How Much Paint

[thummmper]

bravo ben! you are good with websites as well! I am all thumbs with site building. thats my next focus. You are almost tripping over yourself in there, exactly like my trim shop in the eighties. I think I got brain damage from the toluene in the glue. thats my excuse......did a lot of headliners.
Mr. Emeritusx--good job on the bay. she sure looks swell!
todd-- wieland werkz!

[edgood1]

I'll "stick" to the acrylic enamel. I have no problems with it other than it wears out over time. I did my '74 about 10 years ago with the cheapest AE paint around and it still looks decent... it is starting to chip and crack in a few places.... but I think I paid $150 for all the materials so I can't complain with that. I think if I get a higher quality AE the results will be better.

I am budgeting $2000 for paint on my syncro....I was considering a top of the line macco job, doing all the bodywork myself. I'll let them spray the urethane. (The macco I'd bring it to is a good one...there are a few good ones that do good work... but be careful there are many bad ones)

... either way I'm going to do the interior myself in single stage acrylic enamel...now I'm considering doing the whole thing myself. One benefit to that is I'll be able to touch it up on my own without much trouble in the future.

I gotta weigh time vs. money though... how much longer can I go with this thing in the garage?!
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[Emeritusx]

[ftp2leta]

I feel like adding something here tonight. My shop is 1250 SF, the only thing I don't do in this shop (alone!) is transmission work. So in this somewhat small shop i do everything else on a van call Vanagon. I do what i can whit what i have. I have started with nothing 6 years ago. I never painted a van before 4 years ago, now i think I did about 24. I convert van to Subaru engine (39), does it look easy because i want to know??? It's not, so in my next picture i will now show you how hard is my everyday day job! I'll show you the dark side...

Believe me men, when i do something i do it right, i mean real frigging prefect.

I so wish i could afford a real nice paint boot, a super strong modern lift, highly advance equipment, modern and powerful welding machine (mine is a joke), a better milling machine.... basically I have nothing expensive in that shop, no real high end tool.

That show that you can do great thing with nothing!

This is why i spend time here, i have been there, whit no money and wanting to do everything so right and perfect. I want to show that everything is possible with not much money.

This is my shop when I started.
http://www.benplace.com/bjp_local2.htm

Look carefully at the first few pictures. It's way better now but still not up to my standard.

Ben
_________________
Working with rust, grease, dirt and dust is a sad truth.
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FI part for sale: http://www.benplace.com/parts_sale1.htm
My site: http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm
Subi conversion: http://www.benplace.com/vanaru_eng.htm
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/ftp2leta

[ftp2leta]

[RCB]

There is a learning curve when one switches from solvent based to water based and the waterbased finishes "are a nightmare" if painting is done in the type of environment you spray in Ben.

In an appropriate setting.. a skilled craftsman behind the trigger.. a water based coating can look beautiful.

[thummmper]

boy that's a lotta work ben. the results are exciting though, aren't they?
I love that smell.

[Emeritusx]

At Ford we paint 500+ vehicles per shift, 2 shifts a day... I hate paint. Stay away from 2K paint. We tried it at work and never did bring it online (we build F150's)

I have sprayed at home, acrylic enamel is good paint, I used a gravity feed cheap gun. It took under a gallon of brown and a quart of white to do the bus.

I spent about 250 for guns and paint and thinner.. Just throw the gun away when done...

But not having a booth, pressurized paint guns, clear coat, an oven - Well it just sucks...You can get good results, but be prepared to do some buffing..
_________________
82 Westy ☢, 66 Splitty ☮, 73 Type 181 ✠

[ftp2leta]

[thummmper]

I had a bad series of experiences with the lacquer primers. they separate
and the color lifts, spalls and checks.The catylized primers are the only way to go anymore. they go off in 24 to 48 hours and sand better. seal better too. the outgassing is done, whereas the laqs breathe for weeks after being applied. It's all going water base now. I may go AZ to get mine done.
If this is a leap for you, try to just do the bodywork at home. you can do sections, and just scotchbrite the jambs. then take it to maaco or one day. without doing my own bodywork, except supplying a strait slider, I got a bid of 2700.00 from maaco. white gloss north of the gutters, color for the four sides and all jambs, plus silver met on the bumperglas trim. All two step [clear]. they have to colorsand the color before they can squirt the clear. paint mixing sticks wrapped in 400 grit wetordry sand paper. it helps if the flat surfaces are blocked to uniform flatness. thats what separates the pros from the amatuers.
you could also sign up for a junior college paint shop class and do it all at the college..that is also an option. I liked acrylic enamel, myself, and then acme's imron, a polyeurethane. probably shot a dozen vehicles in my day

[psych-illogical]

this is a very informative thread so far. I haven't painted a car in 20 years but hope to do my van this summer. It's got about 10 or 12 years now on a color-change repaint that was very well done, except that they didn't change the interior color to match . I've now got the seam rust issues to deal with and there are tons of scratches and chips so it's time to freshen it up. I painted a motorcycle this past year in my garage and it came out quite good. And the last car I did was a '56 oval beetle that I did in a friends dirt-floored barn. I wet everything down before I rolled the car in, cleaned it really good and sprayed away. That car came out absolutely beautiful. I had one bug crawl through a spot before the paint dried but I sanded that out and touched it up to where nobody could tell. Ah the beauty of acrylic enamel. Easy to fix the little screw ups.
_________________
83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS

[RCB]

[sdek]

stay clear of urethane paints unless you have a well ventilated paint booth and a full face respirator and suit, isocyanate will be asborbed through the eyes and skin I did my van twice in my garage with that stuff and got high like you wouldn't believe, pretty sure I took a few years off my lifespan doing so...

[ftp2leta]

Hi, well i only do base/clear coat so i can't confirm. Good point you have there. All i can give you is my cartridge # 3M 6001

I have painted urethane with those once.

Ben
_________________
Working with rust, grease, dirt and dust is a sad truth.
------------------------------------------------------
FI part for sale: http://www.benplace.com/parts_sale1.htm
My site: http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm
Subi conversion: http://www.benplace.com/vanaru_eng.htm
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/ftp2leta

[edgood1]

Hi Ben

I use the 3M 7192 respirator... the saftey sheet says its not for use with urethane paints. I assume because it doesn't absorb the harmful isocynates.... but then in other places I've read that it does absorb them up to a point..... confusing.

If its ok to do a one off urethane paint job with one, I'll take the risk... but if there is a documented danger I'll stick with the acrylic enamel and re-do the paint in 10 years.

I've heard some bad stories of urethane paint sickness.
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[ftp2leta]

[edgood1]

Is it safe to paint with urethane using only a charcoal mask?

I was told that you couldn't use urethane in your garage without a very expensive fresh air system.... the two paint jobs that I've done I used acrylic enamel..which isn't as durable as urethane.

I would much prefer to use urethane the next time around.

I've seen different opinions across the net...
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

[ftp2leta]

[RCB]

[ftp2leta]