'69 Charger Project Update: Painting Stage. We've got GREEN!!!

[bill440rt]

Ok, so I'm still a little off from painting the exterior. But, I have finally entered the painting stages. I began with the underside of the car.

A short recap: I'm building this car, mostly by myself, on a budget. It started as a rusty, stripped shell. Most parts came with the car, but a lot were junk to begin with. It was originally a 383 4-spd, converted (err...hacked is a better term) to a 440-auto when I got it. It will stay a 440-auto, as it is intended for my wife when it is done. There's no fender tag, no buildsheet, no original motor/trans, etc. A clean slate to build whatever I want, which is exactly what I'm doing. Consider it just another Charger saved from the crusher.

The body was first sandblasted & primed. I've spent that time since doing the bodywork, which is now completed. The underside was also sandblasted, & however coated with black POR-15.

Here is how the underside looked upon entering the paint stage. I first jacked up the car in the driveway alongside my house. The rear suspension was then removed. A simple piece of heavy-duty 1-inch gas pipe/conduit was placed in existing access holes in the rear framerails as a temporary support. There is no eng/trans in the car, & I'm not a very big guy, so the car was high enough for me to get under to work somewhat comfortably. The gray primered areas are the replacement sheetmetal: trunk floor, etc. The parts were primed with PPG's DP epoxy primer prior to installation. I merely masked off the areas that got mig welded and/or glued. I used bonding adhesive for a lot of metal replacement.

[bill440rt]

The next step was to prep/degrease the area for paint. Usually this is done with a solvent wipe prior to paint (Pre-Sol, etc). POR-15 does not recommend using a solvent-based wipe over their products. Instead, they recommend using their water-based Marine Clean degreaser. This chemical is mixed 1:1 with water & sprayed on. This is SUPER-strong stuff. It smells like Spray-9, but is like 20 times stronger. It burns your skin, & a light mist hit my face & gave me a red mark that lasted all afternoon. 
I then waited 15-20 minutes, then hosed it off with more water. This actually was a good thing, beacuse even after 1 hour+ with a blow gun I still didn't get all the sand out. The water actually helped flush it out. I then towel dried & blew it out again with more compressed air.

The final step prior to paint was to apply a special Self-Etching Primer from POR-15. This primer is designed to go over CURED POR-15 as a bond coat for whatever topcoat (paint) you choose. The best part is that it chemically bonds to cured POR-15 without sanding. Cut my prep time way down. I first tried a very small inconspicuous spot & brushed on a small amount. After drying, I did a test with masking tape, then duct tape, then my fingernail. This stuff would NOT come off, it had chemically bonded to the POR-15.

I sprayed on this primer thinning it with the special POR-15 solvent they recommended. Luckily the POR-15 office is only a few miles from my office where I work, so I had great tech help. I left the original undercoating in the wheelwells, framerails, etc. This will be blacked out again later with either more undercoating or flat black paint.

This is how it looked after the Self-Etching Primer.

[bill440rt]

After letting the POR-15 Self-Etching Primer dry for about 20-30 minutes, it was finally ready for paint. Sublime Green is the wife's color of choice, so that's what the car will be.

Prior research showed that PPG is dead-on for the correct color, period. Other paints weren't even close. For the underside, I wanted to use a single stage urethane for ease of spraying & to keep costs down. The topside & other areas of the car will be done in a base/clearcoat. To further keep costs down, I decided to go with PPG's lower line of paint, called Omni. This is still a high-gloss urethane enamel, & for the underside of the car it worked out just fine. The color is very slightly different than the highline PPG base/clear, but for under the car it was close enough for me. It was of course cheaper than going with PPG's base/clear, and even their highline DBC single stage urethane. To give you an idea of price difference, a gallon of DBC single stage urethane was $318 for the paint ALONE!! I purchased 1-1/2 gallons of paint, a gallon of reducer, and 2 quarts of hardener & it only came to $210 for ALL! The mix ratio is 4:1:1. I only used the 1/2 gallon can of paint for this, so I still have a gallon of paint left over. I may end up using this in the trunk compartment (most of it gets covered anyway), & small items, bolts, etc.

I gave it 3 coats of paint (although the can said 2), however it probably could have used a fourth. This paint was rather transparent, but the final product looks very good. This is what it looked like after painting/unmasking.

Could I have done more? Sure. But, a budget is in mind in this build, so I am only demostrating how this can be done on a budget. Once the undercoated areas are filled in, and the suspension exhaust, fuel tank, etc are all bolted in, it will look very presentable.

Next areas to tackle are the trunk compartment, door jambs, & undersides of the hood & deck lid.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Moving right along very good bill ,keep the pics coming as your progress continues.From the last time we talked,did you decide on the type of clear yet? I know you were talking about 2002.

[bill440rt]

Yes, Paul! I'm gonna go with the 2002 clear for the outside with DBU for the base. There was a Sublime Superbird at Carlisle under the Aloha tent this year, done with the 2002 clear. Very deep looking shine, it was a beautiful car. I'll probably use the faster 2042 clear for jambs & underhood.

I will say this, for a single stage urethane enamel the Omni has the consistency of water. VERY thin paint. It probably could have used a 4th, or maybe even a 5th coat if someone planned on buffing this stuff. As an alternative mix ratio, you can also mix it 4:1:1/2 for high solids. If I had known it would be this thin, I would have mixed it in that ratio. If I use it in the trunk, that's how I'll thin it out.

For now, the rear suspension is back in & the car is back in the garage waiting for the trunk to be prepped. The next few days aren't looking so good schedule-wise, but I'll update with pics as soon as it's done.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Like I said Bill,I have not used the 2002 yet,so I am very interested how it lays out,cuts and buffs,and if it does any  shrinking or dying.Like we talked before ,the 2042 is awesome for doing jambs and so forth as it dries quick,you can put it on pretty wet,but also can make it run if too wet,but it stays nice and wet looking.

[daytonalo]

I always use sikkens , as for their low end [ u-tech ] we just painted a 24 ft boat , the boat was soda blasted then we shot 2 coats epoxy primer [ grey ] and shot 2 coats single stage urethane . It layed out flat and it looked a mile deep ! The owner said if it was any more wet looking , the paint would be on the ground .

[tan top]

 awesome  job    , keep us updated with pictures 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Nice work Bill!   Looks awesome 

[Silver R/T]

awesome work, looks nice!

[resq302]

Damn Bill.  Lookin really good.

[BigBlockSam]

looks good. i like that shade of sublime, loos more like saasy grass green.

[bill440rt]

Thanks guys! 
Actually BigBlockSam, this Omni version of Sublime is a little lighter than the more expensive PPG line. Underneath the car, it will be FINE, there's lots of dark shadows anyway.
I'm getting psyched that the car is in the paint stages now, gradually turning to that retina burning shade of green. I'm gonna start prepping/scuffing the trunk tonite. I already sprayed on the rough undercoating on the inside of the 1/4. Hopefully in the next 2 nights I'll get it all prepped, & can paint the trunk compartment by the weekend.
I'll post pics as soon as I can.

[Judhudson]

Bill - thank you, thank you, thank you   I was wondering how I was going to do the exact same thing as I want to paint the bottom and I'll have to do it on a budget myself.  Thanks to you, I now know how to do it!  Just a few quick questions to make sure I do it right:

You left the front wheels on and all of the suspension and just took everything off the back and painted the bottom to the front of the engine bay, correct?  That's what I was thinking what I would have problems with since I thought everything including the front had to be taken off.  Have any pictures where you stopped at the front?

Also, you left the wheel area on the back unpainted.  Is that suppose to be unpainted, and covered in black undercoating?

[bill440rt]

Judhudson, your VERY welcome!!! 
I feel even if I help out ONE member, I did a good thing.
Yes, I left the front suspension on, & removed just the rear. I don't have alot of extra room to store stuff in my garage, my '68 is taking the space next to this '69. Besides, I still need a way to roll this thing around. So, I covered what was left of the front suspension in tin foil. This is a GREAT masking trick, really saves some time & is easier than to cover weird shaped parts with foil than using masking tape & paper. Of course, you'll want to use masking tape & paper on the other areas.
Yes, I broke it off just under the firewall at that large pinch weld area. However, I continued up the sides of the framerails ONLY to the rad support & stopped. I also painted the bottoms of the framerails ONLY up to the K-frame & stopped. I simply rolled the tape back on the bottom of the framerail as my break-off point. Doing it this way gave me some nice break off areas, as I need to paint these areas in sections.
I also painted the inner fenders inside the front wheelwells, & my break-off point was around the shock tower & where the apron meets the frame rail. When I finally drop the front suspension, I will easily be able to paint this area with a nice easy break-off area to mask. I hope this makes sense the way I described it. I'll try to post some pics soon, it's much easier if you were to see it. You might be able to see it in one of the pics.
Yes, I also left the undercoating in the wheelwells. After I get all the nice painting done (outside of the car, jambs, etc), the very last thing I'll do is go back & black-out these areas using either more undercoating or flat black paint. You can see the original undercoating by the rough textured areas. ALL cars had this. I've scraped this stuff off on past projects to get a super-smooth paint finish. However, I'm building this one to drive every now & then, so I didn't bother scraping it off only to spray it back on again. You can see some factory undercoat overspray on the frame rails & part of the floor. This will get blacked out again too, & will look factory when finished.
You may also want to get your car up a little higher. It was OK for me, but even if it was up a few more inches it would have been much easier.
I'll post more pics up soon.
Good Luck!   

[Judhudson]

Thank you for the info, I'm saving this page as it contains great information

[bill440rt]

Judhudson, here are some pics where I broke the paint off in the front. I did it this way for several reasons.
One, I did not have the time/space to paint the entire unibody at once. Second, I needed to leave the front suspension in the car to keep it mobile.
I will be painting the engine compartment, & this was a logical break off point. Also, when I drop the front suspension, I will then have easy access to paint the rest of the shock tower & side of the frame rail, without leaving a tape line.
Hope these pics help.

[Mikesmopars01]

Charger is looking good.