Getting my White R/T ready for paint

[dds78910]

Some of you know my white R/T got rear ended a few months ago.
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47526
So I have been making some progress with it. I took the rear end apart and got the impact zone straightened out, but the whole rear was shifted enough to make my door jamb gap messed up. So I took it to a body show so the could put it on the frame jig to get it straighterned out. I must not have been too bad cause it only cost $200 when they originally quoted me $650. Now that I got it back I have been slowly getting it ready for paint. Removed the windows and all of the window trim and removed the door moldings. The 3m stripe remover tool is sweet for getting double sided tape off! I still have alot of prep work to do, but I am going to buy the paint in the next day or 2. I have always had good luck with Dupont so that is the paint I am going to buy. I was thinking of doing a white pearl but now I am thinking maybe a Base white and maybe a different color pearl like a copper pearl, but I'm not sure. Any Ideas for a cool color of pearl to use. I dont want it to be just a plain white again I want to do something small and suddle to make it stand out. Any Ideas would be great.

Here are a couple pics of where the car is at now.
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[Directconnection]

Whatever color you choose, just remember that if it's a pearl (or other complicated color) it will make it almost impossible to spot fix (ie:chip, scratch, ding) as the colors won't match

[Vigo]

That phonetic trickster of a word is spelled subtle. :thumb:

I am just damn curious now as to what a copper pearl would look like over white. I vote for that just cuz i cant even picture it, so it MUST be unique.

[turbokid]

Keep us updated forsure.

[spoolinhard]

Mad props to you for fixing this car. Most people wont even put forth the effort to get an estimate to have the frame pulled.

[Directconnection]

Mad props to you for fixing this car. Most people wont even put forth the effort to get an estimate to have the frame pulled.

Ditto :thumb:

[dds78910]

So I bought some paint today. Dupont paint and the color is 2007 Lexus Crystal Pearl white. He will mix it up tomorrow, I'm still thinking I might have him a 1oz of green pearl to the mid coat.:eyebrows: We'll see. I have till tomorrow afternoon to decide.

[1966 dart wagon]

Great job on having the frame pulled! You spraying the car?

[dds78910]

Great job on having the frame pulled! You spraying the car?

Yep, I was going to try and spray it this weekend, but not all of his paint came in so we couldn't mix up enough to do the car. So I got enough to jam the trunk and I should be able to paint the rest next weekend.

Here are a couple more pics. I noticed the trunk hinges were bent too so it took me a little bit to rip out the interior to get those out and put new ones in. Got my donor trunk lid on an the molding on the R/S off and started sanding the R/S.
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[Directconnection]

I'm probably too late.... but you really should have this car (any white Chrysler for that matter) stripped down to steel. You never know what is lurking underneath that factory coat.... waiting to peel up under your nice new paint.

[raccoon]

extra points for taking off EVERYTHING. the extra work is really worht it.

[turbokid]

Looks awesome dude. Keep up the good work. I also agree, taking it down to metal while you can would probably be a good idea. Chrysler paint is a joke...

[dds78910]

I know it would be best to take it down to metal, but the wife is on me a bit to get it done. The car has been painted before and it looks like the roof and hood were took down to metal. I still dont know what paint was put on before, but I never had any issues with paint peeling on my R/T. My white 91 Spirit ES was peeling bad 10 years ago. So I'm feeling fairly confident the paint job on the R/T was done decient enough to go over. But you are still right, down to metal would be best.

[spirit1991]

Glad to see your fixing it. In my opinion a white R/T stands out all by itself. I took mine down to steel for my paint job. The top of the deck lid by the wing is usually very uneven(from the factory), I would pay particular attn. to that area. You can see how much it needed to be straightened in my prog thread or garage pics. Keep us posted.

[dds78910]

Finally got the paint a few days ago. 2007 Crystall Pearl White. I didnt add any other pearl. Hopefully I can get it painted these days off. I forgot to mention one of the coolest tools for body work. It's the 3M stripe off wheel. It's amazing how well it gets off double sided tape and stickers without messing up the paint, it worked great for getting the doubled sided tape off when I pulled the door moldings.
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Another thing I found when I pulled the molding off was a series of #'s. Do you think it could be the # of what R/T it is?
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[dds78910]

We'll I got it painted today. I have had some buddies over the past couple days to help me with some sanding and masking. I started last night with the sealer and started painted the base coat in the jambs and I was having some fish eyes. So I stopped since it was getting late anyways. I ran out of the cleaner I was using to clean the gun and I tried using what I had which was mineral spirits and that was causing the problem. I used some 600 sandpaper to san out the spot I had problems. After I got the right cleaner things went smooth. Cant wait to get it back together and after a couple weeks cut and buff it.:)
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[dds78910]

The night before I went back to work I started to put a few things back together. The ground effects, trunk cowl, grille. hood scoop, tail lights (after I sprayed them with the tint). Next days off I will try and hit it hard and get it back together. Since the windows are out now I want to redo the tint on the front windows, so I will do that first.

Now I'm thinking the car needs some new wheels, but the wife doesnt seem to think so. But I'm tring to convince her.:)

[JohnnyIroc]

glad to see this things going to be back on the road soon :thumb:

[Pat]

Looking good!

[Turbo3Iroc]

Lets see some new pics, love the pearl in the paint.

[dds78910]

Here are a few crappy cell phone pics of the car outside after I pulled off the tape and paper. The pics suck, but I will get some good pics this week with a real camera.:eyebrows:

Thanks for the responses everyone!
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24602&d=1281404763
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[mcsvt]

Cell pics even look good :thumb: can't wait to see more!

[Darkapollo]

Wow that looks NICE :)

[spirit1991]

Lookin' good! moving along nicely.

[Turbo3Iroc]

Yeah if those are crappy that car is going to pop!

[turbokid]

Things gonna look GREAT!

[dds78910]

Thanks evreyone! :)

Progress today, got the left side doors all back together, the back seat together and the front and rear bumpers on. Tomorrow might be a slow day but Friday I plan to hit it hard and try and get it done.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24694&d=1281597201
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[raccoon]

looks great! :thumb:

[dds78910]

Got the car done. Forgot my camera to take some good pics so all I got again is some cell phone pics. The cell phone camera doesnt seem to capture how bright the white is. But anyways here are a few pics.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24709&d=1281793617


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[dds78910]

It's been nice driving the R/T again. I'm on days off now so I need to fix a few things I have noticed while I drove the car this week.

1st. Driver window pops out of the track, it seems I might have damaged the little plastics guides that are on the window when I pulled the windows out.

2nd. Reverse lights and 3rd brake light not working.

3rd. I need to recharge my A/C for some reason and look for a possible leak cause it worked in the begining of the week but seemed to get worse the more I used the A/C.

4th. And the biggest problem, the car smokes blue once in a while. During start up and after the car has been in vacuum and I give it throttle it smokes. It seems worse than I remember and I use to think it was valve seals but now I'm starting to think it is a PCV valve issue.

Then if I get a chance I bought this muffler and need to put it on when I get a chance.http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MPE-14828/

[dds78910]

Took a few more pics of it yesterday with a real camera.:)
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25039&d=1282401563

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[Reeves]

Looking great! :thumb:

[2.216VTurbo]

Dunno how I missed this thread Dustin but:clap: Sweetest white RT on the planet? I think so:amen: I like it without the rub strips, cleans up the lines. Now, about those red lugs;)...

[Reaper1]

Wow! That does look nice! I keep going back and forth as to whether I'd want to do a pearl white on my Daytona, and you just made it even more difficult! :thumb:

[dds78910]

Thanks for the comments!:D I've had those red lug nut for 10 years, I thought they would be a suddle tie in with the red engine. Maybe I should do something different.:p I was tring to talk the wife into some new wheels, but I dont think it will happen till next year.

[1966 dart wagon]

I'm really happy to see you saved her, thing looks great!