Car painting question...

[Tabcon]

...I was considering having the tub of my TR4 soda blasted by a local company that will bring a huge truck to my house and do it in my driveway. Won't the neighbors love that(?)
It's fairly expensive though with an estimate of $1,200 to $1,500 for a couple of hours work.

The car has zero rust and has been painted only once a few years ago, so I was considering stripping it myself with a gel type paint remover.

What should I do to the body after I remove the old paint? Are the any type of metal treatments I should appy prior to priming? What's the best type of primer to use if your undecided on which type paint your going to use for the top coat?

Oh, I almost forgot, is it possible to paint pieces of your car separately and then assemble it? I was going to paint the tub myself, and send the fenders, doors, etc. to the paint shop after I had trial fitted everything. I'm going with basic black and no speckles or anything so I guess I could just wet sand everything once it's back together...no?

 

[tdskip]

Job #1 is making sure that nothing starts to rust again. Once the panel is meticulously clean a good epoxy sealing primer might be a good choice.

 

[martx-5]

I went with basic black also. If you're going to shoot the shell yourself, why not the whole car?? I shot the backs of all the panels and then the interior sections first, both primer and color. I then loosely put the car together...couple of screws for the wings and apron, and just laid on the bonnet and boot and vent lids, and hung the doors with a couple of screws. Then did the final painting. Primer shot one day, color the next. For the wet sanding and buffing, I removed each panel, as it was easier working on a bench. I stored the panels away, as I had lot more work on to do on the car before I finally assembled all of the panels onto the shell. The only reason I hung the panels on the shell to paint was because of room restraints. Otherwise, there's no reason why you can't just do it all separately.

I essentially turned my one car garage into a paint booth for the operation, so I wanted to get it done within a couple of sessions...about a week.

The only trick with black is making sure that all the sheet metal is die straight. I was very happy to see that all of the time I spent on doing the body work paid off. I was pleasantly surprised at the result.

 

[Tim Tucker]

Looks good..Black is tough to block..

 

[mallard]

$1200.00- $1500.00 is indeed very expensive. You can get it done in AZ for under $500.00 for a car that size. It does leave a big mess around the house though. The person that does it here states that the metal will not rust because the baking sode leaves a film that prevents rusting right away. You must then wash off the film with warm water. Then the rust starts.

If you check with the hotrod guys in your area they may be able to recommend someone that will blast it with aluminum ozide without damage to the panels. Only use someone with a great reputation. The shell for my TR3 was $300.00 last year.

As for a primer I agree with Tom about the epoxy primer. Just make sure you can get a high build primer that is compatible with the epoxy. I know very little about painting but if the primers and paint don't work together it can get very expensive, and time consuming. Just check out the recent paint threads.

Good luck with the work, what you have done to the chassis, and drivetrain is exceptional.

 

[hondo402000]

here is my 2 cent
soda blasting or plastic bead blasting is prefered
Dont let anyone use al oxide no matter what they say, It will warp flat pannels
I used a grinder with a SS wire wheel just keep it moving and not a lot of pressure,it worked for me

go to a paint jobber, dupont, PPG, etc. and talk to them and get some data sheets first and read them! But once you choose a paint manufacturer stick with that brand of paint thru out the process if you have to touch up bare metal make sure if you buy can primer they tell you is compatable, dont go to auto zone, Cheap will cost you misery, a good can of metal etching prime will cost you 16 bucks


once the paint is off if you cannot pull the dents out, fill all dent with plastic filler on bare metal then apply
metal etching primer on bare metal and over plastic filler, you are not suppose to sand the metal etch primer and should apply the 2 part epoxy primer surfacer within 24 hours, scuff sand with scotch brite the metal etch prime if longer before applying 2K primer surfacer

Now

guide coat and block sand to find the low spots working your way up from 120, 180, 220 to 320, I got the 3m guide coat finally and its about 50 for the tub but you can sand imediately and not have to wait for some cheap primer to dry which is what some use as a guide coat
then low spots fill with 2 part glazing puddy, ok to go over sanded primer surfacer with the glazing puddy, repeat that process till its all smooth, spray one last coat of 2 part primer surfacer wet coat, guide coat and block sand with 400 grit wet.
are you still with me? now your top coat, single stage or base coat clear coat you have to decide,

base coat clear coat, wipe with silicon and wax remover, let dry, use tack rag and wipe, spray the base coat depending on the quality 2-3 coats, read directions on flash times, dont get in a hurry here, clear must go on within 24 hours but usually within 30 min to 1 hour( read directions and re-read directions while the paint is flashing off the reducer.

some base coats you mix 50-50 with reducer and the reducer is temperature specific, again Read directions, some base coats you also add an activator, (Dupont Chroma Premier) must add activator. if you get dust particles in the base coat you can sand them out once dry but YOU must rebase that spot or it WILL show in the clear coat, this is where I tried to get all the grit out, you can get rid of a lot of particles in the clear when wet sanding

now your in the home stretch,

Clear coat apply 4 coats and Plan on wet sanding the clear when you are dont, you are going to sand at least one coat back off, 2000 grit wet first, make sure you use a rubber block too
and.
do a you tube search on 3m Trizat sanding pads, if you have a DA sander and use 3m 3000 grit pad and a little water really cuts the final sanding time down and your buffing too

Now the buffing begings, 3m makes a good system, if you made it this far and you still have your sanity you will be amazed at how it comes out .

As far as painting panels at a time thats what I am doing and so far I see no difference in color, others might disagree. just stick to the same number of coats of base and the same number of clear coats. Metallics no way you better paint the whole car. solid colors mix your paint really well before reducing, I use a paint stirer that goes in a drill.

do your self a big favor, get 3 spray guns, one for the primers, one for the base coat and one for the clear, there is no way you can clean them out enought to keep specs of primer out of your base and clear coat,

I dont know whats in that activator and reducer for the BC but it disolves hardened epoxy primer and spits it in your base coat, UGG

dura block system for the block sanding
I got spray guns from Harbor freight 40 each, I bought a finish line dehavilis about 150 and I hate it, wasted my money there.
lots of paint mixing cups, laquer thinner, rags, paper towels

crap how much $$$ do I have in this

good paint cost is color dependant, Red it the most costly. black dont know
primer surfacer good 70 a gallon activator 50 a quart, watch the ratios on all your paints they are differnt

Again REad the directions use a marker and on the top of the cans mark what it goes in, you will be surprised that you can get them mixed up and end up throwing out a pint of paint cause you added the wrong activator

Once you mix it you use it or loose it!

In the end I hope at least in my mind it will be worth it,
and dont add up receipts.

sounds like a lot but break it down into steps and not as over whelming as it sound

Its a hobbie not a job

Hondo

 

[hondo402000]

pS check out southwest rod and custom on youtube Pete, I sent him a few emails and he did answer me, be warned he can be a bit harsh and throws the F bomb around but I found some good information and some what hallarios too

and what ever you do dont set a Im gonna be done by this date, I think that got me into some issues trying to keep a schedule

Hondo

 

[hondo402000]

And wayne was/ has been a big help actually everyone on here has been positive and kept me going.


I see the end is comming, my bank account or actually finish painting

H

 

[pjsmetana]

Why have it blasted at all? The best primer is the old paint. If the old paint is ok, and you say there is no rust, I would just wet sand the whole thing and go from there. Especially if your just keeping it black or a similar color. Now... if your going from black to white or red to white, thats a different story.

 

[Don Elliott]

I restored my 1958 TR3A from 1987 to 1990. It was sandblasted, glass peened and hand sanded, then sprayed - total body off - every part separate. By 2007, I had driven 94,000 miles and the front etc. was covered with dabs of black on black to try to fill in all the stone chips. I decided to have it re-sprayed. Right over the existing paint. It cost me $4000.00. Because the previous paint was so well done and I drove it only 3,000 or 4,000 miles in the rain, there was no rust anywhere. Since that re-spray, I drove in 2007 to VTR in Valley Forge, PA and got 2nd in class with 8 entries in the judged concours.

I fully agree with Pete. Why have it blasted ?

 

[swift6]

Why have it blasted at all? The best primer is the old paint.

That works as long as it hasn't already been painted over the original paint.

 

[UmmYeahOk]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Oh, I almost forgot, is it possible to paint pieces of your car separately and then assemble it? I was going to paint the tub myself, and send the fenders, doors, etc. to the paint shop after I had trial fitted everything. I'm going with basic black and no speckles or anything so I guess I could just wet sand everything once it's back together...no? [/QUOTE]

yes, and I recomend it. If you were using metallic or pearl type paint, then not so much. Ever seen one of those vehicles with color changing paint? One door is purple while the other is orange, as opposed to one color that all shifts together. It's because they were painted off the car rather than as a whole. Color changing paint is the worse at this, but you do risk the same happening to mettalic, and more so pearl.

 

[Don_R]

Why have it blasted at all? The best primer is the old paint.

That works as long as it hasn't already been painted over the original paint.

I agree.. my Spit has a poorly preped respray that is flaking off and crazing under the top color on the bonnet..stripping the paint would allow me to correct these issues..

 

[Tabcon]

Why have it blasted at all? The best primer is the old paint.

That's great news!

Since there is only some minor surface rust in a couple of spots, I'll just spot that. A light grinding seems to be in order, maybe with some brown Scotchbrite pads. There are no dents in the tub or fenders that I can see, but I can see where the previous owner used a good bit of filler on the hood and most likely in other spots as well. I'm going to take the hood down to bare metal. Every one of the fenders, as well as the trunk lid are brand new panels he bought from Moss. Both doors have been fitted with new skins, also from moss, but they need some tweaking. The only problem is that these after market panels from Moss are either not made to the exact factory patterns, or they were installed incorrectly. Actually, I believe it's most likely a little of both. With some work, I can most likely get them to fit properly. I'm considering using new aluminum fenders and trunk lid, but I imagine that the fitting issues would still most likely exist. The only thing that scares me about the aluminum, is it's softness and propensity to dent easily. I can't imagine that the weight saving could be that much since the panels I have now are already extremely light and flimsey.

While the paint job on my car was not terrible, it was definitely amateur and exhibited the typical roundness to all the hard edges which indicates to me that he used either too much paint, or too much filler. I like to see very crisp edges.

 

[brent615]

you might look at Eastwood online....they have a soda blasting set up for about $250 and there is 10% off this month from Classic Motorsports magazine. Eastwood has a video showing the process and results. Its probably slower than the pros but its less than $300 and you own the equipment and can use it on other things on the car, and there are ALWAYS other things to do...or you can charge your friends and neighbors $1200 to do their stuff

 

[PeterK]

you might look at Eastwood online....they have a soda blasting set up for about $250 and there is 10% off this month from Classic Motorsports magazine. Eastwood has a video showing the process and results. Its probably slower than the pros but its less than $300 and you own the equipment and can use it on other things on the car, and there are ALWAYS other things to do...or you can charge your friends and neighbors $1200 to do their stuff

See also https://www.tptools.com

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

eastwood
This is a link to the Eastwood soda blaster.

 

[billspit]

I've heard of problems with certain brands of paint going over cars that have been soda blasted. Be sure and discuss this with your paint store.

 

[pjsmetana]

I've heard of problems with certain brands of paint going over cars that have been soda blasted.

Probably from people who didn't think they needed to wetsand, then use wax/grease remover before painting because they had it blasted. I used to do a lot of bodywork and I heard that line lots of times from the people who later had paint problems. I think now they all work for Maaco.

 

[DrEntropy]

:lol:

I bet you're right!

CLEAN metal.