• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Primer & Paint Work.

Share this page

M

Midget78

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Hey gang. I think I can finally say I have my 78 Midget mechanically sound for a while. Its been needing some serious paint work but I wanted to get the motor and all the mechanical stuff right first and I think for now Im good to go. My car was a southern Texas car in the hot sun and sandy areas. The original paint looks like an alligators skin and in many areas the paint is flaked off and the metal is visible with of course the light rustick look that gets on the metal when it isnt protected. No major rust areas to worry about but I have to get a paint job done before I allow it to rust out. I want to do it myself yet it is a new adventure for me. Because Im driving it I want to take a section at a time and hit it with paint remover, sand it, then spray it with primer. Once I get the entire car done I will go back and sand the whole thing and primer some more. The actual paint job I think I may try and do also, but first I want to "just focus on prep" so the paint work that comes later turns out the way it should. Those of you that are paint and body guys I need tips and suggestions from. Thanks.
 
When you get primer, make sure it is the correct kind, there are some that will actually absorb the water and the car will show surface rust the same as basically not painting it. When I stripped my BE, I stripped sections like you said then I primered and sprayed a layer of rustoleum over it just to seal it up so to speak. This wont work for ever but it will keep the rust away until you can paint it.
 
I suggest a good epoxy primer to seal out moisture. It's very sandable and when you are ready to paint the entire car shoot the whole thing with expoxy primer then paint. Do a search about auto painting here there's a lot of info on the subject.
Roy
 
Or Sweendog you can do like I did and give your Spridget the Rustoleum $40-$50 paint job. Google Rustoleum Paint Job and you'll find all sorts of links. It all depends on what you want and how much you want to spend on the paint job. Concours vs. a Driver.

Bugsy is done in Gloss Hunter Green, very close to BRG and I see now they have a new color Dark Hunter Green that I saw in Lowes the other day.

Anyway Rustoleum, thinned 50% with Paint Thinner and applied with a foam roller can be built up in multiple coats. I started redoing my Spridget fenders two years ago to get them out of 3 different shades of primer, bondo, and rust and was so pleased with the results that I did the entire car that way. It's simple to do, shines up well, and looks good from 10 feet or less.

Is it as good as a $1,500 plus paint job. - No
Will it last as long - No
Can it be done in your garage without worrying about wife who is asthamatic and extremely allergic to smell of any kind - Yes
Can it be done without respirator and special clothing - Yes
Is it temperature sensitive - No some of Bugsy's paint was done in January with temps in garage in the 30's.
Do I have $1,500 to spend to have someone else spray Bugsy - No
Total cost for Bugsy's paint job including all sandpaper, masking, foam rollers, etc is < $50.00

I just redid my BE Bonnet inside and out, spraysed inside and rolled outside. It goes back on the car tomorrow. Will be total about $40 as I needed a new can of paint and multiple sanding pads.

You decide concours or driver. I know budget is always an issue in doing a restoraiton. Rustoleum allows you to do a section at a time and work at your own pace. No some purists on this list may cringe but I decided a long time ago, no matter how good a paint job and prep work I do, Bugsy will continue to rust. I'm just trying to make a 50 y.o. car last longer than I can enjoy it nad pass on to the next generation.

Think about it. I'm happy with the results and $ spent. Would I do it differently if I had more $ and proper facilities to paint. Maybe yes and maybe no. I'm happy with results.
 
Just an add-on to Jim's post. You could roll on your primer one panel at a time. It will save you time masking off the car and you can use any primer you would prefer. Then later you could spray or roll on your finish coat.

Paul
 
I wonder if they have a red that would come close to matching the Jalepeno red on my Sprite... I need to paint a bonnet to match my car.
 
Would love to see some pics of Bugsy
 
J-P let me send some from prior to the BE Bonnet. Send me your e-mail.
 
Jim

Could you post some pics of Bugsy. I have read a few posts on this, but haven't seen any pics. Sounds interesting.
 
3385568899_a7e6402cfc.jpg



Here is my hardtop this afternoon. I used Interlux Brightside. Perfect for a <span style="text-decoration: underline">fiberglass top</span> (boat paint). This is after some 650/2000 grit sanding and some buffing with tutlewax polishing compound. It is acceptable, but I will be going back to it with some more color sanding 800/1500/2000 as you can still see some orange peel in places. It has proven to be very difficult to sand in the small nooks around around the windows. The top is like glass and since most cars are more large areas, it gives me inspiration to do my B/E and TR3. More pictures later when I get done with a better camera to really see the finish.

P.S. I want pictures Jim!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Only thing I can say is the quality of the paint job is dependent on the quality of the body wirk <span style="text-decoration: underline">and</span> the primers used!
 
I really like Gray Cat's suggestion of epoxy primer. Unlike anything else that I have ever seen, it will hold up and prevent rust for a very long time. It is ideal for doing a panel at a time like you plan.
 
Bayless has the right idea. Why waste time and money if you aren't going to do it as right as you can. Clean the bare metal with a good metal conditioner and put on a coat of good epoxy primer like PPG's DP40. Then you can forget any rust till you get it all in primer. The body filler adheres to the primer better than it does bare metal. Then a couple coats of good epoxy type primer surfacer (there is a differance in primer and primer surfacer)I have seen several fine looking back yard jobs done like that.
 
Thanks gang for your feedback. The epoxy primer will be a for sure tip I will follow. As for the paint remover, is there any better then the rest? My paint is really "flaked" to the point you can take a finger nail and flick pieces off easily. Then there are areas that look like new. I want something that can be applied once and scrape it off gently without damaging the metal. This prep work side of things I normally dont have the patience for yet I told myself Im not starting it without doing it right. My next comment may void the last sentence but I read about the rustoleum paint job a while back and was surprised with the outcomes. I dont have a spray gun nor do I want to get in trouble with the laws so I may go that direction.
 
Here are some pics I took of Bugsy as I went through the paint process from 1st through 3rd coats and a pic of the BE Bonnet after 3 coats of Rustoleum rolled on. These are strictly paint after being rolled out and have not been wet sanded. This was after 1st coat of paint. I wanted to show paint buildup process. Rustoleum Gloss Hunter Green thinned 50% with mineral spirits. Some recipes call for adding a small amount of acetone to increase lash rate. I strictly thinned 50% and applied with a foam roller.
 
How about including the picture.This is after 1st coat of paint
 
After 3 coats of paint same angle
 
New BE Bonnet after 3 coats. Even after spending probably 20 hours sanding and filling I'm not totally happy with the hood but it will work. It goes on the car this evening and Bugsy will go driving on Sunday. Things were dark in the garage so I lightened this one up a bit. Color is really a match to the rest of the car.
 
And this is BE Bonnet before paint. You can see how rough it was. This bonnet spent time in the past on a racecar(forward mount hinge clips were on the bonnet), dinged up and repaired, sandblasted, painted in primer, and left sitting outside under a carport for 10-15 years. I've owned for the last 9 sitting in the back of the garage through 3 moves. Major dings and dents and lots of work to get it to this stage as you see in previous picture. Also detail of how to remove and work on a BE Bonnet by yourself, pulley system using holes in fender for mirrors.
 
Back
Top