Doing it myself

[mikep]

Ive been doing the bodywork on the 68 getting it ready to paint for the last few months. I figured I'd straighten it out and then take it down to a paint shop to get sprayed so it looks good. The other day I was feeling lazy and wondered what it would look like painted black. I went down to the paint store and picked up a quart of black lacquer, prepped the hood and shot it with black lacquer. I picked thehood because it was the worst panel on the truck when I started. It had Lots of surface rust, small dents and heavily oxidized original gold ( YUCK ) paint that looked like baby poop. So I figured if I could get the hood straight enough I could certainly get the rest straight enough for black. It turned out awesome. I used lacquer because its just so forgiving. It dries super fast. Get a bug in it, dont worry. sand it off and buff. No problem. Lacquer is the only way to go for garage paint jobs Ive got about 3 coats on it and its like a mirror after buffing. I figure with 2 1/2 gallons of the stuff and a good clear coat it'll be damn near show quality and it will cost me about $2000 less than having a comparable job done at a professional shop. If I can find the digital camera I'll snap a pic of it. Its not perfect but its pretty close and with better color sanding and a few more coats it'll shine like glass. Ive never had the guts to do a car black before but I think Ive got enough experience doing body work under my belt that its not quite so scarry any more.