Project Korean Cortina - going back in time!

[mat_the_cat]

I'd also avoid two pack, because it's crap.

 

That's interesting, as I thought that was the bee's knees, and a big reason for getting someone else to do the spraying! It's starting to all point towards a DIY job then. I do actually have a spray gun and small compressor, but my only experience of using it was to paint the tank of my bike. That was using smooth Hammerite, as back then I thought it was the best stuff and it actually came out looking excellent apart from one run on the underside.

 

BUT, it took ages to get it right, playing around with pressure and viscosity - then struggling to cope as the pressure fell away before the compressor motor kicked back in. I swore at the time I'd never use anything but aerosols again! Problem was, I find that the aerosols I use don't give a very tough finish, and the paint is very easily damaged by stone chips.

 

More research needed I think!

[dollywobbler]

The main problem with two pack is it gives a really plasticky finish. It looks too good. I think I'd be tempted to have a go at brush painting with yours to be honest. You're not after concours quality are you? That'd detract from it!

[mat_the_cat]

Not after concours, but I think brush painting would be a step too far! Especially with metallic paint, I think the brush marks would be pretty visible.

 

As I understand it (and I might be wrong) there are 3 main options - cellulose, acrylic and 2 pack. Leaving aside the latter for a DIY job, anybody know the pros and cons of the other two? And is it possible/desirable to flat back metallic paint before the lacquer coat?

[vulgalour]

Brush + metallic is not a good combination, the bristles stroke the glitter directionally too obviously.  With flat paints it's not an issue.  For metallics you're best spraying, even rollers will give a more obvious direction to the finish.

 

Celly all the way for this.  Acrylic is more prone to sags and runs, takes longer to dry, doesn't build up a decent thickness without running more and more risk of saggy paint and is a far softer finish when you've finally completed the job.  Celly is much more forgiving (but not on your respiratory system, obvs.) and a better result can be got easier with it in my experience.  Celly can also be cheaper.

 

I wouldn't bother with 2 pack.

[Pillock]

I always find metallic more forgiving, you can be quite uneven (excepting actual runs) but as long as there's a nice layered clear coat, it'll look fine.

 

How about spray the metallic, and then brush the clear coat on?

[xtriple]

I love two pack! Dead easy to spray and if you put accelerator in (needed now in the cold weather) dry in five minutes! Do not sand the unlacquered met base coat unless you have cocked up and then you'll have to spray another coat on. Two pack lacquer is a bit tricky to spray as it's dead easy to get runs, spray a very light coat on first then a heavy coat when the first one is still tacky. Repeat spraying the next coat while the last one is tacky. Don't worry too much about the finish of the clear coat from the gun, just try not to get it sagging. Once it's dry, sand it out using progressively finer grades of wet and dry and then buff with a machine polisher and Farecla paste and it'll come up like glass.

 

I'm not a pro painter but I have sprayed loads of cars and bikes and always had great results. Prep is everything and so long as the base coat goes on okay (nice light coats and as many as needed - bear in mind that that more coats changes the colour and it will change again when clear coated) you can piss about with the lacquer to your hearts content.

[mat_the_cat]

Thanks for the pointers, all are welcome! Unlikely it'll be happening soon but maybe I need a deadline (like Shitefest '15?) as a target. Otherwise the temptation to leave it and just drive is too much of a temptation...

[dollywobbler]

I've got a better idea. V6 Pony! Ideal stablemate. (Sorry...)

[Partridge]

Not after concours, but I think brush painting would be a step too far! Especially with metallic paint, I think the brush marks would be pretty visible.

 

As I understand it (and I might be wrong) there are 3 main options - cellulose, acrylic and 2 pack. Leaving aside the latter for a DIY job, anybody know the pros and cons of the other two? And is it possible/desirable to flat back metallic paint before the lacquer coat?

Captain Slow is the man you want to talk to about DIY car painting. He's rather good at it.

[mat_the_cat]

Don't want to count my chickens too early, but I might have a reasonable sum coming my way next week. Assuming I don't blow it all on booze and Christmas presents, it should just about cover a respray So fingers crossed it should be looking better i.e. one colour by summer next year!

 

I've not really done anything on it recently, but I did buy an extra heater for the garage to help me sort out some bodywork now the temperature has plummeted. I deliberately went for a good brand of heater for reliability...

 

[Ian_Fearn]

How about using a roller Matt? I've seen some very good results with Rustoleum, admittedly not going to be a good colour match for yours.

 

I'll be rollering the new doors for my Defender. Am sick of spraying and getting it EVERYWHERE including my lungs despite a good mask.

[mat_the_cat]

Already tried it on the van!

 

 

If it had been a non-metallic colour I think I'd have considered it, but I think the roller will give a 'grain' to the finish rather than the random pattern of particles from a spray gun.

[Ian_Fearn]

That looks really good Matt. I do love an LT.

 

From what I understand you can get a good thick coat on and then flat it back with 1200/2400grit to a smooth finish.

[mat_the_cat]

Or in my case, go for a satin finish and leave it as rollered! Close up obviously you can see the orange peel, but for a functional paint job it's fine. There were so many shades of painted repairs it seemed better to cover them all up, and also make it look a little less like a white delivery van.

[Ian_Fearn]

Looks brilliant to me mate. You should do a proper post about this animal. There can't be many left now????

[mat_the_cat]

Had a quick look at the nearside rear panel...angle grinder flap disc, where have you been all my life? I bought a few from Toolstation and they are great, removes rust much better than a knot wheel (which seems to smear the rust in comparison) and surprisingly didn't clog with filler. The rust had crept under the wob a little from when it cracked several years ago, but most of it is now gone apart from a few pits.

 

 

Once all the rust has gone I don't think I need anywhere near as mush thickness of filler to line up with the rear door, so hopefully it shouldn't crack quite so easily. It appears as though a crease in the panel has just been filled rather than pushed out, presumably because you can't get to the rear of the panel.

[Bucketeer]

That gives me the perfect excuse to roll out my favourite picture of the Stellah yet again.

 

Also GR9 garage heater find Mat - a Hyundai fan for a Hyundai fan's Hyundai.

 

[mat_the_cat]

I can hardly believe it, but it looks like I will be able to get a proper respray!!! I'm trying to get a few quotes in now, with the aim to get the ball rolling in the new year once I've sorted out the gutters. I've been recommended a place in Ellesmere Port, but also looking at a few which are a bit closer. Trouble is, I've got no feedback on them so will have to judge them based on what I see when I go and visit. One has already been ruled out seeing as they had a car in the yard with bare filler, just sat out in the rain!

 

Does anyone know what sort of warranty is normal? The only one which mentions it gives 3 years, subject to yearly inspections. However, I don't know if they'd be happy painting over my prep work, and not yet got any prices yet...

[mat_the_cat]

Still no quotes...will have to go and visit I think rather than emailing them. Current job means no mobile phone at work so difficult to phone up during the week.

 

I've done a little more on it today - my Christmas present of a plating kit is going to be used first to zinc plate all the clips for the headlights. This is what the clips on the spare lights looked like earlier today.

 

 

These are actually in a worse state than my originals, despite being off a later car with half the mileage. They seemed to be powder coated rather than plated like mine were (guessing for cost saving) and that has cracked, presumably holding water between it and the surface. If these come out OK, all well and good but if they are too pitted then it's a bit of practice with the process. They're now in an alkali cleaner before I acid dip them.

 

 

I've put some Deox gel on the rear wing repair, to remove the rust at the bottom of a few pits present. I made a 'well' with gaffer tape to give a good depth of gel - it tends to run off after a while on vertical surfaces. The temperature has dropped now so it will take a while to work.

 

On the gutter repair I've cut out the rusted section.

 

 

Might have a stab at welding it tomorrow, although if the weather's sunny I'm tempted to go out on my bike instead...

[UltraWomble]

Red.

Red cars always go faster. PHACT.

[Parky]

Have you considered vinyl wrap?

[Bren]

Any bodyshop worth their salt will want to see the car in the metal before giving a quote. Pics are good only for a rough price, hence I need to get the SD1 roadworthy so I can get it to some paint-shops.

 

I will need both sides, bonnet and rear panel doing. The roof just needs a good buffing.The fact it is black means that unless the prep is perfect it will show every imperfection, hence me letting somebody else do it. I think it will cost me four figures.

[Inspector Morose]

To do vinyl properly costs nearly as much as a proper respray (we use a hell of a lot at where I work) and the stuff itself is not cheap, even if you wanted to do it yourself.

If the edges are not sealed properly, the stuff only lasts a year and then starts to lift, gets brittle and split and generally looks shit.

[mat_the_cat]

Yeah, I'd looked into vinyl but the prices (as you say) were approaching £1k. I'm not expecting a firm price 'blind', but just a guide and whether they'd be happy to paint over my repairs is all I'm really asking at this stage. My plan is to put the money into a savings account now (before I spend it all!), and then set up a standing order of £100 or so each month for the next few months. Hopefully that should cover things...

 

But at the moment things aren't going too well - I forgot to buy more steel back in the summer so don't have a piece long enough for the gutter repair. And when I tried the welder, it didn't work. It sounds just like they do if you have a blob of weld between the tip and shroud, and short it to earth - i.e. a clunk and dim lights. Only the wire feed isn't rotating either, and after a couple of pulls of the trigger it trips the 16 amp breaker. A week out of warranty too, and although I would be able to afford a replacement now, I don't want it eating into my windfall No obvious short inside.

[mat_the_cat]

My first suspect with the welder was a failed diode on the rectifier, but they all checked out fine. And to prove a point I disconnected the rectifier and the problem still occurred. Traced the fault to the main transformer - the primary winding appears to have a short somewhere as the resistance is only around 3 ohms. I'm guessing that a new transformer will be uneconomic, so that spoils the plans for this week off somewhat. Doubtful I'll be able to get a new one delivered before NYE.

[mat_the_cat]

186 sodding quid for a transformer!!! Not when you get get the welder itself for not much over £200 although with hindsight, that seems a little on the cheap side now! TBH I'd originally chosen it as it seemed reasonably built when I had one as a hire machine, and thought it must be OK if it could stand up to hire use, plus it got a good magazine review. Maybe I was just unlucky, but I'm not replacing it with another of the same.

 

I've managed to find a decent machine with a Euro torch and a much better duty cycle - 60% @ 160 amps versus 20% @ 105 amps (and will be even less @150 amps!) for the Sealey - so that is now on order for delivery on the 31st. Did I mention that I'm shit at saving money?

[Sigmund Fraud]

Yeah, I'd looked into vinyl but the prices (as you say) were approaching £1k.

 

What about plastidip ? It's the cheapest way to get a car presentable (by AS standards, i.e. all in one colour), and you can simply peel it off when you have the money for a proper respray.

[Inspector Morose]

Mat, how damp is the garage? Might be just a thought to aim a fan heater at the transformer for an hour or two first. I know Trolleybus motor windings can get all "Leakey" when they're damp! (They bloody hurt too -600v up the arm surely wakes you up a bit and throws you a fair way!)

 

Just a thought like.

[mat_the_cat]

It's a good idea Andy, but sadly I'd already tried that I think the resistance test confirmed it wasn't damp, as I doubt that would conduct significantly at the low test voltage.

 

I will look into plastidip, thanks!

[mat_the_cat]

Remember these?

 

 

Well, I removed them from the acid a couple of days ago, looking pretty good:

 

 

 

However, the spring clips were still a little rusty, so I chucked 'em back in for a longer soak. Yesterday I had a bit of an "Oh fuck" moment, when I came to remove them - they'd been completely dissolved to nothing! Possibly left in for a little too long, perhaps?

 

The gutter is almost ready for paint in the areas not needing welding, although there is still a little bit of rust in the bottom of the pits. I've put on another coat of Deox gel, to hopefully get it completely shiny. It's a lot better than previously though - even after wire brushing the whole surface went black when I treated it.