How do I know when it's ready for paint

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:31 pm

I'm been preparing a 1967 beetle for a couple years. The engine is rebuilt, the frame has new a new pan, brake shoes, master cylinder, etc. The body is on a plywood frame with casters for moving around the driveway and garage. The body is coated with sandable primer. Today I washed the car in the shade then spent the rest of the day sanding with soapy water, wet/dry 400 and 600 grit 3M paper. With my eyes closed the body feels smooth. In the shade the body has a matte finish. Up close I can see a meshwork of fine scratches. Like I said, I can't feel any irregularities in the body. There are spots where sanding has exposed the original paint or fiberglass bondo. I've gone over it with tack clothes to get rid of dust particles.

Am I ready to paint?

TIA,

kevin

Post by **doc** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:36 pm

You are very close. I know you have done a lot of work, so now's the time to triple check. Sand everything, every inch with 600 grit wrapped on a paint stick. The scratches you see should be very minimal. Go over everything looking for last minute fixes. Feel every inch of the body for high and low spots. Fix everything now. This last prep step often separates spectacular from pretty good paint jobs.

You can paint over the "mottled" partly primer/partly what's underneath surface. But, even batter, would be to spray one more coat of high build primer and resand one more time. This time should be easy since you've already done all the work and will leave a completely uniform surface (600 grit) for the paint color to lay on. The sanding will go very quickly this time around.

Once there, wipe down with tar and grease remover, carefully wipe with a tack cloth, blow off with air and your ready for paint.

doc

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:50 pm

Thanks for the note. What is a paint stick? Is it one of the wooden sticks they give you for stirring the paint? I used a sponge with 600 grit paper wrapped around it.

kevin

saggs · Post by **saggs** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:37 am

CRVC, I'm doing the same w/ my 56. After you spray any filler primer, lay on a light mix coat of some sandable rattle-can primer. Just enough to fog some color over your filler primer. This is a guide coat and it will reveal any pits or low spots that you may miss when youre doing the wet sanding. You shoild sand away all the rattle can color and be left w/ just a smooth layer of your filler primer. If there's any guide coat spots left then you need to sand further or get some spot glaze to fill the imperfections. It's real easy and will show spots that you can miss otherwise. Check out Autobody Toolmart online. They have some great sanding pads in all shapes and sizes and they are good people to deal with. Good luck

Post by **doc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:00 am

Paint stick is just a stirring stick and it will help keep things flat. If you sand with just your hands, you can inadvertently sand low spots into the finish.

The guide coat idea above from saggs is a winner. Any contrasting color of rattle can paint wlll work Give the whole body a quick spray so it looks like it has the measles. Sand the measles off with a flat (paint stick) sanding tool and low spots will be revealed. High spots will sand through the primer, as before. This is the secret to a straight and flat paint job.

You're almost there!

I'm doing my '57 now and using the same technique.

doc

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:02 am

Well the paint came with stirring sticks so I'll give it a try. But this style of car dates back to WW2 with the body and fenders nothing but curves. The only part that's flat is the windshield.

kevin

Post by **david58** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:12 am

crvc wrote:Well the paint came with stirring sticks so I'll give it a try. But this style of car dates back to WW2 with the body and fenders nothing but curves. The only part that's flat is the windshield.

kevin

True but your hand isn't flat.

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:50 am

My hand didn't touch the sandpaper. I used sanding sponges to start. Then wrapped 600 grit paper around. My hand was holding the paper on the sponge.

But I'll try it. I've got half empty cans of blue rustoleum going to waste.

kevin

Post by **doc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:41 pm

Wrapping your sandpaper around the sanding sponge is the same as the paint stick. So you have been headed in the right direction. The paint stick has the option of being able to bend over it's length while still retaining the flat surface (the 1" side that you're sanding with). That's the way to sand the roof, for example. The roof is reallly just one big compound curve, never really flat. But the painting game is about preparing a "flat" surface. Just try the stick on your wet sanding. Keep as much of the stick laying across the panel as you can and sand til flat. The stick will flex around the curve. And the stick will keep you honest, not allowing you to "scoop" into the surface to dig out small scratches. It's a tried and true method for those who want nice paint. Purchased tools do the same job - some much faster, none any better. Make yourself a 1/2 paintstick length tool for tighter areas. Other "sanding blocks" can be made from almost anything. The longer ones they sell that require sticky backed paper are excellent for big panels, but pricey. Real small sticks can be invented to get into tight corners.

I have been commenting here mostly to encourage you to get down to the fine details at this stage of the game. The last 5% of the prep work (90% of the whole paint job) determines the real quality of the final product. A great prep job is really as good as the final paint, just not the right color yet.

Keep us posted.

doc

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:06 pm

I appreciate all the input and advice. I'll hopefully get to painting this weekend. I plan to buy every chrome item there is in hopes of covering my mistakes. On top of the original wide chrome strips, I've seen chrome corners for the fenders, chrome guards for the door, chrome to go over the luevered area above the engine lid....

Post by **doc** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:06 pm

Dude, I think you have every chance of pulling this off and it turning out well.

I've painted a couple in my garage that have turned out really nice. It's a lot of work, but you can make the paint better than Wolfsburg ever did. The goal needs to be to have people ask you, "Wow, who painted your car?"

doc

MNAirHead · Post by **MNAirHead** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:39 am

Couple of notes..

1-You've received great replies.. hopefully they help
2-Avoid sanding sponges.. if something shifts, you can nick your primer in no time.
3-If you can see lines and scratches now they'll be more pronounced in the future.

Part of your answer depends on your expectations and color... A Black show car probably could use years more prep. A tan daily driver is probably ready to go.

Looking forward to your pix

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:46 pm

I carried the door down to the place that sells paint. They gave me chart of colors and I tried to match to the color on the inside of the door. The outside is pretty faded in comparison.

kevin

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/k ... CN2957.jpg

Post by **doc** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:53 pm

If you are looking for original, I believe there are exact color specs. Perhaps someone here can furnish how to find them. Or an auto paint store may be able to get the answer.

doc

crvc · Post by **crvc** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:11 pm

As I mentioned earlier, I've given up on show quality because of the myriad mistakes I've made. But if another project were to fall into my lap, I won't make the same mistakes. I'll make new ones.

Speaking of new projects, I'd probably trade this car for a basket-case Thing.

kevin