Re: Spray painting

[Richard Clough]

Richard,   Datto's are easy to repaint as you can remove all necessary hardware easily and get at all the right places for a "proper' respray, not just an external "overcoat".  Minimise the use of masking tape.  I remove all panels and front and rear windscreens and all hardware.  The latter can remain but I hate seeing paint on the rubber surrounds and over door catches and handles, its a dead "respray" giveaway and you may miss fixing any rust developing under the rubber. You simply push the screens out from the inside with your feet.  You can crack a laminated screen this way but I usually replace these anyhow.   I know Bruce likes bead blasting to prepare the metal. This is desirable if there is likely to be previous body damage or repairs that need refinishing.  IF A PANEL HAS ORIGINAL PAINT AND NO RUST OR DAMAGE IT SIMPLY NEEDS RUBBING BACK (sorry hit the capslock) to allow the new undercoat to adhere.  You must sand back every sq millimeter as the new coat will blister off unsanded areas. This avoids the need to prepare cleaned metal with etch primer to stop it rusting under the new paint.  Clean all surfaces to be painted with prepsol. This will remove any trace of polish or oils from your hands that may have soaked into the surface to be covered.   Anthony's advice is right.  Go and look at how someone else has done it first to get the right tips.  Its not hard to do when you have the right advice. You can get step by step pamphlets from a good auto paint store eg PPG.   Use acrylic laquer and get plenty of thinners (20lters).  Acrylic lacquer is easy to paint and and repair blemishes, runs and overspray. It dries fast and can be wet rubbed with 600 -1200 grit to get a flat finish, if you spray it on a bit lumpy, or it runs.  Then you can cut it with wet rubbing compound and a rotary buff for a good polish to finish.   I'm a self taught sprayer and I turn out a reasonable paint job in my garage.  The best advice is to prepare the body panels right, using bog, sanding and putty where necessary until they are perfectly shaped.  Then get the undercoat on and again fill any scratches, paint chips with more putty. Final undercoat and rub back with wet paper until you are satisfied the surface is perfect, then spray on the colour.  The colour coat will dry to follow every contour underneath it, every fault under it will show up.       Go for it. ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Webb To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, 17 December 2000 10:47 AM Subject: Spray painting Can someone give me some idea what is the best way to go about painting my 1600, I want to do as much of the work as possible... like stripping bogging etc. I saw you guys talking about sand blasting and acid dipping  not too long ago. Can someone tell me the pros and cons of doing these. Also which parts of the car are hard to get back on once you have stripped it? I know things like the headlining would be hard.   Also does anyone know a place in melbourne which would sell front spoilers? Do I need to think about airflow for an intercooler (planning on getting a turbo).   thanks in advance   Richard --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/membersozdat@datascribe.com.au/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/membersozdat@datascribe.com.au/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------