Morris Minor Owners Club

hi all, just wondered what everyone thinks is the best way to do this:
spend about a grand and have an alright paint job not sanded back to metal, but keyed, primed and painted or pay two and a half grand and have a fab paint job sanded right back to metal, primed and painted????
also does anyone know of any good sprayer near rugby (in warwickshire) ive got some numbers out the yellow pages but wondered if any one can give me some actual recommendations. thanks - vikki.

Third option:
Sand it down yourself to key the paint and spray it in thinned enamel using one of those electric 'HVLP' spray stations, available at B&Q for £50.
They do work really well.

Of course if you can afford it go for the 2.5k job. Any defects you find after can then be rectified by the garage.

How good is the existing paint? If it's just faded then you could get away with spraying over it, but if it's bubbling/flaking off and the steel has rusted underneath that's another story.

its an idea, i am quite hands on but i dont trust myself to do a decent job as tempting as the saving is.
im in three minds now... just wondered what the majority of people here would do???

the existing paint is badly faded i does have some bubbling at the bottom of the wings but no real rot just surface rust.

It depends whether you've got lots of spare time and not much money or vice versa. If you haven't got much of either - there's always brush enamel!

whats brush enamel?

Vikki wrote:whats brush enamel?

Synthetic coach enamel. It's a type of paint that was originally intended to be applied with a brush. One brand is "Re-Paint." It takes a skilled hand and a good quality brush to not leave brush marks in the finish though, and because it dries slowly it tends to attract flies and dust.

Vikki wrote:the existing paint is badly faded i does have some bubbling at the bottom of the wings but no real rot just surface rust.

I hate to say it, but that's pretty unlikely. Be prepared for it to be worse than that when it comes to 'prepping for paint' time
a

thats probably true hes been sat in my garden since august when i bought him, waiting till i past my test and can drive him.

Check the rear of the bubbled area - it can reveal a lot. Sorry to be pessimistic, but it's better to know
a

If the paint is just dull, then cut it back with a cutting compound and polish back to a shine. this may well save you needing a full re spray and allow you to focus on the areas needing attention ie the ones with bubbles.

If the bubbles are due to rust a respray is a waste of time and money unless the offending rot is cut out and replaced with new metal. Some painters will skim over rust with body filler, but the rust always breaks back through in a few months. You can cure pitting rust by applying acid to the pinholes left in the metal, then lead loading the area before priming and painting. However done by a pro body shop, that type of prep and a respray is likely to be closer to £4,000 if they do it right.

i wanna change the colour so i cant polish it up. its dark blue at the moment and its gonna be candy pink!

Ahah, I see now, pop over sometime were only up the road in Napton near Southam, I'll happily have a look at it for you and advise ways in which you can go,

^^ this man knows his stuff, I'd take him up on the offer ^^

edit, since I've gone onto the new page, I mean Jonathon.

napton you say i was gonna be going over there soon to let someone have a look at the moggy anyway and give me a quote its 'john king and son' any good do you know? its on folly lane are you close?

Well we are in the same set of units, and I started my body shop career there many moons ago. They do good work but are not Minor specialists.
They do charge £10 an hour less than we do so this might well swing them into your favor. Go and see them as arranged, and if you would like a comparison in cost and work required feel free to pop in for a chat, we are literally at the other end of the block of units, can't miss it ,loads of derelict Minors outside

yeah definatlety as soon as i can get me dad to come with me as i havent passed my test lol!

alex_holden wrote:It depends whether you've got lots of spare time and not much money or vice versa. If you haven't got much of either - there's always brush enamel!

Would I need to undercoat before applying coach enamel,or do you just rub down and paint straight on ?