Thread: 67 Camaro Body & Paint

Tweet

My son and I have stripped down a 67 Camaro completely. The sub frame, doors, hood, trunk, front fenders, windows etc. all removed. The body is in very good condition with only about 6 small door dings to repair. It is currently primer black, which was done by the previous owner and it doesn't look like he did a very good job. There is no rust damage and only a couple small areas around the back window with a light surface rust. Now the question.

Where do we start? My son Trevor wants to paint it a high gloss black, but I know all the work needs to be done in the prep. Can anybody give some recommendations for sanders, sanding methods, body repair for the door dings, etc? Anything do get us going in the right direction?

For anyone interested, this project started as thread "67 camaro project with my son". There's about 70 posts there that can give the history of this project, but it almost all deals with the engine and drive train. I got lax and didn't post for a while and its now in the archeives if your interested. Once we get this body work done maybe I'll resurrect it to the finish of the project. I thought the new thread subject might attract the body and paint guru's of the club.

Well triman I will give you information on what i would do .

Tools needed: 6" Dual Action sander, a variance of sanding blocks in different lengths and shapes .

A low cost Primer gun for spraying Primer. ( If you cant make hand tools work
you will never make a car straight with air tools, so dont worry about buying a ton of air tools!)


I will say one thing here, Do one panel at a time and dont bounce around the car
fixing here then there because you will forget where you are. Get one panel done &
prime it and set aside.
I would start with the body first then deck lid (and check fit), then doors (check fit) , then
fenders & hood ( check fit) .

On the surface rust you can get like a small sand blaster & hit it with that , or use the DA sander
and grind it off with that.

MAke sure you sand that black primer with something like 220 to give you primer some adhesion,
and spray 4-6 coats of primer.


Your door dings I would use a polyester glazing putty to give them a thin glaze coat ,
and sand flat with 180 grit on a sanding block, and prime.

When first coat of primer is done on all panels , block with 180 grit dry using a guide coat( a light spray of a
contrasting color over the panel so you can see your lows & highs )and block flat.

then reprime with 4 coats , then go to 280 grit dry, using a guide coat and block flat. reprime with 4 coats.

By this time it should be straight and the last step would be to water sand with 500 grit and block.
after that it should be straight enough for paint!

My sugestion on black would be to use a single stage , as Black cleared will scratch white when dry.

When you get to the paint stage Haller and I will help out there also :-)

Spray

Thanks for the response SprayTech.

Trevor and I have made the purchases and have started the sanding. However we started with the trunk lid instead of the body since it looked a lot easier.

We still have a few questions before we get too far.

You said to roughen up the black primer, but I'm afraid that maybe the original paint was not prepped properly before the black primer was applied. So currently we are going down to the original paint. Is there any need to go down to bare metal?

In other reading it talks a lot about paint type compatabilities, i.e. lacquer, enamel and urethane. In testing on an area of original paint I think the original was enamel since when rubbed lightly with a cloth and lacquer thinner the color rubs off immediately. Also there appears to have been a clear coat since when sanded with a 600 grit there is a white residue instead of color. Does this seem consistent with an original chevy factory paint job for 67?

You recommend the single stage black. Can you suggest a specific brand and system so we make sure we use a compatable system from start to finish?

Also, in areas where the original paint is in excellent shape, such as door jams, how much sanding or roughening up is required? Obviously these areas seem like they will be the hardest to sand since the surfaces are so detailed and irregular?

I guess SprayTech is the paint and body guru and I look for his response, but if there are any other ideas or suggestions please let me know.

Thanks, Jack and Trevor.

Ok Jack & Trevor,
I will give you my oppinion on your questions .

1: I would strip every panel down to bare steel & Spray a coat of PPG's DP or DPLF sealer down .
I say this because it sounds like your car has been painted a few times, as all GM cars were lacquer up till the mid 80's when GM started appling Base Coat / Clear Coat to some of their cars.

2: You CAN apply body filler to this DP sealer if sanded lightly for adhesion.( PPG's recommendation)

3: The less material you have on your car the longer the paint job will last if done correctly! Less is better today as these products are all high build .

4: I mention PPG products as I have used them for almost 30 years and know them inside out and have never had a problem.
So i reccomend PPG brand.

5: For your filler Primer after your body work is done I reccomend
NCP-271 CORROSION RESISTANT PRIMER. or K36.
If you use NCP 271 I forwarn you it stinks like all get out, but works excellent! (Make Sure YOU use a charcoal respirator sparying all these products!!!!!!!!)

6: I would use DCC 9000 Single stage with du-5 hardner for my top coat. You can also use the DP sealer for a sealer before top coating to seal off all primer before paint application. You do not have to apply a sealer over your 500 wet sanded primer if you dont want to, as long as you have no bare steel showing through primer! This will also keep some paint cost down, as these products are not cheap.

7: On the door jambs I would water sand the areas you can get to by hand easy with 500 grit, the areas that are irregular use a RED Scotch bright & a little soap in warm water and scrub as good as you can, as this will be alright as long as all the shiny is gone on the paint.

I hope this is some help & know you wont like the idea of taking all panels to bare steel , but you wont regret it in the overall finish
of your job when done . Plus it also is a safe bet that you wont have any paint problems arise because of something under all your hard work that isnt compatiable .

SprayTech