71 Firebird

xtremekustomz said:
Yeah the glass and water don`t heat up the metal so there is less chance of warping unlike sand. Walnut is a good one too but a friend owns the business so I got him to do it. It still makes a heck of a mess.....
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Yeah, kinda figured you weren`t using regular (blasting) sand and/but you still needed something kinda aggressive to deal with the rust (so not just... ?oh, what is it?... soda-blasting).

And I hear you on the mess, but I figure you did the right prep to keep it from getting in everywhere and becoming an endless nightmare (and I do mean "endless"..people can`t imagine until they [screw] it up..).
 
Accumulator said:
Yeah, kinda figured you weren`t using regular (blasting) sand and/but you still needed something kinda aggressive to deal with the rust (so not just... ?oh, what is it?... soda-blasting).

And I hear you on the mess, but I figure you did the right prep to keep it from getting in everywhere and becoming an endless nightmare (and I do mean "endless"..people can`t imagine until they [screw] it up..).
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Yeah I for sure didn`t want to do soda. The surface has to be prepped after blasting to neutralize the metal or either everything will just fall off that you put on it. They mix a rust inhibitor in with water to help prevent rusting. It still does a little flash rusting but I always go over my bare metal with 80 grit before priming to make sure everything is as smooth as it can be and the primer still bite.

As for the prep.....the guy doing the blasting did all of that. There was still some that got inside the car (the interior was still in). A lot go into the trunk area too. I think I spent an hour cleaning it up. I will have to do the underside and engine compartment. Everything else is pretty well cleaned up. I`ve had the doors and fenders off so they are pretty clean. I will spray out the inside of the door before I take it to the booth though.
 
Huh, I`m a little surprised the interior was still in.

I just hate trying to get sand out and I worry that any I miss will end up leading to rust.
 
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Fender gap on this side is being annoying...

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Yeah I did some research and found a guy who has done 35-50 restorations on these bumpers. He is the owner of Souther Polyurethanes in Georgia. He said one of the biggest mistakes people make with these bumpers is using a filler to repair it. Only 2 part plastic repair or epoxy primer should touch the rubber. Any flexible 2 part fillers can go over the epoxy but should never touch the bumper itself. Also adhesion promoter is a bad idea although most people will recommend it.
 
xtremekustomz- Yeah, just explained such stuff to a guy on the Crown Vic forum, hopefully saved him a big disappointment.

More Qs, since I really appreciate your expertise:

What filler do you like over the epoxy?

What primer do you like on such pieces?

I doubt I`ll ever do *any* more paint/body work other than some undercarriage bits, but I still like to know about it.
 
Accumulator said:
xtremekustomz- Yeah, just explained such stuff to a guy on the Crown Vic forum, hopefully saved him a big disappointment.

More Qs, since I really appreciate your expertise:

What filler do you like over the epoxy?

What primer do you like on such pieces?

I doubt I`ll ever do *any* more paint/body work other than some undercarriage bits, but I still like to know about it.
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I will be using evercoat polyflex on this bumper and any bumper for that matter since it is flexible. On this bumper I will be using an epoxy primer from southern polyurethanes. I`ve heard some other epoxy primers will bubble up. I wanted to be safe so I ordered from the guy who has restored a lot of them. On a new raw plastic bumper i will wash it and then use a grey scuff pad with scuff paste. After that clean it with a waterbased cleaner, spray adhesion promoter and seal/base/clear. Pre primed bumpers it just depends. Usually it`s best to wipe the primer off if possible. I`ve had adhesion issues painting ovwr that factory primer especialy the cheaper aftermarket parts.
 
xtremekustomz- Heh heh, we`re educating each other :D

Gonna post the Epoxy/etc. info on a Crown Vic forum, another guy is interested in such work and he`s getting, uhm...advice I consider unlikely to work out.
 
xtremekustomz- Heh heh, we`re educating each other :D

Gonna post the Epoxy/etc. info on a Crown Vic forum, another guy is interested in such work on the plastic bump-strips for the doors.
 
Started on the hood today. Took around 6 hours to sand the red finish off with some 180 on the DA and then with a paint stir stick and fingers on the vents. I think it took around 3 hours to do just the vents.

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Blocking 3 coats of Slick Sand

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Just a FYI with the vents on the hood. I use to use the wire wheels in a drill which really cut down the tedious routine if your interested. Just wear safety glasses.

Dave
 
Looking forward to the updates! I enjoy following your work! Would you use the 2-part epoxy on any modern bumper repair as well? Also can you explain why you mentioned about not using an adhesion promoter for the `bird but in the future you would use it as part of your routine for new bumpers? Does it have something to do with the combination of the epoxy repair and the adhesion promoter?

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
 
Arrow said:
Looking forward to the updates! I enjoy following your work! Would you use the 2-part epoxy on any modern bumper repair as well? Also can you explain why you mentioned about not using an adhesion promoter for the `bird but in the future you would use it as part of your routine for new bumpers? Does it have something to do with the combination of the epoxy repair and the adhesion promoter?

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
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I always use adhesion promoter on new raw bumpers. If not the paint will peel. The firebird bumper is actually made out of tire rubber so it is a completely different makeup than the plastics used today. I wouldn`t necessarily use an epoxy on a new bumper. Most of the time you can get by with a grey pax with scuff paste and wash. After that adhesion promoter, sealer and paint. There is a company called urethane supply company that sells a primer that all you do is wipe the bumper down with a waterbased wax and grease remover, dry and spray the primer. I know it works well with toyota a bumpers. After sprayed you can paint it at any time down the road without sanding if need be. Plus it is very durable.
 
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