My 65, another build to follow

I love the look of that. Very sharp looking without being crazy over the top i think. That is a lot of red for sure. Did you have any work done to the heads when you had it apart?

Greg, that's the same guy & number I directed u to. Apparently, I bought his last one. He no longer is providing this service. He didn't even know his ad was still in the Riview. David

That's good to know; I'll advise Ray to pull the ad from the Riview for the next issue. Thanks for the info. Are there any other ads that anyone knows about that are no longer valid but still appearing in the Riview?

Ed

Thanks, back to the drawing board!

Thanks, back to the drawing board!

Clarks Corvair has them. www.corvair.com page R-9. They won't sell them unless they upholster them though.

Ed

David that engine looks GREAT!! Good job!

Thx bb1970, I appreciate the support

David

I love the look of that. Very sharp looking without being crazy over the top i think. That is a lot of red for sure. Did you have any work done to the heads when you had it apart?

Sorry, I missed this one.

Thank u…I sometimes think it's a bit too much red too but oh well

The heads were rebuilt when the engine was rebuilt 2 years ago. No porting or polishing just the basics. The machine shop used new valves, guides & springs. I referred him to Russ Martin & I believe the parts were purchased from Russ.

David

I am a happy homeowner once again, thank God. We moved & my Riv will have to be placed on the back burner again (happy wife, happy life). The house is a fixer up'er & even the basics need attention.

So in order to transport my Riv I borrowed a cool portable "A" frame hoist & a cherry picker to set the body on the chassis. I regret not taking a pic of the set-up while I had the body suspended in mid air. But I was alone & super nervous that I was gonna have the body come crashing down. 

Anyway, I rolled the chassis under & all worked out. As I was fighting to get the first body mount bolts in, a neighbor ran over to lend a hand.

Here's a pic of the body mounted on the chassis. I so plan on taking it back off & prepping the body for paint myself someday.

I am a happy homeowner once again, thank God.

David

So David, how about the new garage?

Steve

So David, how about the new garage?

Steve

Hi Steve, sorry for late response, trying to square things up in the new place is hell right now. The new garage has the standard two car garage footprint but taller. Hoist possibly ?? Adjacent to the garage, I did gain a 15x40 gated RV access with anchors already set for a cover & a 10x15 storage shed on that same pad.

Feeling very blessed & excited to get back to wrenching someday. But the "honey-do" list comes first.

David

car looks good David what color are you going to paint it when the time comes??

car looks good David what color are you going to paint it when the time comes??

Thx Casey. Many colors to choose from. But I've had my heart set on a metallic gun metal grey of some sort. I think all the chrome on these cars will make any color look good…well almost "any" color.

Your color is amazing, good pick.

David

Thx Casey. Many colors to choose from. But I've had my heart set on a metallic gun metal grey of some sort. I think all the chrome on these cars will make any color look good…well almost "any" color.

Your color is amazing, good pick.

David

I completely agree with you on the gun metal grey. It is what I was thinking for my car as well when I get tired of the flat black look. Engine looks great! I feel your pain on on the moving, I'm getting ready to do the same thing. My home fixer upper is going to but my riviera project on the back burner while a gut the whole house.

I completely agree with you on the gun metal grey. It is what I was thinking for my car as well when I get tired of the flat black look. Engine looks great! I feel your pain on on the moving, I'm getting ready to do the same thing. My home fixer upper is going to but my riviera project on the back burner while a gut the whole house.

Sorry for the late response, Charles. thx for the compliment. I hope your move went well. Follow my lead, I gave mama some strong effort in the house fixing up stuff. Now I gotta get back in the garage for some therapy lol

We are all moved in now, tons of boxes still need unpacking, tons of projects still on the honey-do list...sorry but I need some ME time.

So I spent some time in the garage creating elbow room to get around my Riv. She's been sitting patiently collecting dust. I dusted her off, crudely hooked up a battery, stuck a hose from my carb fuel filter to my lawn mower fuel tank, hit the switch and enjoyed the purr...

David ,

This is Gunmetal grey metallic , but Harley PPG calls it Charcoal Satin Bright

David ,

This is Gunmetal grey metallic , but Harley PPG calls it Charcoal Satin Bright

Ahhhh that Gun Metal Charcoal Satin or whatever u wish lol looks amazing!!! I'm sold, I think that will be my color too (if u don't mind ?). I will be calling u soon for details. Good thing is I did buy my epoxy primer & high build primer from PPG a few days ago. I'm off to a good start. I will be posting new pix soon.

Thx Greg

David

With the epoxy and poly primers from PPG you are off to a great start.

I tossed around the idea of subbing out my paint & bodywork. After many quotes & brainstorming I decided to give it a try myself. After all, I've done 90% of this resto myself so why not go for it? With many pointers from one of our members, Chris Nolan (Alini) & my coach/mentor Tim McLaughlin (shown in pic teaching me some basics) @ T&M performance in San Fernando Ca, I seem to be catching on fairly well. The only other bodywork type experience I have is from what I did to my firewall in previous posts...& it was terrible haha

I tackled the sanding & epoxy primer on one fender in 3 days. I quickly picked up on the fact that Tim was teaching me some sanding techniques in an around about kind of way that took longer than needed. But I pushed forward thinking there was a reason. Sure enough he tells me it should've only taken less than 1 day from start to epoxy of one fender. He wanted me to practice sanding on the crappy paint that was coming off rather than on the filler primer that will show thru later on if not sanded right. Hope that makes sense.

I used Tim's shop for this fender. I shaved the antenna, Riviera emblem, the 70's style door ding bumper & the rocker panels. He let me use his air file with 36 grit & jitterbug with 60 grit then finished it up with 320 right before spraying two coats of epoxy. The sanded fender pic is NOT the finished product. But u can see that the factory primer & paint looks solid. I will not be taking this fender down to metal, not necessary.

Stay tuned for more…

I tossed around the idea of subbing out my paint & bodywork. After many quotes & brainstorming I decided to give it a try myself. After all, I've done 90% of this resto so why not go for it. With many pointers from one of our members, Chris Nolan (Alini) & my coach/mentor Tim McLaughlin (shown in pic teaching me some basics) @ T&M performance in San Fernando Ca, I seem to be catching on fairly well. The only other bodywork type experience I have is from what I did to my firewall in previous posts.

I tackled the sanding & epoxy primer of one fender in 3 days. I quickly picked up on the fact that Tim was teaching me some sanding techniques in an around about kind of way that took longer than needed. But I pushed forward thinking there was a reason. Sure enough he tells me it should've only taken 1 day from start to epoxy of one fender. He wanted me to practice sanding on the crappy paint that was coming off rather than on the filler primer that will show thru later on if not sanded right. Hope that makes sense.

I used Tim's shop for this fender. I shaved the antenna, Riviera emblem, the 70's style door ding bumper & the rocker panels. He let me use his air file with 36 grit & jitterbug with 60 grit then finished it up with 320 right before spraying two coats of epoxy. The sanded fender pic is NOT the finished product. But u can see that the factory primer & paint looks solid. I will not be taking this fender down to metal, not necessary.

Stay tuned for more…

David

Nice work and great pictures....good to see you working on it again.

Painting isn't all that difficult if you take your time. When blocking out the panels the main thing is to sand the primer with a very fine grit paper when you think you have it straight, then wet down the primer with a hose to make the panel shine like a finished paint job and sight down it to make sure there are no waves or ripples. If you see any, you have to keep blocking it till there aren't any.

I'm getting ready to block sand the primer on my '64. Rather than making a mess with the hose / bucket and water, I'm going to use a dry guide coat. Super fine powder that will fill any small scratches, etc. As you sand with a long enough block, you'll also be able to notice any high and low spots. Keep the floor clean with the old shop vac. It's much quicker as well. No chance of getting any water mixed in with body putty if you discover a high spot and sand all the primer off. You want to know about the highs, but you don't want to get the "bondo" wet - its porous.

Ed

Nice work and great pictures....good to see you working on it again.

Painting isn't all that difficult...

...wet down the primer with a hose to make the panel shine like a finished paint job and sight down it to make sure there are no waves or ripples.

Thx Winston, it feels good to be back in the garage for some "ME" time. I don't expect our wives to understand this one but getting dirty in the garage is therapy for most car guys...I needed this.

Great advise, I will totally try that wet sanding technique. It makes sense, sounds like a simple process to follow. I always wondered why they added water while sanding

As you sand with a long enough block,

Keep the floor clean with the old shop vac. It's much quicker as well. No chance of getting any water mixed in with body putty if you discover a high spot and sand all the primer off. You want to know about the highs, but you don't want to get the "bondo" wet - its porous.

Ed

WHOA! This dry system is interesting. At first I thought it was newer technology. But the youtube video is dated 2010? I will have to ask around. I may try this too. Have you or anyone you know tried this before?

You mention a long sanding block but the video suggests their sanding pads on a DA. Are u gonna try this by hand sanding with blocks or are u gonna try the DA method?

WHOA! This dry system is interesting. At first I thought it was newer technology. But the youtube video is dated 2010? I will have to ask around. I may try this too. Have you or anyone you know tried this before?

You mention a long sanding block but the video suggests their sanding pads on a DA. Are u gonna try this by hand sanding with blocks or are u gonna try the DA method?

Guide coat is available in aerosol from most paint suppliers. Dont use a dark paint, its not the same thing. Get a can or two of guide coat. Your list you sent me the other day had it on it, so I thought you had it. Eastwood sells it if you check their site.

WHOA! This dry system is interesting. At first I thought it was newer technology. But the youtube video is dated 2010? I will have to ask around. I may try this too. Have you or anyone you know tried this before?

You mention a long sanding block but the video suggests their sanding pads on a DA. Are u gonna try this by hand sanding with blocks or are u gonna try the DA method?

DA's work well on flat surfaces but on the long curves, but IMHO, a long board that has some flex in it is better. I've done some work with this stuff before (did the blocking on an older MG Midget with a friend) and in my limited experience, I sometimes don't know exactly where the DA is actually doing its work. For me, doing it by hand means fewer chances of creating flat spots, especially around corners.

I think that there may be an attachment for a DA that just removes the guide coat so you can see the highs and lows, it may not actually do any sanding. ?????

I'm in no hurry so hand sanding is fine with me.

Ed

Chris,

PM sent...

Yes guide coat was on the list I sent u. This is what I purchased, the receipt even shows guide coat. But when I actually went to use it the can said Lacquer Paint??? No where on the can did it say Guide Coat. I meant to call the guy today & forgot.

Ed,

I've never used a DA sander either. I should also avoid overdoing it with power tools. BUT the video shows the pads to be pretty forgiving or I might just be making up excuses to buy another tool lol

DA is very forgiving, just dont sit in one spot. Let the sander do the work and cover a larger area.

Dont use the laquer paint for the guide coat that will take forever to sand down and clog the paper.

Ed,

I've never used a DA sander either. I should also avoid overdoing it with power tools. BUT the video shows the pads to be pretty forgiving or I might just be making up excuses to buy another tool lol

I've used DA's plenty of times, just never on a guide coat (unless it's on a large fairly flat surface like the roof of a 1st gen. Riviera. The trunk and fenders have peaks that I'd just as soon stay far away from and the doors which are rounded.) Besides, I have fun knowing that I 'finished it by hand.'

Ed

Im with Ed on this one, a DA should only be used for that initial sanding once you applied primer. If you are at the Guide coat stage, thats when the only way to do it is by hand and work the paint straight.

It's been a whole year since I posted any progress. Here is the latest. Not much but something is better than nothing.

I hate to call myself a quitter but it takes a real man to admit defeat. I gave up on the idea of doing my own bodywork & paint. Hats off to you real men who have taken on that punishment. I was ready to do the same but the home projects are taking precedence. I spent time on one fender between working on my house & quickly realized it takes a ton of time & effort to do bodywork. To add to the pain, my Riviera is a total bondo cake (tons of bondo needs to come off). So I've set out to look for a good paint & body guy. Waiting to hear back from a potential prospect now.

Here is are two videos of my car FINALLY hitting the road again after a 18 year (give or take) slumber.

Also had my inner fenders blasted then I coated them in Eastwoods Rust Encapsulting paint. I planned to smooth out the voltage regulator pad & some of the factory wrinkles. But at this point I've been cutting corners just to get this old girl back on the road. Final coat of paint was Rustoleum Satin Black 7777 (same as firewall).

I wouldn't call it defeat. You now know the #1 reason so many car projects get stalled indefinitely and made a business decision as well as properly prioritizing home projects. Body and paint on old cars (especially ones with rust) is the most difficult part of a restoration or refresh for the average DIYS'er in time, skill, and tools. For the same reasons, body and paint done correctly at a competent shop is very expensive sometimes costing 2-3 times the value of a Riviera. Its labor intensive and at typical shop rates of $80/hr, it ads up real fast.

You have to be very careful when selecting a body shop. There are many things to consider when picking a shop but the main one is don't pay in advance. Only pay for what work has been completed. I said it in another recent post but will say it again because its worth repeating. Its very difficult for a shop to quote an overall body repair and paint until the car is stripped to bare metal but some still do it anyway then they start work and say "we did not expect this much rust and its going to cost you another $5000". Your car is already in pieces and you are held hostage because moving the car in pieces to another shop is very difficult.....assuming you can even find another shop to take it.

I was watching an episode of Counting Cars and the Count commented its all too common to get many customers coming in who had horrible experiences with body shops ripping people off, not completing work but charging for it, etc. Unfortunately he is exactly right.

I'm not a paint and body guy by any measure, but have worked with one in the shop for a year or two. I can understand how hard it is for them to give an estimate until it is taken all the way down to metal. I know by my project that there is always more than you think and in the worst spots. Body work is definitely the time killer of my project. I am a mechanic by trade, but my project has me competing with my mechanic tools with body tools. I had to buy a separate top and bottom box for just the body tools i am using. I give it up to the guys who do it for a living. I can see there is an art and a science to it and it is easily the most time consuming thing to do even when putting a diy paint job on it. Any paint job requires good prep and a solid foundation, which with most of these cars is asking a lot. I could not justify the expense of having someone else do the paint and body work, so i thought it would be an excellent learning period. I am over the hump, but damn, i can easily say i am looking forward to drivetrain and go fast work and putting the welder,sander,blocks, and mask well behind me.

OK David: My son says to me, "Hey Mitch, quit being such a jerk".  My reply? I am not a quitter.  I was reminded today on Facebook that one of my builds started 5 years ago and it still ain't finished. Why?  I get to beating myself up and go away because it isn't where I want to be.
 
I gotta let myself off the hook more.   Mitch

Thanks for the feedback fella's...truly appreciated. 

I've had a handful of paint & body quotes & like what the last guy is saying/describing. He works out of his house & doesn't live far from me. He was recommened by a friend who has had multiple cars painted by this guy & loved his work. I have NOT seem his work yet but planning to go today to scope out his latest work (VW bus). Then I hope he has some previous cars that he worked on that I can go visit

@Jason: I totally understand the "don't pay in advance" & "only pay for what has been completed"  concept. Correct me if I'm wrong but don't most guys (mechanics, painters, contractors) required some money up front for supplies?? & How much should that be??

@Devildog: I thought I couldn't justify someone doing my bodywork either until I started trying to juggle life projects & began to lose my sanity...haha

@Mitch: I too am being called a jerk a lot lately. But its not by my son. It's the wife haha. Keep truckin' forward friend, your project will be done someday

Here is a wee bit more progress…snails pace, I know.

I sent a couple of parts out to the sand blaster. Kind of cool to see some ole school lead work under there.

Then coated them with epoxy primer

I don't agree with the Dog's opinion at the end of the "drive by" video, LOL! Nice work, good to see it rolling under its own power!

Tim

@Jason: I totally understand the "don't pay in advance" & "only pay for what has been completed"  concept. Correct me if I'm wrong but don't most guys (mechanics, painters, contractors) required some money up front for supplies?? & How much should that be??

Sorry David I did not see your question in post #234 until now. Yes some do require a deposit but I believe that can be negotiable especially if you tell them you will pay cash at frequent intervals as work is completed. That way they really have no risk because they have your car and they aren't putting a lot of money out in materials or labor between payments even if two week intervals. Once they get your money there is no incentive to actually do work. If a shop is struggling so bad with low cash flow that requires them to need payment to go buy some materials that is a red flag in itself. I know there are exceptions but this is just my personal opinion.

Unless you have gobs of evidence a shop is consistent and accurate meeting promise dates, I would NEVER pay up front. Chances are a shop like that would not ask for money up front. When you think about it, most all service work and outright purchases of any product unless it is a special or custom ordered part that can't be returned, the payment is done upon receipt of the product or service, and in bigger business payment isn't required for 30-60 days after receipt of product! 

Most of the horror stories I've heard on body shops were when the shop wanted money up front before any work was done. 

On the shop I used, I "sort" of knew the guy and he "sort" of knew me but really not so well assumptions could be made on either side. When I told him I did not expect a quote up front and instead cost could be based on actual time and material to meet the quality I wanted, I think he respected that statement and preferred to work that way. I also offered cash payments. He ended up only asking for two payments, one about half way through and the other upon completion. The car was in shop waaaaay longer than I hoped but at least I never at any time paid in advance for work that was not done. 

I have good news and bad news to report. I know this has become a long long long build thread...Sorry.  I didn't expect this either. But at least I am making some sort of progress & I too have not quit

Good news: 

1) I have finally chosen what seems to be a good body shop to work on my car. I have reserved a spot in their shop for the end of this month. Aside from the good work I've seen them put out a cool detail about this shop is, like Jason Z said, they only asked me to pay as work gets completed. I really like that. They will only do the bodywork & I will use my cousins booth to spray it (not sure if I will be spraying it or if I should just hire his painter...will keep u guy posted)

2) I was able to take two weeks off of work. One week for the family vacation & one week as a working vacation in the garage to put my car back together for the shop to see what goes where & how. My theory is to have the panels in place & have them align them for me & get the gaps right. Chip Foose & Gas Monkeys make this part look easy. Taking my car apart 3 years ago was easy. But putting it back together took lots of help from multiple ratchet straps, my floor jack, jack stands & my son pushing/pulling just to get bolt holes to line up haha

3) Car now handles well, runs strong, I got 10+ miles on her.

4) Chris Nolan (Alini) has helped me sort out lots & lots of details (brake light/turn signal/running lights, window tracks/motors, exhaust, door skin removal, fuel gauge, seam sealer, grounding engine/electrical, etc...)

Thank u Chris for the time u take to help & for the motivation your sweet Rivi brings

Bad news:

1) The sand blaster with 30 year experience that I hired claimed that he has never had anyone complain about warped panels after he was done blasting sheet metal. This statement came after I told him about the horror stories I read online where people experienced warped panels. I was so happy with his work as u can read in an earlier post. Especially since he got it done in one day. After I coated everything in epoxy primer u could see the crazy warpage on the hood & trunk. So I had to spent time & money sourcing out replacement parts 

2) Having fun hot dogging my bucket of bolts around my block with no front clip is one thing. The extra weight over front suspension after I installed the front clip had me fearing for my life when I drove it. The car was all over the road. I called an alignment shop & limped it over there. This damn shop had to keep my car overnight in order to get my alignment right (not the cars fault, young alignment kid didn't know what he was doing). All good now. A detail I failed to see while my car sat in my garage was both front wheels were toed outward causing each wheel to fight each other when I drove it. Yes, I know I could've totally fixed that myself & drove it safely to alignment shop...but remember, this is my first build. My eyes were glazed over by what looks like a car taking shape in my garage & I totally missed the wheels being toed out.

3) Rodded radiator has a pin hole in it near the cap. Not leaking fluid thru it but it seems to be steaming out thru the the pinhole. That plus my water pump leak is causing a slight overheating issue when my fluid gets low. Water pump will be replaced with a FlowKooler pump in the near future. 

thanks for watching haha 

                      David it sure is nice to see you working on it again! What color are you going to paint it?

Edit: one important note I forgot to add was a big THANK YOU to ROA Ventura County Regional Coordinator "Leroy Pickett" he gave me the replacement hood u see in the pic. He even threw in the custom flame job also for free haha. Thank you sir!

@ Winston: Thx, I needed some garage time haha feels good…My color of choice has been a metallic gun metal grey. Then I saw the 2016 Challenger on the road & caught my eye. The color is called Granite Crystal. Obviously, this pic doesn't do the metallic any justice but wait until u see one on the road if u haven't already.