BTW, I know naff all about paint. What I want is good gloss with as smoth a surface as possible, and decent durability. Preferably something that won't come off if it's exposed to thinners or if petrol's dripped down the side of the car. Will cellulose do that?
You don't expect much of a shine with cellulose straight off the gun - although you can improve matters by using a very thin (mist) last coat, using good quality thinners. However, it's a simple matter to compound it to a perfect shine if the paint was put on properly and is thick enough - assuming a solid, not metallic, paint.
Thats ok, my car is 16 years old and has no clear coat and its still not as shiny or plasticy as that lol. I'll try dialling down the paint level and seeing how it goes!
Ta J
Two pack contains cyanide which is why you need an air fed mask. You'll get the best job with decent lighting and heaters. Also a large extractor fan is a good idea too.
2 pack does a better job.
This is straight out of the gun with just a quick machine polish....and no, the paint isn't wet and it has yet to be polished.
I know about the toxicity of the stuff. Hence knowing about the need for an air fed mask. The only major problem I can see is where the fumes go after they go out of the spray booth - you could construct a temporary / light use one fairly simply and easily. Do bodyshop spray booths have activated charcoal exhaust filtration or similar, or is the horrible chemical actually within the paint and then becomes inert when your overspray leaves the booth and sets?
Very nice. If you don't mind me asking, what did the paint job set you back? I can see that with time spent messing around wasting paint practicing etc. I could end up with a fairly hefty bill. My car's fortunately smaller and less rusty than yours (or at least it looks like it is...).
When I took my Capri in for painting at my mates bodyshop, he told me he's going to have to cchange all the heaters in his booth because it is being discontinued at the end of this year. In fact, he ended up doing mine in solid instead of base coat and lacquer because his paint suppliers, after a week of trying, couldn't supply the right tints for colourmatching.
Are you sat down? Bear in mind this was a mates rate job, it came in at £1250 plus whatever it cost me for two wings, two rear arches, a pair of bumpers, new indicators and new numberplates so probably about £1500 all in - I got the wings cheap.
I reckon, including buying it, I've probably got about £2500 in it now and still got the engine bay to dress (polished bits, painted engine/gbox and braided hoses) and a few bits on the interior.
Mine didn't look too bad either. If you download the piccies at the link below, take a look at the front panel in the "before" photo...just looks like a little surface rust. Later on, you can see just how bad the passenger side below the lights was once the bumper and wings came off.
It's been done properly though, i.e all glass/trim/locks out with all the rust cut out and replaced. He even redid some inner wing patches near the hinges, which are a common rot point, because he thought that patching over the panel looked crap so redid them flush. Luckily for me he also had a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in that needed a lot of leading and decided to practice on mine so there's very little bodyfiller.
Bodyshops now use water based paints.
What, all of them? Any reason to not use it for DIY (drying times?)?
With cellulose you can get a good finish with a brush. It was good enough for Rolls Royces at one time. Some years ago my brother repainted his red MG TA with a brush. Gave it 2-3 fairly thick coats with a light rubbing down between coats, with a better final rub down to smooth it all out, and get rid of any brush marks or runs. Then gave it 2 coats of clear lacquer. By the time he'd rubbed the lacquer down and polished that, it looked superb. A really deep smooth glassy shine. Looked like it was wet. A better finish than most new cars at the time. Mike.
TBH I'm still undecided on the wheels. Can't make up my mind whether to stick with the standard alloys or get some aftermarket ones. You're right about the way to do them though...seen a set done like that before and I agree it's the only way to do those.
Oh, and today it got its first dollop of birdshit on it. Must be the first time ever that I've cleaned the stuff off.
My grandad used to repaint his cars like that. Needs a very soft brush from what I remember. I recall being horrified when I first saw him do one but amazed at the results. Mind you, he was a painter as a profession so I don't know how much of a bearing that'd have.
It sticks to everything it settles on. Which is one reason I won't spray it in my garage; it's not big enough to cover everything up. Yes it does give the best finish, as long as you can spray it right in the first place! My neighbour once showed me a lime green Calibra he had px'd; the finish was pure orangepeel. Finally, as regards the compressor & mask, the compressor needs to be outside the spray area or at the very least be fed with air from outside, or you'll recycle the poison into your mask!
Davmac are pretty good on paint supplies BTW.
That's right. My brother used an 11/2" brush with camelhair bristles. It requires a different technique as well, as you can't brush it out to get a smooth finish like you can with ordinary paint. It dries too quickly, even using a slowing thinners. A couple of strokes with the brush, and that's it. If it runs you have to leave it, and rub it out when it's dried. I did an MM wing once, and didn't find it too difficult to get the paint on. It was the rubbing down and polishing that took the time. Mike.
Sure that wasn't coach paint?
The plan is to make a booth in my shed. The shed's pretty enormous, with plenty of room to get a booth bigger than a car in, and then a blower and some filtration on the booth. I've read little on the H&S and it seems as long as I'm not a bodyshop using more than 2 tonnes of solvent a year, I'm alright...
I'm also going to get some practice in before I start preparing the car :D. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it...
I beg to differ...
Sounds as though you're not thinning to the correct proportion.
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