Painting Techniques

[GoLfMan]

i need some tips on painting in order to get a nice glassy finish that i want when i respray the two door this coming holidays.
i resprayed a panel on the four door and it came up dull i was told that this was because i didnt put cutting compound on the 1st layer of coulour befor the clear laquer. and it was warm enough.

[gotrice]

Last time I painted a car I used presure packs so I cant help you. And if I do offer advice tell me to get stuffed coz I know nothing about paint, other than it stops my car from rusting.

[GoLfMan]

then why reply? :shock: :shock: :shock:

[Golf Loon]

I`m a horrible painter man, spend the money on a pro job.
Do the prep work and then spend the money.
Or have a matt black one!

[sydneymk1]

the first Q is 2pac or acrilic (cant spell)

i did mine in acrylic but this takes far more time and prepareation

always stick with the same type of paints lots of paints react with each other and craz

so once u have done any rust removal and welding (welding can warp pannels better to treat and fill small non structural rust) primer using a filler primer couple of coats then do a mist spay over the area and rub back with block & with 800 wet sandpaper (this shows any highs and lows) .

colour long even stokes keeping gun the same distance away for the entire stroke. with acrylic u can cut it back with compound or 1200 paper before clear and after clear carful when using a buffing pad on large grinder doesnt take long to buff back to primer on a corner. hope this helps. painting is a lot of work 2 pac is ment to be easier

[GoLfMan]

im just gunna respray the original colour. is 2pac a different kinda paint?

[GoLfMan]

thanks for the tips!!

[Golfwise]

2 pac is too difficult at home and is very unforgiving whereas acrylic doesn't have the shine but will dry off quickly and any boo boos can be either touched up or rubbed out with fine paper before buffing.Using clear over your colour can give a 2 pac look.
Acrylic is a lot more work but user freindly. :D

[gldgti]

if you do it right, enamel can give you a nice gloss too. plus its cheap and is great for protection and practicality - probably it'll never look as good though.

if your going original, im pretty certain that most every mk1 would have had a baked enamel finish. baking is hard at home, but you dont have to do it....

pick a good day for it - my golf doesnt look all that great after only 3yrs with the enamel job i gave it, but the weather could have been better and i only used 2L of paint to do the whole car...should have been 4 or 5 i reckon.

good luck

[GoLfMan]

cheers mate.

[GoLfMan]

im respaying the original colour which is an olive colour. correct me if im wrong, isnt it called martinin olive? and where do you find the paint code?

one more thing. does it matter what temperature you prime a panel in?

[Golf Loon]

Cold and damp makes the paint not dry. Or have bubbles. Middle of the day only at the moment

[Golfwise]

LS's were painted in acrylic
GLS's baked
Any Auto paint shop will have the code for the formula
which is Dulon CLR 622.
Enamel needs warm condition as it doesn't dry off the gun and will pick up dirt and dust as it does slowly dry and the overspray is messy and hard to apply without runs if you are a novice.Good for farm machinery though.

[GoLfMan]

cheers mate :D

[Golf Loon]

Yeah enamels good, I have used a gloss roller to apply it before now. OK for fridges and rippled plastic panels like bumpers.

My mate painted his kombi with a roller and enamel paint and it looked surprisingly good!

Need to be ready to go and wait for a HOT day. Or leave it in a sealed garage for three days.

[gldgti]

funny that all the rust prone ls'd had the acryillic....

interesting - farm machinery...... well, its a diesel.....not quite a tractor tho ;-)

[Golfwise]

It was common for LS's to have surface rust through the top coat particularly on real early build ones, they got better but were never up tp the baked e on the German GLS which in their time were some of the best paint finishes around.
Enamel is not unlike modern 2 pac,looks great if painting conditions are good :)

[GoLfMan]

so what paint should i use. enamel or acrylic??

[brisvegas_golf2]

hey man i am a spray painter and to answer your question "what to paint it in" i would go either 2k or cobra, cause for enamel to be any good you have to add a special additive which makes it like to 2k,which has a chemical reaction to dry. acrylic is alright i use alot of acrylic at work on trucks and some cars. 2k gives a mush better finnish and it is not hard to paint just do be scared of it. cobra is the best to use cause you put your base colour down which is 50% paint and 50% thinners so it is like acrylic and it dries really quick and then all you have to do is put 2k clear over it to give you the gloss much better to work with and is a lot better quallity paint, and if you are going to respary it i would go with that cause you would have a much better looking car

[GoLfMan]

hey man its good to hear it from a pro. so a cobra base colour. and a 2k clear? also for a home job bris i was thinking about putting up some plastic sheeting around the car port to create a little spray booth but would i put the panel in the sun first? suggestions? also do you do anything with the base coat after laying it and how many layers?
cheers

[alex g]

thanks for all the ground work this is helping me out no end to

[brisvegas_golf2]

yeah i would go for that,but be care full spraying at home don't piss your neighbours off cause if they report you, it could be a big fine. get your self some of those cheap heatlight from bunnings and even a heat gun cause tey are good at quikly drying out paint as long as you don't leave it in one place to long.

[Belgianwaffler]

2 pack has a nice finish possibly the best if done right but you can't do that in your garage besides it is illegal in NSW to store the chemicals (2 pack) on a non commercial site (ie : your home or shed).

Acrylics is tidious but if done right can look great you have to make sure that there is no moisture in the air from your compressor (a large tank is better).
if your really keen make a secondary tank (has to be able to sustain the pressure required for spray painting) with a removable cover ..one end is attached to the compressor tank outlet (after the regulator) and the other end to your hose extension... fill the tank with toilet rolls(don't unroll them) ..what this will do is keep the air dry and improve the spraying.
An other thing is the spray job need to be done away from heat and sunlight, moderated day with between 17degrees C to 25 degrees C that is the best I found for the paint to be applied; also not on a rainy day or very dry day ...
Finally I'm not a spray painter so if you dissagre with the above I will not contradict you ..but this is what I have done in the past and it worked for me ..I don't anymore ..to much work and those solvent are no good for you.

[GoLfMan]

no its good to see different techniques. that way i can see which one works for me. thanks for your input :)