Best way to paint my car

[Deleted User]

My 46 still has 90% of its original paint but it's weathered and there is lite surface rust here and there. I wanted to sand it down and paint over it but according to the auto paint supply store I buy POR 15 from it would be better to remove all of the paint and start over with more modern paints. That's alot of paint to remove! They said they dont sell any laquer paint or primers. What would be best to do. I'm just trying to get it primered and ready to paint, I dont have a shop I'm just doing this in my garage. Wish I had more room!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.



Jeff

Aaron D. IL

Well super I've done a paintjob in the driverway/garage and even if you do it yourself you can spend as much or (almost) as little as you want on the paintjob. It also depends on what equipment you have available or can borrow because you can spend money just on tooling up to do it.

POR15 I generally only used on the frame and underside of the car, floorpans, wheel wells and areas that don't show. Wire brush those areas off and apply it. If you expose it to sunlight POR15 fades. Maybe you're talking about a different POR15 product???

As far as the body, I removed 3-4 layers of old paint off my '47 Commodore 8 Sedan when I worked on it, it was really tough to get off I had to use a combination or chemical stripper, and 3M compositsanding disks. Next thing you want to nuetralize all the rust and use filler on any pits. Once you expose the metal tho you have about an hour or 2 before the exposed metal starts to rust depending on your local climate. I coated the body with OxySolv liquid zinc... or you can use a zinc chromate primer. The zinc prevents it from rusting and buys you time. Primer by itself will not.. it's porus and will rust through the primer.

Then the fun part, spray it with some layers primer, and sand and sand and sand with many grits of sandpaper working down to finer grits till you got it smooth,... but wait it's STILL not smooth enough... sand MORE maybe wet sand too! The finish is only as good as what's underneath and paint doesn't hide nothing.

I painted one car in my driveway where I put primer on it and then took off the chrome and stainless trim and drove it to Earl Schibe and got it painted for $400. Looked good from 20 ft away but I didn't sand it enough. Looked good enough for the neighbors to not complain anyhow.

The next car I painted in the driveway a Chevy, I got a paint system from a Sherwin Williams auto supply house with better results. I also rigged up my air compressor to deliver dry air and got a inexpensive Binks spray gun.

We shot the car and rubbed out the paint later. We didn't improvise a spray booth. I don't know your budget or time table but it can be done. If the original paint is good or can be mostly rubbed out I've heard of guys only spot painting the bad sections of their car but the paint has to be matched close. Well this is a long winded post so Email me if you want more details at HETad19789@hotmail.com (drop the HETfrom the address)

[Deleted User]

He didn't say he was going to use POR15 to paint the car he said the guy he buys POR15 off of told him its best to remove all the old paint and start again.

Geoff

Originally this car would have been painted with nitorcellulose lacquer, which is no longer universally available. You could use acrylic enamel, but not acrylic lacquer, as this has a different expansion rate to the original nitrcellulose, and will crack and craze. Or you could use a two-pot mix, that chemically hardens, but you need good breathing apparatus to spray this, as it is exrttemely hazardous to your health if you breathe it in. I have done about a dozen cars in the back yard using lacquer, and basic spray equipment. However, the spraying is the easy bit. It takes only a day, but you need at least a month or more for the preparation. The undercoating, sanding, and filling is the most important part.

Geoff.

Unknown

The guys useing plastic covered it well,JUST USE IT ONCE, paint won't stick to it permanently, but it's cheap and works. DO NOT GO BASE COAT CLEAR COAT system , That's not for a first time painter. If you start takeing off all old paint your gonna make yourself a lot of work. Wet sand it real smooth, neutralize any rust{NO POR] naturally you'll repair dents and pits, use a good zink primer and enamil paint,acrylic or poly type either one. You can wet sand and then clear coat it after it dries and get a nice shiney job. The finer grit the wet sand the deeper the finish will look.Don't use any kind of lacquer as it will pull the old paint loose. Let it "flash" good between coats. Make your coats just so it looks wet, too much you get runs, not wet it will orange peel and be rough.Spray some test with a spray can on scrap and watch it go from wet look to setting up and you'll see what I mean,, don't be too quick to get the next coat on. Give it a bit of time or you'll get runs. Don't paint hot metal , painting in the bright sun is a NO-NO that top will get too darned hot. , or in real humid conditions. Once it "flashes" real good some reasonable heat won't hurt it but I prefer to let it dry out of the sun anywhere above 70 degress. That cook it on stuff is for controlled invirenment, fast production. and is NOT UV heat the sun puts out, It's differant and makes a differance. LOTSA LUCK

Hudsy Wudsy

I've sprayed many cars (partially and whole) in my various driveways over the years. I've had good results, and in some cases great results. I should add, though, that any thing I ever painted usually got sold pretty soon afterwards. lol. The key to that success, however, has been to always use acryllic lacquer because it dries so fast that the dirt and insects only have a small window of opportunity to get themselves imbeded in the finish. (Some professional body man is reading this and laughing his a** off). The whole family of lacquers have, or are at least, disappearing from the market place because of their VOCs. I think that what I want to suggest here is that you consider an enamel to which you can add a catalyst to acquire the sort of fast drying that a person needs for spraying outdoors. Geoff is absolutley right about the need for the proper breathing equipment when using this type of paint. Appropriate respirators are readily available at reasonable prices, though. Just make sure you follow all directions regarding the proper fitting. I might suggest that you buy from a reputable local body shop supply house (as opposed to buying on line) so that quality isn't an issue, and also, that someone can advise you of proper fit and use, should you have questions. The other thing I want to toss out for discussion is whether you guys are sure that zinc chromate primer is an acceptable substitute for a real sealer. I've used zinc primer for lots of odds and ends and I love it's qualities, but I've never thought to use it on a whole body before. The difference between primer and sealer is an important one. Primer is, of course a great, easily layered and sanded base for finish coats, but it doesn't seal the metal from moisture. Primer is porous and moisture will penetrate it. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but while zinc chromate primer has qualities which neutralize existing rust (underneath it), it may not be as good as a sealer in preventing the absorption of moisture in the future. Sealer (or primer-sealer) will do just what the name implies. I would suggest that a piece of bare sheet metal (or a whole car for that matter) be stripped, sealed, filled (has in the past required sanding through the sealer in spots), resealed, primered and sanded (repeatedly, usually) and lastly finish coated. I've just recently heard that there are sealers available now that filler can be applied over without sanding down to bare metal. This would be a great advancement. I think that it would be nice to be able to take fenders and doors, etc, and do any necessary hammer and dolly work, or welding, have them sand blasted, sealed and then know that they won't rust any further because a person started filler work but didn't do it fast enough to keep rust out. These are only some thoughts on the subject. I'm open to other opinions.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all the info. I dont think painting my car in my garage or outside is a possibility, my neighbors house is literally about 15 ft from my car parked in the garage. Space is limited on Maui. Plus the wind almost never stops blowing. Anyway I do appreciate all the helpful info and I will continue removing paint.



Jeff