Morris Minor Owners Club

Right, further to my previous topic, I could really do with some help on the subject of painting!

Im planning on doing a bare metal respray, at home (Im quite handy with a spray gun already but have only ever really used household paints and agricultural enamels). going to be using Cellulose but having never used it before I could do with some pointers on the best way to approach it....apart from the obvious like good ventilation.
Seeing as its bare metal, i will need some kind of rust preventative bottom coat.....will a simple Zinc rich primer suffice or will it react with the cellulose primer? What colour primer should I use for best results with the top coat (Clarendon grey)? What thinners should I be using (standard, premium?) and how much should I thin the paint?, whats best to use to clean the bare metal and where can i get it from?

Help greatly appreciated!

YG

weneed jonathons help on this but he is not on here anymore

There is a good sticky in the useful tips section (but maybe best in the bodywork section)?

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=22760

Plenty of paint on ebay! Practice on a spare panel to determine the amount of thinner and air required. Many thin coats is the way to go - and you should use a an etch primer on the bare metal - then a high build surface primer (colour as near the final as possible) and then apply the colour. Lots of tedious rubbing down in between!

Hello Youngun,

I understand that epoxy primer is the new finish for bare metal, and is better than the older etch primer. I suggest you do a google search and possibly, if convenient, go and have a chat with a local paint supplier for advice. Most are only too happy to assist and know what is what. It's too expensive for the run of the mill body shops but gives a very good base and does not absorb moisture.

Alec

i went to a paint shop today to find out about the colours available and to pick up some cellulose thinners i was informed by someone that you had to use an etch primer which is quite expensive but the paint guy at the shop said that my 182 zinc primer was just as good to use on bare metal before paint he did say they no longer sell cellulose paint but i could buy 2pk instead so i wont be getting paint from him i will be looking at certain places online so i can paint my own car without having to have an expensive booth or paying min £600 for some one else to do it but im told cellulose is easy to use as long as you have the right mix :0)

Hi, yes 182 is a good base primer once you've either stripped the paint down to bare metal or rubbed it down very well.

I've used www.classiccarpaints.com (Birkenhead) (mailorder) for my paint/thinners. They have a helpline for queries about your paint/paint colour 0151 6520777 once you've decided which colour you are going for. I said Clipper Blue (Morris Minor '61) They checked the code on their records and sent me the paint in 4 days, and compared to my local celly supplier they are v. cheap - (£18 Ltr) + vat etc.

lippychick wrote: paying min £600 for some one else to do it

Who quoted you that price as I would have thought that was £1000 less than a cheap paint job.

Absolutely, £600 is a bargain basement price, bottom end of a quick blow over.
They probably wouldn't even wash the car first!

Jonathon gave me some great advice about painting a while ago, so in his absence I will try and pass on the info he gave me...

I recently sprayed a car in cellulose and it came out very well, but I have since used 1k basecoat followed by a 1k clearcoat and found the results far more satisfactory, not to mention an easier process.

For bare metal you will need an etch primer, I used U-POL Acid 8 which is really expensive retail, but if you can get to a trade place is about £9/litre. I get all m paint from Hex Holdings - http://www.hex.co.uk/ - if you are local to any of their branches I can highly recommend them on price and quality of paint. They also colour match from a panel, so if you have a glove box lid or something you can take in they will match to your cars colour.

Make sure you clean down all surfaces with a panel wipe / degreaser before painting. Wipe over with a rag covered in panel wipe, then follow with a clean cloth to clean off the panel wipe. After doing this use a tack rag to remove any dust etc before painting.

If using celly, When it comes to thinners make sure you use 'Top Gloss' thinners - not necessary for primer but essential for the colour coat. Primer is only available in a few colours but I would go for grey high build primer.

For thinning primer I do it 50/50 with thinners, I do one light coat and then three wet coats of primer. Once that is dry and rubbed down, I do one light coat, I then do three wet coats of colour mixed 50/50 with thinners, followed by two coats at 75/25 (thinners/paint) and then one coat that is basically coloured thinners. this tends to bring up a good gloss and smooth out the worst of the orange peel.

Hope that helps man
George