project 1980 Austin Princess

[gtd2000]

There are examples of good finishes with rustoleum and rollers out there but it looks way to much like hard work as you have to paint it, let it cure, flat it back then repeat 237 times.

 

That would be the $50 Paint Job link I provided 2 pages back then

[messerschmitt owner]

VA,

 

how's it looking after a flat back and buff up?

[Micrashed]

Anyone remember the adverts for roller on paint on the back of Jalopy magazine?

[Guest]

Every time someone mentions Jalopy Magazine, I weep bitter salt tears for my lost youth.

[chaseracer]

Ah, the much-missed Joypal... I have #1 somewhere.

[Guest]

It might be worth more than my cars!

[vulgalour]

There will be a full update soon, I've got to work through photos of today's work and, more importantly, of the work that's been undone.

 

The panel did get all the paint removed with a flap wheel eventually, there would have been pictures of this but my camera ate them. The flap wheel took off the paint, the very thick underneath coats and the surface rust without warping, denting or gouging the metal. All of the respray needs to be redone, I can't stress this enough, because the paint is lifting off on its own and there's clearly moisture getting underneath it and causing rust which is far more deadly than a bit of badly applied purple paint. I'm actually worried about the old paint and just how many places new blisters are appearing each week, flatting it back and putting new paint on top isn't an option as where I have done that (in beige, I might add) the blistering is reappearing as the reaction is in the base coats somewhere, necessitating removal of all the paint. After everything was cleaned up, Kurust was used to eliminate any rust I might have missed and after that, as little filler as possible was used to get the shape back on the crash damaged area. This alone should extend the life of the panel.

 

I'm going to disregard opinions on the shade of the purple, it's a colour I love more than the beige, it's a proper BL colour and it's right for the car. Yes, rebeiging is the easy option, yes giving the car to a pro to respray it is the easy option, I am not disputing that. Nor will I dispute that quite a few folks here prefer the beige, that's okay, beige is good but given the chance to change it, I think I always would. I am not going to disregard the OMG SHIT FINISH remarks because I agree, the finish was appalling. I was wanting to highlight more the colour, than the finish, as I was happy and excited about the 70sness of the purple as I thought others would be. More fool me.

 

Finally, I'm going to carry on and put the hard work in to make this right again and in fact I have today as you will see when I make the update in full. It's only paint, I haven't consigned the Princess to the scrapheap, anything I do I can pay someone else to undo, if I want to.

 

Now, if we can all calm down a bit and let me get on with sorting this out I'm sure we'll all be a lot happier.

[Wilko220]

I think what we all really want is a picture of you standing in front of it, in a wood, with your hands in your pockets...

[triumph1300]

I swear this forum has some of the most recycled pisstaking going on. Nothing is original on here when it comes to banter

[Wilko220]

It's all good natured - just ask Luxo and his socket set. Tolerance of light hearted banter is one of the things that makes AS what it is, and not just Piston Heads for poor people.

If anyone wants to take the piss out of me for driving a shit LDV or having to ask on the 'stupid question amnesty' how to fit a Sceptre hubcap to a wheel, then be my guest.

[Spiny Norman]

Now, if we can all calm down a bit and let me get on with sorting this out I'm sure we'll all be a lot happier.

 

I'm sure no-one meant to cause offence mate, you know what we're like on here, opinions are like strings - every yo-yo has one.

I'm sure this car will end up just ace whatever you do with it.

[Micrashed]

I'm going to disregard opinions on the shade of the purple, it's a colour I love more than the beige,

Exactly, and its your car, and more than that you are keeping the car on the road and in good running order.

Worth more in my book than keeping it stock as what is done can always be undone.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Fair play to ya VA. You took the flak, accepted a bit of it, discounted the majority of it, and are carrying on. As you were!

 

For the benefit of folk saying 'hes done this and 'he's done that' i am gonna point out that VA is actually a lass.

[barrett]

No he's not

 

Also, purple is cool, carry on!

[Shep Shepherd]

Fair play to ya VA. You took the flak, accepted a bit of it, discounted the majority of it, and are carrying on. As you were!

 

For the benefit of folk saying 'hes done this and 'he's done that' i am gonna point out that VA is actually a lass.

 

He isn't. I know this, as he's a close personal friend of my flatmate

[trigger]

He might as well be a lass though.

[Shep Shepherd]

He might as well be a lass though.

 

[vulgalour]

^true that.

[vulgalour]

Update time for everyone on the paint.

After a few hours of wet sanding, that shockingly poor quality coat of paint has been saved. Here's a snap part way through.


It's actually not that bad going once you get into the swing of it. There were a few spots that the paint was thin on, and some trouble from the roller incident, but overall it's not bad. There's even a bit of a shine there and this is only the keying back for new paint stage so it's a promising result here.


Several hours later, the whole panel had been flatted back to a finish that was comparably smooth to the beige while still keeping a good amount of coverage on the panel. Just as well I like sanding.




We let the paint dry off, went over one or two smaller areas that needed it and took a break to make sure it was all properly dry before going on to the next stage.




I learned that the paint is actually a little thicker than it ought to be, so I'll be getting some appropriate thinners to let it down a bit. The paint settles out smooth nicely, but it's drying too quickly or not settling out fast enough to go as smooth as it ought to. The thickness of the paint being a little off is why the panel looks a bit bobbly with this new coat, but that won't be the final finish, there's more sanding and polishing to be done to get it where it needs to be.



All of the shut lines will get done as I work around the car, as will the insides of the boot and engine bay. I'm planning to do a proper job on this and not cut corners which will definitely be time consuming but, as this is my hobby, that's okay. The big advantage for me doing the paint in this way is that I can find and remedy problems as I encounter them without having to take the car off the road. The next step is working out how much paint and thinners I'll need, make an estimate on paint removal materials and then do the costs so I can save up for everything. I'm budgeting about £100-200 for materials alone and many thousands of hours labour to get the finish I want. I may yet do the interior bits myself and get someone else to do the bulk of the paint application on the exterior to save on time, for now I wanted to just repair this panel and try out a colour idea.

So there you have it, not a total disaster.

[triumph1300]

Fair play to ya VA. You took the flak, accepted a bit of it, discounted the majority of it, and are carrying on. As you were!

 

For the benefit of folk saying 'hes done this and 'he's done that' i am gonna point out that VA is actually a lass.

 

Why do you think that? Because he says he has a boyfriend? Lol

[Shep Shepherd]

Looks far, far better now

 

If you are going to brush-paint the whole car, I suggest that you invest in some good quality coach-painting brushes. Perhaps you already have?

[vulgalour]

New brushes are already on the list of materials I need to buy. Finding a good brush and what is advertised as a good brush (but often sheds like crazy) is a different matter. I've spent literally pounds on supposedly good quality brushes only to have them shed on fresh paint (not always on cars, I might add) like a white cat on a black jumper.

[Shep Shepherd]

^

When I painted the (many) rusty bits of Father Shepherd's 1981 miniMetro 1.0L in 1988 with white Smoothrite (as a 40th birthday 'surprise'), I used a supposedly good-quality brush, yet the finish still bristled with bristles. I haven't hand-painted any visible car bodywork since

 

Shep's Link-O-Matic presents: http://coachpainting.info

[purplebargeken]

Good on you for taking all the comments on the chin. The purple is beginning to look more reasonable, especially in the rear to front shots. I guess the vile finish in the first few shots didn't do the purple positivity any favours. How can I really be against purple. Think about it folks.

 

Interesting stuff and will be watched intently.

 

Ken

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Blimey, i was 110% sure VA was a lass, why did I think that? I thought i learned it from the polo thread on the blue forum, anyway i've called a taxi for myself so i'll just get in it now.

[vulgalour]

What's even more confusing, Mr B., is that you've seen a terrible photograph of me holding a wheel in the Polo thread and it's quite clear I'm not a lass in that picture, merely that I have questionable dress sense.

[chaseracer]

Come back into the snug, Testes - it's your round anyway

 

I think Louise is still the only distaff shiter regularly to lift the sordid veil of AS - and her mechanical abilities and willingness to have a go put many of us to shame...

[Timewaster]

I'm not going to pass judgement, it is your car after all, but can I ask - is that purple a metallic?

If it is, then you will never, ever ever get an even finish without spraying it.

Even metallic rattle cans are hopeless for a large area because of the way the metal flakes lay as the paint is applied.

The flakes have to lay perfectly evenly and in the same direction, with a rattle can you can get somewhere near this by applying the last coat as a light dust from a distance and without moving the can around to much but with a brush, not a chance.

If it is not metallic - then disregard all of the above and invest in trade size packs of wet and dry and a big can of deep heat.

 

Good luck whatever you decide, no one could dispute the amount of work going into this project.

[Shep Shepherd]

^

I believe that Aconite is a solid colour

[vulgalour]

It is indeed a flat colour. I'd toyed with metallic, but I would NEVER attempt to brush or roller metallic paint on. Even being super careful with rattle can I've noticed metallic paint has a habit of 'clumping' which is a right bitch to get out again. Metallic paint on large areas is definitely in the get someone in territory for me.