©By: John T. Blair (WA4OHZ)
1133 Chatmoss Dr., Va. Beach, Va. 23464; (757) 495-8229

Originally written: circa 1992
Last update: March 12, 2009 - fixed email address

In restoring my Morgan, the most expensive single purchase I have made was the new chassis, for around $900. However, I haven't replaced the chrome wire wheels which will cost about $1500. But the cost of paint supplies has exceeded $1200 and I haven't painted the body yet!. Here is some of what I have used so far:

     2 gallons of paint stripper @ $11 each                       $ 22
     2 gallons of West System Epoxy and 2 quarts of hardener      $150
     4 gallons of Du Pont 30S lacquer primer @ $33 ea.            $132
    14 gallons of Du Pont 3602 lacquer thinner @ $12 ea.          $170
     2 gallons of Du Pont 99A Pitch Black enamel @ $47 ea         $ 94
     2 gallons of Du Pont 8022 Mid  temp reducer (60-75) @ $12 ea $ 24
     1 gallon  of Du Pont 8093 High temp reducer (70-90) @ $12 ea $ 12
     2 pints   of Du Pont 793S Hardener  @ $31 ea                 $ 62
     2 gallons of Bodyman plastic filler @ $11 ea                 $ 22
     2 100 pound bags of sandblasting sand @ $8 ea                $ 16
                                                                ---------
                                                                  $704

air compressor, paint guns, air mask (the ones with the canisters, not just the paper dust masks), body hammers and dollies, body files, sanding block, body putty, paint, thinner and reducer, some squeegees, an electric drill with a wire wheel, and a large supply and selection of sand paper.

I found that connecting the dryer directly to the compressor didn't pull much moisture out of the air. It was too close to the compressor and there just wasn't enough time for the moisture to condense. I had planed on building the radiator, using some 1/2" copper tubing used for plumbing. I had been saving the cat food cans to use as fins by soldering them to the tubing to help vent the heat.

Instead of building this fancy radiator, I ended up taking a piece of soft copper tubing and wrapping it around a plastic 2 liter Coke bottle. I connect this to my compressor with a short length of air hose and compression fittings. I also connect it to my dryer the same way. I keep this coil in a bucket. So on very humid days, I can fill the bucket with water to help cool the air and draw the moisture out.

After you get the moisture out of the air, you might want to heat the air before it goes to the air line. To do this, again use some soft copper tubing and wrap it around the cooling fins of the compressor. This way the heat generated by the compressor can be used to reheat the air.

There are now High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) gun available. I've switched to a gravity feed HVLP gun (shown). This is a Harbor Freight gun and costs about $60. These supposedly have less overspray and use less paint. When looking for one, try and find one with 2 needles, one larger one for shooting primer and one smaller one for shooting color or top coats.

You'll also want a Dual Action, DA, sander also. These can be used for small or large jobs.

You might want to check out How to Work With Bondo Body Filler For Auto Body Repair for more information on working with filler.

Before the filler is applied, you want to make sure that the metal is clean and free of oils and waxes. DuPont makes a product called PrepSol for this purpose. After the metal is cleaned, it will have a tendency to get surface rust. To kill the rust and etched the metal a phosophoric acid treatment like DuPonts 5717 Metal Conditioner or Ospho should be used.

I prefer the English files, especially the curved ones, but they are getting harder to find and cost about $20 each. Which ever type of file you choose, you really should get both a flat and a curved one.

Sanding the primer and body putty requires the use of a backing for the sand paper. For large flat areas you want to use a sanding board. For small and curved areas a rubber sanding block can be used. Both of these are quite inexpensive. This is called "blocking" or block sanding and will flatten the bondo or paint and help eliminate the rippling or waviness in the finished paint job.

When it comes to preparing a painted piece of metal for painting, there are two schools of thought:

1. If the base coat of paint is holding, don't strip it.
2. What the heck, if it is easily accessible, go ahead and strip it anyway.

Why bother? It's the only way to really tell what shape the metal is in. If the original paint is bubbling, this is usually an indication of rust from underneath and the paint should be stripped.

If the body putty is cracking (which on a Morgan occurs quite often around the headlights and on the front fenders), the paint and all the putty in that area should be removed.

I DO NOT recommend using gasoline: it is just too volatile. If you plan to use it, DO NOT use it in the garage! Take the parts, pans, and gasoline about 20 feet from any building, and DO NOT smoke around it. This is the safest way to use it. To clean off the VARSOL (or gasoline), wash the part in water. Then wipe it dry with a towel, and blow dry with compressed air.

Another thing that works well when cleaning parts is "gojo" hand cleaner. Simply put a dab on you hands and rub it all over the part. Then rinse the gojo off with water.

For the stubborn areas, you can try using steel wool dipped in paint stripper. I used a wire wheel on an electric drill. Be very careful if you try this, as the paint stripper will get flung all over. Protect your eyes and wear goggles! Never return the left over stripper to the original can. This could contaminate it and reduce its effectiveness. After the paint is removed, the metal should be cleaned thoroughly to remove any remaining paint stripper. For this, I wet sand the part using 240 grit wet or dry sandpaper. For wet sanding, I fill a bucket with water and squirt some liquid soap to help keep the sandpaper from clogging. Dry the part with a towel and blow dry with compressed air.

For really stubborn painted areas or some areas of rust, now is the time to consider sandblasting the part. Again, I usually wet sand the part again with 240 grit wet or dry sandpaper to remove the very fine layer of dust and sand particles. After the part dries, it should have an etchant and a rust inhibitor applied (I use Du Pont's 5717S metal conditioner). This conditioner will render minor rust inert, retard rust from forming and etch the metal to help the primer adhere. Since this metal conditioner contains phosphoric acid, you should wear rubber gloves when using this product. To apply the conditioner to a part, I use a sponge with the green scrubby stuff on the back and scrub the part with the green side. Don't let the conditioner dry on the metal; keep it wet until you are ready to remove it, then wipe it off with a dry cloth or paper towel and let the part air dry for about 10 minutes.

If you have to use any body filler, now is the time to apply the 1st coat. I used Bodyman Plastic filler (carried by my local Du Pont dealer), which is ready to be filed in 15 to 20 minutes. I started collecting cardboard boxes and cutting them into squares about 12" on a side. This is a large supply of cheap pallets for mixing the body putty. The two mistakes most OFTEN made using body putty are:

1. Mixing too much of it. You should only mix enough to make a golf ball size or smaller pile. The working life is between 5 and 10 minutes depending on how much hardener is added.

2. Working too small of an area. For small areas, you should cover an area 3 to 4 times the size you want to fix. If working larger areas, say 5x5" or larger, go at least 3" beyond the damaged area in all directions.

When you're ready to quite for the day, you may want to spray on the first coat of primer to help seal the metal and keep it from rusting.

For priming the parts, I use Du Pont's 30S primer and 3602 Lacquer thinner and about 40 pounds per square inch of air pressure. This will work as a base for either lacquer or enamel top coats. I do not mix the primer in my paint gun tank. I always mix paint in a separate container. I mix the primer 1 part primer to 2 parts thinner and no more than a quart at a time. The mixed primer may last up to 2 weeks in a sealed container. If you don't use all of the paint, put it in tight container (jar) until you are ready to paint again. (Remember, try to use it within a week.)

(Note: 2009 - Remember this article was originally written circa 1990. Since then there have been a lot of changes in paints. Not to mention that lacquer has been outlawed in many areas. There are a lot of newer primers on the market. Working on my 75 Bricklin, I have used some of the newer "2K" [2 part or hardened primers] like EverCoat's Feather Fill polyester primer and PPG's K36 primer. This is a high build primer and sands easily.)

I believe in painting every piece before the parts are assembled. To hold the large parts, I set up a pair of saw horses to hold the parts. For small parts, cut up wire coat hangers into varying lengths and bend the pieces into a S shape. You will also need a place to hang the parts. I used an old garage door rail and suspended it across the back of the garage door rails. Do not try to use a piece of rope: it will sag in the middle and the parts will slide towards the middle and hit each other.

Here are a few tricks it took me a long time to figure out:

1. I taped some old pieces of rug to the cross bar on my saw horses to act as a cushion for the parts. But as I painted, the paint got on the carpet causing the carpet to stick to the parts I was working on and really mess up the paint job. Then I had to sand the part and repaint it.

   So I placed a sheet of newspaper over the carpet on the saw horses, and taped it in place with some masking tape. As I painted, and the newspaper got sticky, I simply removed and replace the newspaper.

2. Start by painting the underside of a part first. This side is not as critical as the top or outside. In addition, usually there is some sort of lip so that a large painted area will not lay flat on the saw horses. Consequently, not as much damage can occur. Once dried, it can be placed on the saw horses (paint side down) and the top side can be worked. I can't tell you how many times I have had to rework a piece because I did it the other way around. When I turned the part over to paint the underside, the top stuck to the paint on the saw horse and pulled the paint off the saw horse. Now I had to resand and repaint the top of the piece.

3. Try to line up several parts to paint. This will make the best use of your time and paint. Unless you plan to work the surface that you just painted, try to plan your work so that after the parts are painted you can wait 4 hours, preferably 24 hours before having to work on the part again. Working on the car in the evenings (after work), I try to start by painting any parts that are ready. Since I have only a limited storage for the freshly painted parts, this reduces the space required. By the next day all the parts are dry.

   They can now be turned over and have to other side painted or if finished they can be stored (I lay them out in the carpeted floor of a spare room).

4. If your air hose starts blowing water bubbles at the disconnect, wrap the connector in a paper towel or rag and tie it on.

5. I have mentioned using rubber gloves for working with the paint stripper and the metal conditioner. You stay a lot cleaner if you wear the gloves when painting also. I had been using the "Playtex" gloves but they were difficult to get on and off so I didn't use them when painting. The other day I was at the Price Club (a large retailing warehouse, now called CostCo) and I found some disposable plastic gloves (like cleaning people wear - 300 gloves for $5). These are great. They are baggy so they are easily put on and removed. The only problem is you have to take a little more time mixing the paint, as holding things is a little difficult. (I will swear by them from now on!).

Start the sanding process by working the areas with body putty on them. However, instead of using sand paper, use the body files. They will quickly cut down the body putty. When the files stop cutting, you must determine whether it is because the area is smooth, or because there isn't enough putty. If you can see or feel that the area with the putty is lower than the surrounding metal then you must add more body putty. If you can't tell, shoot another coat of primer on the part, then try to sand it. If you cut through the primer in some places and not in others, the areas that remain painted are low. If you sand the paint off the entire area about the same time, the area is level with the metal.

As you sand the body putty or primer, it should "feather" or fade into the metal or other paint at the edges of the work area. If it doesn't, if it appears to peel off, then either the putty was not mixed correctly, or there was some oil, sweat, etc. on the metal to stop the putty from adhering. Every area that was filled with that batch of putty should be sanded to completely remove that batch of putty. Then the metal should be degreased with some lacquer thinner or degreaser. After cleaning the area, another batch of putty can be mixed and applied.

As the body putty is leveled into the plane of the metal the files usually stop cutting. Now we must switch to sandpaper. This is where the sanding boards and sanding blocks come into play. I small or tight areas I use a trick an old friend showed me many moons ago. When you bought your paint supplies, did you get a bunch of wooden paint stirrers? Well, they make a great backing for trying to block sand an area. If I am still trying to quickly cut down the body putty, I'll wrap some 36 grit sandpaper around the stirrers and sand with this. Check the area for low spots and apply more body filler as necessary. After it has had a chance to harden it can be primed again or sanded. This step is repeated until there is no more need to add body filler.

Depending on your pocket book, a cute trick is to apply 2 or 3 coats of a gray primer, then shoot 1 coat of a dark red colored primer. Now as you sand the top coat, you can easily tell high and low spots. (If the gray was the first couple of coats and red is the top coat, the high spots will be gray, and the low spots will be red.)

The sanding is not over yet. The rest of the part must be block sanded (blocked) perfectly smooth. Start this process by lightly wet sanding with 240 grit sandpaper on your sanding block. For large flat surfaces, use the flat side of the block; for smaller areas or curved surfaces, use the curved side. After some EXPERIENCE, you'll develop a feel or preference for which side of the sanding block to use. Try not to sand through the primer to the metal. If only a small metal spot shows, this is a high spot. You could use the body hammer and "pick" down this spot. Now, shoot another coat or two of primer on the part, then examine it very closely. You will be looking for scratch marks from the files and coarse sandpaper, little pits in the primer, anything that is not perfectly flat.

To fill very small imperfections or pin holes in the primer we used to use a lacquer based spotting putty called Unistain. It is almost like an uncut primer in a tube. Squeeze a drop on a squeegee and apply a thin coat over the trouble spots. The spotting putty will be ready to sand in about 10 minutes.

(Note: Today (circa 2006) there is a new product called icing. This is a lot more expensive than the old spotting putty and is mixed like bondo. When I was in the body shop class, the instructor didn't like either icing or the spotting putty.)

One more time! Check for any imperfections, apply bondo or spotting putty as necessary, and shoot another coat of primer. If no spotting putty had to be applied, you can start blocking with 600 grit. Otherwise, use the 400, then switch to the 600 grit. You may have to repeat this procedure several times, but after sanding a part with 600 grit, the part should be ready for the top coat! This preceding process is about 85% of a quality paint job. The more time spent here the better the final results will be.

(Note: 2006 - The lacquer paints I was using eat into the existing coat of lacquer paint. So the bondo and lacquer primer can be sanded with very fine paper 400 to 600 grit. Not so with the newer paints. The don't eat into each other and require something grab onto. Consiquently don't sand the newer primers with anything much finer than 300 grit.)

In the past I have used Du Pont's acrylic lacquer for the color coats. After talking to several people, I decided to go with their Centari acrylic enamel. The enamel is more flexible and durable than the lacquer. I had the chassis all painted with the lacquer. However, when I started painting the wood, I was so impressed with the gloss that I repainted the chassis and all of the parts that I had already painted black (some with lacquer, others with Krylon spray cans) with the Centari.

I should mention that there is a difference between painting lacquer and enamel. Lacquer is supposed to go on wet, it will glisten and actually look wet. If it looks flat or dull, then the spray gun needs to be adjusted to deliver more paint or you are moving the gun to fast, slow down a little. Enamel doesn't spray on looking as "wet"! In fact, I have had trouble trying to get it to LOOK wet. I have found that when it "looks" wet (or as wet as lacquer) your in for a BIG RUN. Sometimes you can reduce a run by lightly blotting it with either masking tape or a paper towel. For me it is usually to late for this, I don't see the run until after the paint starts to harden.

Once you have a run with the enamel paint you will have to let it dry for at least 2 hours before you can start to fix it. Start by block sanding the area with 200ish wet and dry sandpaper until there is no trace of the run. Here again is a difference between the enamel paint with the hardener and lacquer paints. The enamels are harder to sand and it tends to ball up and clogs the sandpaper. Be sure to clean the sandpaper frequently, by dipping it in water. Also wash the area that is being sanded to remove any of these paint nodules. When sanding the run, be sure to go a couple of inches past the area to attempt to "feather" the paint. After the run has been sanded out, change to 320 grit wet and dry and reblock the area. This will remove most of the scratches from the 220 sandpaper. Now the area is ready to be sprayed again.

Another problem with enamel paints is called fish eying. This is when some grease, oil, or wax is left on the work. When painted the grease will repell the paint leaving a little ring with a slight ridge at the edges. To help prevent this, fish eye remover is added to the paint.

Enamel also is more prone to orange peeling. The paint will appear dull and if you really look at the dryed paint it will have dimples in it, just like an orange peel. This is caused by the paint starting to dry before it has a chance to flow out. To correct this, you can try to use a slower drying reducer, slow down the rate you are moving the spray gun, or try to increase the flow of paint from the gun. But these steps will lead to a greater chance of a run. The usual solution is to wet sand (or color sand) the finished paint job with 1500 and 2000 grit wet sandpaper. Then buff the paint to bring back the shine.

As I said earlier, I do not mix my paint in the spray gun tank. When I purchased the paint for the color coats, I purchased an extra, empty, 1 gallon paint can. The directions for the Centari paint said to cut the paint 2 parts paint to 1 part reducer. So I fill a plastic quart container (left over form the last Chinese dinner we had) with the color and pour it into the empty gallon can. I do the same with the reducer. Then stir the 1 to 1 mixture. This reduced paint mixture will last indefinitely.

Before you are ready to paint, you must add the hardener and fisheye remover. But, before this I go over a checklist: