Matador Restoration; The Hood

One of the very first parts I started working on this restoration was the hood and the decklid. This post will cover the hood, and the next will cover the decklid.

After I got the hood off the car, I placed it on two padded sawhorses like so;

There was very little damage to the hood for it being 40 years old. The clear-coat had faded and some of the paint underneath had started "spiderwebbing". 

I took a "DA" to the hood with 180 grit sandpaper. A DA is a air powered rotary sander about 6 inches in diameter. It makes dust. In our case... white dust. 

This is what the hood looked like after going over the entire hood with the DA. I didn't have to strip all the paint because most of it was still good.

DAing the top of the hood took me about 2 hours if I remember correctly. Time to flip it over...

The bottom of the hood was a lot worse than the top. There was surface rust, oil splatter, dirt, and the old fiberglass insulation (which had mold on the inside of it). 

4 hours later.... once the dirt, oil, and rust was removed... it didn't look that bad. :)

Yup, that's the same hood. After it is primed. ;)

I flipped the hood back over, and primed the top too.

Now, the next part of the paint prep process is the most difficult and time consuming. This step is called "Blocking". Blocking consists of take 400 grit wet sandpaper, a sanding block, and going over the primer until it is smooth to the fingers. 

Usually it take 2-3 coats of primer and sanding to get the surface just right and ready for paint. 

The left side is all done, and the right has yet to be sanded. It is blackish because I sprayed some guide-coat on the primer to detect an micro spots.

So, as of now, the hood is done and leaning against the wall ready for paint.

That's it for the hood. :)