I am putting this information here to help some other "beginner" to save lots of time, hard work, and money.
PROBLEM ONE:
After having my 1950 Champion sandblasted I was told that the "wash" that had been applied by the fellow who did the work would be good for 2 weeks and it needed to be primered by that time. I bought the appropriate primer, but as I was talking to different people about painting the car [totally disassembled-nothing else would come off the hull], rust began to show up where it had been touched when handling the pieces while transporting them home and other places too. I was hoping that I could avoid doing the priming by getting the car to A painter quick. Painters do not do things quick I found out, so-
PROBLEM TWO:
I got started sanding the rust off and a friend told me that I needed to "kill the rust with phosphoric acid." I bought the acid and as I would finish a fender or whatever, I would apply the phosphoric acid as directed and rinse it off as directed, but as it would dry a brass colored flash rust would appear and at first I would sand that off and treat the piece again in hopes of totally getting rid of the rust-I thought that it was coming out of the shiny metal for some reason. Fortunately, I talked to another painter who told me that I would have the flash rust no matter how many times I sanded and treated the pieces. He said that I should just scuff it off and prime it. Time, sandpaper, time, phosphoric acid and time wasted.
PROBLEM THREE:
I decided that since I was priming the metal that the painter would just work from there and that by priming it heavy he would have a good base from which to work and that would help him. I talked to a fellow who works with the man who is now doing the job and he told me to prepare the bare metal by sanding it down with 120 grit sandpaper before priming it. I did this inside and out on every piece and primed every piece inside and out. I worked hours and hours doing this. I suppose the undersides will not need much except for the undercoating that will go on nearly every piece. I delivered some of the pieces day before yesterday to the paint shop. This afternoon I delivered some more pieces and I was quite surprised to see that the primer was all being sanded off and the nice smooth sanded finish I had spent so much time creating was being sanded with a rougher grit than the 120 I had been told to use. I asked about it and he told me that he had to do this to get the kind of finish that he knew I expected on the car. I have no problem with this of course. His work on other cars that I have inspected is great, so whatever he wants to do is fine with me. So, due to my ignorance I had bought a second gallon of primer because I thought that a nice thick coat of primer would be better and I spent at least 3 times as much time sanding as was needed. As it turned out, I only got a mist on the steering column and could even see the shiny metal through it and it layed on my concrete garage floor for at least 4 weeks and didn't rust one bit, so my putting the thick coats of primer on was useless because a thin coat would have protected the metal from rust and time and money were wasted because I sanded much more than needed and used 4-5 times as much primer as needed.
I know that all this shows my lack of knowledge and foolishness but maybe my putting it on here will save someone from lots of extra work when trying to save money by "preparing" the car for the painter.
Jimmie
Orleans, Ind.
1950 CHAMPION -ORANGE COUNTY, INDIANA
I'VE SAVED SO MUCH DAYLIGHT THAT THERE'S NO DARK TO SLEEP IN ANYMORE!
PROBLEM ONE:
After having my 1950 Champion sandblasted I was told that the "wash" that had been applied by the fellow who did the work would be good for 2 weeks and it needed to be primered by that time. I bought the appropriate primer, but as I was talking to different people about painting the car [totally disassembled-nothing else would come off the hull], rust began to show up where it had been touched when handling the pieces while transporting them home and other places too. I was hoping that I could avoid doing the priming by getting the car to A painter quick. Painters do not do things quick I found out, so-
PROBLEM TWO:
I got started sanding the rust off and a friend told me that I needed to "kill the rust with phosphoric acid." I bought the acid and as I would finish a fender or whatever, I would apply the phosphoric acid as directed and rinse it off as directed, but as it would dry a brass colored flash rust would appear and at first I would sand that off and treat the piece again in hopes of totally getting rid of the rust-I thought that it was coming out of the shiny metal for some reason. Fortunately, I talked to another painter who told me that I would have the flash rust no matter how many times I sanded and treated the pieces. He said that I should just scuff it off and prime it. Time, sandpaper, time, phosphoric acid and time wasted.
PROBLEM THREE:
I decided that since I was priming the metal that the painter would just work from there and that by priming it heavy he would have a good base from which to work and that would help him. I talked to a fellow who works with the man who is now doing the job and he told me to prepare the bare metal by sanding it down with 120 grit sandpaper before priming it. I did this inside and out on every piece and primed every piece inside and out. I worked hours and hours doing this. I suppose the undersides will not need much except for the undercoating that will go on nearly every piece. I delivered some of the pieces day before yesterday to the paint shop. This afternoon I delivered some more pieces and I was quite surprised to see that the primer was all being sanded off and the nice smooth sanded finish I had spent so much time creating was being sanded with a rougher grit than the 120 I had been told to use. I asked about it and he told me that he had to do this to get the kind of finish that he knew I expected on the car. I have no problem with this of course. His work on other cars that I have inspected is great, so whatever he wants to do is fine with me. So, due to my ignorance I had bought a second gallon of primer because I thought that a nice thick coat of primer would be better and I spent at least 3 times as much time sanding as was needed. As it turned out, I only got a mist on the steering column and could even see the shiny metal through it and it layed on my concrete garage floor for at least 4 weeks and didn't rust one bit, so my putting the thick coats of primer on was useless because a thin coat would have protected the metal from rust and time and money were wasted because I sanded much more than needed and used 4-5 times as much primer as needed.
I know that all this shows my lack of knowledge and foolishness but maybe my putting it on here will save someone from lots of extra work when trying to save money by "preparing" the car for the painter.
Jimmie
Orleans, Ind.
1950 CHAMPION -ORANGE COUNTY, INDIANA
I'VE SAVED SO MUCH DAYLIGHT THAT THERE'S NO DARK TO SLEEP IN ANYMORE!
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