Painting Steps

[musclecar23]

I've restored cars and now I want to start painting them and was wondering if anyone would help me with all the painting stepp involving primer, paint, clear coat and all that good stuff. I would take any advice you have also. Thanks

[mike@af]

I've posted up the steps several times. Im sure if you use the search you could find what you're looking for.

[Jayx4]

GTmike

I have searched around the forum and tried to find the steps you refer to bu couldn't. I have compiled a lot of the advice I found into a set of steps. I would like to fill in some gaps on them and then we can post them as "THE STEPS" that people can refer to. They go in order of working on the car; from welding in metal thru clear coat and have a main topic marked by -- and then some comments from other posts.

I am interested in the welding-in part. How do i keep the cab square if I cut out a large piece of floor and rocker area? do I leave strips of floor for support and then cut them out later? Do I weld in some temporary support braces?

Jay



-- (THIS AREA NEEDS INPUT) Welding in patch panels for finished body areas and hidden areas such as floors.

Quarters, patches:





Floor and trunk sections:



--Clean the car well using wax/grease removers, and an evaporating cleaner.

After all the metal work is done, get it indoors in a low humidity area. Make sure there is absolutely no rust. Rust is cancer, and it will ruin your paint. Take some surface prep sand discs and sand it all down to make sure there’s no rust. Even better have it media blasted. After that, don’t touch the damn thing with your bare hands, or anything moist. As soon as it’s all sanded down, make sure there isn’t any dust. Wipe it down with a chamois.


--Spray an epoxy sealer, like PPG DP Series and follow the instructions on mixing and applying and any other specs. Sand it with 320.

Spray an epoxy sealer. After the epoxy sealer has cured you can start mudding the whole car with body filler. If you sand through, grab your touch up gun and slap some epoxy primer on that bare metal.


--Separate guns should be used for primer and base/clear:

Just a tip, have a separate gun for the primers. Eventually the primers will build up and ruin your base coats and clear coats, and soon the gun. Get a cheap gun for the primers. You can always sand out primer orange peel.


--Then apply PPG K36 (or NCP271 or K38?), (1.5 or 1.6 tip) follow instructions on mixing and applying and any other specs. Finish sand it up to 800.

Once all the body filler work is done, spray your primer. I suggest a high build primer, such as PPG's K36. Wet sand the primer, and spray another coat if necessary.

Okay, so lets say I've got the epoxy sealer down and bondo work done, when I spray the primer do I just lay down one coat to start or do I lay down a couple? A few should do

Also, what grit do you guys recommend for wet sanding primer? use 600-2000.


--Apply a PPG Base (1.4 tip). (check with your dealer for more info.)

After that, spray your base and then your clear, wet sand the clear with 2500 and buff it out with rubbing compound. The wet sanding can be tricky to get the technique down, so just watch what you’re doing.

Tip: Make sure you use the same type and brand throughout the process. I.E, if you PPG Acrylic Urethane base then use PPG Acrylic Urethane clear.

If the truck originally used a single stage paint, is there anything wrong with using a 2-stage? Two stage is just fine, if not better.

The guy at the PPG shop said I should have a 1.5 tip gun for the primer and a 1.4 tip gun for the base/clear. Does this sound about right? Use a 1.5mm - 1.6mm for the epoxy primer and K36 since they are thick. You could reduce it more and get away with a 1.4mm tip, but it requires more coats. 1.4 Tip is just right for bases and clears.


--Spray a PPG clear (1.4 tip) (Check with dealer on more info)

The guy at the PPG shop said I should have a 1.5 tip gun for the primer and a 1.4 tip gun for the base/clear. Does this sound about right? Use a 1.5mm - 1.6mm for the epoxy primer and K36 since they are thick. You could reduce it more and get away with a 1.4mm tip, but it requires more coats. 1.4 Tip is just right for bases and clears.


General

If I use the same paint, can I do the truck in sections? In other words, could I start with the hood to see how it will work out and to learn, then do the fenders, the doors, then the cab? Yes you can. Just make sure everything looks even.

As far as reducers and hardeners, it depends on the shop and the package. My local supplier sells a quart of K36 with reducer and 201 catalyst for $80 which is right on the ball. Check with your local supplier and see if they sell them together or not.


What about the rust in the pinch weld? How do assure that all the rust will be cleaned out?
It depends how detailed you want to be. I suggest removing all the surface rust first. Then for the place like inside those holes a sandblaster would be ideal. Like I said rust is cancer, it will spread and ruin a perfect paint job. If its necessary, make patch panels. The only way to insure that all the rust is removed is to disassemble everything...and even then there’s no guarantee.

When you start on your project do it a section at a time, door, fender, hood etc. It can become a big project if you start stripping the entire car at once. If you’re a beginner start slow. Do the body work on the fender, then prime it. This way you will feel like you accomplished something. You can easily burn your self out if you start stripping you entire truck down to bare metal, which will then sit in your garage for weeks.

[Jayx4]

Car has to be sanded with 400-500 wet or 320 dry for most basecoat clearcoats. If using acrylic enamel you can sand with a courser grit. Thats final sand. Of course any bodywork areas will need a courser grit to do anything and will need primer and sanding working down to the final grit listed above. Don't leave any bare metal. You are going to want to get some epoxy primer on bare metal as soon as possible. Then later on the epoxy primer can be scuffed and if needed urethane primer sprayed on and body filler can be used over the epoxy primer.