Painting your own Car - An Alternative hi-quality finish

[thales]

I've been lurking about here now for some years. I last completed a kit car - a Beauford - in 1994, since when life has got in the way of building another, though I am planning my next build for my retirement; ah bliss - plenty of time to potter about in my workshop.

Although a lot has changed in the kit car scene over the past two decades one familiar challenge remains; that of the car finish. The builder spends months - even years - labouring away in his garage or even a driveway in the open air to build his car, but when the body is finally completed and ready for painting the builder commonly gives up the kit to a body shop for spraying; the one area looked at first by a spectator is left to a stranger to complete. This has to be done, people say; you have to bite the bullet and pay out thousands of pounds to get a pro finish...

This simply isn't so.

Yes, you could spray it yourself, but this is by no means as simple as plugging a spray gun onto the end of your compressor hose; you have to have an oil separator and a means of extracting moisture from the air line before it reaches the spray gun - and a decent one of those is going to cost, too. Skill is then required to avoid a poor result and this can only come with practice. Then what paint will you use? Spraying cellulose is easier but illegal unless your car used it originally - unlikely for a kit car - and Two-pack is deadly unless you have full breathing gear, while modern water-based car paint is now so soft you can mark it just by breathing on it.

There is another way to provide your car with a first-rate, flawless, deep-gloss painted finish you apply yourself, with no expensive gadgetry or difficult techniques; a finish that has been used for centuries and can still be seen on some vehicles today; a finish used for royalty and the aristocracy on hand-built vehicles in the full glare of state occasions. Then the demands of mass-production pushed it aside in favour of the faster, more egalitarian, spray-gun.

Of course, I am talking about Coach Painting.

Coach paint is still available today. It is a synthetic enamel paint of specially-prepared ground pigments, suspended in high bulk in refined oils that evaporate slowly; between two and five hours to touch-dry. It is made to be applied by brush; as the oils evaporate the surface tension of the paint increases and any brush marks smooth out to leave a high-gloss tough mirror shine. With the right preparation and technique a coach-painted car would not be as good but better than the average spray-paint job.

And no, I'm not joking; I mean it. I used Tekaloid twice in the 1970s to paint two cars I had patched up when I could not afford a respray; my mates at work could not believe that I had brush-painted them. When I built my Beauford in the 90s I sent it to a body-shop for a full spray that took two months and several thousand pounds, only to find when it came back that there were runs and pinholes everywhere; I could not believe that this had been done by a professional. It was chastening to realise that I could have coach-painted the car for £100 and done a better job!

If this is so, I hear you cry, then why isn't everyone using it? Well, the greatest strength of coach paint is also its greatest weakness; the hours it takes to dry and smooth out to a mirror is also the time in which dust can settle on it and mar the finish, while insects are attracted to the smell of the paint and dive-bomb it, leaving their carcasses entombed in the surface. However, in the 1970s I developed my own techniques to deal with these issues, resulting in a finish which absolutely astounded my mates and even a pro car-finisher, who went very quiet when he looked over my car.

I would like to give something back to the kit car community for all I have learned over the years and here is something I can contribute. It occurred to me that many of the MEV builders are re-bodying MX5s or building light-weight two-seaters for which a £2000 paint finish might not be appropriate, while they tend to choose bright primal colours for which coach painting is ideal. Of course, if you're dead set on that £3000 candy-apple red paint for your Cobra then go to it, but for the rest of you, those who like the satisfaction of completing the whole car yourself, those who want a deep flawless mirror-finish in the deepest lustre you could imagine, then stay with me for the next part where I can detail a much cheaper and perhaps even better finish than an expensive paint shop.
Here is an example – not my photo but a classic car painted in the open air as a first try:
Photo here

[thales]

Let me start Part 2 by making a simple disclaimer; this advice is offered freely, based on my own experience. I have no photos to show because this happened before the digital age when cameras were for your children or for weddings, when images cost money twice, once when buying the film and once for developing. I didn’t photograph the process nor the finished result so you are going to have to take this on faith or not at all. But your car has to be prepared anyway – if you don’t like the result, and I can’t imagine why you would not, then all you need is a barrier coat and it can be sprayed anyway. So what’s not to like?
So let's look at the pros and cons of the coach painted finish.
Pros
Very high-quality, long-lasting finish with full boasting rights
Very economical to complete: spread the cost over months
Expensive equipment not required (apart from high-quality paint brush)
Paint with or without a garage – even on your drive; I’ll tell you how!
No trailer-ing to a paint shop and paying out huge money for the job - get a bigger engine instead!
Corrections carried out yourself - change your mind and the colour if you want to!
Loads of paint depth for polishing many many times
All repairs from the track or road accidents can be completed yourself
Any colour can be matched as well as all standard colours supplied
Mods to bodywork made without worry - rub down and repaint it anytime
Coach paint is tough; absorbs grit and stone strikes without chipping
Can apply over other finishes

Cons
Restricted to painting in the summer
No bragging about cost
Outlandish metallic finishes not available, though some are
All the prep/rubbing down to do yourself

... and that's it. I think you can see where the balance of this argument is pointing.
Ah, but, I can hear you say, what about the dust and the insects waiting to fall upon the freshly painted surface; won't that mean endless rubbing down and repainting to get it perfect?
Well, no. Follow my advice and you will have a flawless mirror-smooth finish from the first coat ready to drive out the next day - you can always add another coat later. Endless buffing and finishing is not needed with this paint as there can be with sprayed topcoats; this paint finishes itself. That’s the beauty of it; you decide when your result is good enough – not the manager of your paint-shop.
Stay with me for part 3.

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques Part 3.

For the best results, just the same as in the paint shop, you have to ensure a smooth, even, degreased lint-free surface. I will not go into too much detail here for there is plenty of advice on this; fill a blemish, rub down, fill, rub down, for ever and ever, amen.

On my cars I used P38 to fill many dents and some holes where I had cut out rust. I used a couple of rattle cans of primer and kept filling until the whole body was smooth . Remember that dark colours in particular show every flaw, so be super-critical at this stage. I used a cellulose thinner as a degreaser but there are others you can use.

Coach paint has its own high-build primer, though I couldn't afford it when I painted my cars all those years ago; I just painted directly over the rubbed-down cellulose. Coach paint producers have etch primers for alloy panels as well as special primers for use on virgin GRP, so these should always be used, plus as many primer coats as necessary. Remember that a primer coat can absorb water so never leave a car out in the weather before you paint it; if you do blisters may appear all over the surface the first time you park the car in the sun!

For the final primer coat a good tip is to thoroughly mix 50% of primer with the gloss coat; this will smooth out the primer and minimise the rubbing down, resulting in a beautiful smooth eggshell surface ready for the top coat.

I will assume at this point that the car body is primed and stripped ready for painting. There will be no blasts of compressed air so there is no need to mask off all areas not painted, but carefully mask off any rubber seals or chrome that cannot be removed. I would advise that the bonnet, doors, the boot and any other removable panels be removed from the body and stood upright for painting, all of the surfaces thoroughly degreased (use thinners on J-Cloths because these are lint-free) and every nook and cranny carefully vacuumed to remove any trace of dust.

Yes, that dust again. Don't worry, we'll get to it ... see Part 4

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques Part 4.

Now we are getting closer to our goal; to provide a high quality, tough and high-lustre paint job for your car at low cost – perhaps less than £200.

First, there is one essential you need to find and buy; the very best quality paint brush you can afford. The brush you need has proper boar-bristle as well as synthetic filaments; these take up and hold the most paint and deliver it smoothly to the surface. Find a Purdy (no, not the shotgun) or the Hamilton Perfection. Buy a pack of three if you like, but one will do; a 2” (50mm) brush is probably the best size; expect to pay about £25-30. Using it for the primer coat is good practice, but be sure to clean the brush out with the correct thinner followed by a gentle soap and water wash, then hang the brush by a hole you drill through the handle to allow the bristles to air-dry straight. I’ll come to the best technique for laying on the paint later.

On my first car in a brick-built garage, the very time when I finally finished rubbing down just happened to be a very still evening, warm and dry with not a breath of wind. I went straight to the degrease with thinners and started painting immediately. I worked quickly round the car starting with the roof (so it didn’t matter if I leant on the sides) and before even an hour had passed I could see the paint on the roof smoothing out until there was not a single brush mark; in the glass-like surface my own plain image peered back at me. Though this was nearly forty years ago I can still remember my astonishment as if it were yesterday; this was much better than even my best hope. I found some minor blemishes the next morning; some dust contamination, but I never bothered to correct them, though I could have quite easily if I had taken the trouble.

However in my next house we were troubled all summer by tiny black flies that swarmed over any paint or oil in the garage, while the garage was timber-built, covered in creepy crawlies and spider webs. I realised that if I painted the car here, even in the garage, the car would have a fur coat before the paint dried. Somehow I would need air for me to breathe and into which the paint could evaporate, but at the same time no chance for the insects, dust and pollen to get to it.

How I resolved this paradox will be in Part 5.

[bauer]

Dont mean to butt in on your thread but I just wanted to let you know I am reading with interest. I have never heard of coach paint nor how to apply it. Maybe this stuff hasnt filtered out to the colonies yet.

Thanks

[thales]

thanks bauer. You could have it shipped to you!
Hard at work on part 5.

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques Part 5

It was not until I saw on television a deep-sea diver being treated for the bends that the answer came to me; the diver was in a sealed chamber with air being pumped into it so that he could decompress. Eureka – this was the answer!

Immediately I had finished the rubbing down and masking off and the car was ready to paint I simply bought a large sheet of builders clear plastic sheet and a roll of duct tape. I cut out a piece of plastic on the floor of the garage, rolled the car onto it, then built a tent with the plastic sheet so that the car was completely surrounded with plastic, then duct-taped all the edges together at the sides and the floor so that the car was sealed in. I took the heater out of the car and rigged it up to the car battery and mains charger so that the battery wouldn’t run flat. I gently placed car sponges into the air intake of the heater and duct-taped the air outlets to holes I cut in a corner of the plastic tent, then turned the fan on. It was noisy and cumbersome but it worked; the sponges acted as a filter and prevented the dust and the flies from entering the chamber. To lessen the internal pressure and the load on the fan motor I cut a hole in the top opposite side of the tent and duct-taped a plastic flap over it so that it would open to release air but close if the air pressure fell, while for a door I left a big overlap about three feet (1 metre) high in one corner and closed it with masking tape.

I left the motor running as I degreased all the surfaces; the air was constantly being refreshed and taking the fumes away, so although the fan was noisy it worked very well. I wore a freshly-washed boiler suit buttoned up to the neck, a shower cap right down over my ears and plastic gloves so that I looked like a demented Benny Hill (google him). You may not have realised it but we move around in a cloud of dead skin cells. The fallout we call household dust is mostly from us! This is the secret to a flawless coach-painted finish; attention to detail.

Nowadays there are plenty of in-line duct fans you can buy for less than £30 which would be quieter and much more efficient – get the best one you can afford. An alternative might be a portable fan-heater set to blow without heat, with the outlet duct taped to the chamber wall and a filter taped over the inlet; or a larger shower extractor fan; anything that will move air reliably to which a filter can be attached will do.

I recommend that you use two flat car air-filters duct-taped to a biscuit tin on the fan inlet instead of a sponge which is not very efficient. You could wear a freshly-laundered boiler suit if you like, but better to buy spray-painter’s disposable overalls (about £10 for 3) worn done-up right over the head, vinyl gloves, a new pair of safety glasses so that you don’t drop skin cells when you blink – no, I’m not kidding – and a face mask so that you can cough or sneeze without spoiling the panel you’re painting.

Leave the fan running all the time you are painting and also while the paint is drying so only filtered air will be flowing over it. This ensures that there will be very few, if any, defects.

Have I finished yet? No – lots more in part 6.

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques Part 6

If you don’t have the patience for all this paraphernalia then by all means don’t bother and just press ahead without it. I’m serious; wait for a warm dry day without wind and just paint the car; you will end up with a very good, deep-lustre finish that looks brilliant from a short distance; but close-up there will be lots of specks in the paint. What do these look like? Look again at the picture
Photo here
and admire that deep lustre; it looks like black glass, doesn’t it? But look to the darker reflections and there you will see white specks spoiling the surface. This is dust contamination.

In the very dawn of time and matter 13.7 billion years ago when the point we call a singularity exploded to form this Universe, small particles were created for the sole purpose of landing on a freshly coach painted surface on a small planet about a third of the way along a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Well no; not really, but you would think it was so, such is their persistence. If the paint finish shown on that photo is satisfactory to you – and it’s by no means poor – then go for it, and I can give you the hints you need for the brush technique later on. But if you are like me, where I strive for the very best that I can achieve, then you will want better. You will look for fewer than one such blemish per panel, or even none at all. Yes, this is achievable; it is just that it requires more thought, preparation and care.

The sealed plastic chamber admitting only filtered air is your primary goal; nothing else will be of any importance without this foundation, so make sure that the plastic roof and walls are all properly sealed together and to the floor with duct tape. Make sure there are no leaks anywhere on the fan or its filter(s), and check that the air-flap releasing the air from the chamber actually works so that there is a slight air-pressure inside the chamber while the fan is running. This makes sure that any leaks will exhaust air rather than admit it bringing dust with it. Don’t forget to reseal the flap used as a door with 2” wide masking tape on the inside as you get in and again on the outside when you leave; this will prevent any draughts and the leak of the air pressure inside.

I have more hints to help you in Part 7.

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques Part 7

Here are some more hints for the best result. These are the things that I will do when I paint my next car; there may be some more that I haven’t thought of yet.

Shoes: wear an old pair of loose trainers that are easy to slip on or off, run them through a washing machine and thoroughly dry them then seal them in a bag until you are ready to use them. Keep them inside the chamber and slip them off before you leave; never leave the chamber with these shoes on or they will pick up dust and fibres and release them into the chamber as you return to it. Put on other shoes outside to keep your socks clean.

Clothes: wear comfortable clothes all freshly laundered beneath painters overalls all done up. Again, slip off these overalls immediately you leave the chamber, store them in a sealed bag and put them on again immediately before you re-enter it to prevent contamination by pollen, pet hair and dust.

Skin: Keep all your skin covered as best you can while you are inside the chamber. Never pull off head or hand covering while inside; if you do those dead skin cells you have shed while wearing them will be liberated into the chamber ready to contaminate the painted surface.

Temperature: I have already mentioned the warm day. This is important so for best results use coach paint at 20-24oC. You could use an old trick of standing the paint tin in warm water to encourage the paint to flow, but don’t imagine that this will make it okay to paint below 20o because the paint will quickly cool down on the panel of the car and the brush marks will not smooth out.

Cold: Don’t even think of using coach paint below 10o because even if the paint actually does dry, which would take forever, water may condense on the paint surface resulting in a bloom, a milky appearance in the paint, as well as brush marks everywhere because the paint was too cold to ‘flow’. The only cure for this is to rub it down and paint it all again. If you have enough insulation in your garage you could heat it to above 20, but do not use paraffin or gas heaters because they release too much moisture in combustion. Instead consider the use of oil-filled radiators inside the chamber – though it would be much better to wait for a warmer day.

Season: In the Spring or Autumn the days may be warm but the evenings may become quite cool while the paint is drying. Consider what the temperature will be five hours after you finish painting; paint just before noon to take advantage of the warmest time of the day.

Fumes: While the oils in the paint are drying they will give off fumes which actually smell very nice, almost like perfume. It is not dangerous, like two-pack for example, and you have fresh filtered air constantly flowing into the chamber so there should be no ill effect, but ensure that either the air inlet or the exhaust air from the chamber is out in the open air, because if both are inside the garage then the fumes in the chamber will get stronger and stronger and this will not be good for your lungs.

Dismantling: When you are finished with the chamber don’t just rip it all down and throw it away; you never know what is round the corner. In case you need to paint the car again dismantle the chamber carefully and pack it away so that it can be rebuilt easily. I recommend slitting the existing joins of duct-tape carefully with a stanley knife so that the joins can be easily sealed again with new duct tape.

Okay, so now we have the properly-prepped car body sat inside the dust-free air-filtered chamber awaiting its top coat. Now we are ready for the brush painting technique; see part 8.

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques part 8

By the time you start to paint the top coat you will have already painted coats of primer, so you should have developed the correct brush technique by now – or you will have spent months rubbing down!

First – buy a pack of large clear plastic party cups and decant the paint into one to brush from that. In this way if the brush does pick up some grit only a small amount of paint will be contaminated, not the whole tin, and if you do happen to kick one over – listen, you will – there’s a lot less clearing up to do. If the paint in the cup starts to go off simply dispose of the cup and use another. In any event, always use a fresh cup on each painting session or large panel; this eliminates the possibility of cross-contamination. The more attention to details like this the better your result and the less rubbing down!

Then find a small (10mm) paint brush, wash it thoroughly, rinse it in thinners and keep it in the top pocket of your overalls. The purpose of this correcting brush is to lift off the paint any hairs that shed from the topcoat brush; even in this top-quality Purdy or Hamilton there will be a few. Pull out the little brush, scoop the tip of its bristles at right angles to the offending bristle and lift the loose bristle straight off the new paint, then feather again with the topcoat brush. Wipe the correcting brush on a J-cloth and return it to your pocket. If you remove a loose hair from the surface as soon as it happens you will save hours of rubbing down later. Ask me how I know ... However, if you spot a hair after the correction window, (10-20mins) then leave it strictly alone; you missed your chance.

Next – mix the paint. I recommend a paint-mixer attachment you can put onto your cordless drill to save you a lot of time, but follow the instructions on your tin for the best method. The manufacturers specify their own thinners you can use but I seriously urge you not to use them; you need high viscosity for the vertical surfaces or the paint will all end up on the chamber floor.

Brush technique is actually very simple and you will soon get into the routine, which is load – apply - feather. Always work on one panel at a time and an area about 600mm square before you start another; be disciplined with yourself and don’t rush ahead before you do all three – load, apply, feather, or the paint will start going off before you can. Here it is in detail:

Load: dip the brush and wipe it once on the cup to prevent drips; if you drip a lot the paint will get everywhere as you walk, kneel and sit during the painting – so leave a J-cloth lightly dipped in thinners on the floor you can use to wipe up any drips with your foot as soon as you notice them.

Apply: Always start on the roof (if there is one) and at the point furthest away from you. Apply the paint liberally and spread it evenly over the 600mm with up/down strokes then side to side strokes, then up and down strokes again. Do this swiftly without dawdling and then work this paint into the previous 600mm square. When the paint is evenly spread start at the join with the previous 600mm square and

Feather: wipe the brush carefully up and down the paint in vertical strokes with just the bristle-tips touching the paint. This feathers the surface and gives the paint the best chance of smoothing out; the vertical strokes should eliminate a possibility of sagging caused by gravity and encourages the paint to flow; remember, gravity is your friend. Move straight onto the next imaginary square and repeat until the whole panel is complete. Do not stop and leave a panel right in the middle for an hour and then resume; the join will be noticeable. Always stop at a shutline or natural feature where a join will not be noticed. If there is no such place on the panel then do not stop painting the panel until it is finished!

Correction Window: You only have about a 10-20 minute window to make corrections with the brush (depending on temperature), after which any more brushing will become obvious, so it is important that you do it right first time. If you do find a run or a sag in a previous panel leave it; anything you do with the brush will just make it worse. After a week you can rub it down flat and redo the panel.

Relax: the paint will do its magic for you so don’t fret. If the temperature is right and you finished with a feathering stroke the paint must smooth magically into a mirror-finish that will utterly astonish you just as it did me all those years ago. Also remember that even if you make a complete balls-up of it, which is very unlikely, you can still rub it down and do it again with no cost but time!

After all this endless preparation the body will probably take less than two hours to top coat. Paint the bonnet, doors and boot separate from the body if you can and take great care with these because they are probably the first thing people look at when they first survey your work; lay them slightly tilted above horizontal when you paint them so that the paint does not gallop with gravity. You do not have this option with the wings and sides of the body and this is where both the vertical and feathering strokes are vital; they minimise the chances of sagging and runs. With all the body apertures open it will be easy to paint the shutlines; but don’t forget to vacuum and degrease them thoroughly with the rest of the body before your topcoat brush goes in there.

Once the topcoat is finished carefully remove any masking tape before the paint has set, leave the chamber with the fan still running, make sure everyone in your house knows that they must not enter the chamber for at least five hours, then you must go and have a cool beer – this has to be done, you understand; it’s a tradition.

There’s more: see Part 9

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques Part 9

Let’s have a look at the costs involved. These can only be approximate because on ebay there are always bargains to be had, but in general you should be able to paint your car for about £200. Let’s have a look:

Plastic sheet, medium weight, £20 (do not use second-hand sheeting, not worth it)
Paintbrush, 50mm £25
Wooden batten £15
2 rolls Duct Tape £16
Duct fan, in line £25
Duct pipe to suit £14
Car filter(s) £8
Primer, GRP, 0.5 Litre £18
Primer, alloy, 0.5 litre £18 (If required)
Primer, hi build 1 L £38
Topcoat 1L £38
Thinner 1L £10 NOT for use in the paint!

Remember that 1 litre of topcoat paint would cover a large car at least twice, but allow extra for the hi build primer because you may need several coats and you will need a 50/50 with the topcoat for the eggshell final primer.

Of course if you are painting without a garage then to this list must be added the timber for the frames or batten, screws and tools if you don’t have them. Also the finishing consumables; rag, J-cloths, wet & dry, p38, disposable gloves and overalls, filling putty etc can be purchased as required. But unlike the spray shop, these costs can be spread out over months rather than be found all at once and this ideally suits the builder on the tighter budget.

Do not imagine that coach paint is hard to find, or may become obsolete in the future. There are at least four firms I found producing it; it is used for heavy goods vehicles, buses, construction and agricultural plant, railway locomotives (resistant to 800 degrees C) and rolling stock, fairground machines, steam traction engines, canal longboats and of course, horse-drawn carriages and state coaches. And just in case there are cynics amongst you – no, I have no connection with any paint firm!

Since the finished cost is something like a tenth of the paint-sprayer’s bill, should you not seriously consider this finish for your car?
Still more in Part 10.

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques – Part10

Let’s have a word about the painting tent. To make the chamber is easy inside the garage. Source the plastic sheet, not too heavy and it must be virgin sheet; if you use an old builder’s sheet it will be covered in dust which will shed all over your paint! Cut out a piece for the floor first. Then use a batten of timber as long as the car, put it in the middle of the plastic sheet and nail it to the rafters of the garage roof so that both sides of the plastic sheet hang down equally. Now batten the sides of the plastic to the sides of the garage and move the car into the garage. Carefully cut the plastic ends to fit the end of the garage and the doors, and then get the duct tape out; you will probably need two rolls. Just make the holes you need for the inlet duct and for the exhaust flap and duct tape them carefully; the more care you take with this the less correcting you will need to do to the finish.

Now I did say earlier that even if you only have a front driveway to build your car on, (brave, brave man), coach painting is still available to you. However, you have more work to do; you have to build a timber frame to support the plastic sheet. Make sure the day of painting will be dry and fine and that the chamber will be out of the sun, otherwise you’ll cook!

You’ll need 3X2 timber in 3 metre lengths and make it in 4X6 panels so that you can carry them easily. Remember to have at least one triangulation on each panel so that they stay square and true and use screws rather than nails which would work loose or make two corners with a triangle of MDF or OSB.

As long as the frame is rigid you can stretch the plastic across to make the roof; you can always screw a timber across the middle to support it, but only if there is no rain, otherwise the weight of water will collapse it fairly quickly. You should not consider painting when it is raining anyway; there would be too much moisture in the air. Once the plastic covers both ends and you leave extra plastic on one end for the door flap you can duct-tape all the seams until it is air-tight.

Otherwise, use the front of the house if you can to make a lean-to; batten across above the front room windows, then draw the plastic roof down to a timber frame on your front fence – sorted. Extend the ground sheet up the wall to the top batten and duct tape this to the sides to make the airtight seal. Similarly, depending on your layout, you can use a garden shed or a greenhouse to lean-to provided it is strong enough.

A side driveway is much easier; you can build a lean-to by battening the plastic roof to the side of the house and across to the boundary fence or wall; again, extend the ground sheet up the wall to the batten and seal it all round with duct-tape. Rig a simple timber triangle both ends to prevent the plastic flapping around too much and you’re ready to roll.

If you have a south-facing driveway then you have a real problem; the sun will render the inside of the plastic tent untenable in just a few minutes. There are two alternatives; wait for high summer/heat wave when the evenings will be above 20 degrees C and paint it as soon as you’re in the shade, or shade the chamber with a tarpaulin stretched out a foot above the tent to trap most of the sun.

Your neighbours will be looking sideways at all this but don’t worry. They probably know you are building a car so they think you’re a bit mad already. And no, you don’t need planning permission because it’s a temporary structure and will be dismantled even before the council officer turns up!

I am almost finished, see Part 11

[thales]

Coach Painting Techniques – Part 11

Now a word about lighting. I painted the first car with a single 60w bulb in the centre of the garage ceiling; because I could not see properly I made a brush error right on the centre of the boot and there was the odd hair in the paint as well as some dust. I never bothered to correct them because they were minor blemishes, but if you want to do better then you will need good lighting.

If your tent is in the garage then the lighting inside the plastic by the doors will be good– remember that you can leave the garage doors fully open, but the light will be poor right at the back. I suggest the brightest halogen lights you have shining on the tent at the back of the garage. Alternatively, a halogen uplighter from your living room shining onto a white panel placed above it at 45 degrees would be good.

I will take no chances; I aim to build my own light column that I can move around with me as I paint. I am thinking of a metre long piece of wood on a swivel mount and a sturdy stand. The wood will have 6 bulb-holders screwed to it and wired to a plug through two switches, 3 bulbs each to a switch; in each holder will be an energy-saving bulb equivalent to 100w. I will have 300w or 600w of lighting a metre long to one side just behind me; I should be able to spot a rogue bristle with that!

If your tent is outside then you should have no problem with lighting provided that you didn’t get black plastic sheet! If you opt for agricultural plastic sheet for your tent I advise you not to choose the blue tinted sheet used in poly-tunnels. They make colours appear very peculiar and can give you a headache after a while.

-o0o-

There you are; I think I have made the case for the alternative to the spray paintshop. I learned my lesson with my Beauford and I will not bother with a sprayer again; I can produce a better finish myself. I know some of you have paintshops you have used before, those who are mates or in whom you have full confidence and if you can afford it why not? Those of you building an Ultima for about £45K will not begrudge £2K or more for the paint, either. But for those builders who are doing a rebodied MX5 or a little sports two-seater on a more modest budget, or for those who are going to blat their cars round a track all day and will not like to risk £2K paint; and not just for kit cars but for any vehicle you want to paint, I do urge you to consider the coach-painted finish; you will be astounded by the quality and it is no exaggeration when I say that people will not believe you have painted the car yourself! What better recommendation can there be than that?

Thanks for reading; if you have any comments or questions please append them below.

Thales

[tomaff]

A very interesting read. One question, how welll would this painting technique work around the tubular frames? Can you foresee any problems with the angle and tubular nature involved in the chassis?

T

[thales]

Thanks Tomaff.

Without thinning and painting on top of a proper metal primer it should work perfectly well; it worked very well in the restricted areas of shutlines and covered well on the more tubular areas like the roof pillars nearly forty years ago; while the formula has been greatly improved since then. I think the hi-gloss finish would look spectacular on exo-frames and it would be very tough, too.

Just given some more thought to this. At the gloss stage I would mask off the minor tubes at the main tubes and paint the large longtitudinal tubes first; they attract the most attention. I would leave them for a few days and then prepare a card mask for the smaller tubes, slip it over the small tube and then paint them. In this way every tube should be completed inside the correction window and there would be no brush marks.

The exo-frame is also very small compared to a full car; the painting tent would only have to be half the size for this, while you could paint the body panels separately. You would only need metal primer if the frame is bare; there may be primer on it already and that would be fine with a light scoring with some 600. You would need just half a litre of the GRP primer and half a litre of each colour you were going for.