Thoughts on Restoring a Morgan
Do It Yourself (DIY) painting
(Addendum)
©By: John T. Blair (WA4OHZ)
1133 Chatmoss Dr., Va. Beach, Va. 23464; (757) 495-8229
Last update: March 18, 2002
In my previous article, I covered most of the
basics. However, I'd like to make a couple of points:
- When you purchase your paint, I'd suggest that you get at least 2 quarts
of color. Are you doing the inside and bottom of the body or just the top.
If you are doing the chassis and the inside of the body tub then you may
want to get a gallon. The reason for getting a quanity is to insure color.
When you get you paint, also ask for several extra empty gallon can - I
think they run about $2. ea. Pour some of the paint (a quart at a time
if you like) from the original 1 gallon can into one of the new ones. Then
mix in your thinner/reducer. You will now end up with 1/2 gal or so of
mixed paint. Then use this to shoot with. This way you will always have
some "good" original color paint left.
- Several said that with enamel, what you see is what you get. That's not
quite true.
- Be careful with enamel, it doesn't go on "wet" looking like lacquer.
If you get it looking wet it will *run*!!! I haven't had any
trouble sanding out runs and touching up the area. It just talks
longer for enamel to dry. A run will typically take about 1 hr or
more to dry to where you can sand it out.
- Enamel is very susceptable to "fish eye". These are little rings
where the paint won't stick. This is due to oil on the surface to
be painted. Just before you are ready to shoot the color paint,
you need to wipe the surface down with a "de-greaser". Also you
should put some "fish eye" remover in the paint that is in the gun
just before you shoot. It only takes a few drops.
If you get fish eyes, you will have to sand the area down, clean
with degreaser and repaint. If you go down to the metal you will
need to re-prime the spot.
- Enamel is also very prone to "orange peel". This is because the
paint is drying before it has a chance to flow out. If this starts
to happen, you will either need to add more reducer or change the
reducer you are using, to a slower drying one.
This is where the what you see is what you get comes into play. If
you have a nice shinny job, you may want to leave well enough alone.
But, if you have dull areas, either due to orange peel or over spray
it can be fixed. You will have to let it set for at least a week if
not a month. Then you can "wet" or "color" sand it. This is simply
sanding with a rubber backing pad with 1200 to 2000 grit paper and
lots of water!!! This sand off the highs from the over spray or
orange peel and kill the shine. Once the body is completely dull
you will be able to buff it back out.
- Some notes on buffing.
- You will need a good buffer. I have not had any success with the
vertical ones sold for polishing a car. I use a horizontal buffer.
Black and Decker made the one I have, but they discontinued it a
couple of years ago. I don't know if they make something to replace
it. The buffer should be about 2000-2400 rpm. A low/high speed or
a variable speed is fine, but you will usually use the high speed
setting.
- 3M makes a great buffing system. Instead of using the old wool
bonnets, they have what looks like sponge rubber waffle pads. This
is about the best thing going - in my opinion. Then you will need
at least 2 if not 3 different compounds.
- So far, I haven't seen anything about primers.
- Starting with fact that the parts have been stripped and primed.
I usually don't let the sandblasters prime my parts. I will treat
all bare metal with Ospho or DuPont's Metal conditioner. This is
phosphoric acid. It will etch the metal for better adheasion by the
primer, and kill any surface rust.
- In the past, I've always used lacquer primer (even for enamel paint
jobs). However, primers are hydroscopic - absorbe water. Consiquently
if you don't get a top coat on it quickly, the metal will start to rust
under the primer.
There are a couple of new primers on the market:
- VeriPrime (DuPont I believe). This is a good primer and contains
the phsophoric acid. But it WILL rust if not top coated quickly.
- There are some new eurathaine primers out. These are supposed
to be water proof. So if you are painting a car in pieces or
it will be a while before the parts are top coated, I would
recommend that you look into using one of these primers.
- And there are some Poly Ester primers. These are basically
sprayable fiberglass and are high fill. The almost grow after
they've been sprayed on. They can supposedly fill 36 grit sanding
scratches with no problem. I'll let you know more on this later as
I plan on priming my Bricklin body with this and I used 36 grit
sandpaper to sand the surface flat.
John
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