 There's nothing like rolling...  There's nothing like rolling a freshly painted car out into the daylight for the first time. There's no interior yet, but you can already tell how cool this wagon will be. It's straight and slick, and the colors look great together. I left the roof rack on to keep that Ward Cleaver thing going. |
 Bret's number one rule of...  Bret's number one rule of building cars: start with the best body you can find. The paint was faded nearly off the Buick, but the body was solid, rust-free, and ready to disassemble, strip, and paint. Wow, that was easy to say, but a little harder to do! Here's a tip: spend time setting door gaps and aligning fenders before disassembly. Make a note of any shims used, or drill a small pilot hole in door hinges to allow easy reassembly when painted. In short, do your beatin' and bangin' before the paint is applied! |
 The easy way would've been...  The easy way would've been to leave the Buick assembled, sand the exposed areas, and shoot the color. We chose to completely strip the car to get better results. This work is expensive when performed by a body shop at $50 (or more) per hour, but nearly free if done yourself. Here's another tip: if you take it apart yourself, plan on doing the reassembly, too. Even an experienced bodyman may need weeks--on the clock--to reassemble anything he didn't take apart himself. |
 This is one of several loads...  This is one of several loads we took to the media blaster. Media stripping is great for things like inner fenders and radiator supports, but be careful about blasting fragile parts like doors, hoods, and fenders. Make sure the media blaster is familiar with vintage cars. I've had blasting done successfully many times, but it only takes one careless moment to ruin an irreplaceable hood or fender. Of course, you can always save money and strip the car yourself using chemical stripper and good ol' elbow grease. |
One of the biggest changes in building rods and customs over the last 20 years has been the quality of the bodywork and paint. The availability of modern, easier-to-use body and paint materials has allowed car builders to achieve ever-higher levels of perfection, initiating an upward spiral in the expected quality of the car's finish and resulting in ever-increasing car-building costs.
It's no secret that metalwork is the most time consuming (and therefore expensive) part of building a car. Any amount of money spent on a rust- and damage-free car will end up saving you thousands of dollars in the long run. Obviously, as with any rule, there are exceptions. If you're building a popular car like a '55-57 Chevy, where replacement panels are readily available and relatively affordable, it may not matter if the vehicle is a little damaged or completely shot because you're often going to replace the panels anyhow. If you intend to make major body modifications, or if you're a master metalman with time on your hands, then it may also make sense to work with what you've got. For the rest of us civilians who have to pay someone to hammer and spray, money spent on a good body is the cheapest way out.
As most projects go, the AirWagon came about by way of opportunity. I found a really nice '62 Buick Invicta wagon at a good price, we needed to build an air suspension for full-size Buicks of that era, and I really wanted a cool car that the whole family could enjoy. When you build an obscure car like this, it's crucial to start with a solid car because replacement parts simply do not exist. Although this car came from the Northeast, it was remarkably pristine with no rust and a bare minimum of damage that was easily repairable.
The first thing I did was spend a couple of hours assessing exactly what needed to be repaired and modified was needed in order to be repaired and modified. Make a written list and take a lot of pictures of this process; you'll be surprised how often you refer to these photos during the buildup. A cheap digital camera is a great investment for your garage and in the long run, it will be money well spent.
Next, I spent some time aligning all of the body panels and adjusting the door, fender, and hood gaps. Doing this at the start will allow you to make any necessary major adjustments, such as slotting holes, grinding or filling door edges, and sliding door hinges around before the car is painted. If you keep track of the shims used (remember that new digital camera?) and drill a couple of pilot holes on the hinges, reassembly is much simpler.
There have been hundreds of articles and books written about how to do bodywork from start to finish. That's not really my goal here. I'm just going to hit highlights of this particular car and hopefully provide some insight and a few suggestions that might help with your next project.
 Okay, I've jumped ahead past...  Okay, I've jumped ahead past the repairs and modifications. At this point, everything was in primer and ready to be sanded with a longboard to make it totally flat. You can see the fogged guide coat, which helps show imperfections as primer is sanded. This dirty, thankless, time-consuming process is repeated until the body is absolutely straight, and it's what makes quality paintwork so expensive. On a car as long as the AirWagon, leaving just a couple of waves in a quarter panel can make you seasick! |  Priming and painting the exterior...  Priming and painting the exterior is only half the battle. This is one of seven tables full of trim, brackets, bezels, bumpers, window frames, and other parts that had to be processed. We had more than 200 hours of prep and paint time in these items. Much of this can be accomplished at home, or you can pay the body shop--your choice. We also chose to paint the bumpers, grille, and trim instead of rechroming--a choice that can save you money, but only if you do the work yourself. |  Finally--ready for color!...  Finally--ready for color! The roof and doorjambs were painted in the dark blue color first. Then the doors were re-hung, the jambs back-taped, and the rest of the car shot. This is often work best left to professionals. It can be done at home, but the logistics can be a nightmare. A heated spray booth, adequate lighting, respirator, masking supplies, and proper waste disposal are all professional, expensive equipment, not to mention the expertise that years of experience provide. |
 Todd Hartwick from Precision...  Todd Hartwick from Precision Coachworks laid on the Sikkens Dark Blue. It's very important, especially for novices, to use a complete paint system--from primers to clears--from one manufacturer. Be patient and follow directions for mixing chemicals and drying times. You've done way too much work at this point to screw it up now! |  It's painted! Still, it remains...  It's painted! Still, it remains very humble-looking with all of the masking paper and wheel drapes. A good wet-sanding, buffing, and trim installation will be magic for the AirWagon. There are still hundreds of hours left until the finish line. |  Now it's starting to look...  Now it's starting to look like something. Amazing what a little buffing and trim installation can do. It's hard to see here, but there's a paisley pattern in the hood center that mimics some of the interior trim. I took a vinyl mask of the pattern I wanted and sprayed flat black over it, and then pulled the mask and cleared it in a soft-touch satin clear. You have to feel it to appreciate it--just another little trick to set this car apart. |
 This looks like simple painted...  This looks like simple painted window trim, right? There are six pieces of trim around this window. Multiply that by four doors, plus all of the handles, bumpers, grille pieces, roof rack...well, you get the idea. Even after all the prep and paint work on the trim, we still had 80 hours of installation time. This is another example of work that can be accomplished at home for free or for a price at a shop. |  The AirWagon is really shaping...  The AirWagon is really shaping up now. The color and texture of the satin-silver grille and bumpers looks great against the gloss of the two-tone blue. But we can't stop here; there are still threads and tunes to come next time. | |