Body Work Planning Question

[Chaparralman1974]

Good morning everyone!

As I am now getting closer to the point where I can begin the body work phase of my restoration project, I would like to plan for, and have a better understanding of the order of operations. For example, my plan would be to begin with the cab, them move onto the doors, then the fenders and hood, and then do the bed last. I have the cab already on a dolly in the garage now. Just like pretty much every other truck of this vintage, I have to replace the rockers and part of the floor. I was thinking of getting the entire cab stripped (not sure yet what method I will be using), but should I do that and then begin the metal work, or should I replace the rusty parts that I know of now and worry about stripping it later? I may end up stripping it myself with a stripper wheel but the front part of the cab has some rust and with the contours of it, the only way that I can see to do it would be via blasting. If I do strip it first, I am assuming that I would need to get it all primed before doing any metal work? I have never done body work so I am not sure what is the best way to do it. I have been watching a lot of videos and such, but it seems that there are several ways to skin a cat here.

Thanks, Clay

[mongocanfly]

heres how i did mine..
disassemble everything and took it to the blaster
he uses coal slag so it easy on the sheetmetal
got it home and immediatly sprayed it with epoxy primer
then i started the body work..when i had a area done i would spray over the body work with more epoxy.. this seals the filler and any bare metal..
once all that is complete i did the highbuild over the epoxy..
getting it blasted to me was the best solution.. itll really show you the condition of your metal...plus the blaster gets in all the nooks and crannys that would be near impossible to sand by hand..
ive hand stripped paint from old trucks before..and now ill gladly pay to have them blasted..they can do in hrs what would take me weeks
but make for certain that if you decide on blasting , that whoever you use knows about blasting body panel sheetmetal..
them not knowing can ruin a vehicle

[LS short box]

When I did my 68 C10 I disassembled the whole truck down to the bare frame.
Then I stripped the doors, fenders and hood first. I used paint stripper on the big some what flat areas staying away from the seams. Then using a small pressure sand blaster blasted the edges. Then I took each part as I had them cleaned up to a local body shop and they sprayed them with epoxy primer to prevent flash rust. Then I stored them away one at a time until body work.
The cab was a similar process. My cab only had pin holes from a leak in the heater core. I built a cart that bolted to the cab.
Body work wise I'm far from an expert but for 8 hours per week (two four hour days per week my back can't take any more) I help a buddies body shop with their resto projects.
First step is repairing the rust damage. I don't do that. I'm the king of block sanding. So after rust repairs we do the following. First a skim coat of filler. Sand 99% of that off. Then a coat of "poly" spray filler. Sand 99% of that off. Then two rounds of sanding epoxy primer with guide coats staring with 180, then 320 on a long block. Then 320 on a soft pad DA.
My buddies body shop manager supervised me doing all the work on my truck.
Prior to building the 68 I never did any body work in my life.
I did a solid color red so we could spray all the parts off the truck. Couple of pics. Work in progress and finished.

[JJH Jimmy]

Yes, many ways to skin this cat. It all depends what works best for your situation and space. I personally like to fix the rust and do my metal work first. Sure you may find a spot that you need to repair after stripping but you should be able to knock it out quickly before epoxy.

I also use coal slag for blasting but I only blast edges and areas that don’t have large flat surfaces (hoods, roofs, quarters, door skins etc.). For those areas I uses a combination of a da and strip discs but be careful of strip discs because they can get the metal hot enough to warp it. I would not trust anyone except myself to blast my project. It can be ruined quickly!

I also do my projects pieces at a time. After epoxy then do your filler, block sand, reapply epoxy over bare metal and filler, high build primer, block sand to 220 grit. Once all your pieces are blocked to 220 I pull them back out in batches that can be painted together for the space that I have. Block those pieces to 400 with guide coat, spray them with epoxy mixed as sealer, base then clear. Of course this is for solid colors. If you are spraying metallic base blocking to 600 grit and spraying assembled is a must.

[62c30]

On my 61 I started with the obvious rust repairs and then had the cab blasted. If I could go back I would have it blasted first thing. After it was blasted there were several smaller holes in the floor. I had already replaced about 25% of the floor at this point. I would have been better just to have replaced the entire floor with a one piece than patching it together. I needed to put a new roof skin on and knew that from the beginning so I cut it off so I could get the the insides blasted and primered.

[Chaparralman1974]

Ok, so it sounds like the best plan would be to get the cab blasted, primed, and then begin doing the metal work.

I have to do a lot more research into body work in general. I can do the metal work....that seems easy enough and I have fabricated plenty of things in my day so I am reasonably confident that I can get the metal replaced. Bondo and paint are total greek to me though. :-)

Oh well, that is why it is a project. I get to learn as I go.

Clay

[mongocanfly]

When you get ready to do your filler , I'd recommend Evercoat filler products .. been using it on mine and I really like the stuff

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

When you get ready to do your filler , I'd recommend Evercoat filler products .. been using it on mine and I really like the stuff

Thanks for the recommendation Mongo! I have heard several folks recommend the Evercoat stuff. I will give it a try.


Clay

[mongocanfly]

for filler ive used both the ultra and extreme... both are really good ,and i use the metal glaze for topcoating

[65truckowner]

yes on evercoat best I have ever used

[kev2809]

can the high build primer be applied over the filler after sanding it, or it NEEDS to be epoxy over filler again?

[mongocanfly]

I was told to do epoxy over filler..good chance you have some bare metal from doing the filler sanding.. right or wrong I dont know..but that's how I did it

[LS short box]

Yes on the epoxy primer over filler. Any bare metal spots can be touched up with epoxy primer and then seal coated prior to spraying the base coat.

[my67c20]

First thing to do, is call around to a few shops that specialize in blasting cars. Ask if they offer pick up and delivery, if you don't have a trailer or the vehicle can't be towed. Maybe also ask if they will shoot a coat of epoxy when done. I suggest biting the bullet and blast all at once. This way when you realize that everything takes 10x longer, your not looking for another place to do other parts, cause the one closed down.

If they can't shoot the epoxy, then go buy a harbor freight purple gun, the Spectrum adapter and starter kit, drill out the tip for high build (4:1) and pick up a gallon of uPol 2253 primer and go to town. This primer can be used for high build, reduced and as a sealer. Good news is your locations is dry, so if you have to leave the parts outside, you do not have to worry about rust creeping in on you. With the HF gun, the surface will be kinda rough, but not to worry, since most of it will be sanded off.

Next up, rust repair. There is 1000 ways to skin this cat, so do your research and take your time. Be sure to hang doors and such once you tack things together to make sure stuff fits. A good air chisel, spot weld panel knives (Eastwood), etc will help. Oh yeah and a face shield and ear plugs.

After you have stuff replaced dump more high build. Now its time to find low spots. Get you some 80 grit paper (Amazon) for a DA (Home Depot) with an interface pad (Harbor Freight) and some on a roll along with a sanding block kit. Also get a few cans of sprayable guide coat. This is not the same as rattle can primer as it dries quick (a minute) and does not clog paper. Spray the panel with the guide coat and start sanding until you start to see bare metal scratches. Depending on the depth you can either work the areas back into shape or apply your filler. There is a debate as to whether filler goes over bare metal or over primer. I think in either case it depends on the bite of the area.

Repeat the sanding process with 80 grit and most likely will remove most of the filler, which is good. Once happy with the area, reduce the primer (4:1:1) more guide coat and sand with 180, 220, 320 alternating directions until all deep scratched removed. Might need to reapply primer in some areas. I suggest to purchase the 3M Performance Kit (unless you already have a good gun) and use the 1.4 nozzle for your reduced primer, as it will give a flatter surface than the HF gun. I also do not suggest wet sanding, since all your seam sealer has probably been removed and you could get water trapped between panels.

Once you get everything nice in 320, then 400, 600. Do the 600 before you plan to paint. The uPol can be reduced to 4:1:2 to act as a non sanding sealer, but you can spray over you 600 grit surface to see how your paint will come out.

Do not worry about painting everything at once. Do a panel and move on to the next. This will give you time to learn and since the vehicle is not outside, there is little concern with paint fading between panels. However, make sure you have enough paint for the whole truck (2 galloons). When you get down to 1/2 a galloon mix the 2 cans together.

I also suggest HF's Merlin water separator, but only hook up when your spraying, since the beads change color quick.

I know this is a long read and a lot of information, but i feel its critical to understand the amount of work and cost associated with what you are embarking on. Hats off to anyone doing this stuff theirselves.

Just one company based on your location
https://www.stripyourrideblasting.co...ia-Blasting-tx

[CKfan]

Good read. Lots of solid tips.