Imperial Home Page -> Repair -> Body -> Body & Paint
Body and Paint
or
Six FRANTIC days in October
October 18, 2000
Elijah Scott brought his 1971 Imperial to Kerry Pinkerton's
workshop for a body and paint makeover. Elijah's car was very sound
mechanically. The body, however, was a different story. There was
rust in both rear rockers and lower front fender. The paint was nearly
gone on the hood and trunk with serious surface rust and minor pitting.
During the process we discovered serious problems with a previous repair under
the vinyl top which had to be re-repaired. There was also a few minor
scrapes and dents and 30 years of door dings and road rash to be resolved.
The goal was to fix all the rust, repair the body, prime, paint and finish...all
in 5 days. Normally this process would take much longer but with
dedication, determination, and not much sleep we were able to turn this: 
into this: 
.
It took us 6 'clock' days and approximately 184 man hours. While the result is not perfect (I'd LOVE to respray the hood) it looks very good. TOTAL cost for material and supplies was about $500. Don't EVEN do the math for the labor, it has to be a labor of love or you should pay someone to do it.
The process we followed is sound and should be of interest to anyone doing similar work, regardless of marquee. You will see how and why we did the repairs, learn from our mistakes and, hopefully, learn also from our success. Neither of us are professional body-men. This is the 6th car I have painted. Each one was better than the last which goes to prove that old dogs can learn after all.
We worked in a basic workshop with a decent assortment of tools including a MIG welder. The actual spraying was done with a borrowed HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) turbine but similar results can be obtained with a standard paint gun. In other words, this is something that can be done by most any shade-tree type.
Special thanks to Ken Newberry who devoted four long evenings to the project.
Follow along...
This page was last updated August 30, 2000. Send us your feedback, and join the Imperial Mailing List online car club today!
