It Has Begun (250CE restoration Thread.)

[JiveTurkey]

Well I busted out the Lincoln Pro-Core 125 today to start learning FCAW. It's not easy, but here's some pictures.




Yeah, I'm TerriBad at this, but I'll get better. Thank god for metal files and plastic filler.

[meltedpanda]

wow no beer in your picture, you OK ( lol) . Seriously , keep up the good work..

[JiveTurkey]

I practiced welding a little more today. I'm getting better at it.

Pics

I like the two handed technique for holding the gun.


Welded on 20 guage mild steel (Not easy with the deep penetration of FCAW.)


They're actually stating to look like actual beads. No burn throughs, not many craters and most of them are continuous. Not bad for my second day of practice.

[alabbasi]

Looking good, now it;s time to cut a piece of metal in half and weld it back together. Drill holds 1 inch apart. Then use sheet metal screws to screw the two pieces of metal together so that they are tight in every other hole.

First weld the blank holes and then remove the screws and weld up the others.

This is how I weld floors and it works pretty for well for a rubbish welder like me

[JiveTurkey]

It's like you have a window into my brain. Just the other day I was wondering, "How the hell am I going to secure a chunk of metal without holding it in place?" Hah. Thank you sir for yet another helping hand.

[Mike D]

I'll give you a couple of tips.

Don't try to run a continuous bead. Do a 1" section at one end of the joint, move down 8"'s or so, do 1", then on down. Go back to the first and repeat the procedure until the seam is done. This allows you to run a good temp without "burn-through" and it prevents "curl".

You're in the wrong position for practice. Put the sheet on a bench where you can get your head down to so you can actually see what the weld process is doing. You are "laying" the weld on instead of "puddling" the weld. A "puddle" is good penetration and a good weld. Get into position, start the weld and watch the point where the wire meets your material. You want it to start a small molten "puddle" and then move the gun slightly to create another puddle and so on. A buddy of mine told me "a good weld should look like a stack of nickles tilted on its side".

Work the variable feed control of the welder. The one thing I really enjoy about my Lincoln is the infinitely varying speed. I'd like to have more than the 4 position heat switch but whaddya gonna do?

[JiveTurkey]

Mike, thanks to your help I've acquired enough welding skill to join metal together fairly well. I still don't have the patch panels in, because I'm (still) removing the sound deadening stuff from the floors. I should have the holes patched and the body ready for paint in a couple weeks.

In the interest of saving money I'm gonna try to paint the car myself. I've done lots of reading on this subject and I'm fairly sure I can figure it out. Plus, I'm getting really really good at sanding. Haha!

[meltedpanda]

heck , I have painted two of em now, not too bad a job with the right stuff, fun actually. Paint is pricey along with the hardener and thinner. About $300 for quality paint

[JiveTurkey]

I've heard good primer can hit me for 200 bucks a gallon too. I have a parts car to practice on though before I go whole hog on Wilma.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by JiveTurkey

I've heard good primer can hit me for 200 bucks a gallon too. I have a parts car to practice on though before I go whole hog on Wilma.

Find a maaco, you'll save money off the bat and the job will turn out well if you do the prep work and shop for the right shop.

You won't save any money by doing it yourself and you could potentially spend twice the money when you have to sand the new paint down and then pay someone else to redo it. I'm not trying to be negative here but most production paint shops get huge discounts on paint and have mixers on site so the price of the job will be very close to the price of the materials if you bought them yourself.

They have painters that shoot 5 cars a day and have done for years so they have infinitely more experience then an amateur, and they have heated paint booths, filters and a massive compressor etc that you probably do not have and will need to build into the cost of painting a car if you do it yourself.

Plus this stuff is seriously toxic so you need to make sure that you have the correct mask and are in a well ventilated area that is not attached to your house or near any animals. I painted my first car in the basement of my house and the fumes stuck around the house for about a week. It was not good.

Because of all that, the odds are stacked up against you turning out a good paint job first time, and unlike the chassis welding, you have to look at the paint every day. Metallic paint is especially hard as the metal flakes can sit and cause havoc. I've seen this happen.

If you want to save some money, find a shop and check out their work. If you like what they are doing, ask them what kind of deal they can cut you if you do all the prep work. It will be cheaper then you think.

It's great that you want to try you hand at painting, I did and this is how I came to this conclusion. But save the DIY paint job for a smaller project, preferably in a non metallic light color like white because it's much for forgiving.

[ja17]

Hello,

I must agree with Al. Painting and bodywork takes years of experience for good results. Good results on your first job is very unlikely. Experience is a big factor, in addition the conditions and equipment are another issue against you. If you just want to do it yourself for the experience fine. If you want to save money and get good results you should think about sending it out. Do as much as you can yourself, have an experienced body person check out your work and have someone spray the car for you.

Maaco can give you a decent job for little money for a daily driver. You probably will have as much money in paint and supplies as Maaco will charge to do the job for you.

It takes years for painters to get familiar with different paint systems, all paint manufacturers are different. Painters have access to manufacturer's reps, training classes and in depth information on the product, not to mention ideal working conditions. A few degrees difference in temperature can make a big difference on how a paint is mixed and sprayed. A good automobile painter makes over 100K per year and he is quite skilled.

At twenty years, I started off buying some MBs at the local police auction, stripped the chrome and glass, preped them for paint and sent them down to the local Earl Schiebe(in those days $49.95). I once asked the painter why don't they cover the tires before they spray the car. He said "oh, we just re-spray the tires black after we paint the car" !?? So before the painter sprayed the car, I would approach him and tell him a tip was involved if he did a good job.

With all this negative advice, I must admit, I painted my first car when I was 22 years old in my father's garage. It was a 1955 Mercedes 190SL. The results were good, but the red lacquer I used was very forgiving compared to todays two stage paints. I also took a three month course on autobody restoration before I began. This included body repair with lead filler, metal straightening, welding and spraying in those days. Just adjusting the spray gun and mixing the paint correctly is something which must be learned.

I have painted many cars (even show cars) since then and have never regreted the experience and tribulations of learning. There is a great deal of satisfaction doing it yourself, but be prepared to travel a very rocky road!

Take care,

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[Mike D]

Yeah, what Al and Joe said! Plus that, it's a lot easier to take the car back to THEM if they make a mistake than to sand it down and try to repair your own oops.

Nothing wrong with a MAACO paint job. I mean, we aren't exactly talking a "collector's" car here. They will give you a good quality job and you won't be ashamed to drive it around. "Show" quality, maybe not but you certainly wouldn't be ashamed to drive it to a car show.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

I bought my own paint, primer and supplies at Tasco here in Houston for about $150.00. They supply the body and paint shops with tools, supplies and paint. After some sober assessments of my experience and skill at painting, I decided on "Professional Help".

I had my trunk lid prepped and painted for $200.00 by a shop that sells and installs body kits for trucks. I supplied the paint. They paint body parts every day in their spray shop that has filtered air and professional equipment.

I did call Maaco to get a quote and it was more expensive than the shop I went with.

[JiveTurkey]

Don't worry guys, I'm not going to try and spray the new Isochynides (sp?) because the new forms of paint are expensive and a pain in the ass. Also, I don't have an outside air supply (you need more than a mask for the new stuff.) I don't think it's possible to get the Nitrocellulose Laquer anymore (good old days.)

I'd love to just take my car to Maaco, or any discount paint place because that would be within my budget for paint. Unfortunately, I moved from Phoenix to bum****middleofnowhererednecklandmouthbreathing Eastern Tennessee back in '08. I've called body shops in town, and they're all idiots. "Y'all want me to paint up one of them Murrrr-Cedes? I reckon that'll run about four thousand. (in labor, LOL)"

Yes I've explained to said body shops that I'm doing all the *****work and all they have to do is shoot on the paint, and they stand firm on their asanine quote.

Right now, my only options are either to get bent over by a "local shop" in addition to paying for a rental trailer to get the car there and back on top of however much Diesel I have to buy to tow Wilma out to said shop, or paint the car myself. Lets not forget that I'm a college student so my concept of "acceptable cost" could be different from other folks.

So, since I can't spray the new catalyst hardening paint, and I can't buy Nitrocellulose Laquer, I'm going to try a different, as of yet undetermined approach. Spraypaint is a possibility, but as most of us know, spray paint has to be seriously thinned out to spray out of the can, so it would take a TON of coats to get good coverage. Add in the fact that it's hard to get a consistant paint pattern from a spray can, and the fact that you don't get very uniform coverage and it becomes apparent that spray paint is going to require about 98,736 coats of primer, color, and clear along with a LOT more sanding. This is my last resort option of desperation.

A slightly more sensible option would be to apply paint with a high density foam brush, which would be cheaper, but would require almost as much sanding. Also, I'm not totally sure what kind of lifespan this paintjob would have.

Now you can see why I've been running at a slower pace on this project lately.

[JiveTurkey]

Forgot to add in a couple things...

I'm still open to basically any color. I'd like silver, but since it's a ***** to get the runs out of silver that color would only happen if I could find an actual body shop to paint the car. If I do my own paint job I'd probably go with a bright white, as it's a very forgiving color. I don't like metallic paint.

Odds are the interior is going to stay Brown MB tex, so whatever I paint the outside has to jive with the Brown interior.

I've almost got the bodywork done (as I've said previously.) so if I choose to use an actual body shop there all they have to do is shoot on the paint, and maybe color sand it depending on what they charge for that. I should also probably mention, when I say "I've read up on something" it means I've read about fifteen books, cover to cover on the subject, some more than once.