1974 Chevy Nova My first project car

Painting the Front Sub-frame

Alas! I have finally painted the frame I disassembled in July. I haven't been too busy with the Nova since my last post as I have been busy with many other things. But I have accomplished a big step in the restoration of my Nova.

I prepared the garage and frame awhile ago for painting it. I put cardboard down and then a plastic drop cloth on the floor of my wife's side of the garage. I walked the frame over to that side of the garage and stood the frame up vertically, just under one of the rafters. I had Andrew hold the frame upright while I rigged the rope around the rafters to hold the frame from tipping over. After doing this, the frame sat for about a week-and-a-half.

I had intended on painting the frame standing vertically like it was. Then I realized that the application of POR-15 (the rust preventative) is a three-step process and the frame would need to be moved outside several times. For the life of me, I could not figure out how I was going to carry out the application without sacrificing time, energy, and quality. I took my dad's suggestion from the last post and used my ratchet straps to hold the frame upright.

On a sunny Saturday in September, I decided, that I was finally going to paint the frame. As I mentioned before, the application is a three-step process. The first step is the application of Marine Clean, which is a de-greaser that removes any oil, grease, and grime off the metal. After spraying this on, I took a small paintbrush and made sure I reached all of the visible and not-so-visible areas. After drying, I moved the frame outside to better dry in the sun and to see if I missed any areas. The control arms were hanging by the ropes in the garage and I applied the Marine Clean to them as well. After completely drying, I hosed off the entire frame (in the directions) and let it dry again. I used my air compressor hose to blow out any moisture that hadn't dried completely.

I carried the frame back into the garage and attached the hooks again for the application of the second step–Metal Ready. This product provides a better adhesion surface for any paint that will be applied to metal. It also leaves a zinc phosphate coating that "insure[s] chemical bonding of paint and steel". I sprayed it on, brushed it into the cracks, and let it dry. I brought the frame out into the sun to dry and hosed it off after awhile. Again, I brought it back inside the garage and attached the hooks. The hooks I'm sure were a lot easier than having to fiddle around with the rope that I originally used.

We had company coming over that day, so I wasn't able to apply the paint the same day. I did, however, find times during the weekday evenings to apply the paint to the frame in a few coats. This paint is very powerful and the bond is very strong to almost anything. With that being known, I wore long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and rubber dish washing gloves. It is also recommended, that if you are not going to use the entire can of paint, to drill a hole in the side of the can and pour into a container only the amount that you will need and to put a screw into the hole when you are done. The reason for this, is that if you get any paint in the rim of the paint can, the bond will permanently seal the can shut anyway.

Anyway, I started painting the frame with the paint in a plastic cup; like the ones you use at picnics. After about 20 minutes, the cup started deteriorating and I realized that I need to be using something a little thicker and more durable. As I was painting, I was hearing the paint drip off the underside of the frame part onto the drop cloth.

It was late before I finished painting the frame, so I decided to paint the second coat on a different night. The next night, I bought 320 grit sandpaper, as recommended, and I roughened up the entire frame. I also noticed a few drip spots where I applied too much paint in some areas. A few days later, I actually hung my frame horizontally for a couple reasons: 1) I wanted the drips, if I had any, to drip down and be on the underside of the frame and 2) I would have a different angle of light, so I could see if I missed any spots.

Anyway, to make an already long story short, in the 4 painting sessions (2 for the frame and 2 for the control arms) I got paint in my hair, on my arms, hands, knees, and the back of my legs when I was sitting down. I scrubbed all parts with a hard bristle brush and it didn't seem to work. It took about 2 1/2 weeks before all the paint wore off.

The second coat didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I used a horse hair brush for the second coat and I could see the brush stokes. I talk to Uncle Kurt about it and he recommended using 220 grit sandpaper and a sponge brush for the second coat. I used the foam brush for the control arms and they turned out a lot better than the frame. I have a little bit of the paint left, so I might scuff up the surface again in the bad areas and apply a 3rd coat.

This concludes the story. Sorry for the wait people. I should have another post and some more pictures shortly.