You shall have a Fishy

[Datsuncog]

Red oxide primer?

 

 

 

VW sc3n3 connotations aside, I kinda like the look... and can be done on the cheap with rattlecans or a basic spraygun. A friend did his MX5 in this manner, and it looked surprisingly good. I believe it cost him all of £20 for the paint, and the spray gear was borrowed.

 

 

[eddyramrod]

Here's a thought Jo... whatever you decide to do about the paint, I realise you'll be doing any DIY element (including actual painting) outside on your driveway, so DO NOT ATTEMPT BETWEEN SEPTEMBER AND APRIL!  In fact if you can take a couple of weeks off in July that would most likely be the best time to do the whole lot.  Of course the moment you make that decision, it'll do nothing but rain until you're back at work, but you know....

Practice on a wall, gate or something to get a good brush technique, then go and look at the colours available in B&Q (other outlets are available) and pick the one you like.  Choose a weekend, or preferably a week, when there's no rain due and it'll be warm even overnight.  Give the entire car a light rubdown using your hands to feel for imperfections.  Take off any brightwork that's relatively easy to remove, mask up the rest and the windows and lights, and be prepared for a happy day of brushing.  Then don't touch for 24 hours.  After that, cast a critical eye over the finish and if you think it needs to be redone, redo it.  It'll take patience but should turn out to be quite satisfying.

Then transfer the skills to your newly-amassed collection of models!

[Felly Magic]

In my miss spent youth, I paid £750 for a respray of my MG Maestro, which was going reddish brown instead of black, got the car back filthy inside and within a couple of months the door bottoms were going rusty again, so I sacked the fucker off, that was a cheapo job 20 years ago. As many have said, it all boils down to man hours, sanding between coats, filling imperfections, the time soon adds up, and places do not want jobs to come back to them with endless faults that cost time & money to sort, so they do it right. I rememer the FSM Syrena the fat & orange one had done, that cost £1500, and it had runs in, and was blistering after a few months, and that was 'trade' rates. I've seen paint jobs cost upwards of £5k, so £2.5k seems pretty cheap these days

[sierraman]

You can make a surprisingly good job by hand doing a panel at a time.

[dave21478]

re materials costs....its not "just paint" though is it? its primer, thinners, hardener, masking tape, masking paper, lots of sanding discs, tack rags, filler, finer sandpaper, more tack rags, gunwash, mixing cups and so on..... that stuff doesnt grow on trees.

 

The last full respray I did was the Mini van and I got the paint from Jawel paints on ebay, but spent way more than the paint costs on all the consumables.

It was two-pack done in a wee shed with a compressor and a supposedly two-pack safe facemask which in reality probably knocked a few years off my life expectancy.

 

I dont know what I did wrong....but it came out with hellish orange peel all over. I managed to get a decent finish but it took several days of wet sanding as 2pack isnt easy to sand....you need the finish to be perfect straight out the gun.

 

 

 

[steveo3002]

all the talk of mine blistered cus it was cheap...thing is cheap paint jobs usualy come with half arsed prep too 

 

cheap paint doesnt blister , its painting and priming in the damp /parked outside while being worked on that does the damage 

[Junkman]

Do not paint.

[puddlethumper]

Agree with Dan about coach paints. I've done two cars with it and they came up really good.

 

A mate did his Viscount and I was impressed enough to do my Ventora.

 

Painting is best done early when the air is still, less shit flying about, and minimal insect life. I started mine as soon as the sun was up. 5 o'clock If I remember. Best put on a cool car so it doesn't start drying as you're doing it and you then get brush marks. Best to use really good brushes, Hamilton or Purdy pure bristle and you'll need 1, 2 and  three inch brushes.

Roof, bonnet and boot is done best with a gloss roller then brushed out. Keeping a wet edge is vital for blending it in and brushing towards it stops what is called shut marks. If any beasties get on it don't be tempted to pick them off until the paint dries, then after at least 24 hrs get the polisher out and you will be pleasantly surprised. Mind you I'm a Painter and so was my Viscount mate, which helps. A lot.

 

As an aside, I did an Austin 7 for a bloke who went to shows and he wanted it coach painted coz that was how they did them originally. Did a really nice job and he complained he couldn't see the brush marks ffs. He wanted other show types to know it was brushed ,so I did it again, at his expense, with a shit brush and he was happy. It was only the bonnet and boot that was sprayed originally I think.

[jonny69]

Don't use cheap paint from the likes of Jawel Paints. I've used their 2K twice - it takes AGES to cure, it shrinks and the gloss retention is terrible. It goes on ok initially but it shrinks back in time and it never really hardens properly like a 2K should. Spend a bit extra on something like Max Meyer or PPG and it'll make your life easier in the long run. I think it's probably what happened to ^ davetwentyoneforhundredand70eight there.

[steveo3002]

Don't use cheap paint from the likes of Jawel Paints. I've used their 2K twice - it takes AGES to cure, it shrinks and the gloss retention is terrible. It goes on ok initially but it shrinks back in time and it never really hardens properly like a 2K should. Spend a bit extra on something like Max Meyer or PPG and it'll make your life easier in the long run. I think it's probably what happened to ^ davetwentyoneforhundredand70eight there.

 

was that the non iso /air dry 2k?  heard thats a load of shit

[Wack]

Yup I get that

I am thinking more of grabbing a leccy HVLP and 1k or Enamel?

I still cant get over why car paint the paint itself is such a silly price? aferall its just paint..........................

Or????????????????????

I could just leave it as it is?

Everybody says they seem to like it Flat Black........................

 

£1000 for paint is BS, £120 on eBay for a car trade pack

 

I've used these guys for paint when a mate painted my defender in a tent , came out OK , not as good as a £2500 respray but acceptable, I did all the prep , it's only flatting the original paint off , masking takes time to do right though.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-PAINT-2k-ACRYLIC-RENAULT-389-WHITE-DIRECT-GLOSS-TRADE-PACK-16-5lt-KIT/182463835469?hash=item2a7bb12d4d:g:Ry0AAOSwr~lYrZGB

[danthecapriman]

all the talk of mine blistered cus it was cheap...thing is cheap paint jobs usualy come with half arsed prep too 

 

cheap paint doesnt blister , its painting and priming in the damp /parked outside while being worked on that does the damage

 

Very true. I'm fairly sure mine blistered because they sprayed it with moisture in the air lines! It looked fucking awful too.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Do not use household or coach paint on a car of any value that you want to look nice one day - they are synthetic or oil based. That is for the sort of rubbish that will never receive a proper paint job.

 

After you've rollered or brushed this shit on, another painter will have to spend a lot of his time and your money bare metalling it because 2 pack will not go on top - it will just react instantly. If you must DIY, you need to use fast drying cellulose to get the bulk of the paint on and make the mistakes. Then it can be wet flatted and painted again on a nice warm dry day in slow drying cellulose. You'll need a good gun, and a filter to catch any moisture. The moisture inside the compressor is what freezes and causes micro blistering.

 

Good prep takes forever. Very few amateurs can get filler right and the crucial stage is getting primer filler on and blocking it back after guide coating.

 

Either do a decent long winded DIY cellulose job or nothing at all. The minute you start painting it with a brush, roller, Rustoleum etc the car is scrap short of a very, very expensive bare metal paint job. You try getting a painter to sort that out for £2500.

 

No painter I know does cheap jobs. The ones I know turn out nice work and charge accordingly, and they have a reputation to think about.

 

£2500 for a decent job is entirely reasonable.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I've done prep on hundereds of cars for my dad to spray and it all came done to how facny and right* you wanted it to look in the end.

 

What i mean is if you dont care really what it looks like, as in the paint isn't 100% flat, but also not coverd in runs or oragne peel. then just go for it yourself as both those problems can be fixed with rubbing it down again. Use someting like T-cut or G3 stuff and although it takes ages you cant really mess it up.

 

Some People put too much emphisis on the finish of the car when relly any paint is better than none. Does the car look shit? So what at least it's getting used.

[sierraman]

Now where is that 5 litre of Wilko Gloss White? Couple of those Tommy Walsh paintbrushes from poundland and I could respray the car. Probably best to do it on an evening when there's a bad frost forecast.

[cort16]

My mate who is a painter has done a few cars in white tractor enamel paint. It always comes out looking great, is really tough and polishes up to a great shine. It's not expensive either.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Professional-Tractor-Machinery-Enamel-Gloss-Paint-Kubota-Engine-Blue-1ltr/916357486?iid=161313349028

 

Anyone who's ever done any bodywork will know it's a black art. I used to do quite a lot and a few times had to get my mate to re-do it. Now I just get him to do it. It's not easy!

[Pillock]

I read a blog about a guy who used foam rollers and enamel paint to do a whole car. It seemed to have some sort of self levelling ability and didn't sag or run. Needed polishing but also less masking prep as you're not throwing all the paint at the wind.

[sierraman]

My mate foam rollered a Skoda Estelle, in gloss black, didn't mask it or anything, rang the breakers to fetch it before the paint had dried. You use rollers to paint walls and other slightly roughened surfaces quickly.

[Guest]

Did my X1/9 in basecoat then 2k laqquer in a weekend, in a 1.5 width garage. Basecoat is cellulose, and pretty forgiving- most paints, even solids are clear over base now. Cost about £200 in materials.

 

 

 

 

 

White X1/9- Ford diamond white at a tenner a litre, less than £100 in materials...It was my £500 project- get the car running,MOT'd and dependable for less than £500.. We have an Autopaint branch locally and they are brilliant, painting is just practice and confidence, if you get a run, or orange peel you can rub it down and do a panel, or the whole car again.. even take panels off and do them one at a time. Even if you run to 5 or 600 quid in stuff, you've learned a skill, and will have enough left for touch ins or repairs down the line.  Some places have a DIY garage which will hire out a spray booth for a few days too, with a pro on hand to keep you right.

 

 

 

 

 

[Isaac Hunt]

Taught myself to paint in my teens. It was all cellulose back then, maybe single pack acrylic 'knacker lacker' if you wanted a blow over and a shine from the gun. I never liked the single pack, thought it was shit.

 

Cellulose was fab but it is all in the prep. Spend hours getting the base right, prime, cellulose, wet flat 1200 grit or finer then hand cut and burnish to a real gloss. I painted a car in a mates single garage and when it was finished his next door nabour who owned a body's repair shop offered me a job "come and see me first thing Monday" he said, want you working for me. I didn't as I was already on a separate career path.

 

It's hard work though. No diff to modern paint, be it the two pack or water based. You have to get the prep right. Putting the paint on is the easy bit if you know how to handle the gun. The problem is with the modern stiff it isn't as forgiving as cellulose and you need a load of extra kit for it.

 

Try flatting a fly out of water based base coat abefore putting the lacquer on, not as easy as flatting it out of cellulose and polishing.

 

There is a guy over on Retro Rides that painted a white Fiesta in a garage at home using two-pack I think (with some 'appropriate ish dust extraction and fresh air fed mask, looks the dogs bollocks.

 

Someone else I knew was told to buy the best mask he could buy, paint the thing quick in two pack and piss off outside in the fresh air quick but personally I don't fancy that.

[junkyarddog]

 

A Massey Ferguson 35 bonnet I painted for a mate last year.

 

Tractol tractor enamel,4 coats came out quite well.

[artdjones]

I did 2 Renault 4s in Tractor paint in about 1992-3.Strangely the second was in the same Massey red as the bonnet above.They looked very respectable.Lots of flatting and then borrowed an Apollo sprayer.It was much easier to use than a cheap compressor.Only one adjustment on the gun and the paint is warmed up by the blower unit.Also no need for water traps etc.

[Bren]

Nowadays a lot of bodyshops would sooner do a few smart repairs a day than tie up a booth for days.

[Wack]

I got a glass out all locks and lights out bumpers off respray on my 4200 last year for 2k

[overrun]

I had my MR2 Turbo done in gloss black, base and lacquer.

I stripped it myself and trailered the shell (left engine in) and all associated parts to the painters.

 

Front bumper

Splitter

Rear bumper

Side intakes

Spoiler x2

Bump strips on doors and the ones that hold bumpers on

Door handles

Door mirrors

Glass out

Wings

Headlight covers

Engine lid

Etc etc all broken down into as many pieces as possible, mirror guts removed etc.

IIRC there were 75 pieces, plus the car itself with closures fitted.

 

To get to that stage, I removed all of the glass, lights etc, dealt with rusty and rounded fasteners and what not.

 

I then spent a week with the painters doing the BS rubbing down, but as monotonous as this was, it ensured everything was properly prepped, I then helped colour sand and machine polish it with the bumpers etc hung back on, I then took it home and rebuilt it all.

 

I paid £640, but I know the lads and as you can see, I did a lot of the graft.

 

Your money goes on prep. Be that stripping the car or *shudder* masking, then rubbing down.

 

Mine has turned out superbly. It was done almost two years ago, now.

They are in Sunderland and will also happily do you a masked up blow over, btw.

[Kiltox]

A mate used to 'refresh' his 2CV van in this way every couple of years, using Dulux and a roller. Looked fine, from 10ft away. Which is more than good enough...

I was just going to rub down and touch up the bare metal with a brush (there’s a fair bit of paint missing out of a gouge in the panel, worried about rust)

 

Guess I can’t make it look worse...

[catsinthewelder]

I think it was Will Cleland that said Hammerite smooth in white from a spray can was a very good match for PSA white.

[vaughant]

Ah the age old paint or don't paint conundrum.

 

At least the op realises that £2.5k isn't off the wall for something like a decent job but £1000 to me for materials sounds outrageous unless he insists on using top end Dupont materials.

 

I used to run my own business repainting cars and it's the most thankless profession ever, everyone remembers how they had a full cavalier "blown over" for £250 in 1991 and that job looked mint.

 

But did it?

 

I've seen dismal jobs on brand new cars out of the factory, orange peeled to fuck,0.00002mm of paint depth, hideous.

 

The biggest issue with a cheap DIY job is keeping it dust free, wetting the booth floor helps massively but then if you drag your feet and kick the water up onto fresh paint guess what? It'll need to be done again as once you lacquer it that's the basecoat pretty much sealed in.

 

Another reason for crappy paint is not using a dryer, makes a huge difference, out it this way some of the cars we did back in 2009 I've still got and not a hint of a micro blister or paint blemish contingency back through and they all get kept outside.

 

I've seen many DIY jobs and some are honestly excellent but by that I mean 5-10% tops, most look so shit it has now completely ruined the car.

 

My advice is if you want it painted and aren't in a rush then doing as much of the strip down work as you can yourself is the quickest way to save your mate many man hours.

 

That way you also get to see how good or bad the cat really is. Rust is always the most time consuming repair but it sounds as though that's not a huge problem for your car as it's a solid import.

 

If your not confident about masking up (which is a lot more complex than you think) them just remove the part completely, is much easier.

 

I'm a bit knackered now from 12hr nights but if the thread develops I'll post a few more top tips.

 

Otherwise, how about a wrap?

[jonny69]

was that the non iso /air dry 2k?  heard thats a load of shit

 

I don't think so, pretty sure it was full death-spec isocyanate.

[chaseracer]

I think it was Will Cleland that said Hammerite smooth in white from a spray can was a very good match for PSA white.