If I might I’d like to share my mostly recently gained experience on spraypainting a Fiat Spider! (I am not a paint sprayer by trade!!)
For months I have been prepping my car for a respray. About 10yrs ago I resprayed the car with rattle can cellulose! Good from afar but far from good! The paint was too soft and dissolved if you spilt petrol on it while refuelling. It took about 30 rattle cans!
At the time I wasn’t too bothered about appearance, the roof was 30 yrs old but I mostly drove it roof down so no issues!
Fast forward 10 years and I decided to spray the car properly! And buy a new roof and make a few other body mods! What a journey!
Stripped back to bare metal with angle grinder and type of scotchbrite pads
Ii was like renovating an old house as all the bodged repairs and accident damage were revealed! Reluctantly I removed the doors, bonnet, boot, sill covers and rear valances. Ultimately this was beneficial but resulted in more repair jobs (see post on Door Hinges)
After filling and flatting with high metal content filler and welding repairs, the bare metal was coated with rattle can etch primer. This stuff really bonds well into the metal.
I started out spraying cellulose primer which went on ok, but after talking with specialist paint suppliers both recommended 2k Topcoat as a minimum, ideally 2k primer
The H&S for 2k is quite intimidating so I bought a new full mask with carbon filters £12 on ebay vs £120 for an air fed pro mask
I sprayed the primer in a large shed with the doors open. The mask was excellent, no fumes or smell detectable
The gun I use is fairly cheap a FastMover 4001 with 1.3 nozzle for topcoat, 2.0 nizzle for hi build primer
The 2k dried hard snd quickly and is much easier to sand/flat back with 500 grit
2k is called a force dry system and dries quickly at 15-20C. Cellulose takes much longer to offgas and can take weeks before its ready for the next stage
The 2k paint system is more expensive than cellulose based, but so far gives a much better finish. 2lits of high build primer and I lit if hardner cost about £70. About double the cellulose equivalent. And then more good news, the Topcoat / Colour I selected is direct to gloss, a solid blue (not metallic) comes in at £105/litre!! And you need 2 litres plus hardner and thinners (possibly)
All in I reckon I will have spent £700 on materials and lost count of the hrs spent. If I had paid someone to do this for me the bill would have been £3-5k but I would not know the history and scars the car carrys under the painted surface
I am hoping to get the colour coat on in the next few weeks and get the car back together before summer is gone!
For months I have been prepping my car for a respray. About 10yrs ago I resprayed the car with rattle can cellulose! Good from afar but far from good! The paint was too soft and dissolved if you spilt petrol on it while refuelling. It took about 30 rattle cans!
At the time I wasn’t too bothered about appearance, the roof was 30 yrs old but I mostly drove it roof down so no issues!
Fast forward 10 years and I decided to spray the car properly! And buy a new roof and make a few other body mods! What a journey!
Stripped back to bare metal with angle grinder and type of scotchbrite pads
Ii was like renovating an old house as all the bodged repairs and accident damage were revealed! Reluctantly I removed the doors, bonnet, boot, sill covers and rear valances. Ultimately this was beneficial but resulted in more repair jobs (see post on Door Hinges)
After filling and flatting with high metal content filler and welding repairs, the bare metal was coated with rattle can etch primer. This stuff really bonds well into the metal.
I started out spraying cellulose primer which went on ok, but after talking with specialist paint suppliers both recommended 2k Topcoat as a minimum, ideally 2k primer
The H&S for 2k is quite intimidating so I bought a new full mask with carbon filters £12 on ebay vs £120 for an air fed pro mask
I sprayed the primer in a large shed with the doors open. The mask was excellent, no fumes or smell detectable
The gun I use is fairly cheap a FastMover 4001 with 1.3 nozzle for topcoat, 2.0 nizzle for hi build primer
The 2k dried hard snd quickly and is much easier to sand/flat back with 500 grit
2k is called a force dry system and dries quickly at 15-20C. Cellulose takes much longer to offgas and can take weeks before its ready for the next stage
The 2k paint system is more expensive than cellulose based, but so far gives a much better finish. 2lits of high build primer and I lit if hardner cost about £70. About double the cellulose equivalent. And then more good news, the Topcoat / Colour I selected is direct to gloss, a solid blue (not metallic) comes in at £105/litre!! And you need 2 litres plus hardner and thinners (possibly)
All in I reckon I will have spent £700 on materials and lost count of the hrs spent. If I had paid someone to do this for me the bill would have been £3-5k but I would not know the history and scars the car carrys under the painted surface
I am hoping to get the colour coat on in the next few weeks and get the car back together before summer is gone!
