Builds Shipwreck (6 Viewers)

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CreeperSleeper said:
You should just clearcoat the doors... Bling bling!
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you joke, but it won't be my first bare-metal car...my background is building stainless commercial kitchen equipment - there is no bondo for bare stainless so inevitably we did a bare-metal car for someone. Who decided a year later he wanted paint. I've still not forgiven him that. Still, there is an evil part of me that considered doing the half-doors in bare metal with clear-coat...

srgould41 said:
The Step Stool? Nice mod.
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motorcycle stool mount.... still trying to solve the Buick issue....
 
Bare metal with clear coat would be a one of a kind. If you can make it look good I say go for it. At least at first.


My junk is fixed the right way.

SuperBuickGuy said:
you joke, but it won't be my first bare-metal car...my background is building stainless commercial kitchen equipment - there is no bondo for bare stainless so inevitably we did a bare-metal car for someone. Who decided a year later he wanted paint. I've still not forgiven him that. Still, there is an evil part of me that considered doing the half-doors in bare metal with clear-coat...



motorcycle stool mount.... still trying to solve the Buick issue....
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srgould41 said:
Bare metal with clear coat would be a one of a kind. If you can make it look good I say go for it.
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X2 on this I think it would look great
 
Brief break to talk about welders

Remember when I said that if you buy something that does everything, it does nothing well?

I've been wanting to find an inverter welder for TIG, and thought the new Multimatic 215 was the cats pjs. It's a multi-process welder, it does MIG, flux MIG, TIG (limited), and stick. It only weights 38 lbs and right now (until 12/31) you get a $200 rebate on it. That brings the price down to about $1300 if you have TIG already. If you don't they'll get you for another $300 for a quite inclusive TIG kit that includes a pedal, gauges and a torch. For me, the idea of reducing the footprint of my welder from what it is now, to one small, portable unit is pretty attractive - especially since my econowhatever weighs somewhere north of 400 lbs not including its stand or its cooler.

It's dual voltage, and its duty cycle on 110 is pretty impressive (of course, that means no thick welds). On 240 duty cycle is 20% which, to remind, is 20% of an hour but no more then 20% of every 10 minutes. Why is that important? because you're welding 2 minutes, cooling 8 but once you hit a 6th cycle.... you're done for this hour. Of course, most of us don't actually use them for anywhere near that time nor do we use them at full-energy (which is 3/8" steel). But there's the first ding, 3/8 isn't that much when you're using an inverter machine because you can alter frequency.... oh wait, it doesn't have AC and the really big rub is no high-frequency so no scratch start or TIG welding aluminum. I won't say you can't weld aluminum with it, because you can - it's just beyond the skill and patience of most welders.

This is what killed it for me. Being able to alter the frequency for the material is what makes pretty welds with solid penetration. I'm sure Miller figured that most home folks would simply MIG aluminum with a spool gun, so the necessity of AC was pretty minimal. Either that or they realized that if they put HF start and AC (both kind of come together) the price point would be a synchrowave - and most I know that are home-fabricators would say expletive-no to a $5,000 machine. They would rightly point out that you can by a synchro for $3k and a solid 252 or 175 (what I have) for 1200-1800 and be money ahead. MIG doesn't need AC - so there's the cost savings.
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
you joke, but it won't be my first bare-metal car...my background is building stainless commercial kitchen equipment - there is no bondo for bare stainless so inevitably we did a bare-metal car for someone. Who decided a year later he wanted paint. I've still not forgiven him that. Still, there is an evil part of me that considered doing the half-doors in bare metal with clear-coat...
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No joking at all! I think it would look amazing.
 
CreeperSleeper said:
No joking at all! I think it would look amazing.
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I can't wait to see yours when it's done ;) bare metal is a pain to keep looking decent - biggest issue is the clear coat normally bonds to the primer coat, so it doesn't adhere terribly well without it (and I'm sure the paint pros could pull it off - but I'm not)... but who knows, maybe when I do the Buick Sedanette I'll do it in bare metal - I'll be mostly there anyway since I'm chopping the top, moulding the fenders to the body, pancaking the hood, frenching the headlights and tail lights and doing a nickel-coated grill and bumpers....

Of course, that'll be blogged in a more appropriate place it's name is Sledanette
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
I can't wait to see yours when it's done ;) bare metal is a pain to keep looking decent - biggest issue is the clear coat normally bonds to the primer coat, so it doesn't adhere terribly well without it (and I'm sure the paint pros could pull it off - but I'm not)... but who knows, maybe when I do the Buick Sedanette I'll do it in bare metal - I'll be mostly there anyway since I'm chopping the top, moulding the fenders to the body, pancaking the hood, frenching the headlights and tail lights and doing a nickel-coated grill and bumpers....

Of course, that'll be blogged in a more appropriate place it's name is Sledanette
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Oh I know it is a pain in the a$$. I tried to do that once to a hood... What a nightmare. And as for mine, it is done... I sold it. :flipoff2:
 
The first time she is blinded by the sun reflecting off the hood she will ask for paint.

SuperBuickGuy said:
Top should be here Friday woohoo.... don't think I'll have enough time to get it ready for Naches - but I'm going to give it the old college try.

Maybe the 60 or 80 I build for my wife will be bare-metal.... clearly paint isn't something she wants on her vehicles (argh).
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I use flat clear - but that's more a commentary on her causing issues with the Jetta...

so this is as far as I go taking these apart - I'll paint the inner frame black and the part under the rubber along with the lower portion body color.... but it's so much easier not having to tape the wind wings and it also allows me to do a better job on their frame
PA180001_zpss6rvxhra.jpg


PA180002_zpsrhiujrvi.jpg


most hated work... filler and sanding - as evidenced here. I didn't put enough filler there (or enough to cover the area)
PA180003_zpsliecca8g.jpg


and bounced back and forth between this and the body work....
PA180004_zpsjqaoesjs.jpg
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
I use flat clear - but that's more a commentary on her causing issues with the Jetta...

so this is as far as I go taking these apart - I'll paint the inner frame black and the part under the rubber along with the lower portion body color.... but it's so much easier not having to tape the wind wings and it also allows me to do a better job on their frame
PA180001_zpss6rvxhra.jpg


PA180002_zpsrhiujrvi.jpg


most hated work... filler and sanding - as evidenced here. I didn't put enough filler there (or enough to cover the area)
PA180003_zpsliecca8g.jpg


and bounced back and forth between this and the body work....
PA180004_zpsjqaoesjs.jpg
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So, when you're laying filler; is the goal to add just enough so that you can sand smooth with the body metal, or add extra so that you're able to smooth the entire area?
 
yep - the idea is to create a flat surface instead of the waves that inevitably result from moving metal... for example, the door I'm fixing had one, big dent in it. I moved it back out by pushing up in the center of the dent then tapping down the around the dent. What that did was give me 3 shallow dents, maybe .010 from flat. After all, once the metal is stretched, you either have to distribute the dent or shrink it. Since I can't get behind the dent with a dolly and hit it with my shrinking hammer, the only other choice is heat. Bondo is easier and days faster. I fill those dents then sand down and, if I did it right, have 3 metal spots showing between two circles of bondo.
 
srgould41 said:
Filler only lasts until contact with your first tree. Lots of trees in the PNW with paint on them from my doors.
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perhaps a driver's skill course? ;)

not true, thick bondo - sure - but a thin coat should move as much as the panel can move without denting. Don't use cheap bondo (or buy bondo by the gallon unless you're a body shop).

The other choice is k100 high-build primer... same thing only more time consuming to do.
 
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Dress up like a tree next week and I will show you my driving skill ;)

SuperBuickGuy said:
perhaps a driver's skill course? ;)

not true, thick bondo - sure - but a thin coat should move as much as the panel can move without denting. Don't use cheap bondo (or buy bondo by the gallon unless you're a body shop).

The other choice is k100 high-build primer... same thing only more time consuming to do.
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