74scoutman
06-04-2007, 09:24 PM
:taz: Woke up this morning and decided today I'm going to put the paint and clear on the top of my Scout. I've had it off of the body for about six weeks. I stripped off the luggage rack, took out the windows and found very little rust. The PO said it had spent most of it's life in New Mexico which obviously helped ward off the rust bugs. There were a few small dents which probably came from hail and running under some low tree limbs, but nothing serious.
Having never done any body work or auto painting before I had been studying web sites on the subject for several weeks. Unfortunately everybody seems to have a different opinion regarding everything from striping off old paint to polishing the final clear coat. Naturally the pros want to recommend the most expensive tools and mega bucks paint. Well my Scout will never be a show vehicle and as a hobbyist I am mostly interested in having fun, learning something new and ending up with a Scout that looks good---but by no means near perfect.
Finally I threw myself at the feet of the New Braunfels O'Riley store manager and ask his recommendations on products that were down the middle of the road in quality and price. What we came up with was Transtar 2K Kwik primer with the same brand reducer and activator, Evercoat Z-Grip body filler, Evercoat Metal Glaze, Western 4th Dimension base (Sherwin-Williams product) and Transtar clear. Throw in some sandpaper, sanding boards, lacquer thinner for cleaning the guns and material cost is still pretty rich. So far I have only bought the base/clear for the top, which is white. My theory is that if the top turns out ok I'll spring for a gallon of metallic grey base and more clear---if not I'll go with something cheaper.
After getting most of the old paint off with my trusty 4" DeWalt orbital sander I finally broke down and bought a 6" DA sander at Lowe's which hopefully will speed up that process on the rest of the body. I then applied the body filler and glaze. Unfortunately I missed a few small imperfections but didn't discover the oversight until the paint was on. They are hardly noticable but with what I have learned so far I hope to do better on the rest of the body.
Next, this morning, I decided my procrastiation about spraying on the base and clear had to come to an end. I have to paint in a carport but there was no rain, the sun was shinning and there was only a slight breeze. I put up some tarps on three sides, washed the top with dish detergent, dried it with my leaf blower and then wiped it off with a degreaser. Then, with a significant amount of apprehension, I put on three coats of base and four coats of clear with my purple Harbour Tool HVLP spray gun---and you know what, it looked pretty darn good! To make it even better I plan to do a cut and polish job on the finish and if all goes well I'll be very happy with my first venture into paint and body work. Anybody know where to buy a good cheap polisher?
Having never done any body work or auto painting before I had been studying web sites on the subject for several weeks. Unfortunately everybody seems to have a different opinion regarding everything from striping off old paint to polishing the final clear coat. Naturally the pros want to recommend the most expensive tools and mega bucks paint. Well my Scout will never be a show vehicle and as a hobbyist I am mostly interested in having fun, learning something new and ending up with a Scout that looks good---but by no means near perfect.
Finally I threw myself at the feet of the New Braunfels O'Riley store manager and ask his recommendations on products that were down the middle of the road in quality and price. What we came up with was Transtar 2K Kwik primer with the same brand reducer and activator, Evercoat Z-Grip body filler, Evercoat Metal Glaze, Western 4th Dimension base (Sherwin-Williams product) and Transtar clear. Throw in some sandpaper, sanding boards, lacquer thinner for cleaning the guns and material cost is still pretty rich. So far I have only bought the base/clear for the top, which is white. My theory is that if the top turns out ok I'll spring for a gallon of metallic grey base and more clear---if not I'll go with something cheaper.
After getting most of the old paint off with my trusty 4" DeWalt orbital sander I finally broke down and bought a 6" DA sander at Lowe's which hopefully will speed up that process on the rest of the body. I then applied the body filler and glaze. Unfortunately I missed a few small imperfections but didn't discover the oversight until the paint was on. They are hardly noticable but with what I have learned so far I hope to do better on the rest of the body.
Next, this morning, I decided my procrastiation about spraying on the base and clear had to come to an end. I have to paint in a carport but there was no rain, the sun was shinning and there was only a slight breeze. I put up some tarps on three sides, washed the top with dish detergent, dried it with my leaf blower and then wiped it off with a degreaser. Then, with a significant amount of apprehension, I put on three coats of base and four coats of clear with my purple Harbour Tool HVLP spray gun---and you know what, it looked pretty darn good! To make it even better I plan to do a cut and polish job on the finish and if all goes well I'll be very happy with my first venture into paint and body work. Anybody know where to buy a good cheap polisher?