not so good news everybody!

[danny_galaga]

What I've done so far

http://s961.photobucket.com/albums/ae91/danny_galaga/50%20dollar%20paint%20job/

Panel is going on this weekend (fingers crossed). At the same time, I'll paint the other front guard, the bonnet and a few little bits to make the whole front of the car painted. I won't do the whole thing in one go, too much work for me...

[danny_galaga]

Geez, since I last posted, it rained every weekend    But this weekend is shaping up to be perfect, so I've done a bit of prep work. As usual, I left things too late, and the panel came off just after sunset. I've also done a bit of the fiddly sanding around the windscreen. I was thinking I'd do all the sanding before tomorrow, but it gets a bit 'drummy' when you are hard at it and I don't want to annoy the neighbours. Anyway, it's well underway (",)

[danny_galaga]

OK, I've put on two coats on the front half of the car so far. I thought I was going to just scuff the old paint, but it was so soft from UV damage, I ended up sanding almost all of it to primer. The other picture is a trick I picked up on one of those 50 dollar paint job threads. If you aren't removing the glass, and the rubber is still flexible, run a thick piece of string (or is that thin piece of rope?) under the rubber so it holds it away from the metal. That way the paint can go a little UNDER the rubber, instead of over it. Although of course, I still ended up with some paint on the rubber    I used an old telephone extension cord.

[drventure]

Neat trick. I never had much trouble getting the windshield out of my 73 super beetle, but not removing it at all would have been easier!

[VanillaGorilla]

good on ya!! I was an automotive refinisher for a decade, and from what I see, you're doing a bang up job for working at home in your garage. The gasket trick is priceless, saves so much time, provides a superior paint job. Are you going to blend in, or paint the whole car?

[danny_galaga]

drventure- I am loath to pull out the windows because at the moment they are well sealed and I wonder about how well they'll seal again. That leads to the other reason- it's a type 3, which are bloody hard to get any parts for!

vanillagorilla- there's no way I could make these two quite different colours blend together. I'm only doing the front half this time, because quite frankly, it's a lot of work for this little black duck! I'll do the rest in the coming weeks. When my fingerprints have grown back 

Roof will be white 

[danny_galaga]

Woa, oh! We're half way there...

[VanillaGorilla]

Woo Hoo! Looks like your summer plans are made for ya! Cant wait to see the finished project! Maybe you could take me for a spin if I ever make it down under!

[Zakk]

I am so going to back into you again when you get this done. 

[gryhnd]

Woa, oh! We're half way there...

Is that Guy Fawkes in your back seat?

[danny_galaga]

Woa, oh! We're half way there...

Is that Guy Fawkes in your back seat?

Ha! Yes, does look a bit like it from that photo. It's Roger Delgado, the only true Master in Dr Who. I call my car The Master (",)



At least you didn't call him Vincent Price like some people have...

[danny_galaga]

.

[DaOld Man]

Looking good Danny G!!

That trick with the string under the windshield rubber is priceless!
I would have never thought of that.

[danny_galaga]

Looking good Danny G!!

That trick with the string under the windshield rubber is priceless!
I would have never thought of that.

Yeah the string thing is handy. I picked that up from the original mopar thread I think.

Ok, so I'm done now. I really lost inertia and enthusiasm since early this year when I started. But it's over now. The painting isn't quite as neat as the front end, and it's slightly more orange-peely. But I know from seeing the front end many months after I painted it that the paint does harden into a smoother surface over time. It wouldn't matter at all if I was going to polish it, but I don't think the paint I used is as hard as Tremclad or Rustoleum. Also, I somehow got the dumb idea that I could do the whole car minus the roof with 1 litre. I pretty much used one litre for the front end, so I bought another litre for the rest months ago. But just to be sure I also picked up a half litre recently knowing I had a week off work. So I did three coats with the second 1 litre can, it was looking good. Very, very slightly lighter than the front end, which I attributed to just fading hardening of the old paint making it look different. I was getting low on that 1 litre can though and I knew that using the dregs would result in a streaky finish. So I did the fourth and final coat with the 1/2 litre can. COMPLETELY different tone! Argghhh. I toyed with the idea of painting one more coat on the front end, but you know I'm really over painting this car. And besides, to do that would be using the dregs of that 1/2 litre can! Could end up worse. It's hard to tell in the photos, but it is quite clear ini real life. Hopefully over time they'll kinda look the same. I'm already getting used to it. My neighbour said (in all seriousness) 'Why don't you paint some flowers or something on the front?' I said 'Or maybe some flames' He said 'Yeah, I suppose'. He doesn't get cars. Maybe he was thinking about beetles and hippies...

The lesson there I bring to you is DONT BE A MISER AND JUST BUY FOUR LITRES STRAIGHT UP!! Hehe. And actually, a four litre can would have been cheaper than 2 x 1 litres plus a 1/2 litre...

[danny_galaga]

Obviously I did the roof in white. Boy was that a ---smurfette--- to do! It's really hard to keep the flow going over a large area that is hard to reach over. I'm just glad I wasn't painting a 4WD. It's harder to cover with white so this took 6 coats. My technique on the roof only came good on the sixth coat. I realised I really need to add a splash of thinners into the paint after every second dip of the roller and also to use the trim brush only where I am about to roll. The previous coats I trimmed everything first which meant the paint was hardening already by the time the roller came into play. So it wasn't melting in. The front half of the car I did in cooler weather which helped slow the evaporation down.

Second pic kinda picks up the mismatch in colour. Third pic is of the numberplate light. You can't tell at all in the pic, but it was painted aluminium which was flaking off, so I just gave it the brushed aluminium look and sprayed it with a clear lacquer designed for that purpose.

[danny_galaga]

Looking good, man, nice job.  That car would stand out as really old fashioned around here, but what the heck.




(Sorry to see Toyota dumped one of those FJ Cruisers onto your neighbor.  They were blowing those out for $25k USD in my city and begging people to buy them at the dealerships.   I opened a rear passenger door and saw all the plastic diamond plate and just had to back away slowly......   )

 

They are selling fairly well here (and for heaps more than you guys are paying), it appeals to the inner Tonka Toy collector. The one in the photo is just like all the others- never ever actually gets dirty from off-road driving or anything. Just another useless SUV getting in my way...

My car stands out as old-fashioned here too. Which I like.

[whammoed]

Looks good.   I'm sure you'll be fine with the minor differences, just don't worry about it for a while and the perfectionist crazies in you will fade away.  Enjoy it, you did a great job.