81 Malibu project restarting

[08Malibu]

Gm quality sucked, I know we already knew that. My roof is welded like sh*t from the factory. The passenger side is perfect, the drivers side has this hump in it. I was rushing the other night and said I’ll just make it right with plastic, but it feels funky. I’ll be back at it tomorrow to fix it.

 

[melloelky]

you'll get it brother.

 

[08Malibu]

you'll get it brother.

I should’ve taken care of it when I welded the seam. Now I tapped it down, and more filler. Wish I had another week but, my wife will kill me if I spend any more time on the car.

 

[melloelky]

I should’ve taken care of it when I welded the seam. Now I tapped it down, and more filler. Wish I had another week but, my wife will kill me if I spend any more time on the car.

it's a balancing act isn't it..

 

[08Malibu]

it's a balancing act isn't it..

Always is. I had it where it felt ok but was kind of pregnant. Be fine in white but eventually this car is going dark blue, and I want it straight as possible. Shouldn’t have rushed the metalwork on that spot.
The 69 Firebird I’m doing was a driver and not supposed to be perfect. I mentioned to my boss about some areas I didn’t like, and he didn’t care. Now I have to sand the clear flat and it’s wavy as sh*t. sh*t in sh*t out.

 

[melloelky]

Always is. I had it where it felt ok but was kind of pregnant. Be fine in white but eventually this car is going dark blue, and I want it straight as possible. Shouldn’t have rushed the metalwork on that spot.
The 69 Firebird I’m doing was a driver and not supposed to be perfect. I mentioned to my boss about some areas I didn’t like, and he didn’t care. Now I have to sand the clear flat and it’s wavy as sh*t. sh*t in sh*t out.

it's walking a fine line between having pride in your work yet in a timely fashion and getting paid for it @the same time.

 

[08Malibu]

it's walking a fine line between having pride in your work yet in a timely fashion and getting paid for it @the same time.

it's walking a fine line between having pride in your work yet in a timely fashion and getting paid for it @the same time.

The body man could’ve spent 10 minutes more on the panels, instead of bulshitting with the boss, and the car would’ve been much better. As it was the car should’ve gotten a stock peel texture, instead of sanding it flat. I had to block the clear to straighten it out. Car looks good, but has a few bad spots that should’ve been addressed. The boss says it’s good, so that’s all that matters I guess.

 

[08Malibu]

So I got the car pretty much ready to go for tomorrow. I have 2 jobs to do in the morning, but a kid from the shop is going to go over the car with a da and 100, and 180. Then I’ll tape it and epoxy prime. Sunday I’ll shoot the back glass channel with black single stage, so I can get the glass reinstalled. It’ll probably live in epoxy over the summer. I need to do body mounts, a small floor repair, bucket seat brackets and console, and I still have the engine to do.
When I get to the real body work I’m on the fence about my approach. Originally I was going to skim coat, polyester prime 1 or 2 times, urethane prime, then paint. But I might just fix the few small dents then go right to polyester. Any suggestions?

 

[melloelky]

none of the primers(epoxy included) are suited for daily uv/weather exposure.they all break down and will absorb moisture in time..i know this doesn't help seeing the car's stripped and all but just a head's up..

 

[08Malibu]

none of the primers(epoxy included) are suited for daily uv/weather exposure.they all break down and will absorb moisture in time..i know this doesn't help seeing the car's stripped and all but just a head's up..

I know. The car will be sitting in a garage with occasional use to the local cruise night. It should be fine for the time being.
As rust free as the car is, there are some problem areas that I need to tackle. There’s a hole in the a pillar, probably from a crappy windshield install. There’s also a hole under the wiper motor. Those 2 things require pulling the front clip and dash, and my garage isn’t in good enough order for that right now. Worst thing I did was let this car sit outside for a year after we moved to this house. It was garage kept its whole life before I bought it, and the whole time I owned, until that point. I won’t do that again.