Paint/Body Work in NJ

pklarkin

pklarkin

Member
Hi all,

I'm in the process of a frame-up restoration of a 1929 Business Coupe. I've been looking for a pro within an hour or so of my home in Morristown, NJ who can put the final touches on the body work and has good knowledge & experience in Model A's - particularly when it comes to the details of restoring the original paint job. I've been searching but coming up empty so far. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
depending on what you want to spend-Shaeffer and Long is the best

Magnolia NJ-a little more then an hour, but show winning restorations that win everywhere. They do Mercers, Stutz etc. Harold Coker had several Thomas Flyers done by Fred.
 
pklarkin said:
Hi all,

I'm in the process of a frame-up restoration of a 1929 Business Coupe. I've been looking for a pro within an hour or so of my home in Morristown, NJ who can put the final touches on the body work and has good knowledge & experience in Model A's - particularly when it comes to the details of restoring the original paint job. I've been searching but coming up empty so far. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help.
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:o :o :o Maybe I missed this the first time, but are you trying to resurrect or rejuvenate the original paint, --or are you trying to find someone to finish the bodywork that has already been performed and then paint it?
 
Hi Brent, sorry for the confusion. It's the latter. The body work will be about 80% (doing it ourselves), so need someone to put the finishing touches on it and then paint it giving it the same paint scheme it had originally.
 
It's very hard to find somebody that will put their paint over somebody else's bodywork.If something pops through,or a layer peels off,it may have nothing to do with the painter,but that's where the finger gets pointed.Most I know just refuse to do it,but I do know of a couple that will.They let you know right up front that they will stand behind none of it.I remember years ago the Ditzler rep saying they would stand behind nothing that was applied over other makers products.Most shops can tell you a few stories of how they got bitten by finishing over somebody else's work.
 
Keith True said:
It's very hard to find somebody that will put their paint over somebody else's bodywork.If something pops through,or a layer peels off,it may have nothing to do with the painter,but that's where the finger gets pointed.Most I know just refuse to do it,but I do know of a couple that will.They let you know right up front that they will stand behind none of it.I remember years ago the Ditzler rep saying they would stand behind nothing that was applied over other makers products.Most shops can tell you a few stories of how they got bitten by finishing over somebody else's work.
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Let me also add some thoughts to Keith's advice, --and your thoughts. Instead of spending your efforts doing the bodywork with fillers, spend your efforts with a hammer & dolly, -and a shrinking disc. First as Keith stated, it allows you not to have any fillers present for the painter to fret over, AND it means the painter needs to use less fillers to make the panels straight.

One additional thought regarding use of fillers. I have had " more than a few " projects come in that were previously 'amaturely' painted and as we were doing a visual assessment of the car with the customer I would tell them to "hold on because this body is rough due to all of the fillers they had to use." Then once we had the body stripped to bare metal, many times there was not but one or two dents the size of a silver dollar yet half of the panel had over 1/4 inch of Bondo. The problem was the bodyman did not have proper experience sanding the fillers, -so they would oversand some areas and undersand other areas before applying another layer of filler. This is probably one of the key reasons why I am not keen on finishing what someone else started simply because of the hours it would take to straighten what they felt was 80% completed. Creating a nice, long lasting paint job is very time consuming. Unfortunately, that also means it can be expensive. :p
 
Morristown huh, Go to Hibernia Restorations, Hibernia Rd, Rockaway. Or a guy I know in Randolph, Bill Alnor at Nordic Autoworks, Birch st Randolph. Bill is a "Character" but his work is good. Hibernia will probably not take the job for the same reasons given but may be able to recommend someone. If you don't mind a drive to Pa, Try Scotty Moyer at Moyer's Auto painting, Rt 313 in Dublin, Pa. Scotty Did some fenders for me that I had fixed.
Terry
 
Thanks both. I had planned on stopping before using fillers, and that's where I'd bring it to a pro.

Regarding Hibernia, I actually had an issue with them. I brought my new brake drums to have the hubs and bolts pressed in, and they did it incorrectly. Hubs are ok but they tried to weld instead of swage the bolts. Hibernia is where I had planned on going (I had even discussed bringing it to him after the "rough" body work was done and he was ok), but after the dangerous job on the bolts (loose in their holes when I picked them up) I got concerned about using them anymore.

I'll give the others a call though. Thanks.
 
pklarkin said:
Thanks both. I had planned on stopping before using fillers, and that's where I'd bring it to a pro.

Regarding Hibernia, I actually had an issue with them. I brought my new brake drums to have the hubs and bolts pressed in, and they did it incorrectly. Hubs are ok but they tried to weld instead of swage the bolts. Hibernia is where I had planned on going (I had even discussed bringing it to him after the "rough" body work was done and he was ok), but after the dangerous job on the bolts (loose in their holes when I picked them up) I got concerned about using them anymore.

I'll give the others a call though. Thanks.
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If I might ask, exactly what are you seeking a shop to do, what quality level, and what budget range are you wanting to be in? PM me if you would rather.
 
Of course, there's the old standby, DO IT YOURSELF! You can start by hammering the dent as closely to the original shape as possible. Then with all old paint and rust removed or neutralized, use "Metal Fuzion" (Available from Pep boys at $20 a Qt) for a base coat. Then make a couple of "Long Boards" out of wood. One I created a slight radius or belly in it to accommodate curved surfaces. Use any sanding paper available. Although I sometimes cut sanding belts and make a long strip. Whatever, I fold the sides over the edge and staple the sides to the board. Don't allow the staples to touch the work. The other board I left flat. Sand down the high spots. Any low spots get filled in with a Bondo type filler, I prefer Evercoat, it has a little more working time.Again, More work with the Long board! Finally, A glaze and then black primer (For visual) then a filler primer sanding with a progressively finer grit until a wet or dry paper is used on the primers. I will probably have some older, more experienced, members shaking their heads over some of this, but it will start the discussion anyway! I don't think you'll get into much trouble with this method and you should get a pretty good job that a pro can touch up with out much trouble.
Terry
 
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