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NEW PAINT OVER OLD????????????

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BobHorvath

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I know this question might set-off some controversy however here goes. I just bought what appears to be a UN molested 65 BJ8. I believe its original paint was white as the frame; inside fenders etc are all the same white. I want to learn more about Healeys (mine in particular) drive it and gradually restore parts until a full frame-off (probably gold). In the meantime I would like to spruce it up a bit with black in-lays. The new black sides will make the white appear weaker. I am thinking of painting over the existing white. Some rust bumps, not too many. I know these bumps can be deceiving but I plan to clean these spots sand the entire car super straight fill and shoot, (white and black). Don't tell my wife but the body will come off 4 years from now. The paint job only needs to last that long. So what do you all think?
 
Hi Bob, If the paint is solid it is possible to sand it down,Primmer the surface and repaint.--Fwiw---Keoke


Nope Bob I don't profess to do notin.--Keoke

We will probably be up there on the moutain at the meet this summer.
 
Thanks Keoke. I hope I will get to meet you some day. Are Healeys a part of your profession?
Bob Healey Bob that is
 
What you propose is ok, Bob. You won't get a perfect job but tens of thousands of re-sprays every year attest to the possibilities.

You just need to pay really close attention to the rust issues. If the paint is bubbling from rust spots now, chances are you're in for more than you had bargained for when you sand it down for repair. In which case, it's not that much more work to take the car down to bare metal, especially if it's only the exterior body panels you are respraying. The doors, trunk, hood and all 4 wings can be removed in a day and media blasted in one or two more. Now you have a nearly perfect canvas upon which to work. And you'll know what degree of cancer you're dealing with as well.

Randy '66 BJ8
 
The wings will frequently rust from the inside, so it is advisable to remove them, prep, sand, primer, and paint both the inside and out.
 
tahoe healey said:
Keoke, are you comming to the Tahoe event in June?
Click to expand...


Sure gonna try amd make it TH----Keoke
 
Randy Harris said:
The doors, trunk, hood and all 4 wings can be removed in a day and media blasted in one or two more.
Randy '66 BJ8
Click to expand...

Randy, you sure are an optomist.
I've taken the wings off, and it sure took me more than a day. Just getting to the bolts, don't get me started.

My good friend Randy does bring up a very important point. If there is rust, it must be addressed. The question is, are you feeling lucky? Or will you be looking at a bit of a project. If your feeling lucky, come on over and work on my car. I'm never lucky. But I do learn a lot along the way.

Best of luck! Roger
 
Don't hate me but when I took my BJ8 apart 20 years ago I had all four fenders off in two hours.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hammer.gif
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif Hi Bob, let me be the devil's advocate here for a moment. Kinda sounds like your asking for confirmation. If so, I wouldn't do it. The car never had a duo-tone paint job. However,it's your car do as you like.
 
Jonny thanks for the input. I found a clip from an old brochure showing options that included duo-tone options with white/black, red int. & black top. I too was concirned that my car may not have been offered with the options outlined above and was pleased to find the colors depicted on page 160 of Gary Anderson's Restoration guide. Do you think this table is wrong?

Randy thanks for the suggestion. I was planning to remove the bead anyway and after reading the process of removing the wings, it is not that bad even if it takes a week.
 
healeynut said:
Don't hate me but when I took my BJ8 apart 20 years ago I had all four fenders off in two hours.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hammer.gif
Click to expand...

OK, healeynut, didn't I say, don't get me started? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonono.gif
OK I hate you. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/mad.gif But I do want you to be my new best friend. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grouphug.gif
Two hours? Hey best friend, can you come over and R/R my transmittion? Two hours, right? When your done with that, I've got a honeydo list you can tackle for me. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rolleyes.gif
 
[/quote] Randy, you sure are an optomist. I've taken the wings off, and it sure took me more than a day. Just getting to the bolts, don't get me started. [/quote]

Ok,Roger, 2 days. The body shop that did my resto. had every panel that could be removed off in one day. In your garage, having never done this before, I suppose it would take longer. Still worth it me thinks.

Randy
'66 BJ8
 
Bob, one last thing. Although it may seem tempting, in terms of saving time and money, to leave the panels in place and media blast the car in one piece - DO NOT DO THIS!

You'll be scraping media dust out of the car for the next 5 years and you'll have to clean and rebuild everything that moves. Just ask my friend, good old what's his name.

Randy
'66 BJ8
 
AusmHly-

Ok to be fair the doors were off already and the door aluminum finishers were out and headlight buckets off, so that's why it was so fast.

Key thing when working on the healey is to first plan your moves for removal and reinstall - once done stuff can go super fast. This way, most jobs on the healey are quite fast for me:

Radiator drain, out, backflush, back in and refill - 1 hour 15

HD carbs out check and reinstall - 1 hour

etc etc.

Any heavy lifting though and I am out of my league (gearbox lift and engine, etc... although can have the head off the car in about 1 hour.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif
 
The trouble is, when you take something out you're likely to stumble across something else that needs attention...progress halted while you accumulate more stuff and then time runs out for your "hobby time" that day... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif
 
BlueRidge2 said:
Healey Nut, I notice all these times are to Disassemble.
Question is how long does it take to put it back together??
BR2
Click to expand...


----Psssssssssst; Some never succeed BlueRidge2.---Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
 
BlueRidge2 said:
Healey Nut, I notice all these times are to Disassemble.
Question is how long does it take to put it back together??
BR2
Click to expand...

For most of that stuff its dissasemble ane reassebly together. For the fenders though... I guess it took me 6 months to get it all back on! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif Ok, jokes aside it probably took me the better part of an afternoon to get the fenders on (they weren't painted). If painted probably would have taken a couple of days to be careful.

By the way, these times don't include what Dave Richards is talking about... he's right. Anytime I take something off I use the time to fix other stuff in the area. That's why the BJ8 is still running strong 80K miles and 20 years after my rebuild!
 
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