For those of you who have painted your own...

[Creepy Cruiser]

ONCE AGAIN, I AM BLOWN AWAY AT HOW CLEAN THAT 65 IS FOR A CUSTOM JOB!
you need an album on here with more pics

Ok, I finally made a album, lol. (I'll keep looking for more pics though)

[Highbars]

Actually yes, I do sometimes drive it that low. The body is actually sitting on the ground in that pic, and I quite often drop it flat on the ground and drag the crap out of the body and frame in order to throw huge amounts of sparks out the back

Sparks are cool as hell. I can't drag mine on the ground but I did slide one down a guardrail.... Do you have contact pads on frame to contact the highway or do you have to build up the frame now and then? I was thinking about making some type of drop down bar with magnesium on the bottom to contact the road, Sparks should be fantastic but if the magnesium ignites it will self-fuel and it can't be put out.....In my younger days we would build a huge bonfire and put Lawnboy mower decks in the middle, back then they were magnesium, and when they got hot enough to light off it was pretty damn spectacular, from the colors it put off at first to the white light when they got to really burnin... If you were trippin' it was even better.... I miss those days but don't want to do them again..LOL

[Creepy Cruiser]

I just drag the body and the frame, and then rebuild when necessary. If we do put drag blocks on some rigs, we run upside down trailer balls, (they are cheap and work really well), or if we want killer white sparks, we run Titanium blocks. (never magnesium for the reasons you mentioned, lol). Titanium block are the best, but very expensive.

In these videos, you can see the difference between the steel (which is more orange) and the titanium (which is like pure white).

[Highbars]

Much cooler than the guardrail....

[Creepy Cruiser]

Yep, lol.

It's funny that you mention guardrails. I'm pretty sure someone that owned my car before me, ran into guardrails (or something similar) on both sides of mine, and then just bondoed it up and painted over it.

[Highbars]

[QUOTE]At least there was something to bondo to,

[Creepy Cruiser]

Yep, you win, lol. Mine was no where that bad.

[bathory313]

Has anyone tried Alsa paints? I am looking at their line, but I am also seeing mixed reviews about the quality. Looking at this color:

http://alsacorp.com/products/candyconcentrates/images/order/candy14_L.jpg

They have kits for $399; the truck is done in Mandarin.

http://www.kustomrides.com/supplies/candy-car-paint-kits.html

But from what you guys are saying, I'd possibly need two kits?

"2 quarts Alsa Base Paint, 2 quarts reducer = 1 sprayable gallon."

I'm also considering black with a red ghost pearl on it.

http://www.paintwithpearl.com/pearlstore.htm

I like the subtle color shift in direct light.........but I'm really digging that Mandarin.

Decisions.........decisions.

[bathory313]

Here's a guy..........who painted his car........

WITH RUSTOLEUM.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Poor-Mans-Paint-Job-or...-How-to-paint-your-c/

[Boogeyman Con Carne]

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! And it doesn't look too bad at 20 feet either!

[Caddydawg]

A gallon and a half should be plenty in SS. If your not doing the roof, and like said enough for door jambs as well. With enough for wetsanding
PPG's Shopline is a good paint for the cheap. JAU9300 is their black, I believe.
For a super slick look, you can after wetsanding, clear over the SS paint. Makes it look nice and deep. It's the same clear, they use with basecoat.
Again, Shoplines middle of the road clear is enough. 70 bucks a gallon, least last year it was.
Even better, mix in a little pearl mica in the first coat. Thats not cheap.
On a old hearse like that, all the body curves, would look slick as hell.
You can end up with a highend looking job for a lowball price.

BC is the sh*t, but I hate the price. Love working with the stuff. It reminds me of shooting laquer back in the day.

Bought a gallon of Ferrari red, for a buddies car last summer. 500 bucks BC price. Glad it was his dime.

[Paradox]

I wish I could shave off alot of the trim and stuff on my 73 and find some new handles haha I don't want to get rid of handles. I had the poppers once before... and never again.

[Creepy Cruiser]

I've been building custom cars and shaving them since the mid 80's, and have done thousands of handles over the years. I've always used motor driven actuators, instead of magnetic driven solenoids, and have never had any issues that everybody else seems to have with normal door poppers. I've also done many retrofits with different style handles, and that's a way cool way to go also.

[Paradox]

One of my old cars had come with the handles shaved and poppers installed. They all slowly stopped working or worked intermittently in the 3 years I owned it. I drove it daily though. The handles on my hearse are in pretty sad and pitted up shape. I need to find new ones eventually.

[Creepy Cruiser]

That sounds about right if solenoids were used, because they have to be constantly cleaned and lubed to keep them reliable. Just about every car I own is shaved (even my daily driver of the last 20 years), and in that time it's never ever had an issue, because I always use the servos instead. When done right, they can be super reliable. I don't blame you though, if had a bad experience like that, I'd never want them again either, lol.