ELSE Europa restoration 2015 -2018

[Gmg31]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have purchased a respirator and pop in and out and crack the door open between coats.  I've also made a point of only doing 1 bit at a time so I don't build up clouds of fumes. I welcome your advice thanks

[StrawberryCheesecake]

To be honest, I do as much at once as I can. If you break the job up into little chunks, you end up spending longer painting, overall, and the finish won't be as uniform, with a slightly different mix on each area.

Keep up the good work.

[Gmg31]

right now I'm playing with high build primer but yes I agree, when I do the final colour I will probably do it all in one go.

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Fair enough, but I think you still get less exposure overall, painting large areas rather than doing lots of little jobs.

[Gmg31]

Finally got the whole car in primer

[BDA]

She looks great! That's an exciting development because putting the color on will be a big step!

[Gmg31]

Had a bit of a practice today, painted all the door surrounds and the bonnet and boot shut zones.

[BDA]

Looks great! What are you going to paint the rest of the car?

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Looking good so far. How are you finding it?

It might be that you've partially de-masked before you took the pics, but if I was being picky I'd advise masking off things like interior door handles, and avoid any exposed bodywork. If you're painting celly it's not so bad, but 2 pack has a nasty habit of sticking to things you don't want it to, and it's a pig to remove once it's hardened.

Any reason you didn't paint the tops of the door sills (step panel)?

[Gmg31]

Yes I had de masked. You are right two pack is a pig to clean off later, as I'm learning.  So far I'm practicing on all of the none essential stuff whilst I get to grips with it all. There is a reason why I didn't do the sills but you're going to have to wait and see.  Tonight was the underside of the bonnet and boot. 

[Gmg31]

First attempt at painting a panel.  It looked great when I stopped but when I went back in the garage later the whole of the front of the Bonet had run.  Still on a very steep learning curve

[BDA]

First attempt at painting a panel.  It looked great when I stopped but when I went back in the garage later the whole of the front of the Bonet had run.  Still on a very steep learning curve

I think painting requires a lot more skill than it appears. I only painted one car - about 35 years ago. It came out pretty good, but it was no show piece. At the time, paint choices were pretty much between lacquer and enamel. Lacquer was easier because if you made a mistake, you could generally just buff it out. I have no idea what's required now for polyurethane paints. I imagine they are more unforgiving than lacquer.

Good luck!

[EuropaTC]

Oh I think you're doing just fine, a few paint runs are all part of the game. Leave it for a few days and then use 400/600 paper with very light pressure to take off the run. If you have a good depth of paint already I would be tempted to polish it (G3 cutting compound, T-Cut then polish) to see if it will polish out.

Everyone has their own trigger points when they stop adding paint. Mine is to put light passes which cover the panel with a solid colour and flash off quickly,  then finish off with a heavier coat. It generally looks a bit orange peel and "not enough" when I stop, but gravity and paint flow usually smooth it out well enough in the 4/5 minutes it takes the thicker coat to become tacky.

Final polish with T-Cut and sometimes G3 cutting compound is normal with me I'm afraid, I'n not good enough to get a mirror shine everywhere straight from the gun because I just don't do enough painting. And there are always the odd kamikaze fly and dust specs to remove as well !

[Gmg31]

Well the grand painting experiment  is over. In the words of Dirty Harry "A man must know his limitation". I'm very happy with the job I've done on all the door shuts the engine bay and the undersides of the engine cover and the bonnet. All the body work is done and the primer is good enough. So my friendly local body shop agreed to take the car and paint it for me for a very reasonable amount.  I've spent £6k just on parts so far and as my father would say, don't spoil the ship for a hapeth of tar. So I'm taking a rest for the next few months and hopefully I can post some updates in January. 

For our American friends a hapeth was half a penny about 100 years ago.

[BDA]

Congratulations on your painting experiment! I wouldn't be at all ashamed of your end result. Having a shop do the bits that get the most eye balls is a reasonable way to go. I've always said that if my car looks good, it's because the paint and interior shops did a great job and most of the stuff I did was covered up with something!

I hope your extended rest isn't for an unfortunate reason!