Painting tips

Discussion in 'Restorations' started by Zed, Nov 10, 2011.

  1. Kruger

    Kruger Sponsor

    To answer a few questions,
     
  2. Here's another one for the list. Make sure the metal is at least 10 centigrade or more (50f) and ambient temp the same before painting. This is the recommended minimum.

    Ideal temp is around 20c

    Otherwise you will end up with a rough sandpaper like finish and wonder why the gun is marmite. Guess how I know that one.....;)
     
    Coco likes this.
  3. good thread, i work in a classic car restoration bodyshop, and all of the above advice is correct :)
    http://www.facebook.com/groups/124788534217468/

    We also always use Upol easy for repairing dents and damaged / welded areas, and then use upol fantastic over the top. As someone has said, if you are repairing a large area, use a thin skim of fantastic over the "Entire" area, and rub it down as one area, i.e dont concentrate on one place then move over a bit, as you'll just end up with it lumpy, keep your strokes with the block as long as possible and keep changing direction so you dont end up with grooves / tramlines.

    Also, if you put a skim over the top of everything when the repair is done, and try not to rub thru the fantastic, as upol easy is hared to rub down than fantastic, so if you rub through, then you'll end up rubbing more of the fantastic off than the easy, and then just make it lumpy and the wrong shape again if that makes sense.

    We always paint the inside of a van / car first, then mask up all openings / window and door apertures, and then do the outside in one hit. If two toning your van, then do the top first, and the bottom colour afterwards, makes life easier, and means your not trying to lean over freshly painted (be it a day old or whatever) paint on the lower half, to get to the middle of the roof.

    When setting up a spray gun, use more air pressure for topcoat and laquer than for primer. We use a Gravity fed gun for primer, with a 1.5 nozzle, and a suction fed gun for topcoat and laquer, witha 1.2 tip i think? Also in addition to this we have a cheap 20 quid gravity fed gun for thick primers and spray fillers with a 2.0 nozzle and a small door shut gun, gravity fed again, for use to get to them hard to reach areas, like tight corners etc.

    you should never need any more than 3 coats of top coat, as any more will make it liable for chipping easier when its done and being used, and will also mean the likleyhood of more dirt or dust getting trapped in the paint, which will then feel rough and need flat and polishing.

    When flat and polishing (if your going to) we use 1200 grit very quickly to whip over the panel, then dry the panel off, this shows all bits of dirt, and how peely the panel is. if there are any large bits we carry on with 1200, if not , we then use 1500 until we get the panel as flat as possible. We seem to apint a hell of alot of Aston martins at work, which sometime require hours and hours of flatting, as they have to have a completely peel free perfect finish.

    if in doubt ask, as there's always someone to help, or pop in a local painters / sprayers for a quote if you cant do it yourself, as we're not all as expensive as you might think. Also, if you're going to think about getting a pro to do it, do as much stripping out and prep work as you can, up to a primer state, or a primed state, as all of this is time you can save the pro, and time saved here saves pounds :)

    you could take a bus to a painters ready prepped and just needs masking and painting, and maybe get it done for £500.00, compared to one needing filler work and then prepping and painting, which could easily be upwards of 2000.00 -

    ABOVE ALL ELSE, HAVE A GO, ITS NOT AS HARD AS IT LOOKS, AND IF ITS WRONG, YOU CAN ALWAYS RE DO IT....ITS ONLY TIME AND PATIENCE!!!
     
    Coco and paneuropaul like this.
  4. Any advice on how to paint the ceiling with a gravity fed gun?
     
  5. Anybody?
     
  6. The gravity fed will work to some quite obscure angles, just don't try to paint straight up ;)

    if you work at around a 45° angle you should be fine :thumbsup:
     
  7. Thanks mate I figured that one out yesterday, top tip: don't tip the gun back too far ;)

    So next question, how many coats of primer, base and top coat? It's not a bare metal paint job.
     
  8. You might need to use an isolator coat first, as that'll stop any reaction between the old paint and the new primer...

    Then I'd go with 3 coats of primer, wet sanded with 800 grit paper, followed by 1 covering coat of base, 4 coats of clear to allow for flatting and polishing

    :thumbsup:
     
  9. Kruger

    Kruger Sponsor

     
  10. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I's have said 1 flash then 1 good coat of high build, flat it back, then 1 flash and one coat of colour and again 1 flash and 1 coat of lacquer. The less paint you use the less easily it'll chip.
     
  11. I've done 3 coats of high build on the lower half as there was a lot of repairs and covering work to do, 2 coats on the top half and one inside. Flatted between coats.

    Then two topcoats on the upper half and planning one or maybe two coats of base on the lower (depending on how it covers and how smooth it applies) then one top coat.

    See how it goes.
     
  12. Is base coat mixed 1:1?
     
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  15. I meant 1 part base one part thinners, cheers.

    I did a light dust coat of base first then went back over it to get a good finish.

    That was the plan anyway, got a couple of runs that need sorting tomorrow. It's all a learning curve.
     
  16. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Just as well it's not metallic - runs and sags = start again...
     
    Mully_89 likes this.
  17. I've read up as much as I can on t'internet but there doesn't seems to be much of a definitive guide just lots of vague snippets and various forum posts with contradicting opinions.

    I've gleamed what seems the most logical from it all and interrogated the guy at the paint shop each time I visit. Still learning how to setup the gun right, then you have the various viscosity's of each paint and the needle/head sizes. So on and so on. Quite an art, I can see why paint shops charge so much.
     
  18. Going back to the basecoat and thinners Q, it's not one to one... more like 2%/3% thinners, more than that and it'll be like trying to spray water

    And if the weather is cold, then you don't really want to use any thinners
     
  19. Oh well, I did 1:1 from what little tech sheets I found regarding base. Seems to have gone on ok.
     
  20. we mix our basecoat nearly 50/50 with thinners at work, for metalics etc.

    Primer doesnt need to be flatted between coats, just after the final coat is done and its dry. if painting a solid colour, i.e straight colour and not laquered (2k painT) we flat the primer for topcoat using 400grit wet, then again with 600 grit wet, then over the top with grey scotch pad in all the corners etc.

    This is fine for 2k paints as they are think and cover well.

    If using a metallic or a base and laquer we flat using nothing less than 600, then 800 then grey scotch in the corners etc.

    Anything else ya need to know??

    Also, the reason why its hard to get solid info from peeps, is that EVERYONE paints differently to each other. i use a gun, and diff pressures etc to the chap who taught me, the other lad at work uses a diff setup again. the basic settings on the gun are never adjusted apart from the needle to fan setting, depending on if we are spraying in the bottom of something, or a panel, the only thing that changes is the air feed pressure.

    Painting is an art, but its also the easy part after prep work........i've been painting now for almost a year, and im paintind almost daily now, doing Aston martins, Jags, Beetle's, beach buggies and whatever else, im also doing a huge heap of classic bike tanks, which is great with waterslide transfers, pinstripes, and multi colours :)

    Im gonna get an airbrush next and learn that too, as i love custom paintwork :)
     

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