Paint - Primer - Fresh for the New Year

While waiting for warmer weather I managed to find another half dozen areas to repair.  None of them were in dire need but I decided to fix them anyway.  This one is the right front blinker housing and it had a few hair line cracks on its face.  The cracks would have been covered by a gasket but I fixed it anyway.

The repair turned out fine.

There is a lot to see in the next few pictures.  Check out the body work that's been done over the last couple months.  How about that paint booth?  Masking the wheel wells and engine compartment took a few hours longer than I thought.  Masking requires a skill that I don't have (yet).  These are hi-def pictures so be sure to click each picture to see the detail.

The entire car was sanded one more time to remove oils and other contaminants.

It was then wiped down with a post sanding solution to insure good adhesion.

House of Kolor 2 part epoxy primer was used..

Two heavy coats equalled about a half gallon of paint.

The garage will be kept at 70 degrees for at least 24 hours.

The plastic has an electrostatic charge and it attracted the over spray like a magnet.  The primer looks great and the make shift paint booth worked perfect.

Gerri took this picture after I was all done and said I had to post it.  XL paint suits are not as roomy as they use to be.

With the new year I thought I'd add a picture to help us remember where we started.  This is our car in Hawaii in 2009 being loaded into a shipping container.  Dennis S., the previous owner, is at the wheel.  Aloha Dennis!

Next up will be Guide Coating 101.  Bet you can't wait!

The Birdcage - Final Repairs and Internal Paint

We took another hard look at the birdcage and we found one additional area that needs attention.  It's the portion of the birdcage that runs along the top of the windshield.  There were factory holes here but they looked... irregular.  I stuck a burr grinder in each hole then gently pushed it in all directions looking for thinning sheet metal.  The burr grinder followed the thinning metal and left behind these tracks.  These areas need repair.

I squared up all the areas to simplify making the repair pieces. 

 

16 gauge metal was bent to match the general profile of the birdcage.

This will be cut as needed to fit each repair area.

The pieces were welded in, new holes were drilled, then JB Weld was used to fill the irregularities.

While the JB Weld was hardening I cleaned all the internal surfaces in preparation for paint.  I used a length of plastic tubing on the end of the air hose to get deep inside and used the shop vac to catch the debris.  There was a bunch of it, mostly sand from the sand blaster. 

An hour later the internal surfaces were clean.

This is a product from Eastwood.  It's a paint that has a phenolic resin that penetrates, converts and encapsulates any rust on internal surfaces.  It also has zinc phosphate that seals internal surfaces to prevent future corrosion.  I figured it would work nicely on the birdcage.

It worked great.  The nozzle on the end of the hose sprayed the paint very nice.

Be forewarned though.  This stuff goes everywhere.  It finds all the nooks and crannies and little screw holes too.  I like it a lot but be sure to wear full eye protection and old clothes.  It's messy!  The over spray, runs, and drips you see in this picture were cleaned up afterward.

What about that birdcage repairs from earlier?  The JB Weld was ground smooth, the internal surfaces were painted, then a little primer was sprayed on the outside.  It's nice and it will last a long, long time.

The body is basically ready for primer now.  While we wait for warmer weather we will continue to do odds and ends.  The interior floor still needs cleaning.  Maybe we will tackle that next.  But the next big thing is primer!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!