My 1923 Fordor is black and it stays black, from what I've been told. It's a driver but I want it to look its best when it appears in public. The old paint job is showing it age and it is worn in places and has runs and some small dents. I took it to our local body shop and the young man running it gave me a quote of $3500 which I thought was high. He said they would have to take it apart. After looking at his help I don't think the skill of his helpers could assemble it with the care that I would take. I just had my running boards powder coated and I had to replace bolts and a couple of the spacer blocks. I took care in doing it.
I have seen paint jobs on "T"s in my area done with rattle cans as well as amateurs using paint guns that looked great. I''m debating on buying a gun (Which Gun?) and practicing. Do Harbor Freight paint guns do the job. Which one? I have a lot of aluminum on the car. This could be trouble. I'm not a dent repair expert. I have no idea what kind of paint they used previously. Any advice would be appreciated.
Painting Options
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- Posts: 444
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 1:44 pm
- First Name: Bob
- Last Name: McDaniel
- Location: Smithville TN.
- MTFCA Number: 28428
- Board Member Since: 2007
Re: Painting Options
$3500 sounds low for the amount of work and cost of paint. Have you seen the work done on other cars by these guys? Maybe you could take it apart and remove the old paint before letting them do the body work and paint then put it back together at home. Might save some money and get a better job that way.
Give an old car guy a barn and he won't throw anything away.
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- Posts: 3907
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:00 pm
- First Name: John
- Last Name: Kuehn
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 19 Roadster, 21 Touring, 24 Coupe
- Location: Texas
- MTFCA Number: 28924
Re: Painting Options
You can pull off the fenders and splash shields and clean them up by sanding or using paint stripper. The body you can sand and clean up yourself if you want to do it all yourself.
Lots of T enthuisits buy a HF HVLP paint gun and have great results. They will do as good a job as a high priced paint gun.
It boils down how much you want to do and skill level.
I painted my own T’s and had great results. Saved money too.
Buy a HVLP gun from HF and get a piece of flat tin, or etc and practice laying down a nice finish. You might surprise yourself how good it might turn out.
The bottom line is a good paint job depends on good surface preparation. The easier part is doing the painting itself.
Lots of T enthuisits buy a HF HVLP paint gun and have great results. They will do as good a job as a high priced paint gun.
It boils down how much you want to do and skill level.
I painted my own T’s and had great results. Saved money too.
Buy a HVLP gun from HF and get a piece of flat tin, or etc and practice laying down a nice finish. You might surprise yourself how good it might turn out.
The bottom line is a good paint job depends on good surface preparation. The easier part is doing the painting itself.
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- Posts: 26
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:50 am
- First Name: Mike
- Last Name: Thomas
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1925 Coupe
- Location: Centerville, Iowa
Re: Painting Options
Yes, rattle cans, and HF paint guns will put paint on, and you may be very satisfied with the results. How are we to know what you will be happy with?
The price of $3500 seemed like a very good price for a quality job.
The advice to go get a gun and practice on some flat pieces is good advice, but how many places on a Model T are flat? It is always much more than the gun. It is the skill and experience of the person using it that leads to a good paint job.
If you feel confident taking it apart, or stripping some of the paint, then do that part, and let the shop do the repairs and painting.
The price of $3500 seemed like a very good price for a quality job.
The advice to go get a gun and practice on some flat pieces is good advice, but how many places on a Model T are flat? It is always much more than the gun. It is the skill and experience of the person using it that leads to a good paint job.
If you feel confident taking it apart, or stripping some of the paint, then do that part, and let the shop do the repairs and painting.
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- Posts: 1922
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:23 am
- First Name: Rich
- Last Name: Bingham
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1913 runabout
- Location: Blackfoot, Idaho
Re: Painting Options
One of the pluses for owning a Model T is the opportunity to acquire new skills. If one is willing to invest in adequate equipment and the time and instruction necessary to master a new skill, there's no reason an owner can't paint his own Model T and turn out a fine result. If you want something done right, oft times you have to do it yourself. Modern shops are not geared to the sort of work painting a Model T requires. Restoration shops are. Costs and results will vary widely.
"Get a horse !"
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Topic author - Posts: 25
- Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:48 am
- First Name: Curtis
- Last Name: Fesler
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1923 Fordor
- Location: Ozarks of Arkansas
Re: Painting Options
Thanks for the good advice. I talked to an experienced body man yesterday and he advised me on how to deal with the aluminum on the car. It's not so much the price of the job that bothers me but the skills of the helpers working there. Another option I could have would be to remove the parts from the car myself and take them to the shop, That way assembly would be on me.
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- Posts: 3389
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:53 am
- First Name: Tim
- Last Name: Wrenn
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: '13 Touring, '26 "Overlap" Fordor
- Location: Ohio
- MTFCA Number: 30701
- MTFCI Number: 24033
- Board Member Since: 2019
Re: Painting Options
Believe it or not, at least when it comes to fenders, running boards and splash aprons, these little devils do a real
nice job once you get the hang of them. Dilution is the key, little trial and error will get you on the track. Here are pics of
some of the painting I did with this on my former '12 touring. Not sure how easy they would be for the body though, but even the doors would be easy as you can remove them and lay them down flat. I painted half of an F150 pickup box fenders with these! Turned out great. Just a wild thought!!
nice job once you get the hang of them. Dilution is the key, little trial and error will get you on the track. Here are pics of
some of the painting I did with this on my former '12 touring. Not sure how easy they would be for the body though, but even the doors would be easy as you can remove them and lay them down flat. I painted half of an F150 pickup box fenders with these! Turned out great. Just a wild thought!!