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Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:48 am
by tintoptom
Morning gents,

I have a Mk1 shell that has been restored and painted in, I believe, two pack (with a stone chip like protective coat under the paint underneath, in the engine bay and boot). I bought the in it's current state and couldn't get any details as to the type of paint, primer or stone chip stuff used or any info about the stage they were at or any of the processes used (number of coats, etc.). It appears that more than one paint coat was applied over the primer, with the current top coat not finished - the finish is good but not a top coat looking job, plus there are some runs, etc. I reckon they were on an intermediate coat that they intended to flat again ready for the top coat / next coat.

This would all be fine if the shell hadn't been painted PINK all over! :roll: not my taste, but each to there own!! I think the original plan must have been to do a twiggy style swinging sixties car with flowers all over it... my current plan is to paint it in one of the BMC greys, either tweed or smoke... not sure... although my wife does quite like the twiggy idea!

Anyway, my question is am I o.k to paint over the existing paint? If so do I need to do any treatments of any kind or just flat it and go over it? Also, do I have to use two pack (assuming it is two pack) or can I use water based and not get a reaction / get good adhesion? Or should I take it back to metal and start again?

Any suggestions / recommendations gratefully received!


Tom

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 11:02 am
by guru_1071
tom

if the finish is good (i.e no rot bubbling up) id be tempted to flat/key it, then paint it with 'bar coat' to give it a surface that you know any new paint will sit happily on.

you wont be able to paint it with water based paint at home - its a nightmare, even with the proper gear and a spraybooth its very difficult to get consistant results.

ive been caught out a couple of times recently painting cars that have turned out to have been painted with odd paint in the past - bar coat was a revalation!!

theres no point stripping a car to bare metal unless its a concours job or you believe that the paint is hiding a load of horrors - it will take an age and cost a fortune.

if, however your wanting to bare metal it get it soda blasted, there is no better option - the car comes back clean, dry, ready to prime and go - and its pretty cheap

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 11:12 am
by tintoptom
Brilliant, thanks Rich.

The restorer made a very good job of the shell and the paint is also pretty good despite the runs. It'll never be a concourse job so I was hoping to have a go at home, but it'd be a shame not to do the quality shell resto justice with a shoddy paint job!

I can obviously take care of the flatting - what's your experience of home painting the bar coat? Can you DIY it? I'm guessing you apply a good coverage and flat as normal / as per the primer?


Tom

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 11:18 am
by guru_1071
tom

with the bar coat you just need to flat any runs of whats on the car - key the whole surface and spray the barcoat with a normal spray gun - its just like a yellow primer - its pretty well behaved and dries quite fast -any runs flat out when it dries.

you can then treat the surface as ready to go and either prime it or spray straight onto the top of it.

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 11:23 am
by tintoptom
Great, I'll give that a go then.

Cheers!

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:48 pm
by Gray
Yep, bar coat is fab!!

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:16 pm
by Jamie
Hi,
what exactly is bar coat?
prepping my shell at the moment, might be what i need to use!

Jamie

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:20 pm
by guru_1071

Re: Paint...

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 6:26 pm
by Jamie
exactly what i need....we primed on top of a variety of different primers that we had scotch padded underneath my car the other weekend, all was good we thought, so i seam sealed it all, then we sprayed stonechip over the whole of the underside and it lifted in a few places :(

So i had to rub down a few spots, and reprime, and then underseal! Top coat is on underneath now and all is good.

But its now going back on the subframes and the rest of the shell is being prepped ready for the spray shop and thought i would have to bare metal the whole thing....this looks like it might save my fingertips a bit!

thanks

jamie