Noob to painting.

DirtRodHillJack · #1 09-21-2015, 09:04 AM

I've been delayed in making progress in getting my 100 restored. I'm not looking for showroom quality or anything. But I wanted to get the rust and scratches cleaned and sealed up with some fresh primer and paint. The weather is getting cooler, and i need to get my 100 back together so I can blow snow with it this winter.

I've got the majority of sheet metal down bare via chemical stripper and wire wheel for the really stubborn paint that stripper didn't touch. As well, I wire wheeled the hell out of any rust I could get to. But there is some rust behind spot welds (like on the column / battery box) that I can't access to sand down.

First things first, is stripped & wire wheeled down to bare metal good enough, Or should I DA sand all my panels before priming? Something like 80 grit?

The spray gun I'll be using is a pretty old unit my dad has. Not sure if it's HVLP or not. But we've painted other things with it before. Usually achieves an orange peel finish. But, like I said, I'm not looking for showroom gloss.

I'm largely unaware of what good paint and primer to turn to. It would seem that Enamel paint is the way to go? Majic is tempting because it's cheap. But I want' something that's resilient against UV, chipping and oil or gas hitting it. For primer, I'm hoping to find something that is good at preventing rust. If it's got some build to it for hiding pits in the sheet metal, that's even better.

If I was sane, I'd probably pay a pro to do the painting.

olds45512 · #2 09-21-2015, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtRodHillJack

If I was sane, I'd probably pay a pro to do the painting.

Your only in Ohio so load it up and bring it over.

The wire wheel has a tendency to leave large scratches behind which will show in the paint t so you should go over it with a da, 80 grit is way to course and will also leave scratches behind to large to paint over so I'd recommend either 220 or 320 grit to finish up the metal.

Alot of people rave about the hvlp guns from harbor freight and while I have no experience with them it would probably be worth the 20 bucks to buy one and have a nice new gun to spray with.

I use the case/ih irongard paint and it looks real nice and is very user friendly. For primer your going to want a 2 component product that's direct to metal, ppg has some and so does transtar just to name a few.

sawdustdad · #3 09-21-2015, 01:50 PM

I've been using standard automotive or Rustoleum primers and IH paint in the rattle can. With good technique, you can get a very nice finish with rattle cans, even if the price is higher. For me, it's ease of use and ability to paint a few pieces at a time as I get to them. The finish is as durable as any paint, I think.

If your Dad's paint gun/equipment is old, it probably not HVLP, which is a relatively new process/technique. (20yrs?).

I just bought and used my first HVLP gun/turbine this past month. It's a Wagner consumer unit, but it worked very well spraying unthinned polyurethane varnish on a set of cabinets in my shop. Very easy to use compared to a high pressure gun. I think it would be perfect for spraying cub parts if you had bulk paint, if you can get the viscosity right.

zippy1 · #4 09-21-2015, 11:26 PM

I switched over to a HF HLVP $25 gun this year with the IH Irongard paint in federal yellow and the Omni paint for the 901 white. Both spray great, and the finish beats the rattle cans all to heck. I did my 100 with the Cub Cadet rattle cans and it was very expensive with how many cans it took, and the finish isn't near as nice or durable as the mix and spray...
Try and get as much rust removed as you can or it'll rear it's ugly head in a short time, sneaking right through your new paint job.
Follow Tim's (olds) advise and you should be fine

DirtRodHillJack · #5 10-20-2015, 10:59 AM

For better or for worse, I've been making progress. Wound up just going with what the IH dealer had in stock. Cub Cadet yellow (got one quard, will probably need two) and a single quart of IH white. (not the proper 1964 color, but who's going to know?) 2 coats of buff primer (2 quarts) wet sanded with 400 grit and using some napa surface cleaner. Now laying down color.

Thanks for recommending the harbor freight bargain HVLP gun. It's worked great. Granted, I'm not super picky. But I've only had a couple of runs and oopsies due to my own disorganization and rookie method.

Laid down my second coat of white last night. Debating about wet sanding with 600 grit before laying down a 3rd coat. Using Valspar hardener at roughly 8:1 paint / hardener. Thinner I've been starting at 8:1 and then adding until thinned to my liking. Probably around 5:1 or 6:1 paint / thinner.

The weather's gotten cooler on me. So I'm a bit paranoid that my paint and or hardener isn't going to cure correctly. I may need to get a bullet heater to finish this out.

Here's a couple of photos. I love IH white.

http://imgur.com/a/EjSzc

TheSaturnV · #6 10-20-2015, 06:57 PM

Lookin' real good, I think you've made some excellent choices while you figure this out. You'll be the neighborhood paint pro before you know it!

bocephus1991 · #7 10-21-2015, 12:36 AM

Looks good! One thing I'd do is paint the inside of the rims, mount the tires and mask them off and finish paint the outer part of the rim so you don't scratch them all up. I scratched mine pretty good and had alot of touch up to do.

TheSaturnV · #8 10-21-2015, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bocephus1991

Looks good! One thing I'd do is paint the inside of the rims, mount the tires and mask them off and finish paint the outer part of the rim so you don't scratch them all up. I scratched mine pretty good and had alot of touch up to do.

Same here, and they WILL get scratched at the tire shop. One tip on the masking, start collecting junk mail postcards from your mail, neighbors, etc., and when you go to paint your rims, simply let all the air out and you'll be able to push the post cards in between the rim and tire, overlapping the next card. It will look like a big round card fan when done. I do this and don't even have to mask at all. The cone of cards catches all the overspray.

I showed how to do it in one of my restoration/painting videos on youtube, but I just don't remember which one at the moment.

Oak · #9 10-21-2015, 07:53 AM

Looks good. What do you guys think of this stuff? http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/s_t...izer-Spray.htm
I've been using it on the underside of mower decks and then spraying primer and paint over it.

TheSaturnV · #10 10-21-2015, 09:25 AM

I will try that stuff.

Some of the most durable finishes I've created on equipment, and even my old '88 300ZX have been with rust converters. The spare tire well on the Z had a serious head start with rust around the drain plug until I hit it with some converter. It hasn't gained an inch since then, and that was at least 20 years ago.

I basically just paint the underside of my mowing decks with a similar product and do nothing else. The only part that the finish fails is from the jet blast of grass and sand, and those are bright steel.