That is really impressive! I have wondered if a rookie (like me) could ever successfully attempt paint work.
ATTABOY! Don Snook -----Original Message----- From: clay [mailto:redgh...@comcast.net] Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2017 12:37 AM To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com>; Harold Monroe <htrmon...@gmail.com>; Alexander Monroe <alexkmon...@gmail.com> Subject: [MBZ] Mayan Gold … is not the gold I thought it would be. Very red, into orange. Summit racing had a deal on single stage gold paint for $130/gal. I was not interested in paying twice that for a two stage base and then getting clear as well. But, I ended up ordering clear anyway, just in case. So, Allen came to me in original MB gold for 1982. Not sure the code, but the clear was trashed and there was much damage to paint as well as pitting and scratches. I did not want to get crazy or go overboard in making the car a DD. The paint would need attention, since the body and interior are in rather good form. No rust at all, most systems working, spare parts came with the free car, engine runs and transmission shifts. It was really just a bunch of PnP updating. The paint. though, was another game altogether. I had done rattle can on Polei, and that was not going to play for a DD. I learned all the what not to do with that car. A real gun spray was the only solution. Would I send it out or do it my own self was the question. I looked into cost for pro job as well as pro paint. Maaco single stage was about the same cost as a gallon of base coat, but I did not want to pay that much for a half donkey job. I am able to do that level for less. Except, I ended up spending about what I would have paid them to do the job myself. I had to source all my own tools and the prep items, which made for a pretty good chunk of change. Upgrades to the compressor set up, guns, paint, prep items. Then I needed a paint booth. Rent one for a couple days, or ask mother if her garage might do? The bottom feeder in me went with Mom’s two car garage. Tape, staples, 7 mil visquine, a box fan, some furnace filters, old bedsheets, a heater, a pair of Ikea lights, paper suit, full face chemical respirator, and the paint stuff, and I was good to go. I spent most of the day setting up the paint area and masking off the car. By the time I got it all put right, it was past dinner, but still light enough for a novice idiot to attempt a spray. Turned out it was too dark to see properly and lighting is really key to being able to tell what you are doing. Space is another thing you can never have enough of. Wetting the floor is a very smart thing to do, otherwise your feet and socks end up stuck to the floor after a while. The paper monkey suits are not built with sturdy zippers, so you have to tape yourself in and then do the pee-pee dance the rest of the spray and clean up, until you can escape. If you remove all the dangly bits and extraneous matter, you are less likely to have bald spots or need to clean paint off things later. Use a primer coat all over the car and do not attempt last minute spot fixes, as you will be fixing drips, runs and smears, as well as finding that the stuff below telegraphs. Plastic is a crap wall and will ripple and flap, such that it contacts your freshest paint. Somehow, a drip/drop will plop in the middle of your largest or least accessible horizontal surface. The car came out looking good. A veritable 15 footer if looked at in low light. I am sure that I could have paid less for a class on how to do it properly, but I know I would not have learned as much that way. Should I do this again (which may be more likely than I am going to admit right now) I will rent the booth so that I have the best environment to do a poor execution. It might just be worth $80 a day to be able to strip down the car, mask it well, and then take less than an hour to spray it in the best possible way I can. Then I can clean up at a bench instead of sitting on the cement patio in the dark, blindly trying to clean my gun. The next morning, I can be fresh and carefully put the car all back together. A person really does need to pretty much tear the thing apart so you can put paint in all the places it needs to be. Pix will be posting on BW. link to follow clay 2002 s430 - Victor, a Stately & well tailored chap 1974 450sl - Frosch - Two tone green 1986 SDL - Polei 1982 300 SD - Allen retired models- 1976 300D - Blei Vanst - it looks silvery 1972 220D - Gump - She was green, simple and ran 1995 E300D - Gave her life to save me against a Dame in a SUV POS 1987 SDL - Beware Nigerian Scammers _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com