Undoubtedly the greatest hurdle awaiting the enthusiast on a car project is paint and body. Oh how we dread this one, with all that stripping, sanding, filling, priming, spotting, blocking, resurfacing, and--finally--laying down a finish in hopes of winning new friends and influencing the masses with an awesome ride. Achieving a flawless finish is not easy, even if you're starting with a dent- and rust-free body. Even an original body sports some imperfections, because factory finishes from 30 years ago were anything but flawless. We're talking sloppy lead work, subtle dings and dents, miswelded panels, and more.
Okay, so how do you get there from here? We thought about this question, then we contacted Bill Kepp, a fellow Mustang enthusiast brand new to classic Mustangs. Kepp picked up a '66 Mustang six-cylinder coupe body for $400, complete with pink slip, mountains of decaying paint and Bondo, and abundant prayer in tow. It was a homeless Mustang looking for a place to have a major accident. The car, and Kepp, needed fast, affordable answers.
Like most of us, Kepp didn't have a liberal budget to work with. So we put on our thinking caps and went to work. A vintage Ford buff on a budget needs to plan a project carefully, beginning with the paint and body. But paint and body does not have to be expensive. If you do all the preparation yourself, practice patience, and true the body to perfection, you can expect to spend at least $1,000 by the time your body shop has applied the paint. If you farm out the preparation, you can spend as much as $5,000-$7,000. Are you beginning to understand why you need to learn the finer points of doing body prep yourself?
Stripping
No matter what your budget is, you should strip all the paint off and begin with a clean foundation--bare steel. Because we're talking low buck here, there are really only two answers--aircraft stripping or aggressive sanding. An aircraft paint stripper is an affordable way to strip your Ford's body chemically . Brush it on (in the shade only) and watch the paint wrinkle up and fall off. If only it were that easy. An original factory finish will wrinkle and fall off with help--the use of a wire brush and a putty knife. When you're down to the steel, wash the body thoroughly with detergent, baking soda, and water to neutralize the effects of the stripper.
If you're going to sand down to the surface, start with 40-grit, then 80-grit paper and an orbital electric or pneumatic sander. Work the entire body down to the steel surface, then work the steel with 220- to 240-grit paper. Once the body is clean and bare, you're ready to work the steel to perfection. Sounds easy, doesn't it?
Prepare It Yourself
We enlisted the help of Vic Koroghlian at Covina Auto Body in Southern California to show us how to prepare a Mustang body properly for painting. As we watched these professionals massage the steel to a paintable condition, we concluded it wasn't anything we couldn't do ourselves, given patience and close attention to detail. We're going to show you how to save thousands of dollars, because 90 percent of a good paint job is preparation. After preparation, there are countless ways to save more.
We looked to PPG Finishes for our primer, paint, and clearcoat finishes because PPG products have yielded outstanding results for us in the past, including on our own Project Ed '65 Mustang coupe, which appeared on the cover of the Mar. '98 issue of Mustang & Fords. If you buy the PPG primers and finishes yourself with the idea of farming out the final painting to a body shop, you will spend upwards of $1,000 in materials, plus the labor for the paint job, with a total cash outlay of $2,000-3,000. That's not bad for a beautiful, glistening finish.
You have other options when cash is tight and buying paint is out of the question. MAACO, Earl Sheib, and 1-Day Paint & Body are all good options for the enthusiast on a tight budget. If you prepare the surface yourself and achieve a perfect body, any of the nationwide economy painters can dress your ride out for around $500. The key to success here is detailed preparation. Take your time and be stubborn about quality, and you will achieve good results for less than $1,000. Don't expect a show-quality finish from the economy painters. However, you can be strutting your stuff proudly when it's time to cruise on a Saturday night, because the economy painters lay down a nice finish for less than $500. All you need is a perfect surface.
One more thing. Whenever you're dealing with the economy painters, always go for the highest-quality paint available and mask the body yourself. Whenever possible, opt for additional coats of clear and spend the extra money to get it. This will enable you to color-sand and rub out the finish without going into the color coat.
With the help of Covina Auto Body, we're going to show you how to prepare a vintage Ford yourself the way the professionals do and achieve professional results.