Hobby Auto Restoration: Primer and Sanding

A few years ago, my family and I restored a 1976 Camaro.  We started with a rusty, dented 76 body, bought out of a junkyard with a running motor for two hundred dollars.  From there, we replaced the original front clip with a 1970 1/2 Rally Sport front and also welded on a 1973 tail end.  If you are unfamiliar with this ear of Camaro, 1970 1/2 through 1973 are almost identical.  Other than the front and rear, the rest of the body did not change much from those three years to the 1976 either.  In the end, the restoration was completed for about $3,200, much of this applied towards paint and painting supplies.  I would like to be clear that this car is not restored to show quality; we use it as a daily driver.  As our first projects with body restoration, we developed some useful methods that will be outlined in this Instructable.

The project taught us there are endless ways to approach classic car body restoration. I will detail the processes used on this 1976 Camaro.  I strongly encourage gaining as much other information as possible to form your own ideas as well.  This Instructable enters the process after the welding of patch panels and application of body filler.

Step 1 Supplies and Saftey Issues

Supplies - These can be found at many auto part shops, tool stores, or home improvement stores

- 17" wooden sanding board
- Rubber sanding blocks (3M brand shown)
- Wet/Dry sanding pads (3M brand shown)
- Kitchen sponges
- Rubber squeegee
- Bucket
- Sandpaper - 150, 220, 320, 400, 500, 600 grit
- Face mask

Note: Primer and mixing supplies listed in Step 2.

Safety Precautions:
As always when working with tools, general shop safety must be practiced.  Mixing and applying paint and primer requires extra caution to ensure proper ventilation of the work space.  We commonly used box fans to circulate fresh air.  In addition, you must wear the face mask when spraying paint/primer to prevent ingestion of dangerous fumes.

Comments

[FrozenIce]

amazing car!! the able aint so bad either..

[Jarerex]

I've got a '76 Camaro myself that I've been wanting to restore for quite some time (My mother got it almost new, it was her first car). The issue is that most of the rear end is completely rusted out. From your experience, how hard was it to replace the tail end on your project here? If the Chassis is sound, is it possible to do a body-on-frame resto and cut down on the amount of welding necessary? How much experience with welding would you say you need to do the job? Sorry for all the questions, the number of people around who can still do engine work on these old cars, let alone bodywork, is dwindling fast!

[lukegagnon]

What size nozzles did you use for the sealer, primer, and finish coat?

[MACKattacksnipe]

I have a 1972 Cutless Oldsmobile 442 convertible

[automd]

Wow.. this auto restoration instructable sure is good. I suddenly thought of my dad's old camaro out in the garage. I am having thoughts restoring it really soon like what you just did. Nice instructable!

[mgrc]

Great Instructable! I will definately be using this when me and my dad start painting our MG. I have a couple questions, it seems like having a very slightly damp rag to wipe the dust off the body will get more dust off. Is this a bad idea? Also, would doing a final wetsand with say, 800 or 100 grit before the finish paint coats make a noticable difference in the finish paint quality?

[annk]

Thanks!  You could use a damp rag; the main thing is to be sure the car is clean and dry when appliying paint.  Also, we ended up with a very good finish with 600 grit sandpaper.  I don't think that 800 or 1000 would hurt anything, we just didn't find it necessary.  If you are doing base coat-clear coat, you can use a buffer with compound after the color and clear coat have been painted to really make it shine and smooth.  Good luck!

[mechanixman]

hey, great instructable!!
ill be prepping my camaro for paint later this year (when there is no snow)
and where in the world did you get a camaro for $200? my camaro was 2000 from the junkyard near me

[annk]

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments about my Instructable!  I'm glad that people have found some use from it.

[uranus_b_hurtin]

Awesome. my question is how did you get your hands on a '70 front clip? I'm sure those aren't cheap!

Readers who like that generation of Camaro and who may be a bit on the young side might like to know that it shares a lot of parts with the Pontiac Firebird. A couple of Camaros supplied body pieces and glass for my '77 TA when I had it.

[annk]

We found the main part at a junkyard that holds on to many classic parts, and it was in very rough shape.  It took a lot of straightening and body filler to fix.  Other parts, like the nose cone and bumpers were searched out online.  Overall, we were surprised that the 1970 1/2 front fit up almost bolt-for-bolt to the 1976.  Thanks! 

[uais]

Haven't You got a problem with paint quality after using wet sand paper? Any special kind of drying after sanding??  Very niece Instructable 

[annk]

Thanks!  The water actually dries off of the surface very quickly, and yes, you must wait some time before you paint.  We finished our wet sanding, touched up some masking, and then wiped the body down one more time to remove any remaining dust and residue. This process took us a few days, so it is not an immediate thing to paint right away.

[yo man]

sweet ride! man

[djr6789]

i wish my car was as half as cool as this! im respraying my reliant rialto soon.

thanks for this excellent ible.

[dpsilver]

this is one of the sickest machines i have ever seen good job the only thing i can say that will beat your car is his
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGzPknmReuE 

[Jural]

Very informative.  I have been painting Jet Skis lately and had to discover this info the hard way:)

[2ManyProjects]

Outstanding instructable. I so want to ask your parents how they raised a daughter who restores/fixes up cars. :) Working on a car with my kid is a dream I have been denied.

[pieterc]

What a nice project. Thank you for this instructable. Within a month I'll start prepairing my MGB for the paintjob.

[annk]

Thank you!  Good luck with the MGB.