[lintmann]

My biggest blunder was not realizing how much things have changed with paint in the past 20 years...

Back then I used lacquer primer and could get ANY body shop to shoot the top coat which was usually Centauri. Fast forward 20 years and I'm at it again. Went down and bought some lacquer primer and did it the way I used to but now no one wants to touch it because of the lacquer primer.

Okay fine, I'll use lacquer for a top coat then...BUT no one around here knows how to shoot lacquer anymore!!!

I guess we all know the "Why" you "can't" use a catylazed paint over lacquer primer but my bro had his Camaro done like that about 21 years ago and it still looks just as good now as it did then.

Good luck trying to convince a "knowledgable" painter that a modern two part paint will work just fine over lacquer given the way we use some of these cars now a days because after all he is the "expert" and I don't know jack sheit.

Ya I'm a little frustrated.

[goatman55]

Trying to save a few bucks by installing my back window myself. 15 years later I had to put in a new trunk floor and wheel wells.

It wasn't a tough job, I just could have lived without that experience.

Dave

[ponderopa66]

I think I just might have a winner here...Got the cab painted and dropped it putting it back on the frame , yeah that's right, bam to the ground, had to put another quarter in it.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by ponderopa66

I think I just might have a winner here...Got the cab painted and dropped it putting it back on the frame , yeah that's right, bam to the ground, had to put another quarter in it.

Yeah..I'd have to say you win.

[ronj1977]

putting plastic over the engine in my 77 t/a then painting entire car while applying clear blew grey sealer off plastic and through shaker hole and then all the chunks falling in the fresh clear.

[mds69 t/a conv. clone]

dont think 'this wont be that tough to do' BIG MISTAKE

[webfoot]

Aside from having to redo a few things, I think my biggest blunder is telling people "oh it should be done by next summer".

Oh you know the question - "when is that thing gonna be done?"

[ctehan]

I dont even know where to begin... How about:
1.) Body work with more waves than a parade.
2.) Buying any thing other than an old pontiac...
3.) Trying to restore a Porsche with the belief that wiring, carburetion, engine blocks and cooling are all basically the same as American cars.... Uh I still cant figure out 6 accelerator pumps, split blocks and exhaust mounted heat exchangers....
4.) Forgetting the o ring in the font of the intake manifold and stating the car.
5.) Priming a car and waiting... Then adjusting rocker arms and bumping the motor.. Only to discover oil shoots a remarkable distance.
6.) Spending 2 hours of my life fishing a dropped lifter out of an oil sump with a magnet, coat hanger and patience.
7.) Working all day, falling asleep under the car and waking up startled, only to bash your forehead on an oil pan...

At least you can laugh about it...

[Judas]

Not the biggest or a resto blunder, but along the lines of dropping things (from above).

Dutifully, I placed bolts back into their holes when disassembling the 454 BBC I completely rebuilt with machining, new pistons, hot cam, etc etc. Boy was I eager the day it was mounted in between the wheel wells of my 79 Camaro. Imagine the look on my face when, after unscrewing it from the manifold, the distributor hold-down bolt slips out of my oily fingers and plummets into the engine.

I almost actually did cart wheels when my step-dad fished it out "blind" with a chunk of a speaker magnet electrically-taped to a "custom bent" old brake line.

Btw, I now *always stuff holes with shop rags...

[twobirds]

dont EVER AND I MEAN EVER buy a car, site- un -seen from a bitch named JULIE ROSE from seattle wash,she is one efen,c##t.!!

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by twobirds

dont EVER AND I MEAN EVER buy a car, site- un -seen from a bitch named JULIE ROSE from seattle wash,she is one efen,c##t.!!

So, ah....you don't like the car huh?

[rememberfireball#22]

A couple of years ago I was putting the last coat of clear on my 66 Chevelle SS396. Red Dupont base and very expensive clear. Red base is not cheap either. Anyway, a quart cup of clear would not go competelyaround car , so I usually stopped at the bottom of a quarter and refilled with clear and started across the decklid. On trouble was , I had mistakely picked up my primer gun full of etching primer. Now this primer was red also and I did not notice something wrong until I had gone over all decklid and started down the quarter on the other side. I was also not feeling any pain from paint fumes{yes,I was wearing a mask,but you still get a little giddy} I had to wash off paint from decklid and quarter and then really had a mess in paint booth. Anyway, I got all primer off and car back in pretty good shape next day and started over.I had to rebase the decklid and quarter and go completely around car with another coat of clear to melt everthing in. Only trouble now was I was out of the "recoat window" and as soon as the fresh wet clear with the hot hardner hit the 24/36 hour old clear guess what? Thats right, the entire car started blistering up all over as the wet clear ate into the finish. A nightmare. I wound up having to have entire car stripped and start over from scratch. About a hard week of work and about 1000.00 worth of paint. When ever I do any painting now{and I am presently refinishing my 68 GTO, I make sure there is only one gun in paintbooth. Once something starts going south on you, it doesn't turn around. You just have to go with the flow and try to make the best of what you have.

[HJones1313]

Getting the motor to run for the first time, only to see a rod and piston poke through the barrel, then realizing most motors don't like running without any oil in them, DOH!...but it was OK, it was a Corvair! Selling it for scrap gave me enough cash to buy my first Pontiac, a '68 Tempest.....

[NeighborsComplaint]

Just tonight I decided I should remove the neon blue pinstripe and multiple hotpink chevy heartbeat "squiggles" the former owner had painted down the sides of my GTO and across the top of the Judge wing. The 80's were over 20 years ago so I figured it was about time. My plan was to remove the "kid stuff" and put on repro GTO stickers for a more original look.

I started with a buffer and compound and proceeded to buff through the paint along the body line necessitating a touch up. The car was painted in black urethane in the 80's that was hard as a rock. I never thought I could buff right through it. I could sand in 1 spot for 10 minutes wth 400 grit and not cut through the paint! I regrouped and figured laquer thinner would take the stripes off without harming the underlying
paint. I figured a quick wipe down, a light wet sand with 3200 and a buff would remove any etching the "one shot" used for the striping had done to the paint.

I spot tested and then did the Judge wing first and it worked great with a lot of elbow grease to get the striping off. I did the whole passenger side in about 4 hours, followed by the driver's side rear quarter and then the door. With the finish line in sight, I got to the front fender and found out the hard way the it had been spot painted and clear coated over part of the striping somewhere in time.

No turning back, so I wet sanded the clear along the stripe and then lacquer thinnered off the striping and the "squiggle". Now I have the feathered edge of the clear showing against the black in the outline of the stripe and "squiggle" and it looks like ass.

A local body shop said "Don't even start messing with it, we'll block, prime, basecoat and clearcoat, wet sand and buff the whole car for $1200 if we can tape off the jambs. That's sounding really good right about now.

[JUDGEMAN70]

Hey Lintmann, beings you do not know Jack Sheit, I would like to introduce you to him. Watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuRwis3_iVk

[rememberfireball#22]

I would love to know what "killer chrome" is.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by rememberfireball#22

I would love to know what "killer chrome" is.

It's a spray on product that simulates chrome plating. Works pretty good too...Not quite like chrome but a lot better than silver paint.
Used some on this instrument panel-

[goatman65]

Car was completely stripped of every bolt-on piece,just an empty body shell sitting on a bare frame.I had just removed the last part from the front of the frame and layed it down.I picked up the 1/2 ratchet that was laying on the frame,well turns out the j-stands were too far forward in the rear so there was too much rear overhang.When I picked up the ratchet the front of the car went straight up and the rear tailpanel was now touching the floor.

[rememberfireball#22]

I have checked at my local parts store and they never heard of it. I would like to try it on a couple of interior pieces on my 68 goat. Where would I find some killer chrome?

[Old Goat 67]

http://www.alsacorp.com/products/kil...llerchrome.htm