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Unfortunately, only a few photos survived the demise of a month-old IBM hard disk drive. Yes, I bought a 75Gxp and lost over a thousand photos. Hoping for better luck with repro parts Breaking the body: My first mistake was not really going after it hard enough. What I mean by this is you really have to have at it. I started rippin' her down with 100 grit on a DA sander. That was far too gentle, and - more importantly - cost me far too much time. Go get some 40 grit sandpaper, and a lot of it. Use it liberally. Once you've got bare metal switch to 80 grit to surface it up. Oh, and if your body is clean and you only need to mask and rough the surface, use 320 on a DA, then skip to the primer section of this article. I eventually purchased a pressure pot blaster, an excellent investment. You'll never get all the sand back out of her but you'll save hours of time and get the little nooks and crannies clean that fingers can't reach (theAutoist Note: After the shell is sandblasted, put it on a trailer and take a trip down the interstate at normal interstate speeds. After an hour or so, turn around and go home. The sand WILL be gone!). I blasted all of the interior spaces and a small amount of the body, mostly the molding ridge which is hard to scratch by hand. If you do blast don't focus on one area for long, a lot of heat is generated by friction of the material. There is a tip in that last statement: Be careful where you sand. You may NOT be able to paint where you CAN blast paint off. British steel has a different color than the American steel I've worked with. It also flash rusts much faster and requires quick priming once it's bare. I suppose it's all the Messerschmit/fragmentary bomb/pot and pan metal left over from the war that was used in making their steel, I don‘t know exactly but, IMHO, it is different. Get familiar with that "look" because the color of lead filler is very close and you'll gouge these factory seams before you realize what you are cutting into. As to the factory seams. Yes there is lead in the car in several places. This was the "mud" of the time and it may be used liberally on your shell. The rear deck/cowling seam(s) and around the filler neck for certain are areas where the factory applied lead. I had some in the front around the headlight as well. Oh...You ARE wearing a mask right? Anyway, be careful with your sand blaster in these areas and don't dig the lead out or grind on it too much. It's been in there since the day she rolled off the line, let sleeping dogs lie! We'll smooth these joints over as matter of prepping for paint anyway. Seam sealants vary and are supposed to be flexible and non staining. I used 3M in a caulking gun tube. You can also use the brush-on type if you wish to use modern sealants. However, what I removed from the body was more like old glazing compound. I also used painters putty (DAP) in several places as it has performed much better than any of the modern sealants I've used. When I say that, I'm only talking about temperature extremes. Much of the seam sealer I've installed has receded and begun cracking so I'll be blunt and suggest glazing compound or painter’s putty. Those products hold color without staining and have remained flexible through a few winter/summer cycles. I can only imagine how bad some of the seam seal products will become when body flex and road grime come into play, so, I’m not happy with modern sealants to be sure. After we've surfaced with 80 grit paper, we're ready to shoot some primer. I'll talk about a lot of different materials, most of which are PPG products as that just happens to be the auto paint supplier close to me. All of this stuff can be cross referenced to http://www.dupont.com/finishes or the like. A materials list and tool list is provided within this article to use as a reference as well. As a aside: my last run to the paint store required me to sign a liability statement just for a quart of DT reducer - liquid gold! It's safe to say that these materials will not be available to the general public in short order. Lacquers and some enamels can not be obtained anymore at all. This is why I shot base/clear which is a urethane product and available to me over the counter. Okay, back to the work at hand. We're surfaced with 80 grit right? There is a question as to whether or not to apply glass filler directly to bare metal or on top of primer. Both, actually, are proper. Which to use depends entirely on the depth of the repair. Deep spots should be hit with 40 grit and scratched with a body file then filled. For those deep repairs, I use USC Duraglas. I don't use "Bondo" but that is just a product name; I use a fiberglass reinforced filler with hardener. To use the filler on bare steel, prep the bare metal as described in the prep section prior to using 'glas on bare steel. Mix up a few small batches to test the time it takes to harden and try to keep similar ratios of hardener to filler in future batches. This way, you'll learn how long you have to work the material, and when to start roughing before it sets tough. Also try to get a longer set time, like 15 or 20 minutes instead of 5 minutes. It's far stronger when it takes it awhile to come up to full yield (I.e., to harden). The Haynes manuals describe the basic process of working body filler. (All Haynes manuals have a "bodywork" section) Do, however, rasp the filler flush with the body it sets completely. After its hardened, use 120-160 grit to rough it out. Then we'll prime the area and smooth over the repair later when the little waves and divots are repaired. If your dealing with really large repair areas use an IN-LINE sander and 80 grit paper. There is much to be said about sanding so I'll start with...
So, you might as well go to Sam’s and buy a couple of the 300 count boxes of "rag in a box" and (2) - 2 packs of powder free gloves. When I "wipe down" or use a "rag" it is with a Scotts. Also, if I mention 900 I mean RM900 silicone and wax remover and not a grit of paper. Any good DIY shop should already have an ample supply of these basic materials on hand. Clean the surfaces to be painted with DX washes and conditioners. DX 579 cleaner should be mixed 1:2 with water. Once you’ve applied it, let it stand a few minutes and then wash it off with water. Follow with DX 520 conditioner straight from the bottle, let stand a few minutes, rinse and let dry. Now ,tack it up and shoot! What do I mean by ’tack it up’? Use only Crystal tack cloths to wipe the body. Other "cheese" cloths will leave a residue and there will be paint adhesion issues. If you’re just roughing an existing painted surface, clean with 900 or better yet use DX 330 then tack and shoot. The Bare Metal Process: Strip - Wash - Condition - DP/DPLF - DZ - Sand - Fill - Sand- Guide - Sand - Seal - Sand - Color - Compound The Existing Paint Process: Rough - Wash - DZ - Sand - (Fill?) - Sand - Guide - Sand - Seal - Sand - Color - Compound The Hardware & Set-up: So we're ready to shoot paint. Guess this is a good time to explain my equipment set-up. I've an extremely cheap (read: Big Lots) AirAce HPLV gun. (I don't wanna talk about the no good low down RAT that stole my good HPLV and Siphon gun outta my shop, both purchased at great cost, just for this project! Would rather they had stole nthe stereo and amp that were right next toit! Oh, sorry for the rant.) I have a love hate relationship with HPLV and especially a CHEAP HPLV. So to help you: Look for a .15 nozzle, or buy one if it's available for your gun (both needle and nozzle) as most come with .13's. This is gonna scare you but my regulator (at the compressor) is set for 90 - 100lbs pressure. I have a small tank used as a line dryer that comes from an air-assisted 18-wheeler brake system...Mack or perhaps Freightliner, I don’t remember which…but it's a tank for air brakes. This setup has the regulator usually attached to the bottom of the gun at the tank outlet or at the hose- to-gun connection. It's set for 60 - 65lbs. That's right I have 60lbs AT THE GUN. The spray is defined at the handle regulator or, in other words, the pressure knob on the gun itself (which is just about wide open anyway). I also have a swivel attached at the handle. I used to use a 1/4" hose, it was light and didn't twist up but it could not deliver enough pressure. In fact the guys at my supply store suggested I switch to 3/8” hoses which solved my atomization issues. Since the question of compressors comes up often, I use a small Husky 5hp 2-stage with a 26 gal cast tank. It will push my DA and Die Grinders all day long. The pot blaster pressure falls below the usable range in around 20 minutes or so, and if you are blasting parts you'll want the break anyway. The spec's are 6.6 Scfm @ 40psi and 5.8 Scfm @ 90psi. This was a standard hardware store purchase and has been faithfully running (constantly) for several years. I do use only Mobil 1 synthetic oil and change it a LOT (like monthly or every 6 weeks), depending on usage of course. And Mobil 1 is required for their warranty. I like the fact that's it's big yet mobile and on wheels. This 5hp Husky is a champ and the muscle of my whole project. In my shop there is a run of 1/2" iron pipe that connects to a coupler fixed to the regulator at the tank. There is a T-trap in the pipe that then enters a moisture trap and then to the drops for air hoses. I would, however, certainly use 3/8” or larger pipe were I to make it up again. I clean the water out of the air rail often and, as mentioned, use an additional tank as another line dryer. My "spray" hose is never used without the dryer tank, and other hoses are hung to dry every once in awhile. This 5hp Husky is a champ and the muscle of my whole project. My spray pattern is nearly full closed. That's the knob on the side. Of course, when priming you'll be twisting that knob a lot to shoot into deep crevasses and onto surfaces. You’ve just gotta know your gun and priming is the best time to learn - perhaps not with the DP base since runs are a pain to sand out. So, save the play for the DZ surfacer. It sands easy, and is forgiving. Another comment is how easily one’s hand will close the pressure knob on the bottom of the gun. That caused me some grief once or twice before I started to regularly check it and pay closer attention to my surface spray pattern PRIMER: I use a good catalysting primer, P196 DPLF Epoxy Primer (it's tough and non sanding); others prefer VariPrime or the like. The process I use comes from lots of hit and miss and eventually prying the method out of local professional paint tech's heads. As a base prime DP is compatible with lots of surfaces both above and below. It's non sanding which is great for parts you don't want to spend time sanding (provided they coat without flaws) but with all automotive paints there are some time considerations. There are several things one needs to know with all of these coatings: Flash time - Time to tape - Time to coat, and other tidbits like pot life, tack time etc. Get the product fact sheet (PPG link is below) and understand the critical times. “Flash time” is the minimum time to wait before the next coat should be applied. “Tape time” is basically how long one musr wait before touching the surface. “Induction time” and, lastly, “time to coat” which is the big one. This will get you and is the bane of the whole process. (DBU base is 24 hours... DZ surfacer is infinity) Time to coat DP is 6 days. This means in 6 days time one must either have the top coat applied or sand. Technically this is called the Time to Cross-link. Once the chemical cross-link happens, if it's not done, the sandpaper comes out again! Trust me you don't want to sand DP (can you say sand blaster). Catalyst paint needs an induction period as well. This is the minimum mix time prior to shooting, 30 minutes for DP. I use this rule for all my paints to make sure the chemical process has properly begun. Mixing short will cost you more than wasting a few ounces of material. Tack up well and shoot the prime, and do try to remember: THIN coats. This is critical with base colors, high film builds of base will slay you in the end! (peeling) There are a few things one MUST learn. 2. Control the distance from the surface
absolutely and learn it before you attempt clear. I'm at 4 - 5 inches from
the surface (clears) with primes and with bases I will float 10 - 12 inches
away. So you've made it this far and you've primed and think, "Hey! painting is easy!" Well prime and even base coat IS easy to shoot. Don't get too excited 'cuz the clear coat is gonna' kick your teeth in! But I got off subject. We have six (6) days to cover this coat. Sundry parts and bits shoot color. I use P-168 Concept Acrylic Urethane or a single stage paint. Just make sure you use one that is compatible with your clear coat. A huge hint is http://www.ppg.com/refinishftpsite/docs/P-162.pdf. Small bits and such you can mix P-168 Concept Acrylic Urethane with P-162 Flatner for semi or matte finishes. Now
that the DP base prime is on, you have a 5 or 6 day window to fill the deep
spots and spray P-133 DZ3 DZ7 DZ surfacer. Repairs over 1/8th of an inch
deep grab the DuraGlas. Little imperfections use USC Icing. You'll I then cut the filled area with 220 or 400 grit on a stick. 'Glas is tough, just rough it out for the time being we'll flush it as we progress. Flatten these areas best you can within the time allotted. Once your big hits are filled it's time to shoot the surfaces with DZ surfacer. Good idea to give the DP at least a day to glass off though. DP is a nice dark grey (or black) and DZ is light grey (or red) so when you're sticking it (you did read JDW's painting 101 right?) and the surface grows dark grey you know your cutting deep. Also for the guide coat, you can use red DZ for a guide and your not mixing chemistry like one would with a rattle can. The
point being ONCE you have DZ shot you can relax and work out the body. DZ has no
time to coat because you have to sand it anyway. This is a wet sand
operation by the way. At this point you can focus on stickin' the surface, Stick It To It: Go back and read
Bodywork 101 as a refresher. When you procure your paint supplies you'll
have remembered to ask for many extra stir/mixing sticks, right! Cut one
down under 4" and one under 10". or smaller than the paper you are
using. These will be the blocks that you'll be sanding the rest of the body
with. Make a few extra you'll need them. If you happen to have friends,
make some for them too, then invite them over to check out the wonderful
progress you've made. Then stick it to them! Anyway, tightly wrap your
paper around the stik' and have at it. As your surfaces progress you'll
start sanding in straight lines and not in swirls. Let me re-state this
one, do NOT sand in circular motions ONLY in straight lines to produce a good
cross-hatch pattern. North-South / East-West / 30degrees / You'll be spraying DZ over your patches and slowly you'll bring the body flat. At some point you will think you have it ready. Stik'n with 600 or 800 you'll have seen the dips and ripples and filled them in. You'll think that there is little need for a guide coat. This is a "critical" step. Squirt (dust) some contrasting DZ (I use red) and go stik it some more. I know your arm is killing you. Do NOT skip this step. Grab the Icing and fill the low spots. The guide sands off quick and will pick up all those little dimples you've missed or swore you had flattened. There are several ripples and dips on my B's body and I left it that way. I chose to use the absolute least amount of filler and preferred to leave some of the character of the old tub. Many body shops slather Icing over the whole body and sand flat, looks straight I guess. In retrospect, there are a few spots that I should have filled, we'll just call it "Classic Character". It will not take too long to cut the guide coat down and it's imperative to do a guide and fill the low spots and address the high spots that will show up. BaseCoat / Color: Many tech's I have spoken with will shoot a final "sealer" at this point. Another nice feature of DP, when mixed correctly, it's a sealer and a compatible topcoat on DZ. Shoot an extremely thin coat and flatten with 600 or 800. Now it gets serious. I'm using P-152 DBU DIU Basecoat Color. But the technique will no doubt apply to other paint types as well. Temperature and Humidity are going to become very important. Also a clean space to paint in. I shot in Leyland white which references to "refrigerator white" by Moss. This paint code came down to "Bright White" with a splash of umber in the mix. That little splash cost some bucks and introduced color matching issues, so I opted for just bright white. But it's for certain a very Bright white. I
was wanting to go BRG even 'tho all the MG's about these parts are in this color
or red, white won in the end. I talk about this color due to the fact that
I had to be extremely clean. Way above and beyond clean as in hermetically
sealed. Go find a scrub suit, the hair net and booties. Assault the
nurse station at your local hospital. Obtain the scrubs, they are low
lint. I also needed a clean work space. The garage is amuck in MG
parts and there is a house attached to it. For the princely sum of 60
bucks I built a "booth" or "tent" out in front of my
house. Yeah the neighbors hate me... I just used 2 rolls of 4mil plastic 3 spools of SS wire, lot's of duct tape and a few 1x1's. DONT USE DUCK BRAND duck tape. That stuff cost me a repaint! Use scotch brand or even better $$$ Napa balkamp, now that stuff sticks. A couple of cheapo furnace filters an old box fan and I was ready to go. It won't withstand rain or high wind but it did keep out the "organics" and the body is seriously dust free. Temperature is key to the reducer you choose to use. If you are able, buy your reducer close to the time you'll shoot, in the range of temperature you'll be shooting. There is a wide range available from a low of 60 to a high of 90. This all relates to the time it takes to gass off. The higher the range the slower it gasses. This totally effects the finished surface and how it sprays and flows at a given temperature.
Humidity greatly effects lacquers and many other coatings. I will not
shoot above 75 or 80 percent humidity. You've got too much work in
this now to end up with water spots from the air line or milky surfaces.
In fact the hours of work you've done flattening and prepping can, and will, be
ruined in a matter of just a few minutes, be patient and wait out good weather.
Temperature above 90 is a no shoot and below 50 the paint will "fall out of
the gun" meaning Cover yourself completely when spraying any paints but when you come to color and clear here are a few more tips. Use vaseline liberally. Coat your whole face including eye lids and brows. (You'll remember this tip when you are pulling your facial hair out cleaning off all that clear coat!) Cover your wrists as well, they tend to get exposed. I know you are wearing gloves, hair net, scrubs and a respirator with dust covers. Base is not sticky like clear, grease up for color anyway, to limit exposure to the reducer you're using. The color coat is going to shoot like primer. Very forgiving and it dries matte. Step back because it really doesn't look so fine upon close inspection. Color matching a repair is a bear for this reason, the color can not be matched until the clear is on. The matte finish is nice but it's also deceptive. You'll be going over this coat very carefully. The tub's in base color and by now you're chompin' at the bit to shoot clear. Consider for a moment the 'Time to Coat' or 'the time to cross-link'. Another debate left for BBS rants and posts!
Here's the low down on the relationship of the base to the successive clear
coats. Your basecoat must gass off a minimum time (DBU is 45 min. @75deg)
and it cross-links in 24 hours. There it is. Shoot clear too early and it will
solvent pop as soon as it sits in the sun. Wait too long and it cross-links, the
clear will peel like an early eighty's I've seen clear shot immediately after base. I watched the owner beam with pride at the beautiful paint job. I've seen him cry at the car show when he noticed the surface looked like the moon. Patience. I've also seen a tech mix color into the clear to shoot. Looked good wet. Chemically a bad idea. I don't even think there is a name for what that surface looked like dry. Reactive reducer and hardener's don't mix. By this point you have fingertips with no prints and lot's of stik time in, we're at the make or break point. (That is if you have not sold off this project yet) Now, what is the "optimum" gass time. All depends on temperature and humidity. I give the base a few hours to gas and strike it with a 0000 scruffy. I'll restate that I'm not a paint/body man because the next several steps I may have just gotten away with. Most of the advice I have about the base color is to not scratch on it at all. I scratched on mine a LOT with no ill effects noticed. I carefully combed over the surface with the scruffy. Hit any high spots with DRY 600 or 1500 depending upon the flaw. Any
and all specks of color and lint were sanded out, in some cases using RM900 to
wet the surface as opposed to water. That actually really worked well for
me, RM900 and 1500grit paper. Go over this coat well. Look for thin
spots or areas of poor coverage. There will be some spots you've missed or
are not well covered. Shoot base color until you have good coverage.
This may be a wet coat a scruff/buff and another coat or two. Important point to
make here is Use the least amount of base to color the body, we'll work out the surfaces once we have some clear on her. Something else helped during this process. As I went over the surface I noted the bad spots on a print out of the little MOSS paper MG puzzle/model I found on the net somewhere. This helped me to remember all those little spots here and there I had missed earlier. Since I needed to shoot base again I let it sit overnight. The deal is if you go past 24 hours you MUST shoot another coat of base anyway, and I wanted the first coat to gass off well. The second coat was reduced a little more and shot about 14 hours after the first coat was applied. I didn't want to wait past 24 hours but wanted enough time for the first coat to pass gass. Again, base shoots easy and matte's out dry. This "last" coat is thin and wet so the surface flows nice and smooth. Again I started after the base coat with a 0000 scruffy and dry paper. Picked out all the boogers and flecks of color and lint. Take some time and inspect the surface carefully. Use 900 on a rag and wipe as you go along. This will shine up or "gloss" the surface enough to notice any real bad spots. The trick is to be light handed and careful. If you are shooting metal flake or tonal colors you do not EVER under any circumstance touch the base color. I'm over my head with this subject at this point. I rubbed a solid color basecoat and I can not tell where I rubbed the color at all...as I said I may have just gotten away with this one. I'd really suggest a good 1000 /1500 grit wetsand of a solid basecoat in fact, I would not hesitate to wet sand a solid color base with 1500. Now wash with RM900 and lots of it. Many, many wipes and careful inspection. Suit up for the wipe and tack phase here since lint and dust will be trapped at the base level and it will not sand out later, it's trapped eternally. Tack down several times and use a few tack cloths, a box of 12 is only 10 bucks. Tack it down again. And again for good measure! ClearCoat: Ok so
we're ready to clear coat. Deep breath and mix up your materials.
While it's conducting read this article again. You've been mixing primers
and colors all along and using a mix/ratio cup (I prefer USC painters pal 12/6
oz cups). First thing to notice is the extreme change in ratios.
Base was like 1:1.5 / 2 - DZ is 1:1.5 (with dtl) almost equal parts or perhaps
twice again as much reducer as paint. With clear the ratio is 4:1:1 that
being four parts
May I be blunt yet again, you haven't sprayed "paint" until you've
shot clear. This is a whole different animal. Heavy, heavy material with
the ambient effect of working in a glue factory that has just imploded.
Anything and everything that is not covered/masked/cleaned will have this
coating upon it. I lost some masking paper around the So you think your tacked, masked and ready to shoot, yes? Check again and grease up. Remember to blink quickly when you spray, either your eyes will fog over or they will close and not open again! But you have greased up so this is not an issue right?
Check your gun and I know you have cleaned it up like new. Yes even remove
the nozzle and clean the needle, remember you don't want base (reactive) mixing
with hardener. Here's another tip that didn't matter much with base RULE #2: NEVER EVER START OR STOP THE FLOW OVER TOP OF YOUR WORK or in english (trigger) over top of your work. I was told this and read this a lot. Never seemed to matter until I started clearing. So since you are still practicing with DZ start developing this skill. Triggering flow over a panel is instant foopa'. But you'll understand this soon enough.
After every two cup's are shot (6 oz per cup please) run some reducer through
the gun. The needle is beginning to get caked up with clear. The
next cup, shoot off a few seconds to eject the booger awaiting to ruin your day.
Talking a lot about setting up the gun, cleaning the gun, and it's general
use. No doubt as you have gotten better at primer you You must move fast and stay close to the surface. It sounds like advice for disaster. This is the trade off: Pimples or "orange peel" if you are moving too fast or have too little pressure. Runs, curtains or puddles if you move too slow. No pressure, but, runs sand far easier than peel and this step IS the most important. I have had the pleasure of watching a tech paint a few muscle cars last year. At first blush I thought he a madman! Huge head pressure, very close to the surface, and he "weaved" as in he'd paint north-south then after the tack time he'd shoot east-west. His finishes were, well, less than expected. Then I saw the magic. It all comes out in the compounding and buffing stage. These cars were SHOW cars. Just blew me away to see the finish "paint" then later to see the finish on the CAR. I've read a post or two from disappointed customers who would drop by the shop to see the "progress" only to see the finish prior to compounding and they were real displeased with the "look". Trust me, you can handle this, better to run than peel. You'll be sanding and compounding this all out anyway. Now it's just a matter of HOW MUCH sanding you'll be doing. If you have been using something to test with, shoot some material on it. See the runs! Yes you must move faster and GET CLOSER! There is a fine line between insanely great and a total bodge. It's all in the rate or speed in which the gun passes over the panel. Peel? Awesome! Runs? The trick is to find the awesome application speed early and soon. Your mix has conducted by now so get after it and good luck.
Ok so you are ready to squeeze that trigger. Before you really shoot
material shoot some air! Indeed, shoot some air in front of your work area
and remember too as you move along. This will help keep the surface clean
for a few minutes, that is until you're in a fog of clear coat. You do
still have that last (real clean) tack cloth in your pocket right? This puppy is
going to save the day. If and when you see hair - lint - dirt etc. in
front of you, before you really cover One thin coat. JUST ONE COAT! Don't tempt yourself into shooting two coats even after the tack up time is reached. This is the base (clear) coat and where the final coat(s) start. Funny, it only took like 20 minutes to shoot the whole car! It took only 10 - 12 ounces of mixed material and there were a few ounces left over! Walk away and go clean your gun up completely!
Did I stress this point enough. There is another tip in here somewhere. 20 minutes heavy clear will obliterate many hard hours of sanding. If this coat ends up being a real bodge, 360 and careful use of a DA after it has reached full hard will get you ready for the next coat. So by now your wallowing in self pity and wishing you had actually read the fifth paragraph. Take heart your really in very good shape, go get some sleep because tomorrow were going to finish this mess! Now another little trick I've learned is to break the coat just before it reaches maximum yield (or completely dry). If the surface is still soft wait another few hours. I hit it around 12-14 hours. Fill a bucket with clean water and start stik'n with some fresh 600. (Soak the paper for a good 30 minutes prior) No swirls, you are after a nice cross hatch, so straight line sanding from here on out.
Flatten the whole coat out. By now you should be able to break the whole
car in say 3 to 4 hours blindfolded! Scratch out (BLOCK) the surface
fuzzes and lint. There should not have been any in the base color so you
should not have to dig too deep. Again this is a coat to really go over
well. Your time to coat is 72 hours so you can relax a From here on out it's the same old thing, wash - tack - shoot - wallow in self pity - cry.
The next coat should be the last coat and I do a two shot pass. Shoot a
coat, let it flash and shoot the final Compounding and Polishing:
If you thought that you were done with stik'n the body, sorry, but you'll be
after it some more. Leave it sit for a week and most will advise 4-6
weeks. At least 72 hours! I know you want to move on with life
I guess if you hit the awesome stroke and no paper is needed (dream on!) start
compounding! The finishes I see 2000 grit is hard to find but this is all I use after a buffer has passed the panel. Straight line sanding ONLY! Don't swirl or figure eight. Straight line strokes will buff and swirls will leave a swirl mark. Sorry to keep repeating myself! Sanding the final coat is tricky. You may not need to sand as much if you can dig up a foam pad for your power buffer. You'll still need to hit a few spots but a foam pad is a worthwhile investment. Think carefully about where you DO sand. If your buffer can not reach an area don't strike it. The front headlight wells are a good example. I use a few 5" polishing pads mounted on an arbor with my 90 degree die grinder in this area. (A power drill would work as well) You'll start collecting lots of polishing pads, buffing bonnets and the like to finish out the body. Ace hardware and my paint supplier are about my only resource for pads and polishers.
Read rule #1 again. Never, ever, hand or palm sand on the final
coat. A finger and 1000 grit paper will cut through the topcoat faster
then you can stop yourself! Whatever dirt or lint is in the paint is
IN there now. Compounding may
I use 3m Microfine polish with a foam pad or an ALL WOOL bonnet.
Synthetic's? I have a few synthetic pads that I don't care much for.
Wool seems to be a bit coarser or at least works faster. The polish is
rated at 1500 grit and I've been told they use this at the paint shop to prep
clears for second coats. It has no silicone and is safe to use as a paint
prep grit. Work the body till it's completely broke and generally dull to
the finish. Change over to a wool bonnet and 3m
Shy away from sharp edges with the buffer, down to primer in a hurry! Once
you've finished and you are completely shocked at the fine job you did, don't
wax! In fact don't touch the paint with wax for at least 12 months.
Your fresh paint will need to gass off for the next several months, so no
silicone products WHAT SO EVER! Also, no car cover for at least 6
months. *************************************** FACTORY/OEM REPLACEMENT PANEL
PROCEDURE *************************************** Refinishing Wheels: Spare yourself the mask! I've posted several times how my wheels were done. This was how I discovered DP in the first place, since I wanted a non sanding primer. I blasted (my wheels were really very bad) then cleaned and primed. Shot the entire wheel (all 6) a base grey. I went a tad darker since my car was going white. I also ripped down the center "hubcaps" and my steering wheel which was nothing but rust. (but it's a knuckle buster gotta save it somehow!) Now, many will suggest to just use masking tape and an exacto knife to cut out the black areas for a mask. I am just not that skilled with an exacto knife. I opted for 3m vinyl tape 'bout 1/8" or so wide. The black perimeter and the tight curves were taped up with this vinyl tape. I cut slits on the back side of the tape to make the really tight curves. After this was down I used paper and masking tape to cover the rest. Shot the black and waited out the tack time, then pulled the tape. (don't wait too long!) After the black cured up I then cleared the whole wheel. I used a 4x4 as a jig to hold the wheels in place. (nails kept them from rolling about). You can get a perfect color match at any auto paint store. For a modest price you can get color - hardener - reducer and clear. Provides an excellent finish that will stand up way better than the "factory color" rattle cans from a catalog. Total time just in paint (six wheels) was around 12 - 14 hours. That's prime, base, mask, black, peel, clear.
Final Thoughts: The
reaction everyone seemed to expect from me and this long ordeal was one of great
satisfaction of a job well done. The reality, at the time of this writing,
is a painful knot twix't my shoulder blades and yet one of great relief. I
somehow managed to retain my wife (up to this point) and if you are married you
better have a very special girl endowed with much longsuffering and
forbearance! If you do not like to sand (who does?) rubbing bodywork is
98% of Time is the enemy here. Just prepping to shoot takes many long hours of thankless, boring, and arduous sanding. Yes, you can paint your car. Yes, it will turn out great if you invest the time. If you have the time to invest and you are single (or willing to end up that way) and without the responsibility of children you just might be a candidate for a DIY job. I don't need to point out how many projects are never completed by the one whom started it! Time! Can I stress this more? I can't even begin to explain the mental anguish involved. Missed out on so many day trips with the family, the park, zoo, etc. to stay behind and....(Yup Sand!) Agonized over details with the restoration work. Planning the evenings work only to be sidetracked with family duties. T The approach to the project is important as well. One has to be able to take it in stride and not stress over getting this or that "done". It's been a very long and hard fight so far. I've not even started building it up yet. I did, however, manage to paint the whole tub... Top to Bottom... for about 1400.00 to 1800.00 bucks. I have lost somewhere around 400 to 800 hours in strip and shoot. You determine the value of Your time. Add in the actual cost of materials and then go read paragraph five once again. I admire your willingness to go after it. Spend your time working ON the car and not SANDING ON the car! Even if the pro paint shop near you takes 6-12 months and charges you an arm and a leg IT WILL BE WORTH IT! Use the time to clean the motor or cover your seats or just take the wife and kids out to the park. While you're there take a moment to really redeem the time with them, as for me, I'm in my garage prepping these bit's and parts for paint! I hope to get this part "done" before the cats in the cradle, or my Kid's are picking out my "quality care" facility. I hope this was helpful for you and thanks for the read! HowY |