I tried this almost exactly a year ago and failed – miserably!
So, for Blue Take 2, I researched,
talked to as many car folk as I could find, watched some You Tubes, did more research, talked to the
guys at the paint store, twice, and finally figured out what I did wrong, I think, I hope.
Blue Take One - Fatal Error: You may recall that when I sprayed
the color (base) coat (a year ago), it "pulled”
the urethane primer under it (the color coat solvents soaked into the primer and disolved the primer, making it wrinkle). I was forced to fix all the wrinkled areas before shooting the second color
coat. That extended time between color coats
was the fatal error. The second color coat didn't chemically bond with the cured first coat. And since i didn't scuff the first coat, it didn't mechanically bond either.
(Small Explanatory Ramble: Paint
sticks to itself in two ways, physically (or mechanically) and chemically. Coats must be sprayed within a given timeframe for the succeeding coats to chemically bond to the previous
coat. If you spray another coat after the time elapses, you must roughen or "scuff" (usually with a Scotch pad) the surface so that
the next coat will physically bond to the previous coat. I should have scuffed every surface before
spraying the next color coat. I knew
that, but didn’t think of it at the time, absolutely gormless!)
And you may recall, the areas with the second color coat, every-single-one, pealed off as easily as a days old sunburn.
The Fix: What did I do differently this time? I sanded (how I love sanding!) every surface (except for the engine
bay, interior and boot interior) back to metal and sprayed a two-part epoxy primer. That was key! No pulling the primer, by crikey!
Serendipitous Benefit: “There is a providence that protects idiots, drunkards,
children, and the United States of America.” – Otto Von Bismarck
Since I had to sand every surface
again(!), I took the time to closely examine my body work and found many places
that were less-than-awesome. I re-worked
several areas that are now in much better shape than if I had succeeded with
Blue Take One. A costly way to fix the
body work, but Alphie is better for it.
But still, it sucks to suck!
Blue Take Two sprayed like it was
supposed to – smoothly without any wrinkling and every coat within the time frame! Alphie now sports three base (color) coats
and FIVE clear coats, boo frickin ya!
RUNS: So, what’s next? Seems I ran the clear coat like Niagara
Falls! Next post will be about fixing (an
embarrassing number of) runs in the clear coat.
Did I mention that I love sanding… so much... so fun...
A photo journal of the re-re-spray!
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| Epoxy Primer |
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| My wife was taking the pics so I snuck into a shot |
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| I had the paint guys mix it "ready-to-spray" so just stir a bit and spray |
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| Lots of sitting down and getting up! |
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| The base coat sprayed easily with no runs |
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| An ugly art installation to be sure, but hanging everything helped me paint all sides
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