My GC Hardtop project

[mstrrab1992]

i may be a bit lop eyed, but is the rear of ur exhaust like diagonal?? is it just not tight thought i might point out the obvious ;)

[mstrrab1992]

i see a mower in ur shed! 1, can u mow my lawns , 2 which gets more attention, the car, or the mower

[A112H]

i may be a bit lop eyed, but is the rear of ur exhaust like diagonal?? is it just not tight thought i might point out the obvious ;)

Lop eyed you might be but I have the engine, gearbox and the front half of the exhaust out ATM.

[mstrrab1992]

i see. i see.. anywho, coming along nicely ! IM PRESSED!

[A112H]

Wish me luck

[orangelancer]

yeah boy. mega pumped to see this finished and running.

[Nath76LA]

Good luck Jas.
Bet you can't wait till it's finish.

[A112H]

Well there were a few nervous moments but I managed to get two nice coats down. I have just finished giving it a wet sand to make sure it is nice and smooth.
Will give a good wipe down with wax and grease remover in the morning and get stuck in with the paint again. Only used about 500ml so should be able to get a good 6 or 7 coats on it tomorrow

[GC75]

good to see jason, cant wait to see it finished!

[A112H]

metry » Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:30 pm

yeah boy. mega pumped to see this finished and running.

Nath76LA » Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:49 pm

Good luck Jas.
Bet you can't wait till it's finish.

GC75 » Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:14 pm

good to see jason, cant wait to see it finished!

Cheers guys,
I am up bright and early to check over the sanding from last night and give it a wax and grease remover before I start painting again. Don't wanna annoy the neighbours with the compressor before 10am so trying to fing things to keep me busy for a few hours, lol
Hopefully I will be posting the finished pics later today

[kenvv]

will be sweet when this is finished. i will meet you somewhere for a cruise. my car should be finished painting in a week or two.

goodluck today

[A112H]

Okay, so this morning the paint is coming out all spdier web like. I am running the same pressure and 60 % thinner mix that I was last night. Any ideas?
It looks terrible and will now need a shit load of sanding

[75wagon]

Is the breather hole in the paint pot blocked? That stops (or upsets)the suction of the paint up into the venturi working properly.
Did you clean the gun out last night or leave the paint in it? If so, have you shaken it up? The paint separates over a period of time.
Are any of the holes in your air cap blocked? This affects the atomisation.
Are you using the same type of paint and thinners as you did last night? Confirm you are using the right thinners for the paint being used.

Hope some of these help?
I'll pm you my number just in case you want to call me for faster help.

Dave...

[A112H]

Cheers for the tips Dave.
I tell ya what 3 weeks ago I had to compile and submit a tender to DTEI for over $6m worth or product but this is way more stressful, lol
Turns out I was running the paint too thick. I thought 50/50 start the 70/30 middle and a 80/20 finish to bring up a shine was the way of it. Turns out that Acrylic like 70/30 at the thickest or it spatters and make hair like cobwebs. Got that sorted and now have 8 healthy coats

Thanks to Dave's advice I now have some 3M super shine acrylic thinners to do my last 2 or 3 coats.
I am now paused for lunch and then back into it

[A112H]

Progress pics, it is kinda orange peely but trust me, that is better than the spiderwebs shit. I can sand out the orange peel, lol.

[mstrrab1992]

dont rub up against it

[mstrrab1992]

assuming what im seeing is correct, watch out for the hole when u paint

[orangelancer]

looking good mate. i thought i could see some marks on the paint but it turned out my computer screen was dirty. just a quick question though, are you gonna do the red stripe down the side like in your signature?

[A112H]

Okay, chucked on two more coats and leaving it alone now, lol
Will give it a colour sand after work tomorrow night. I have enough paint left to do 3 coats with the super shine thinners

metry » Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:39 pm

looking good mate. i thought i could see some marks on the paint but it turned out my computer screen was dirty. just a quick question though, are you gonna do the red stripe down the side like in your signature?

Yeah, the stripe is vinyl and will go on last

mstrrab1992 » Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:28 pm
assuming what im seeing is correct, watch out for the hole when u paint

Yeah I had to watch my step a few times, lol


Overall I am happy with my first painting effort. The were problems and there is some orange peel but I have ended up with a nice even coat with no runs and looks good. I will finish it off during the week and start getting the trim and interior back in.
As usual, there will be picks

[81GL]

Looking good Jason!!

[A112H]

Cheers mate

I was asked by another member for all the details and pricing on the paint job.

This was my answer, hope it helps other members who are thinking about painting their car.

Pretty basic really, this is my first paint job so there might be better products or better ways of doing it but this is what worked for me.
4lt of ProTech acrylic paint - Mine is 2005 Mitsubishi 380 Mawson White. $189
4lt of ProTech Wax N Grease remover $39
20lt of ProTech General purpose thinners $69
4lt of 3M Super Shine finishing thinners $28
Low pressure spray gun with 1.4mm nossle $130
Lots of wet & dry sand paper - 180, 360, 1200, 2000 about $40
Tack cloths and clean rags $40
Tape and paper $40
All up maybe $600 but I did borrow a mates compressor.

Pretty much all I did was make it smooth and keep it clean.
Wet sand the body until you get it super smooth, no deep scratches or dents. Wipe it down with wax and grease remover until it is spotless.
High fill and small scrathes, sand and wipe down with W&G
Tape up anything you don't want painted and wipe down again with W&G

Find an old panel or shed wall to practice on before hitting the car

You acrylic paint should be mixed about 75% thinners and 25% paint to start with. Make the last normal coat 85% thinners and 15% paint.
Let this dry totally, at least 24 hours in a warm to hot shed.
Sand this with 2000 wet and dry so it is like glass the wipe with W&G
Mix your last two coats with the super shine finishing thinners and mix it about 80% thinners 20% paint.
Let this dry again totally, like 48 hours or more.
Give it a light sand if needed but really should only need a good polish to bring up the shine.

As I said, this is all based on what I have been told and experiance from my first try, lol

Hope this helps.

Forgot the drop sheets x4 @ $2.50 each

P.S. I can not be held liable if you try this and f**k it up

[75wagon]

Glad to see you are having a go at this yourself.
It's a learning curve, and you 2nd 3rd and 4th attempts always turn out better

As for orange peel and what thickness to run through your gun, quite often it's a balance between gun set up. Once you set the right set up, you'll know it by feel.
Air pressure, air/ paint mixture adjustment, fan adjustment and paint thickness.
Get them right, and the car pretty much paints itself.

Dry spray is caused by:
Too much air pressure
paint to thick
fan pattern too wide and/ or trying to spread the paint to wide (read as not enough paint)

It sounds like you paint thickness isn't the problem. What pressure are you running? I spray at about 35psi? Raise or lower yours until you find a pressure that suits you.

4lt of ProTech acrylic paint - Mine is 2005 Mitsubishi 380 Mawson White. $189

Just curious, and to help those reading, is this a group 1 2 or 3? I assume being white, it would be a group 1?
As colours darken, or need stronger tinters, they go up in groups, and are therefore more expensive. Group 1 is the cheapest.

P.S. I can not be held liable if you try this and f**k it up

Neither can I

Dave...

[A112H]

I found 40psi a bit low, seemed best for me about 50psi.
Yeah the paint is group 1 and it is almost blue when you see it next to a pure white. I saw him mix it and there was a fair bit of yellow in there too.
Once I got the pressure sorted the last two coats were perfect.
I will give it a colour sand tomorrow night and the Tuesday or Wednesday I will hit it with the special super shine thinner and if all goes well we should just need a polish after that

[mstrrab1992]

he's coming to do mine next arnt ya jason

[A112H]

I am all for helping fellow members but if I never paint another car it will be too soon.
This is a first and last attempt. Although my Son and Wife seem to think I want to go through all this again on a car for him .................. I think he will be getting a new car

[orangelancer]

youll say that now jase bu i can imagine once its all done youll have a different point of view. once the car is all done youll be able to sit back and admire the car thinking its all mine

[A112H]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, the reason I decided to paint it was because I had done everything else. When it is finished there wont be one nut, bolt, wire or piece of material that hasn't been replaced, renewed or remade by me. The only thing I haven't touched is the head lining as it is still mint anyway.
I hope the old fella I bought it from is still alive and in the same house. One of my first trips in it will be to show him what I have done, hope he likes it, lol

[GC75]

looks good jason, wish i had a coupe aha

[A112H]

GC75 » Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:46 pm

looks good jason, wish i had a coupe aha

You did have one I told ya not to sell, lol
I don't think there are any for sale at the moment either. Are you looking or wishing?

[mstrrab1992]

Vroom we all wish we had coupes I wish I had spare lAncer parts or wish to sell my commodore