GBOTM February GBOTM nominations thread.... enter NOW!

[Bonnewagon]

C'mon guys. There has to be some more home paint jobs to share. I know I can't enter the Bonnewagon again. But here is how I managed to get it presentable. The 93 year old guy I bought it from had an Earl Schieb $99 paint job done that was disintegrating. Some rusty spots had to be repaired too. I spent a lot of time cutting out rust and smoothing the little dings and dents. I had no indoor storage so no way I was doing an expensive paint job. I used rattle can primer and some Interlux boat enamel for a brushed-on top coat. Once it was all the same color it looked pretty good. Brush marks are a problem and I later re-discovered something they use with boat varnish. A product called Penetrol delays drying, improves flow-out, and hardens the surface. I was impressed at the improved gloss too. Here are some body work pics so please don't be embarrassed at your shade tree paint job. All that matters is that you are happy with it. I know I am, and I can park it anywhere without fretting it will get scratched. It is NYC presentable and that is all it needed.

 

[UC645]

C'mon guys. There has to be some more home paint jobs to share. I know I can't enter the Bonnewagon again. But here is how I managed to get it presentable. The 93 year old guy I bought it from had an Earl Schieb $99 paint job done that was disintegrating. Some rusty spots had to be repaired too. I spent a lot of time cutting out rust and smoothing the little dings and dents. I had no indoor storage so no way I was doing an expensive paint job. I used rattle can primer and some Interlux boat enamel for a brushed-on top coat. Once it was all the same color it looked pretty good. Brush marks are a problem and I later re-discovered something they use with boat varnish. A product called Penetrol delays drying, improves flow-out, and hardens the surface. I was impressed at the improved gloss too. Here are some body work pics so please don't be embarrassed at your shade tree paint job. All that matters is that you are happy with it. I know I am, and I can park it anywhere without fretting it will get scratched. It is NYC presentable and that is all it needed. View attachment 235274View attachment 235273View attachment 235275

If we’re allowing unfinished money pits to enter, then I’ll throw mine in after I get home from work

 

[ck80]

If we’re allowing unfinished money pits to enter, then I’ll throw mine in after I get home from work

Absolutely.

This is about showing off what you did, and, hopefully a little about how.

Cars don't need to run, drive, or even be painted on both sides yet

 

[Longroof79]

C'mon guys. There has to be some more home paint jobs to share. I know I can't enter the Bonnewagon again. But here is how I managed to get it presentable. The 93 year old guy I bought it from had an Earl Schieb $99 paint job done that was disintegrating. Some rusty spots had to be repaired too. I spent a lot of time cutting out rust and smoothing the little dings and dents. I had no indoor storage so no way I was doing an expensive paint job. I used rattle can primer and some Interlux boat enamel for a brushed-on top coat. Once it was all the same color it looked pretty good. Brush marks are a problem and I later re-discovered something they use with boat varnish. A product called Penetrol delays drying, improves flow-out, and hardens the surface. I was impressed at the improved gloss too. Here are some body work pics so please don't be embarrassed at your shade tree paint job. All that matters is that you are happy with it. I know I am, and I can park it anywhere without fretting it will get scratched. It is NYC presentable and that is all it needed. View attachment 235279View attachment 235274View attachment 235273View attachment 235275View attachment 235278

Mark,
The car looks very presentable and better than any cheapo Earl Schieb "I'll paint any car for $99.99" paint job.
Which reminds me, years back we were already living in Flora-duh. My dad brought his '71 Buick Skylark to ol' Earl's. It didn't look half bad except for unfinished bodywork that I never completed.

 

[Bonnewagon]

unfinished bodywork

Jack, I knew a guy that had an old English car. An MGB I think. He took it all apart, re-built the engine and transmission, and did all the bodywork. This was back in the early 70's when parts were hard to find. He was low on funds too, so he did everything himself. But I remember how he painted it. He stripped all the trim, lights, everything. He did his own masking too. All the prep work that Earls would NOT do. He gave it to the shop all ready to go. All they had to do was cover the wheels and the glass. They did an excellent paint job. No one could believe a $99 paint job could look so fine. A few years later he got roaring drunk and totaled it. But it was a learning lesson for me. Do the grunt work, and the paint job will be OK.

 

[Longroof79]

Jack, I knew a guy that had an old English car. An MGB I think. He took it all apart, re-built the engine and transmission, and did all the bodywork. This was back in the early 70's when parts were hard to find. He was low on funds too, so he did everything himself. But I remember how he painted it. He stripped all the trim, lights, everything. He did his own masking too. All the prep work that Earls would NOT do. He gave it to the shop all ready to go. All they had to do was cover the wheels and the glass. They did an excellent paint job. No one could believe a $99 paint job could look so fine. A few years later he got roaring drunk and totaled it. But it was a learning lesson for me. Do the grunt work, and the paint job will be OK.

Wow! What a shame...that's tragic. After all the work he put into it, he gets drunk and destroys it.

Oh, btw, my dad and mom drove the car to Earl Schieb's and waited for it. Talk about comical. 🤣 This was probably 25+ yrs ago.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Don't get me wrong, I have seen cars with half painted wheels and tires come out of Earls. Horrible paint jobs. They wanted rock bottom cheap and they did no prep.
I knew another guy, he was a maintenance man at a housing development. Every day on his lunch he would work on his Malibu. I think it was an '80 or so, four door, bought from one of the older residents. I let him borrow my 1980 Chevy FSM. Man, he made that car look smooth. Every day he just worked on one little section until it was right. I remember what he said before he gave it to Macco for paint. I mean, it looked perfect, but he told them to 'do the bodywork'. He said that even though it looked great, they will see stuff you and I would not. He was right. The panels looked as good as new when they got done. They shot it with a metallic root beer brown that just shimmered in the sun. It just shows how nice it can turn out if you do the grunt work yourself.

 

[Longroof79]

Don't get me wrong, I have seen cars with half painted wheels and tires come out of Earls. Horrible paint jobs. They wanted rock bottom cheap and they did no prep.
I knew another guy, he was a maintenance man at a housing development. Every day on his lunch he would work on his Malibu. I think it was an '80 or so, four door, bought from one of the older residents. I let him borrow my 1980 Chevy FSM. Man, he made that car look smooth. Every day he just worked on one little section until it was right. I remember what he said before he gave it to Macco for paint. I mean, it looked perfect, but he told them to 'do the bodywork'. He said that even though it looked great, they will see stuff you and I would not. He was right. The panels looked as good as new when they got done. They shot it with a metallic root beer brown that just shimmered in the sun. It just shows how nice it can turn out if you do the grunt work yourself.

Mark,
I have to agree with you. If you take the time to do the prep work, even a Maaco paint job will look good. However, Maaco shops are a franchise and individually owned, so some shops could do excellent work, while others , not so good.

I had my wagon painted by Maaco about 25 yrs ago. I cut corners in the prep and it later came back to bite me. The paint was laid down nicely, but the masking work sucked. They got overspray on my wheels, some glass, etc, which I had to rectify myself. I had the fillers, air dam, rear deflector removed to be painted, but instead they gave me a quart of paint of paint and I ended up painting them myself. After that experience, I vowed to paint the car myself next time around, which I did. This time, however, I replaced all four doors, fenders, core support, header panel, etc. It could've come out a little nicer, but I still had the satisfaction of doing it myself.

 

[UC645]

This is my 84’ Monte Carlo, I call it Janky.
Picked it up about 6 years ago with the intent to make it into a drag car, but thanks to finding a mint 84 GP in a local wrecking yard I decided to make it nice.

Way back when I bought it, I was already set on stripping it to bare metal to start with. That started with a lot of chemical paint stripper and can after can of etching primer to keep it sealed until I was done with the whole car. About halfway through, I got a sandblaster.
That was a mistake, I’m still shaking sand out of this thing, 3 years later.
Finally got it in epoxy primer, a year after owning it.

Fast forward 2 years, and it gets shot in base/clear for the first time in its life.

Fast forward another year, and the car is finally loaded on a trailer, headed for home.

Sans quarter extensions and a rear bumper, this is as the car sits now. This mess’ll be done this year.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Sharp!!