Panel & Paint

[skoty]

Hay guyz, need as much info as possible on the topic including rust removal, paint preperation, quality final paint finishes etc etc. Whos done it themselves and the results. As my GT is mechanically sound under teh hood its now time to focus on the body which needs a lil TLC...

Cheers,

skoty

[skoty]

[badidas]

in my opinion preperation is the key to a good job and man ive seen some bad ones, theres a real art to getting a car straight asuming u mean you want to do your own paint/prep

i would start by taking a marker pen getting the car in the light finding all the dents and circle them then put a generous amount of body filler
over them making sure ya cover 3 times the size of the dent block the whole thing down, if ur real keen take the doors off
test some primer over ur bog jobs to make sure its all gravy

You must be competent with a spray gun. just practice on other things before you start Gun distance and spray overlap are very important

all up youd want to set aside 2-3 days to allow for curing of coats

[skoty]

and man ive seen some bad ones,

I know , a mate of mine did a half-ass job of painting his car and man did it look sh*t... Over - sprays, lack of preperation, paint all over the window seals, unsmooth surfaces, you name it!

In my case I'd rather pay someone to do the spray painting as it takes a lot of skill + don't you need the paint to be heat treated when applied for the gloss finish? I plan to do the panel work myself, such as the minor rust removal and panel beating of a few not so straight surfaces.

Anyone got any advice?

[badidas]

nah ya dont need a bake booth just put up sheets of plastic like they do on the movies when someone has a virus make sure ya make the tarps far enuff away so u got room to spray without getting overspray everywhere

any minor dents just bog em up dont use too much hardner because it will crack

dust off your panels, and using a lint free cloth clean with 'Panel Wipe'
then wipe over with a 'Tack Rag'. New tack rags should be opened and left to stand for at least 1/2 an hour before use, to prevent contaminating your panel and causing fish eye.

You must use a catalysed primer, and it must also have high build properties

Once the key coat has flashed, then apply a further 3 coats, then leave to cure for at least 12 hours.

Now you can apply a dust or guide coat over the primer

Flatten down all the primer using 120 grit dry using a block as much as possible. On big areas try to use a block at least 12 inches long, and sand in a cross pattern. All little dents, imperfections and finishing touches needed to your earlier repairs, will now be shown by the guide coat spots that are left after flattening. DON’T rub into these as they are your guide as to where to add stopper.

So your next job is to put stopper in these revealed areas. For this use 'Upol Top Stop or Top Stop Gold'. This stopper has a hardener which you mix with it just like filler, and is by far better than an air dry stopper.

Spray some guide coat over the stopper to give you a better idea as to when you have got it smooth and left no pin holes. You are now working at getting your panels ready for paint, so you may need to re-stopper certain areas if they are not quite right. If you have a large area that feels wrong, then it is better to apply stopper over the whole area, rather than trying to put it in lots of little lows etc.

When feeling a panel for straightness, you should always use your opposite hand as it is more sensitive, e.g if you are right handed, then feel with your left, and vise versa. It is also good advise to wear a cotton glove, as this stops you feeling the difference in texture between paint and stopper.


Once you are happy that your panels are straight, then clean panels as before with panel wipe and tack rags. Now you can apply 3 more coats of catalysed primer


When the primer has cured for at least 12 hours, apply a guide coat all over, and flatten with 600 grit wet and dry (but don’t use any soap in the water or on the paper).



clear cote and wet and dry is ur friend gives an awsum finish just rub back inbetween cotes of clear

trim is hard to get off without breaking shit especialy the stuff around windows so mabey either pull the windscreen out or mask it up realy well

[skoty]

Cheers mate, anymore advice welcome

[Ae92typeX]

Like said really, but prep is 90% of the work. get it all preped mint and the finish will be mint. prep it badly and it will show in the final finish.

[skoty]

Is there such thing as quality of paint when working with basic colours? Or is the quality of finish all to do with the quality of workmanship in general>?

[skoty]

So has anyone done it themselves?

[Ae92typeX]

My Uncle and I have done about 4 cars now. I am going to do the supra on my lonesome this time.
In my opinion there are different qualities of paint on the market for sure, but like I said, the prep is the most important. I have always got my paint from a store which specialises in it e.g car colours, and have never had an issue yet. They usually have someone who can answer any questions you have also.

[badidas]

i wouldnt paint my letterbox with supercheap auto paint !!!!
there thinners are ok i think even the sandpaper is crap

peace

[Xyrath 86]

When you want to "touch up" some paint, Is it alright to just sand off the clear coat and spray more of the colour on and then clear coat again? Or is that just stupid? We prepped my AE86 perfectly and it still turned out shit lol We ran out of clear coat after 1 and half coats so the paint chipped easily and was'nt reflecty/shiney. Are all clear coats the same or are some brands more shiney?
Thanks

[Ae92typeX]

When you want to "touch up" some paint, Is it alright to just sand off the clear coat and spray more of the colour on and then clear coat again? Or is that just stupid? We prepped my AE86 perfectly and it still turned out sh*t lol We ran out of clear coat after 1 and half coats so the paint chipped easily and was'nt reflecty/shiney. Are all clear coats the same or are some brands more shiney?
Thanks

Yea, you can do that. It will just be a case of blending in. Dont just mask off a patch sand and paint that, you want to blend the new paint into the rest, so sand the area for touch up and a little of the surrounding, blend in the colour. Did you do a fine rub back befor the clear coat last time?- that will produce a better gloss, as will more clear