with BC/CC(or SS? seems to be some debate here over which is better for someone with VERY little painting experience) in a non-metallic light gray. Originally I was thinking of using some really cheap paint and I could probably still be talked back into that, but after much reading it seems like the general wisdom is to use something along the lines of PPG Omni. I am still very tempted by the reasonable pricing of Summit's paints though. Input please!

I guess that's about the size of it. What am I missing? I'd like to get this done in a reasonable time frame (duh) but not rush it and seeing how we're going to be at home a bit more now here in California I'm thinking I could get a fair amount done in the next couple of months.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Some of that would be easier to replace vs repair.

I saw this on CL earlier today, looks like there are (some) decent parts and it's only about an hour away from you...

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/...227910841.html


Anyway, I look forward to seeing your progress on this! Best of luck!

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Will you be able to weld pieces in ?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Will you be able to weld pieces in?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Thanks for this! I'm planning to replace a bunch of things and fix a few.

I hope so. I've done some welding and watched a lot of videos! :lol:

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Not trying to rain on your parade..but welding thin sheetmetal is a whole different animal...I'd suggest grabbing some old fenders from a body shop and practicing before you commit to welding on the truck..
Anywhere you can use a copper backer it will help prevent burn thru...

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

This is a great learning experience. Bodywork, you make a mistake, you do it over again until you're satisfied. There are a lot of great YouTube videos on body work and painting you can learn a lot from .

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Anything can be fixed . Once you open up that cab your going to find a lot more rot. It's like an iceberg 90% is unseen. Practice on some fenders to get the welding down, do you have access to a mig or tig?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I can believe that. mig welder is what I have. I definitely plan on practicing on some old parts I have before getting into the truck itself. Thanks for the input everyone.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

With restoration work you will always get some lumps, bumps, and bruises and a few burns. You know the old saying, Safety First .Well try to practice it as best you can

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Use .24 wire low amps adjusting the feed to not burn thru. You using shielding gas or flux

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

A good auto darkening helmet and a pair of gloves is a good investment. If you turn the torch on a 45 degree angle you'll be able to see a little better.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I had read that somewhere so I have .24 wire already. Gas

I have the auto darkening helmet and gloves. Didn't know about the 45 deg thing though. Definitely going to try that out.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Finally bucked up my courage and took apart the front end today.

Attachment 2066358

Attachment 2066359

Attachment 2066360

Attachment 2066362

Attachment 2066363

In general I was really pleased. I didn't come across anything that made me think I was in big trouble. Especially with the cab, the vent pieces behind the fender actually don't look bad at all. A little bit of funk inside the right hand side vent area where all the leaves and dirt were, but not horrible. I only broke one bolt taking all the stuff off so I thought that was a real win.

The final tally of long lost extra parts that fell out after getting all these parts off: 16 washers, 6 nuts, 4 bolts, 1 screwdriver :lol:

I started sanding with the DA and 60. Boy, that's gonna take a long time to get through this white, probably not automotive paint much less to get it to bare metal.

Questions for today:

Do I really need to go to bare metal?
If so is there a better way to do it?
Can I get away with just sanding all of this with 60 then 120 and then epoxy?

Again, just a driver that will last a while, not a show truck or anything.

Thanks guys! Long road ahead, but at least I've started.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

It looks like you're in pretty good shape. There are Coatings designed for marginally prepared surfaces. Permanent rust sealer[ aluminum pigmented] is used on Bridges and has a 20-year service life. Clean it up best you can make sure you put a second coat of the Permanent rust sealer on it and then any kind of black topcoat you'd like over it.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Welcome to 70 LWB club!!! I started basically where you are. Taught my self how to weld, work that body, and paint while restoring my 70 (still learning really). There is so much information on the web you can learn anything you need. Just take your time and you will do fine.

As for going to bare metal. If the DA is taking the paint off easy, its flaking off, or not feathering on the edges, then I would take down to bare metal, as that is a sign of bad adhesion. My truck had a spray can primer on top of the original paint and I didnt take it to bare metal on all panels(most but not all). Inside the cab I just sanded to get a tooth to stick to. I knocked the primer off real quick and could tell the difference between what was bad adhesion, that I didnt want to paint on top of, and what was acceptable to me.

Get some sheet metal from HD or Lowes and practice your welds. Spot welds and butt welds are the most common. I like to test my practice pieces by taking them back apart. Your screw ups can be great learning experiences, not that your going to have any of those, right. :devil:

What color are you going with?

I love going to the home improvement store with an 8' bed. Good luck.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Cool. That makes sense.

Yes my brother! Love me the long bed and you're right on about getting supplies in it. It's what a truck is for!

Great. I can definitely tell where it's sticking and where it isn't. That's going to be my plan.

Will do on the sheet metal. Definitely gonna be screw ups! I'm going with a non-metallic light gray.

Thought of a few more questions:

On the inside of these pieces should I use something like CLR to get as much rust out as possible? Seems like sanding in there is going to be...ah...challenging. Or should I just do like lupo said and use a rusty metal primer in there without doing much?

Then once I have the insides cleaned up and primed I guess I'm going to top coat that with something other than my actual color for the rest of the truck. Maybe a low gloss black something? Suggestions?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

CLR is really lightweight stuff. Rust remover/ metal prep from restoration supply companies are much more aggressive and do the job much faster. When you get a good rust remover dump it down in all your welds. Cab corners , inside your doors , inside your rockers. A quality metal prep with zinc when you have your vehicle down to bare metal and you don't want to paint wipe a little rust remover prep on the panel and it'll stay rust-free for months in your shop.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Great info. Thanks

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I discovered today that I can scrape the white paint off fairly easily with a scraper:

Attachment 2066638

I'm guessing that means that I need to scrape it off because it didn't really adhere to the layer beneath. Or am I wrong and will the primer "glue" this down as long as I can sand it to look like this?

Attachment 2066639

I don't want to create more work for myself if I don't need to do this, but it seems like it probably needs to come off. I checked several places around the truck and it scrapes off easily everywhere.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

If it scrapes off easy, then it needs removed...get it down to goodly adhered paint or bare metal...my preference is bare metal...then get some epoxy primer on it

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I agree to get the white off and as much as the green base paint as possible. I don't agree about using an epoxy primer over it. The reason being epoxy primer does 700 hours of salt spray urethane primers do 8000 hours salt spray ,better suited for a surface such as this one. Permanent rust sealer / surfacer are better suited for going over old paint and in some cases rusted surfaces because it deprives the surface of oxygen and moisture. After two coats of urethane sealer then comes the epoxy surfacer then the color coat. These vehicles done properly, you can drive for the next 30 Years. I did a 55 Chevy like this in 2006 and it's still show quality.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

The white paint is flaky. Once you get that off you can evaluate the green, it seems to be holding up better to the scraps. probably won’t take too much longer to take it to bare metal if your using 60- 80 grit, especially on the flat panels. For door jams, drip rail, and fire wall I like to sand blast. You can get a 20-25 gallon blaster pretty cheap at harbor freight. Play sand from HD works well as a media if you strain the pebbles out. Keep the blaster away from larger flat panels like your hood because they can warp metal. If it’s thicker sheet metal like a cab floor support or has Intricate bends like door jams you can blast it, saves a lot of time rather than trying to sand in hard to reach areas.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Never use play sand or any sand in a blaster. Use blasting media made for that purpose, sand is silica based upwards of 90% so unless you have a great filtration system not just a mask but pure filtered air you will inhale some as will everyone down wind of your blasting . Why take the risk when black beauty is like 8 bucks and contains far less than 1% free silica.

A lot of people say they sell it in the store for kids to play in so it must be safe . Sure it's safe in its unaltered state. But once you use it in a blaster you are cracking down the grains to powder that will stay on you and everything around you for a while. Ever look at the plume around guys using a blaster? To save 40 or 50 bucks isnt worth it .
https://www.precisionfinishinginc.co...-a-sandblaster

I use black beauty and grushed glass for blasting .

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

This is what I use. https://www.amazon.com/Hobbyair-Supp.../dp/B003973Q9S

Yeah, always use appropriate PPE. We are talking about painting with dangerous chemicals, and don’t stick your tongue in that light socket. You can use sand as a blasting media people do it safely everyday.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I disagree. There is no safe way of using sand . And why would you when there are better products out there that aren't any more expensive. Take a look at the regulations for silica blasting most people other than large contractors dont have the ability to conform

No company that make blasters recommend sand as a medium. But enough on that subject

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Thanks for all the good input guys. At this point I'm pausing to consider having it blasted professionally. I gotta weigh time vs $$, but it seems like a reasonable trade in this case. The white comes off but it's not quick. Once I've done that I still have to sand as much of the green off as I can and get the rust off the backs of the panels. That's a lot of time. After doing a lot of reading on these forums it sounds like the best approach for having it blasted is to take it in a bit at a time rather than blasting it all at once. That works for me, I'm not too far from a guy I've used before that has lots of experience blasting cars so I know he'll do it right. Like I said, I'm pausing to consider which makes the most sense for me.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I was gonna say to be sure and use a guy that knows what hes doing ...sounds like you got that covered..
I weighed the time vs $$$ on my IH build...doesnt take long to decide that blasting was the best option..
They can get into all the tight spots I couldnt..other than my doors, it was money well spent..I could drop parts of in the morning, pick em up in the afternoon..wipe em down and spray em with epoxy by dark..
If you do get them blasted be sure to get some epoxy primer on them before they flash rust..then you can do you repair work and follow that with epoxy as you go..
They used coal slag on mine..

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I've been making progress, got the front end off and most of the stuff inside the cab is pulled.

Attachment 2068160

I have decided to go with sandblasting. My local guy will even pickup and deliver it so that really clinched the deal for me. I think it makes sense in terms of time/money. Like I said at the beginning I don't want this to drag on forever!

I've got a line on some parts I need locally so I'm gonna get those soon. I'll post again once it's all taken apart and ready to go to the blaster. Most of my questions are about body work, but now I'm wondering if I should maybe start a build thread instead of posting here. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I practiced my welds for a while today. Wow, I suck! But, I did learn a lot. If anyone else is just getting started I found this incredibly helpful!

https://youtu.be/qScAlxb34UA

I've learned a lot from his videos and his accent is a trip. After watching the video I was able to get my welder dialed in and it started getting passable (to me):

Before:
Attachment 2070721

After:
Attachment 2070722

It's a little hard to tell because I was hacking up my scrap piece so bad, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I tack welded and moved to a different spot and then went back, but I definitely over heated it with the grinder so it warped a bit.

What do you guys like to use to grind/sand down the welds so it doesn't get too hot?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Dont try to weld a bead on thin metal..it will result in a mess...only do stich/spot welds..keep each spot about 2in apart, and move around as you go.. wait for it to cool before doing more..When doing stitch welding, you'll need to grind each spot as you go, be sure to grind only the metal you added with the welder..if you go to town with a grinder, you'll get into the orig metal before you know it..then itll be really thin..
I use the mp&c method..use a cutoff disc on a air grinder..keep disc 90deg to your weld seam and you can keep it on the high part of your weld....do a series of spot welds and then grind each weld flat...if possible use a hammer and dolley as you go on the ground spot welds...also anywhere you can get copper on the back side of the weld it will greatly help you prevent burmthru...

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

One tip that helped me was when your weld sounds like bacon frying, you get a nice weld

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sanding+f...983562239&hvde These flap disc on a grinder work very well they don't usually attack the surrounding area of the weld. Keep practicing each day will get better. Let me know when I can drop a few things off