Heh, I was fabbing something a few weeks back, the flip down gauge pod I made I think and while boring out the gauge hole managed to catch the sheet metal and buried it in my palm, cut all the way down to the fatty layer, its has healed up now and probably wont scar because its the palm, but yeah...that one stung. My fault for not having the piece clamped down or wearing gloves...just when you don't think you need to it bites you...literally.
We never learn, do we?
My problem was two-fold.
1. I was standing too close.
2. I was using a bit that, while it's able to cut through metal, it has flats ground into the sides of the shank to give the chuck a better grip on it. One thing I learned recently is that drill bits designed specifically for metal have round shanks to ensure the drill doesn't punch you in the face because you're standing too close when the bit grabs on something rather than continuing to cut.
A third problem I have is that I'm a lefty. The drill would have swung away from my face if I had been holding it in my right hand instead of my left.
I'm alright, but boy am I sore today.
Drilling a mounting hole in the floor of a dirt bike trailer ,half inch plate ,my half inch bit in an old drill with the handle on the end hooked up . Good thing i was stanting up and pushing down ,it spun me around at least 3 times and threw me off and kept spinning until it wound the cord up and it un plugged ...that was a damn good bit !
It was worth it. Got everything mounted up and it's in the air. It's too tall to spin it inside the garage without bumping it into the bottom rail. I'll have to move it outside if I want to spin it. No big deal.
The modifications of the mounting brackets turned out really well.
The modifications of the mounting brackets turned out really well.
@Davedacarpainter I have a quick question: I bought a Devilbiss FLG4 paint gun to prime the car. Do new paint guns have any sort of preservation oil in them that I'll need to flush out before I use it?
Nothing that will cause problems for your paint.
That being said, I always flush my new guns out with thinner first, lol.
Thanks, Dave! Sometime this week I'll get some thinner and flush it real quick. Then I'll set it up and dial it in before I get the car blasted. I'm looking forward to using this thing!
Another question for you: I bought a DeKups kit with the 24-oz. disposable cups. How much of the car do you think I can cover with one 24-oz. cup? I’m curious how many coats I’ll be able to get with the gallon of primer I have. It’s a 1:1 mix with the activator, if that matters.
Edit: and another question for anyone with experience who cares to answer (@horse sence @95steedamustang ?), what’s the process after I get primer on the bare metal? I mean, how do I go about filling low spots and blocking the car? Primer? Sealer? High build? Filler? Glaze? These are all terms I need to have explained to me like I’m an idiot.
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What kind of primer are you talking about John? Epoxy?
I haven’t been following along like I should, Are you just wanting to cover bare metal right now? Though your question makes me think that’s exactly what you are asking. So for one coat you have more than enough.
I use the Dekup system at work, btw.
This would be a rather lengthy post if I answered all your questions at once.
Quick run down of definitions.
Primer. A number of types of coating used for various reasons. Such as:
-Epoxy primer. Used for protecting bare metals and prepped surfaces prior to and/or immediately after bodywork.
-Etch primer, also called acid etch primer. Used to provide chemical adhesion between baremetal and various topcoatings. NOT to be used under epoxies. It’s main ingredient is phosphoric acid and it will degrade an epoxy.
You must use one of those two primers on bare metal to provide adhesion for the top coatings.
-High build primer. Used to fill very small imperfections and for repaired surfaces. This is used at least once, possibly mire times as your doing the final straightening through blocking of your panels. Lots more info concerning that one….
-Sealer primer. Used primarily at the beginning of the final paint process. Provides adhesion between an already prepped surface and the topcoatings. Also provides a “cushioning layer” kind of like padding under a carpet. A new panel without sealer will chip far easier, just like a rug without padding will wear out quicker.
Filler. Also known as body filler, mud, bondo…..It’s what you’ll use for your main straightening component after you’ve straightened the panel as good as you can through metal work.
-Glaze. It’s used after your primary straightening with bondo. Also good for really small dents. It’s a really thin type of filler that you spread over the top of your straightened mud work.
Like previously, lots more to say about the use of fillers.
I got 3 coats out of 1.5 gallons of Epoxy primer myself....but that was inside, outside and underneath. I did not spray doors, fenders, trunk lid, misc end caps(etc) or hood at the time.
I used an el-cheapo harbor freight gun to spray the primer simply because they work just fine for that, $15 and throw away afterward(barely worth bothering to clean). I wouldn't use one for an actual final coat of paint, but for epoxy primer that has to have umpteen layers of other stuff and plenty of sanding, filler etc over the top of it anyway, it was fine....for that matter you could probably roll the stuff on and be fine if that method would get in all the cracks and gaps, etc.
I used an el-cheapo harbor freight gun to spray the primer simply because they work just fine for that, $15 and throw away afterward(barely worth bothering to clean). I wouldn't use one for an actual final coat of paint, but for epoxy primer that has to have umpteen layers of other stuff and plenty of sanding, filler etc over the top of it anyway, it was fine....for that matter you could probably roll the stuff on and be fine if that method would get in all the cracks and gaps, etc.
Thanks so much, Dave! This is all super helpful. Now I have picture in my mind of the process I'll need. I still have more bodywork to take care of before I can blast and spray the car.
That bit you mention about the sealer makes me wonder if the body shop that painted my '95 Cobra skipped that step. It's always been really easy to chip the paint on that car. I once caused several chips on the edge of the hood just by bumping the (metal) water hose sprayer against it when I was washing it. It was a very light bump, but still caused a line of several small chips.
I'm going to be reading through the Foxbody painting 101 thread so I don't have to bombard you with so many questions. I really appreciate your answers here. It's nice to have a friend that knows a lot about this stuff!
@Davedacarpainter I neglected to answer your question earlier: yes, I’m talking about epoxy. I bought a gallon of SPI grey epoxy to use once it’s a bare shell.
I’m getting very close to getting back to work on this thing. I spent some time last weekend clearing out parts and junk that had taken up residence inside the car. It’s much cleaner inside and under the car now.
You can see in the last picture in the post above my sorta solution for the passenger fender headlight bucket mount with the ‘67 battery tray. This just consisted of the section of the ‘66 battery tray that I cut out to keep the mounting bracket.
I was never really happy with this, so I decided to tinker with the car a little bit. I drilled out the spot welds for the bracket and removed what was left of the ‘66 battery tray. The new plan will be to add more metal to the bracket, thereby extending it to meet the outside of the ‘67 battery tray.
Next order of business will be to fix the rusted area above the passenger rear quarter.