FULL respray prep..

[youngun]

I will be respraying the entire car, inside and out. So im planning to strip it all down to bare metal, which will mean a lot of sand blasting and wire brushing.
BUT, how best do i go about the respray, do i start on the inside, or the outside or do the whole lot? Im planning to zinc primer the bare metal, then a good few coats of Davids reface, then about 5-6 coats of Clarendon grey cellulose and then maybe a lacquer coat.

any advice will be greatly appreciated!

YG

[MoggyTech]

Do the inside first and all edges between inner and outer shell. Allow inside to dry hard for a few days. You can then mask off the inside if required, without the masking tape lifting off the new paint.

Clearcoat over cellulose not a good idea. As the celly sun fades, you cannot get to the paint with treatment solutions due to the clearcoat. Also much harder to repair any local damage.

Best finish will be achieved by perfect prep work, and spraying the topcoats on one panel at a time, using finishing thinners on the final coat. It flashes off slower and allows the paint to flow out better. Stick to the flash off times for the product you are using, and get the booth temperature to about 68F and humidity below 50%

If you take things off the car to spray them (Bonnet doors etc) spray them in the same position as they sit on the car. Bonnet laying flat, doors standing up vertical. Although unusual for solid colour finishes, it is possible to get shade variations between panels. if you spray them flat, then hang them vertical back on the car.

Remove everything you do not want covered in celly fallout from the garage, it goes everywhere, unless you use an HVLP spray gun, which reduces fallout by about 70%.

Do not wait weeks to burnish the finished car. Just wet the panel being burnished and use a good compound like G7 You can safely burnish Celly after 24 hours.

Little tricks of the trade. To prevent masking tape lifting paint. Buy good quality automotive masking tape, and run the glue side along the leg of your boiler suit before applying it to the car. This makes it easier to remove.

Plus about another zillion things but i'm tired

[youngun]

Some handy tips there moggy tech...much appreciated!

As for spray guns i splashed out on devilbiss GTI, with a 1.7mm needle for primer etc and a 1.4 for top coat.

YG

[Welung666]

Very nice gun!!

[youngun]

Bloody expensive too.....*angry face*. Better be bloody worth it!

[MoggyTech]

Some handy tips there moggy tech...much appreciated!

As for spray guns i splashed out on devilbiss GTI, with a 1.7mm needle for primer etc and a 1.4 for top coat.

YG

Glad to help. As for your Spraygun, one of the very best. Believe me, it will pay for itself in the quality of the finished job, and the smile on your face.

[chickenjohn]

There is a really good guide here http://www.citroen-restoration.co.uk/ds/painting.php on paint prep and spraying. I'm jealous of your Devilbiss gun! My best gun is a £45 JGA copy! I use a cheap gun for primer etc.

[chickenjohn]

from that site :-
"Preparation

Preperation is everything. No two ways about it, you'll spend most of your time preparing the panels. Here are the steps I took in preparing a rear wing:

Remove all old paint if unsure about metal underneath. Otherwise flat old paint.
Use filler to correct any low spots in the panel. You may need to repeat this step a numer of times to get the panel flat.
Sand entire panel with 400grit sandpaper until all old paint is feathered and filler is perfectly flat.
Apply a coat of etch primer to any bare metal; this is a special primer which will burn itself into the metal and ensure that the paint sticks to it.
Apply 2-3 coats of Primer Filler. This is a high-build primer which will help hide any smaller imperfections.
Flat primer filler with 600grit paper. Apply more coats as neccessary.
Examine panel and use stopper on any tiny imperfections, e.g scratches or chips. Stopper is a product similar to filler, except that it is much smoother and easier to sand. Look for the 1K stopper, which comes in a tube and doesn't need hardenener; it's much easier to use!
Flat all stopper and apply a futher coat of primer (normal primer would do here)
Flat panel with 800 grit paper, this will give a perfectly smooth surface for painting
Apply a guide coat. This is a very thin coat of dark paint, usually you would use an aerosol of dark blue for this. (Black takes longer to sand apparently)
Flat the guide coat back, this will reveal any imperfections you missed in the earlier stages. Repeat above steps until panel is perfect
Ready for painting! "

[chickenjohn]

BTW, apply filler to 40grit keyed bare metal for best adhesion.

[moggiesgalore]

I'd recommend G3 paste for machine compounding. G7 is fine for use by hand but is too coarse for machine use.
Also from experience if you compound celly after a week you will probably find that after a few months it will sink back and not have quite the same shine. I would personally leave it for a couple of months before touching it. I intend to with mine!

[dave1949]

Apply a coat of etch primer to any bare metal

is it possible to get the above in an aerosol for small areas?

[jonathon]

Yes it is, you should ask for 'Acid 8', if I remember correctly, its a Upol product. Be very sparing when you spray this, remember you are not trying to spray a 'wet coat' ,so just mist it on. If you have sanded an area through to bare metal and feather edged the paintwork then try not to get the etch on to the existing paint, if you do, this can cause a reaction with subsequent layers and result in 'crows feet' marking, a sort or crinkle pattern following the feathered edge.

[dave1949]

then try not to get the etch on to the existing paint, if you do, this can cause a reaction with subsequent layers

if only small areas of bare metal is high build primer sufficient?

[jonathon]

I'd say yes , as most primers are etch/primers.
I, presume that you will be using celly primer, in which case you should dust on the first few coats then just add 2-3 wet coats but do allow at least 20 mins between coats if in dry warm conditions.
If you go wet coat straight away then you can pickle the feathered edges.

[chickenjohn]

You might get away with it on steel, definitely not on aluminium. Just do as Jonothan says, Upol Acid8 dusted over those areas.

[jonathon]

Surprisingly you can John, depending on the primer used. Its not text book advice but for small areas it is okay