Well Toto, Kansas sucks (weather, hail damage, body repair)

[87coupe50]

Came out to Kansas in early April for training prior to deployment. As if I wasn't having enough trouble with the car. Hail storm back in early June got me pretty good. Had full coverage on the car and insurance came through but for a small amount. They have a new body man at the craft shop on post so I figured I would give it a shot. Maybe I'll learn something out of this and save a little money while I'm at it. Plus there are some other issues that I want to address.

View attachment 308354
View attachment 308355

only working on the trunk lid today, man that was a lot of dings!
View attachment 308356

went to deep with the DA so I had to do a lot more patching and smoothing. Learn from your mistakes!
View attachment 308357

Grey primer coat with black spray paint on top
View attachment 308358
Tomorrow it'll get block sanded again with another coat of primer then on to the roof

I only have this car out here so I have to drive it out every day. Here is a before pic

I'm removing all the cobra emblems (P.O) except for the wheels. Because of time constraints, I'll probably just repaint the exterior the same color but this time no black on the bumper trim. I am seriously contemplating a dark burgandy but I don't know if I'd have time to do the whole car

 

[Fett]

That is a beautiful freaking coupe...super clean!

Do you have any other pics of the side of the car with no moldings? I have been thinking about ditching them when I do my body work...just haven't see enough dark coupes with them missing to see if I like it.

 

[JDE]

You should have found someone that does Paintless Dent Repair. No Painting, No body fillers, less repair time and no loss of value. Plus its cheaper.

 

[87coupe50]

no loss of value. Plus its cheaper.

Not sure about that. Car has already been repainted before, plus I hear they have to drill access holes in order to get the rods were they need them. Do you see how many dents are in the trunk lid alone? There are twice that many in the roof! Not to mention the fenders, cowl and tops of the quarters. From what I hear, most charge a set price for up to so many dents then the price goes up for each additional dent. Plus I wanted to address some blemishes and lower rear quarters... burnouts at the track have removed the paint. I've got $250 in all the supplies I'll need minus paint, reducer and clear ($200 more... Omni paint, haven't decided on a color).

Supplies = $250
Paint = $200
Money from insurance - cost = $900 in my pocket
Experience = PRICELESS + $900 IN MY POCKET (well not really, it'll offset all the parts I just replaced )

All the tools are supplied. It's cost's $3 an hour for use of the bay and same price for the paint booth. Guy gets paid hourly so there's no extra charge for him to paint it. From the looks of his 64 Impala, he does damn good work! He just needs to show up to work on time tomorrow!

 

[87coupe50]

That is a beautiful freaking coupe...super clean!

Do you have any other pics of the side of the car with no moldings? I have been thinking about ditching them when I do my body work...just haven't see enough dark coupes with them missing to see if I like it.

Thanks! It does have like a 1/2" rubber molding set in the groove

You'll love this one!

 

[lang williams]

Wonder how a burgandy/gray two tone would look? that way you wouldn't have to paint the whole car an do the dor jams.

 

[87coupe50]

Wonder how a burgandy/gray two tone would look? that way you wouldn't have to paint the whole car an do the dor jams.

I wouldn't mind seeing a couple examples of that. Either that kind of photo editing can't be done with Corel Paint shop Pro or I'm just not smart enough to figure it out. Oh well.

 

[JDE]

Not sure about that. Car has already been repainted before, plus I hear they have to drill access holes in order to get the rods were they need them. Do you see how many dents are in the trunk lid alone? There are twice that many in the roof! Not to mention the fenders, cowl and tops of the quarters. From what I hear, most charge a set price for up to so many dents then the price goes up for each additional dent. Plus I wanted to address some blemishes and lower rear quarters... burnouts at the track have removed the paint. I've got $250 in all the supplies I'll need minus paint, reducer and clear ($200 more... Omni paint, haven't decided on a color).

Supplies = $250
Paint = $200
Money from insurance - cost = $900 in my pocket
Experience = PRICELESS + $900 IN MY POCKET (well not really, it'll offset all the parts I just replaced )

All the tools are supplied. It's cost's $3 an hour for use of the bay and same price for the paint booth. Guy gets paid hourly so there's no extra charge for him to paint it. From the looks of his 64 Impala, he does damn good work! He just needs to show up to work on time tomorrow!

I actually do PDR myself. There is no drilling involved if you find the right tech. For braced areas we use brace tools and glue pullers. And whatever you do, dont use the "DING KING BILLY MAYES" glue puller. It will stretch the metal out way too much. If ya think that hail damage is bad, You should have seen my work van. Its a GMC safari, and the hood had over 300 hail dents. Can you imagine what that looked like on a small hood? No drilling is needed. On hail, the tech charges so much for each panel. Usually the insurance company gives you an estimate, and the tech either accepts it or refuses it. If your insurance company only gave you $900, I would be raising hell. There is alot of damage to be repaired. But if you got a good plan, stick to it. Good luck. Your car is gorgeous.

 

[lang williams]

I've heard of people using dry ice to remove small dents, any one ever heard of this or seen it work? guess u park the car in the sun to get the metal hot, stick the dry ice to it an pull.

 

[JDE]

I've heard of people using dry ice to remove small dents, any one ever heard of this or seen it work? guess u park the car in the sun to get the metal hot, stick the dry ice to it an pull.

I wouldn't try it. Its a myth. If it is not safe to touch with your bare hands, then what do you think it will do to your paint? If the dry ice method works then why do body shops hire PDR techs to fix hail and other damage? Why is there tool companies that sell PDR tools, why dont they just sell dry ice? Check out You Tube, there are many home remedies to remove dents. Let me know if they work. Basically what I am trying to say is: Dont screw your car up with these home remedies. Find a respectable PDR tech, they will get the job done right.

 

[Fett]

Ah, small molding IN the groove....that looks awesome. You just made up my mind.

Right now mine is white, but when I get around to taking it off the road for the body work, I want to go black. Black body, flat black moldings, darkened head/tail lights....and keep my silver rims. Awesome car man, looks sick!

 

[87coupe50]

Well it was a good day, body man was there before I was. Guess he was trying to make up for yesterday.

Maybe there weren't exactly twice as many on the roof, but I'm sure I missed a whole bunch of little ones. Crappy photos cause I've only got my cell phone out here.
View attachment 308227

filing and sanding went a lot better today, except the dang applicator kept leaving streaks and I would have to go back and fill in the grooves
View attachment 308228

primed and ready for another round of block sanding block sanding with some finer grit
View attachment 308229

well, two days in and the main areas are almost done. Over the rest of the body areas I'd say there are probably 30 more dings to take care of (fiberglass hood so no real damage there) Got a busy week of training ahead (range week) so I probably won't get back to it until Saturday or Sunday.

I know it's not as bad as it could be, but it's also not my work truck. I feel stupid/guilty as hell for bringing her out here. I really didn't have a choice unless I bought a new car, and I didn't want the payment while I was gone for a year. I guess I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have the glass or lights smashed.

 

[coupe302]

Great looking coupe! I saw it out at Riley while I was there training also. Kansas weather really does suck by the way. I had my 87 coupe out there on a trailer parked on the hill, then down at Camp FUNston for the remainder of our MTT train up. I was lucky that we only saw cold weather and no hail storms or tornados. Hope you get your car done soon...

-B

 

[87coupe50]

Great looking coupe! I saw it out at Riley while I was there training also. Kansas weather really does suck by the way. I had my 87 coupe out there on a trailer parked on the hill, then down at Camp FUNston for the remainder of our MTT train up. I was lucky that we only saw cold weather and no hail storms or tornados. Hope you get your car done soon...

-B

you should have looked me up while you where here. Where you heading to? Keep safe and stay low!

 

[87coupe50]

well it's been a while since I posted. Haven't had a lot of time so the work has been getting done slowy.

shot out in the sun after the hood and fenders went through initial stages
View attachment 305808

in the paint booth getting final primer
View attachment 305809
View attachment 305810

the paint booth is having some issues right now with the air filtration. Hopefully they get that bad boy up and running with a quickness. I still have to wetsand the whole car and then get it taped up for paint. Right now its scheduled for paint on Sunday. I'm not sure I want to do it that day cause the clear would have to sit until Wednesday before I can get to it. (shop is closed Monday and Tuesday)

I picked up the paint today. Smoke Poly. I didn't have the code from when the car was painted before so they guy at the shop called it in. He said only an '87 Mercury came in that color. He mixed up a small batch... I think it will be a tab bit darker than what I had on there. I guess we will find out.

 

[87coupe50]

Paint is laid

sealer. Man thst stuff pops out all the imperfections!
View attachment 305671

first coat of paint going on
View attachment 305672

clear coat
View attachment 305673

reflection before wet sand and buff
View attachment 305674

rear
View attachment 305675

Totals: three coats of paint and 2 clear. I don't think it'll turn out that bad considering it was my first time doing body work. Definately better than looking at all those hail dents. I'll give it up though to the guys that do it for a living!

 

[Darkwriter77]

Gunmetal gray notch...

I actually kinda like those Cobra-styled tail lenses you've got on there. Different, but tasteful.

 

[5.0Droptop]

wow .. coming along nice..

 

[TweekedGT]

Damn, looks sharp. You've done a great job.

 

[87coupe50]

Thanks all!

I know it got some dust particles in it during the painting process (I knew I should have tacked it with the cloth after the degreaser) There is one spot on the hood that is really bothering me though. While I was removing the lights, the body guy noticed a couple pits on the front end of the car. He spot filled those and and went over the rest of the cars ruff spots. Before it went in for paint I noticed that he didn't sand one of the spot fills above the drivers front side marker. I should have checked the rest! There was a dime sized spot on the pass side of the hood that was spot filled and not smoothed all the way down. Once that sealer went down it was pulsating like a sore thumb. It's been bugin me so bad! I might just sand the hood down and redo it. I still want to paint the underside anyways so I might just take it off and do it all at once.

I can't wait till it's out in the sun so I can get a good look. It's killin me that the shop is closed for the holiday.