Hi my fellow ausminians :
Ive been reading Phat Kats Painting guide " awesome " im going to paint my mini myself and i have many many years of no expierence painting and need to do it on a strict/low budget and i have a few extra questions.
1/ Cheapest and easiest way of stripping paint down to bare metal.

2/ Is there a stage in the painting process " Acyrlic " when you can leave it at say primer sufacer / base coat lvl etc for a few weeks " maybe a month "

3/ Me love you longtime

Oh and pickles will be stored in my shed.

Cheers Bill.

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

I'm a big fan of nylon disks in a polisher to remove paint. It's a lot less messy than paint stripper and I can work much faster. Just make sure that you don't let the leading edge of the disk hit the edge of the panel and the disks last for ages. You can also remove all the layers of paint in one hit, something I've never been able to achieve with paint stripper.



I also resort to wire brush attachments in an angle grinder or for around numberplate brackets etc, I use a portable sandblaster although you could use stripper for those niggly bits.

Acrylic primer is porous. I suggest you etch prime before you prime. It will still be ok to leave unpainted for a month as long as it is inside in an area not too humid.
I like to strip with paint stripper and finish with stainless steel wool. (the curly kind....thanks for that tip Dave)
It makes it easy to get into all the nooks and crannies you cant get into with a whizzer or sanding pad. The finish you are left with is perfect and has no score marks in it. Remember any scores can show as the paint shrinks as it dries. Helps to leave the finished paint a few weeks before cutting it back, that way the paint has already shrunk back and you can cut out any imperfections.
G.

_________________
1970 Cooper S ex-Bathurst & ATCC
1964 Austin Cooper S ex-Group C race car
1967 Morris Cooper S ex-Group B
1962 Mini Speed sports sedan
1968-71 ex-Peter Manton Shell car

I like using those "Strip It" discs as mentioned above - opposed to paint stripper, which stinks and it messy. You can get the discs from SuperCheap or Bunnings or Masters etc. They are about $20 (from memory) but do last... and do work.

Remember preparation is the most important thing when painting.

Strip the paint to bare metal.

Sand the metal with 40 or 80 grit paper. It is best to use an orbital sander as it leaves ncie grooves for the etch primer to stick to.

Clean the surface with some wax and grease remover.

Just before you are ready to paint your etch primer wipe the car down with deoxidine (then wipe it off with a damp cloth - and dry it). The deoxidine protects the metal from the elements for about 2 hours.

Straight after drying down the car, spray your etch primer. You can then leave this for however long you want.

When you get back to painting the car in high fill primer, just give the etch primer a slight rub back with some 360 grit. In all of the time you wait the paint will form a glaze which then doesn't give the primer a good surface to stick to. Rubbing it back a bit will roughen up the surface enough for the primer to stick.

_________________
1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

Thanks for the replies , i will go the nylon disk way and the wire brush/steelo.

Yeah im going to etch prime first , sufacer , top coat , clear coat ,then clear coat with some flake in it then clear coat again ..... does that sound right ?

Oh and on using filler , do you do that on the bare metal or after you have etch primed ? : EG : etch primer , filler , etch primer , ptimer surfacer etc ?

Thanks Again
Bill

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

>>Yeah im going to etch prime first , sufacer , top coat , clear coat ,then clear coat with some flake in it then clear coat again ..... does that sound right ?

Etch primer, high surface primer, base coat, clear with flake, clear.

Note: I haven't painted with flake but I would expect that your last coats should be plain clear.


>> Oh and on using filler

When using filler (bondo) you should do it on the bare metal. Make sure that you rough the metal up (sand it) beforehand so that the bondo has something to stick to. Don't leave the bondo too long as it is porous and will soak up moisture from the air. Water on metal = rust.

Once you have put the bondo, use the deoxidine on the metal. Don't go over the bondo with the deoxidine - just go as close as you can.

Wipe down the deoxidine with a damp cloth, dry it and then spray the etch primer.

_________________
1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

Awesome thank you for that , is that deoxidine the same as prepsol ?

Thanks again

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

Prepsol is just a wax and grease remover - it doesnt care about the underlying metal it just helps you to remove oil and stuff.
Deoxidine is an acid which chemically cleans the metal, hence why you need to use a damp cloth afterwoods.
I forgot to mention that you should use a scuff pad to wipe the deoxidine on. It will take off any minor surface rust.
Use gloves too - as it is an acid.

_________________
1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

Thanks for that its much appreciated .

Strangley for me im really looking forward to painting my mini " never painted a car before " ive read that its 90% preperation " and we have a lot of that to do " and i know we will run into a few problems but im very picky so i think it will work out ........... fingers crossed and lots of sandpaper

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

Sorry for the thread hijack, but since this is a paintng related topic I thought I would throw this in.
Today while painting my engine bay, the acrylic gloss would go on nicely but dry matte in a number of patches. Naturaly in the most obvious areas.

I'm using a 1:1.5 mix and using a HVLP gun set at 35 psi. What am I doing wrong, or will this correct itself when I spray clear over the top?

Thanks in advance and sorry again for the thread hijack,
James.

I haven't used a HVLP gun but I would think that the matte spots would be because you just haven't gone over that area well enough - seeing that the rest is fine. Obviously if its layed down a tad dry then it will look like a matte finish and not shiny like the rest. I wouldn't lay clear over the top as it will stick out.

I am sure that you are doing more than one coat, so when you do your next pass be sure to look at the paint as you lay it down. You should be able to spot the dry areas and correct them as you go.

There are so many variables in painting, and it all differs from painter to painter. I could say to drop you pressure a tad but that may affect your orange peel.

A finer mist is always better as it is likely to produces less orange peel, but normally you need to watch the paint as you lay it down - to ensure that it is wet.

BUT don't over do it.... as you will get runs. Which isn't too bad when using acrylic... but it's still a pain in the ass.

_________________
1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

I haven't used a HVLP gun but I would think that the matte spots would be because you just haven't gone over that area well enough - seeing that the rest is fine. Obviously if its layed down a tad dry then it will look like a matte finish and not shiny like the rest. I wouldn't lay clear over the top as it will stick out.

I am sure that you are doing more than one coat, so when you do your next pass be sure to look at the paint as you lay it down. You should be able to spot the dry areas and correct them as you go.

There are so many variables in painting, and it all differs from painter to painter. I could say to drop you pressure a tad but that may affect your orange peel.

A finer mist is always better as it is likely to produces less orange peel, but normally you need to watch the paint as you lay it down - to ensure that it is wet.

BUT don't over do it.... as you will get runs. Which isn't too bad when using acrylic... but it's still a pain in the ass.

_________________
1966 Morris Mini Minor Saloon (Dot) - 1275 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini Van (Ivan) - 998 Auto - Mongrel
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (George) - Original
1968 Morris Mini.Matic (Charlie) - Original

Thread resurection ftw .

Im just curious after reading an absolute shed load of painting tutorials , do you need to go to back to bare metal ?

Pickles paint is rough faded etc , but if i go bare metal on the repairs : dints , scratches etc , do i need to go bare metal all over ?

I ask this as Ma and i started sanding the boot interior today and my dodgy spine was begging for mercy within 20 minutes lol.

Any advice is much welcomed as i sooth my savage spine with bourbon " much better than dencorub ".
Cheers:
Bill
Edit this seems like the original paintwork

Here she is in her naked glory

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

If the paint is ok and not cracked or has crows feet etc then you can get away with not going to bare metal, otherwise you have to. Just remember if your rubbing paint down to paint over (even if you undercoat first) don't use corse paper! No more then 240 ( if undercoating) and 500 if not.. Otherwise all the buzz or scratch marks will come back

And with someone's question about dull spots on your acrylic, it could be overspray from another panel getting on there, or as mentioned not enough coverage per coat.

If its the first one ittle buff up fine.. Remember acrylic is never a hard shine off the gun.

When you say it dries "matt" do you mean it dries orange peely or is it smoothe but matt. If you lay the paint on a bit thick, or layer to many layers before it has enough time to dry off, as it dries with acrylic the solents will come to the surface and will sometimes discolour the surface finish. It will look milky. When you cut it back it will remove this milky layer and should be fine.
G.

_________________
1970 Cooper S ex-Bathurst & ATCC
1964 Austin Cooper S ex-Group C race car
1967 Morris Cooper S ex-Group B
1962 Mini Speed sports sedan
1968-71 ex-Peter Manton Shell car