71 Firebird

xtremekustomz

New member
Should be starting this one within the next few weeks. Going to take it to my friend for dustless blasting and I will take it from there. I will post updates as I go.






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Sweet car! One thing I love about older cars is that there were so many more common colors, not just the plain silver/gray, black, and white that seemingly 85%+ of modern cars have
 
Definitely one of my favorite cars B)




they were rust magnets and the trunk floor and quarters usually had rust problems too due to poor water drainage :(

Other than some rust where the vinyl top meets the quarter everything looks pretty dang good. Inside of trunk has some very minor surface rust on the floor but the quarters look brand new looking from inside the trunk. I`m hoping it is as clean as what it looks. It`s going to be a good looking car. Since I`m starting from scratch with the paint it`s pretty much going to be show quality when I get done. I`m not necessarily getting paid for show quality but this is the first I`ve done from scratch other than my truck. It will be an advertisement kinda thing. Don`t get me wrong I`m making a good profit. Just not what a resto shop would be getting.
 
Other than some rust where the vinyl top meets the quarter everything looks pretty dang good. Inside of trunk has some very minor surface rust on the floor but the quarters look brand new looking from inside the trunk. I`m hoping it is as clean as what it looks. It`s going to be a good looking car. Since I`m starting from scratch with the paint it`s pretty much going to be show quality when I get done. I`m not necessarily getting paid for show quality but this is the first I`ve done from scratch other than my truck. It will be an advertisement kinda thing. Don`t get me wrong I`m making a good profit. Just not what a resto shop would be getting.

you are very fortunate to start with a car in that condition .. we will all be waiting for updates :)
 
xtremekustomz- AH, I`m *REALLY* looking forward to this one!

Ya know...I can`t help but wonder what you charge for your work. I understand if you don`t want to post stuff like that, but I`m still curious.
 
xtremekustomz- AH, I`m *REALLY* looking forward to this one!

Ya know...I can`t help but wonder what you charge for your work. I understand if you don`t want to post stuff like that, but I`m still curious.

Not enough but I`m working my way up! The more I do the more I have others wanting me to do stuff for him. No one other than Maaco within around 60 miles will do an all over job especially not something like this. Insurance jobs are their money maker and some won`t even paint anything on a car unless insurance is paying. . If they do they price it so high people run. The one shop 60 miles away that does do it is a restoration shop so they charge by the hour. All in all around $6,500 for this one.
 
xtremekustomz- Depending on the work you do, that $6500 would be awfully cheap!

Yeah...my regular shop (guys I`ve used for decades, follow them from shop-to-shop when they move) are hours away now and my "good" guy won`t work on "normal"/driver vehicles. My regulars are having, uhm...issues....pleasing me ever since [the new owner] bought their shop as he wants that in-and-out-yesterday insurance work and now I simply don`t know where I`m gonna go next time I need work done :( My point being that guys like you fill a niche and your customers are lucky to have you.
 
Yeah it isn`t getting me rich but my prices keep going up the more work I put out. This one for sure will be a good one to show my work. I get a pretty good deal on paint and to a point let the customer choose what level products to use. I don`t do single stage or just really cheap stuff that I know won`t last. He was expecting a scuff and shoot for $2500 but I told him I wouldn`t touch it unless it was stripped. He and his wofe talked about it for about 8 hours before giving me the go ahead. People don`t understand the time that goes into something like this. I know a resto shop would be $10-$15k at least
 
excited to see this once finished. I used to work as the "porter" in my dad`s old shop growing up (washing cars, etc.) and loved watching the transformation when the odd full paint job would come in.
 
Since photobucket has become so annoying to use because it always freezes or really slows my computer down I`m not going to be using it anymore to post pictures I don`t think. I have my own facebook page where I put all of my work now anyway so I`m just going to link to it. It is much easier to put pictures on there and vidoes. Here is the progress on the car so far.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/xtremekustomz32578/photos/?tab=album&album_id=954265814673182

There is a video tab on the left of a short clip of the blasting.
 
Thanks for the shots of the blasting. I was surprised there was not more rust under the vinyl roof. What color are you going to be using for the body? Are you going to put a new vinyl roof on the car or go with a two tone paint job? I always enjoy your threads.
 
Thanks for the shots of the blasting. I was surprised there was not more rust under the vinyl roof. What color are you going to be using for the body? Are you going to put a new vinyl roof on the car or go with a two tone paint job? I always enjoy your threads.

Yeah this car was pretty solid other than the passenger quarter panel which is being replaced in a few weeks. The color is going to be the factory green that was on the car. It`s a little big brighter than the green that is on it now. It will be all solid green and no vinyl top. He is planning on putting a vinyl stripe that goes along the whole side from behind the front tire to the front of the rear tire. The chrome wheel mouldings have been deleted too.

Like this:
1971-72 Firebird/Formula Stripe Kit

xtremekustomz- I too always enjoy your posts!

What kind of media did you use for the blasting?

We used crushed glass and water.
 
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