It is inevitable that the joys of driving will "blood" your beloved Mog with scratches and dings. If you have the time there are solutions other than another $3000.00 paint job.
Materials and Tools:
1. Fast drying primer preferably similiar to the color of the car
2. The color-matched paint of the car
3. A half dozen sharp pencils with erasers (you can also purchase sanding pencils at auto stores).
4. Masking tape
5. A bottle of spray cleaner and rubbing alcohol
6. A box of cue tips (or better still dental cuetips used by dentists)
7. Scissors
8. A small sheet of thin cardboard with edges
9. Thin soft clean rags
10. a 220 grit wet/dry sandpaper
11. a 660 grit wet dry sandpaper
12. 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
12. 2000 grit wet dry sandpaper
14. Polishing compound...(NOT RUBBING COMPOUND)
Steps.
1. Carefully clean the chipped area with the spray cleaner
2. Check around the area (a magnifying glass would help here) to see if there are loose sections of paint around the area.
3. Use a pencil to look for paint that is lifting and if easily possible, remove them.
4. Cut small circles of sandpaper and glue them to the erasers on separate pencils.
5. Use the 220 pencil to carefully roughen up the edges of the chip and the exposed bare metal.
6. Use the spray cleaner to remove the dust particles.
7. Use the 660 pencil to roughen
up a small area of paint outside the chip, about 1/6 in should be
enough. Remove
the dust with the spray cleaner.
8. Carefully pull most of the cotton off one end of a cue tip or use a "dentist's" cue tip.
9. Dip the prepared end into the primer about 1/4 in and "dot the primer into the chip itself.
10. Spread the dot of primer to the edges. If there were loose edges of paint that were inadvisable to remove, try to get the primer under them as well as coating most of the roughened up paint.
11. Leave just a tiny bit of roughened paint around the primer. Each coat should be very thin. If the first try didn't cover the chip completely, in the next step, dip the cuetip further into the paint BUT make sure the coats are thin.. Allow double the primers suggested time to allow to dry.
12. Take the cardboard and cover the area and masking tape it to the car to keep the dust off during drying. If necessary you can cut it make it fit better.
13. Once the paint is dry, use the 600 grit pencil to roughen up the surface and reapply more primer with the same method. Let it dry again. (A third coat could be necessary).
14. Once the paint is dry, use the 600 grit pencil to roughen up the surface if you can see bare metal in the scratches,
15. Finally apply the color paint in the same manner, dip a thinned cuetip about 1/4 in into the paint, and "dot" the center of the chip then spread it out to cover the area entirely including all the unretouched sanded area. You can remove any that goes beyond that area later. This layer of paint should also be very thin. It is not neccessary for the first of the color coats to completely mask the scratch or all of the primer. Cover the area with your cardboard, and let it dry for at least an hour or two to harden somewhat. N.B. Never redip the cuetip when applying the paint. Wait for the next coat.
16. Repeat 15 now using clear coat and continue the process of clearcoat, drying clear coat a number of times until you have a covering that is as a least as high as the surface around it. It could take as much as 2 coats of paint and 2 of primer and 2-10 coats of clear to repair a job from the bare metal. You must let each coat dry properly before starting the next. (auto paints are normally reasonable fast drying). At the end you will have a small area of paint only slightly thicker than the car's paint job. Now let the paint harden a few days before the next step.
17. Use the 1000 grit sand paper to smooth the area down and make it even to the touch.
18. Use the 2000 grit paper to make it soft to the touch.
19. Wrap the soft rag around the tip of your finger and apply a small amount of polishing compound to the area and polish in small circular motions. Keep using a clean area of the rag when it becomes discolored. When the area's paint has blended into the paint job, clean your car competely and wax it with a high quality hard wax. This process can also be used with a non-clear coated car. However, in this case only coats of primer and paint are used (in the chip area only!) to build the chip hole back up to the exact level of the surrounding paint. The end result will not be as seamless as with a clear coated car.
New clear paints are just that...clear and they are paints like any other. Until just the last few years, they were used almost exclusively with lacquer paint jobs because polishing non-clear coated lacquer paints could disrupt their uniformity and finish. Sadly, the more commonly used lacquer years ago was nitro-cellulose lacquer which has a tendency to crack, dull and yellow in a few years. Acrylic lacquer is much better but still needs clear paint for safe polishing, but as always, things have changed.
Now modern clear paints can been found in many factory
paint jobs. According to PPG's "Refinishing Manual" (the bible of the auto
painter), base coats and clear coats have gained wide usage for two reasons.
"The application of clear coats over light metallic finishes greatly increases
their durability. Secondly, the clear and base coats reduce the solvent
needs for paint colour applications required by the governments' emission
standards." In other words you need less paint with base and clear coats
while staying within EPA and you can get a better finish with 1 mil of
colour paint rather than the traditional
2.5-3 mils.
Clear coats are especially advisable for metallic or pearl
paint jobs or any car you wish to have a "custom" deep glow finish. The
clear paint protects the colour coat and allows you to wet sand, polish,
compound, wax the car without fear of damaging the finish..especially if
it is a more delicate colour. The existence of the clear paint, normally
in two coats, allows a repair to be made with some greater margin for error,
often because the damage is often to the clear paint only, which can be
patched over with ease and also because it is harder to distinguish an
anomaly from the finished repair (a ridge) when the top coats are
transparent. To determine how much repair work you have
in any crack, you can always purchase a "auto paint gauge" which measures
the depth of the problem and therefore how many and which coats were effected.
| January 2022. There is also a new exciting clear coat process that should be considered. |
Molasses can be used for rust treatment. The recommended mix is 1:12 Molasses to water, or 1lb molasses/gallon water. It is also recommneded to do this outdoors or use an old chest freezer or fridge for the molasses mix, as these have an airtight seal (it's meant to stink a bit....). You would need to buy molasses at the wholesale animal feed rate of 50lbs for US$18.54 to fill it up properly.
Leave it for a few days and then take a look..you will be very surprised!
Reverse electrolysis has the problem of hydrogen embrittlement
if used on stressed parts/ springs etc, and also has bad effects on all
metals other than steel (due to use of strong caustic soda solutions).
Also watch out for the products of electrolysis - hydrogen and oxygen,
go to inspect your handywork with a lit cigarette and you could end up
wishing you had paid for sandblasting !
Choosing a New Paint Colour
by Roger Shawyer, Sydney, Australia
When
selecting the colour I was discussing it with Lorne. He came up with a
brilliant idea, check your wife's wardrobe and select a colour that she
really likes. Well, there it is, the colour of a raincoat that Linda
has and adores. I'm popular and the car looks good (smile).
The Truth About British Racing Green (BRG)
by Don W on The Morgan Experience
Webmaster Note. Don is far more astute than most. My compliments! He is a breath of fresh air on this subject. Of course, many manufacturers assign a randomly chosen shade of green and call it BRG. Others, confused, declare there are many different shades without knowing the simple truth. Morgan, as many other marques, have their own "British Racing Green". This and other greens should properly be designated by the marque who chooses as in Morgan BRG or Jaguar BRG or Lotus BRG. The use of national racing colours ended in the early 1970s.