School me on paint

[NY5speed]

I am mechanically inclined, swapping and rebuilding engines and transmissions is common in my garage but I have always been somewhat scared to take on paint (no idea why). I now have some time and plenty of space and would love to learn a new skill. The 92 lx I picked up recently had a rusty hatch and I scored a rust free one locally. New hatch needs paint and I may want to paint a cowl hood in the future if I end up using this 351w I have sitting around.

Long story short, I have been watching many members on this board restore or revive our beloved fox bodies and there is some amazing work being done, it is clear that there is a wealth of knowledge here. I thought it might be good to get one consolidated thread going with advice for a novice like myself looking to learn how to do it right. Looking for info on proper prep, opinions on primers, paints and clears (brands?), what guns and nozzles to use for each, ratios for thinning, anything else I should know. I did, of course, search but many of the thread addressing these things were getting on years old. Are there any good tutorials that you can recommend? I have plenty of old panels and things to practice on, I just want to make sure I'm pointing in the right direction.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[JTurbo]

Shoot me a PM with your email address. I have something I can send you that will help with some of your questions....

JT

[NY5speed]

^ Thanks for the write up JT, great info there!

I thought of a few more topics. Bumper covers are flexible, what special steps should be taken for those? The rear spoilers are plastic or fiberglass, should they be treated differently (adhesion promoter?)? I better go re-read Dave's t-top coupe thread too.

[82GTforME]

Davedacarpainter looks to use adhesion promotor on all almost all substrates.

While some may beg to differ the Valspar suplier for the products I used said that flex agents weren't required for the product I was using on the bumper covers.

There is also some decent info here: http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...-by-step-paint

[NY5speed]

Good info in that thread, not sure how I missed it. Thanks Darran.

[dagenham]

Patience is your best friend when doing body work. As soon as you say "that's is good enough. It's in a spot that no one will ever see" That is when it's time to quit for the the day and come back to it later.

[82GTforME]

NY5speed,

I am pretty mechanically inclined myself so chose to do a project myself. I couldn't afford to (or wouldn't) pay someone to do something I think I could do. There was a lot to learn along the way and many mistakes made; some big and many small. I see the fantastic results of the efforts I made of where it went right. I am also intimate enough with it all that I see the teeny flaws and also where a little extra effort in the prep and bodywork would have helped. I am glad I never had to do any rust repair or welding the first time around. It is a skill I want to learn to do or at least try in an autobody application.

Trey had said something along the lines of having made every kind of mistake possible in his career but learning from each of them. Those were sage words. He also said "ask a hundred painters a question and you'll get a hundred different answers".

Dagenham says it right also. Patience, don't rush it.

[NY5speed]

^^ Thanks guys. I am looking forward to some warmer weather so I can do some experimenting. Luckily, I don't need to worry about tackling a whole car any time soon.

[dagenham]

For what its worth doing a whole fox body can be a challenge. I have painted fox bodies and older cars like my wifes 67 Cougar and i think i would rather do the older stuff. They just seem easier to prep for the paint job i think.

[bel-mor]

Restoring a car regardless of what, is a huge under taking. I have been in the collision repair and restoration business for 17 years and I'm still learning. I use finish one for most of what I do. hok makes pretty good product but it's expensive. If it just a respray that you are going to do what I do is wet sand the entire surface to be painted with 400 by hand. If you go down to bare metal in some spot use a little self etch primer just on those spots it can cause adhesian problems if used over paint or filler. Then epoxy primer the entire panel, base and clear. I spray base until coverage plus one drop coat drop coat blends all of overlaps so you won't have any tiger stripes after clear. Slow about 15 minutes between coats and an hour before you clear if you use finish one there cheap fc720 is the most forgiving but it doesn't lay down that well fc740 lays down real nice however I caution you too only mix what you are going g to spray for that coat it doesn't have a very long pot life

So 400 grit wet dry
Spray can of self etching primer
Finish one epoxy primer 1.5-1.4 mm top @45-65 psi

Martin senior / Sherwin Williams base coat
1.3mm tip round 45-65 psi depending on. Gun you use

Finish one fc720 1.4-1.3mm tip that clear lays down better with a bit more pressure so depending gun I usually go about 10% above recomended settings

Fp740 1.3 only round 10 psi @ cap check the brand of gun you use for recomended settings as for air pressure
Hope this helps and good luck

[Davedacarpainter]

I don't get around the other areas of FEP much, if you want my opinion on anything to do with paint or body work, just PM me. I'll help you as best as I can. If it matters, i've been doing this since I started as a painter's helper back in '77.

[jgloyer]

Davedacarpainter looks to use adhesion promotor on all almost all substrates.

While some may beg to differ the Valspar suplier for the products I used said that flex agents weren't required for the product I was using on the bumper covers.

There is also some decent info here: http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...-by-step-paint

That was a nice thread with some good info in it. You guys have motivated me to try to tackle this myself! If I screw it up, that's okay, its only paint, and its a cheap car.

Question for those inclined though: Do you recommend removing the front and rear bumper covers to paint separately? Some of the write ups imply that you should, but it is never explicitly stated. I would think it would be easier to leave them on if I'm just repainting the whole car anyways.

[82GTforME]

That was a nice thread with some good info in it. You guys have motivated me to try to tackle this myself! If I screw it up, that's okay, its only paint, and its a cheap car.

Question for those inclined though: Do you recommend removing the front and rear bumper covers to paint separately? Some of the write ups imply that you should, but it is never explicitly stated. I would think it would be easier to leave them on if I'm just repainting the whole car anyways.

Some of what I have interpreted and read (and experienced!); the one thing with body and painting is if you screw up, you can always spend the time to redo something if needed. The thing you'll learn fast is that materials can be expensive so you learn quick!

For me, I painted the front and rear covers separately on the one car I've done. I had most of the car stripped including them anyways so it made sense at that time. I'd say if there is no reason to pull the front or rear cover you should strip the lights and stuff then prep and paint them in place.

I agreed I liked that thread too. Hence the reason I subscribed to it