Back in the late 60’s when I was learning to paint cars, we used acrylic lacquer and regular, not acrylic enamel … oh yeah, I can almost hear you guys thinking: Oh great, Old Carl is on another nostalgia kick and he is going to rant on about “way back when” again. Well, yes and… Continue reading Spot Painting … Melting in the Paint Edges by Carl Brunson

Here are a few things that I do around my restoration shop  that may or may not be useful to those of you doing your own body and paint work. Hopefully some of them will save you some time, a few dollars and get your job to turn out better.   Carl Brunson 1. Have you… Continue reading Paint and Body Tips from Carl Brunson

Story & Photos: Jim Clark (The Hot Rod MD) ZyBar is a new product in a full line of underhood and under car thermal insulating coatings for the automotive aftermarket. It’s an economical alternative that outperforms conventional tapes, wraps, and ceramic or powder coatings. It improves scavenging to increase horsepower and fuel economy (performance validated… Continue reading Affordable High-Temp Coatings for Exhaust-Systems

Story & Photos By Jim Clark (The Hot Rod MD) A popper that raises the decklid or opens the door enough to get your fingers in and open them may seem like a small item to be concerned with, but are necessary on many vehicles that have shaved the handles off the doors or decklid. … Continue reading Door and Trunk Poppers

Installing Heat and Sound InsulationBy Jim Clark (The Hot Rod MD) The exhaust on my roadster is routed close to the floorboards creating a potential heat problem. This is not that big a deal in an open car but a lot of heat against the underside is still undesirable. Padding under the carpet would cut… Continue reading Installing Heat and Sound Insulation

Story & Photos By Jim Clark (The Hot Rod MD) Steel Reproduction Bodies are now available for many of the classic hot rod and muscle cars that we all lust for. The list includes: early Fords, Tri-five Chevys, Chevelles, Firebirds, ’47 to ’54 and ’55 to ’57 Chevy pickups, a new Mopar Challenger coupe plus… Continue reading Steel Reproduction Bodies

Fabricating a Deck Lid Release Cable. By Jim Clark (The Hot Rod MD) In recent Hot Rod MD articles I fabricated a bracket to mount a deck lid latch (Installing a Trunk Latch) and showed how to make a low-buck prop rod (Fabricating a Deck Lid Prop Rod) to hold the deck lid open.  Mechanisms… Continue reading Fabricating a Deck Lid Release Cable

Fabricating a Deck Lid Prop Rod. By Jim Clark (The Hot Rod MD) Raising the deck lid and holding it open is one of the less important functions to address when building a hot rod.  It’s one of those convenience items that don’t really have much bearing on how the vehicle performs but can be… Continue reading Fabricating a Deck Lid Prop Rod by Jim Clark

It’s All In The Detail   by  Michael Riley  of RetroPower         How many times have you walked through car show and seen a rod with custom graphics that stopped you in your tracks and you find yourself wondering how it was done? Well, follow along as the crew at RETRO POWER with… Continue reading Air Brushing Techniques

 Another article from our friend and master painter and restoration expert, Carl Brunson.         It happens … your car got dented or scratched. With today’s paint systems that means the entire panel must be painted, according to most body shops, and that is the paint repair recommended by almost all paint companies. However, there… Continue reading Spot Paint Repairs and Panel Painting