Build Thread-85 Cutlass Brougham-New Pics Added!

[custom442]

Good work so far, how long has it taken to sand/paint it?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I have about 4 months of prep into it so far, and have a week or two left before I am ready to spray it.

 

[custom442]

It'll look hot sh*t when its done though. How long you think it would take to sand/prime a cutlass with minimal bondo work (if the body's condition is about an 8 out of 10)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

A month or two's worth of spare time. Mine had no major dents, and only 1 ding. It did, however, have some minor rust issues and peeling paint issues. When you get in to it, you find way more than you thought was there. I thought I would only spend a few weeks on prep. After all, I had all of the dings filled in an afternoon, and the roof, hood and trunk stripped last summer. Silly me! I wound up putting 25-30 hours in customizing the fenders, loads of time on the floors, and more time on patching two small rust holes and fixing rusty seams. Plus, this week I have to prep the bumper covers and fix a ding I found in the hood that's about the size of a dime. If I want to do it right, I will also have the small crack in the hood welded with a TIG welder and braced with more aluminum so that it does not crack again. This is the reason I am writing that sticky in the Body/Trim forum, to help people realistically assess their projects.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I finally primered the bumper covers today with SEM Flexible Bumper Primer. I also primered the front fenders for the second time, and the quarter extensions for the first time as well. I still need to block the header panel, and prime it and the hood a second time before I can finish the 400 grit blocking. I almost forgot, I have yet to prep the mirror pods either.

I started blocking the passenger's side today, and it is arrow straight. No bare metal coming through, and the guide coat is disappearing nicely. I may even have it ready to spray next week, but it is more likely to be done the week after as I do not wish to rush my final prep time. I have new pics to post, but I have yet to upload them to Myspace.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Picked up a few needed items at the U Pull It today. I got a T-5 trans, almost perfect dark blue dash, 87-88 power seat track and motors, and a mint upper door panel for $185. Not cheap, but it's hard to find most of that stuff and I cold not pass it up. I also did more blocking today to get it closer to paint.

 

[Lue]

You are going to have one BAD *ss RIDE!!!!!!!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I still hate my car's roof. That is all.

 

[78mali350]

you gonna swap the trans or wait till after the car is done?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

The trans swap is far off in the future as courses in chemistry and calculus await me in the fall. I am just trying to get it painted and dried in before then. However, I am going to be running parts for it any time I find them at the right price. I still need the right seats for my conversion to a manual trans. Stock G body or F body buckets are not supportive enough, so I will be sourcing them from a German donor car. I will retain the G car tracks if possible, and weld up some adapters to mate German excellence with American mediocrity.

Here's a pic of the hood and header panel after the application of the second primer coat and guide coat.

Also, some beautiful Florida Weather!