(G) time to wing it.....

so it's on, and we have gone from:


to:



i wonder i should leave it like this:



for max airflow

Hmmmm - aerosol cans...

I take my hat off to you, Jai, for what you've achieved given that you're working with aerosol cans It's a bloody brilliant coverage, smooth and even, nice sheen, dunno how you've done it really. Six coats? You must have the patience of a saint and a strong index finger.

Now, <RANT>
Where do I start - well... firstly I always find it interesting how in England you call the clear coat a 'lacquer'. BTW I agree completely with Chas; cars from the era of the Uno should only have a clearcoat if there is a metallic basecoat.

My understanding is that 'lacquer' is a term for any paint that dries by evaporation of a solvent. So that makes all aerosol-cans lacquer. Well, some are an enamel but those are the ones that stay sticky and soft for a really long time, so almost never get used for painting anything worthwhile.

Of course what you really need for a car is a two-part enamel. Much lower solvent content, so the paint covers better, the hardener makes the paint set properly hard so it's much more durable...

...and as an added bonus, the paint is mixed to recipes from the big manufacturers, so you get a good colour match. White is an awful colour to match and, personally, I think that the match we see between Jai's front wing and the left door is - not good! It just doesn't do justice to the hard work that Jai has put in. And, it's not Jai's fault. Once the paint is in the aerosol can, there's nothing you can do. That's why I hate aerosol cans!
</RANT>

EDIT: Should also point out that I have a Dell Ultrasharp $1800/£720 LCD that has been calibrated to correct colours. I checked the second photo on an average, uncorrected LCD and the difference wasn't nearly as apparent. Also the difference might vary according to the time of day - early evening light is the worst for taking photos of whites, in my experience.

I think that working with lots of different paints over the years has made me a lot more picky when it comes to things like colour matches. The important thing here is that people are impressed with the outcome. And, I think it's still impressive The panel fit is good, especially against the bonnet which is always tricky at the corners.

So, good work Jai! Keep it up.

By the way Dave, how did that gravity-fed spraygun work out in the end?
-Alex

The full name over here is "Clear Lacquer" to differentiate between colour coats and clear coats. However, people generally call the colour coat a "paint"/ "base coat" and the clear coat a "lacquer". You should really ask AntsUno2 what he calls them as he's in the trade and will most probably tell us that we're all wrong!

I think that's what we know as "Two Pack"? Very strong paint and easy/ quick to spray with the right equipment. However, it produces cyanide during the hardening process and should only be use with closed breathing equipment. It's not really suitable for home spraying unless you really know what you are doing, plus the health and safety departments would have a fit if they found out it was being vented into the atmosphere!

The only other disadvantaged is that two pack paint tends to be very, very shiny straight from the gun. It can therefore look too shiny for older cars giving them an almost plastic appearance. But then again it's durability can make up for that, plus it's ease of spraying and quicker drying times.


As for the paint match on Jai's tub, well, considering it was originally silver... And I certainly wouldn't complain when compared with my 45S that has a patchwork quilt of red colours (I think it had at least 4 different shades of red on it ) and my 70SX that is a mixture of oxidised red and bits that have been T-Cut!

Anyway, good work Jai and you can only make it look better compared with the monkey who sprayed it before

You are right. Well, 'cyanide' is a generalisation - it's actually diisocyanates. Might sound picky, but coffee and almonds have cyanide It's a bit like how sodium chloride goes well with potato chips, but you would definitely not want the slightest bit of sodium chlorate. Anyway, isocyanates can have disasterous effects on the central nervous system - and more sensitivity in some individuals than others. Also apparently the sensitivity increases with exposure to the point where even the slightest exposure triggers awful symptoms.

Agreed, though it can always be wet-sanded and buffed with your choice of compound. I don't think you can ever have "too shiny" except where you're alongside older paint, of course

True - and we should probably tell the horrified crowd that I was also rude about your multiple shades of red

Thanks,
-Alex

NERD ALERT!!!!!

anyway, cheers for the praise, never done a panel before, so just tried to keep distance and speed even, seems ok, as for the matching, it was never going to happen, as chas says, the rest of the car is a nightmare of epic proportions, (runs, spots, chips, orange peel, swirls) and also because we have no idea what white (there are 4 whites for fiat alone, and i'd guess stevie wonder didnt car what he used the day he did the tub) and when it was applied the main objective was to put on a panel that would support the bumper mounting, and the plastic arch properly. i could i suppose rough up the rest of the paint work, and spray that too....god no, slap me now wtf am i saying......

i would have gone down the spraygun route, but i'm tight when it comes to buying equipment and tighter still in paying a bodyshop to do it

the really difficult bit was using the seamsealer, really hard to squeeze on evenly, and even harder to line up the panel and get it onto the car without making a mess

i guess the only thing to hope for is that ive done the job just badly enough that it will distress quickly and fade into the rest of the car