Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Top body and paint pros Tom Horvath, Junior Conway and Bruce Haye made this bookand the new chapters on the latest techniques and technologiespossible. I owe them a great deal of thanks for sharing their knowledge and experience so others can learn the methods and tricks that have taken them years to develop and made them the top people in their profession. I would also like to thank my wife, Bette, for keeping our lives going while I was spending long hours researching and writing this book. And finally, I want to dedicate this book to my father, who, among other things, was a pretty fair panel beater himself.
INTRODUCTION
This book is for those who want to sit at the feet of the masters and learn how they do automotive finish work worthy of Pebble Beach and the Oakland Roadster show. Its a chance to acquire the techniques, tips and tricks talented artists have developed over the years. Im talking about techniques that can make the difference between creating a car that looks good and creating one that looks fabulous.
This book is also for those who want to learn about the latest automotive paint technology. In the last twenty years, panel beating and especially painting have changed dramatically as a result of new environmental laws, and better, newer materials. Ill show you how the new paints and primers work and how to use them to get the kind of finish you are looking for.
Find out what great master craftsmen like Junior Conway and Tom Horvath do to make their show-winning creations. Just keep in mind that learning their secrets is only part of the process because quality paint and finish are a combination of arts that take practice and patience to master. To do all of it right you need to know how to weld, work metal, prime, paint, polish and detail a car, and that requires mastery of a number of skills.
None of these skills is hard to acquire in itself, but when added together they amount to a fair accumulation of knowledge and experience. And of course, you need not master all of them. Welding can be farmed out, as can metal finishing. And there are those who do nothing but shoot paint beautifully. Any of these skills is very marketable as long as you stay current.
You need to know how the new polyester primers work, how urethane paint is applied, how waterborne paints are used and how different kinds of metals respond to being worked. And you need to know how to ply your trade or passion safely, because you must deal with some rather toxic materials when cosmetically restoring cars.
So if you too want to acquire show-winning techniques, first read the safety chapter, then read for example, a chapter on welding or panel beating and go out and try it. Get a feel for metal and what you can and cant do with it. Body shops all over town have bins of dented and crushed panels they will gladly give you to practice on.
And dont be afraid to ask questions. Even the legendary Junior Conwaywhose cars have graced the covers of rod and custom car magazines for years (as well as the back cover of this book) took the time to give me some tips. And why not? His reputation as the best automotive painter in Southern Californiaarguably the United Statesis unassailable, and he knows that very few will ever master the art of painting cars as well as he has, even if they know his secrets.
My coauthor for this book is Tom Horvath, who for many years owned Toms Custom Auto Body in Anaheim, California, before becoming a pioneer in the CSI Clearcoat Solutions polishing system (see Chapter 32). He has spent countless hours teaching me his show-winning body and paint techniques. He is truly a master and a good teacher. And his magnificently finished Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Panteras and Porsches have won rooms full of trophies including some from Pebble Beach.
Tom has perfected color sanding and polishing techniques and products that he has made available to other paint pros and the general public, and he tells us how he uses them to get those flawless finishes his work always exhibits. We also tell you about other products that Tom and I have found to be useful and time saving, and let you know where you can get them.
As for my own painting skills, I grew up around panel beating and have it in my bloodprobably literallysince real men didnt wear respirators in the old days, and my dad once shot paint for Howard Dutch Darrin. Darren was doing his one-off Packard roadsters back in the 1940s. Dad also painted cars in his own garage for extra money.
When I was a little kid, I remember Pop bringing home rusting, derelict cars, and working out their dents, patching their panels and painting them so they looked new again. I also remember him humping over their front fenders and making them mechanically road worthy, though that was not his forte. He was truly a master painter though, and could actually shoot on a lacquer finish so it needed almost no polishing, and then rub it out to make it dazzling.
As I grew up I picked up some of the old mans tricks and have restored a number of cars and taken home some gold myself, though I never worked as a professional. But then I realized I needed to update my skills too. And with the help of pros like Tom Horvath, Junior Conway and my buddy Bruce Haye down in New Zealand, I have discovered that the work is now both easier and more difficult, depending on which part of the process you are talking about.
Since the first edition was published in 2002, there have been new plastic fillers, polyester primers and urethane paints developed that make life easier for the auto finishing professional, but they require careful techniques, and their chemical makeup means they must be mixed and applied exactly according to the instructions if you want good results. This revised and updated edition includes new chapters (11, 16, 19, 23, 24, and 26) as well as new photos and information throughout.
In the area of bodywork, welding has become somewhat easier thanks to MIG and TIG technology, but it requires learning new techniques as well.
That being said, if you can drive a nail without bending it, you can do bodywork. If you can follow instructions and are willing to practice, you can paint. And if you are willing to put in the time it takes to rub out and polish a car, you too can achieve show-winning results. Read on and well tell you how.Jim Richardson
Chapter 1
Safety First
This painter wears a full plastic suit, gloves and a positive pressure mask while spraying urethanes.
Painting cars can be hazardous! Therefore, you must MAKE SAFETY A HABIT. Just about every high school shop area in this country has a sign hanging in a prominent place with these words on it. We have heard and seen this phrase so often that many of us have stopped paying any attention to it, and that is dangerous. Especially when doing bodywork and painting. Notice that the sign doesnt just say Be careful. Instead it instructs us to do things the safest way every time until doing them that way becomes a habit. Just being careful isnt enough, because that can divide your attention.
Hear Me Out!
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