What do I use to paint the top?

[nemobuscaptain]

[insyncro]

[insyncro]

If you really want to take years off your life, spray with skin exposed


Link

[jimf909]

I painted a motorcycle frame and other bits with two stage Imron (black with flattening agent to make it semi-gloss) back in 1992 and it still looks great today. As good or better than the original BMW finish.
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- Jim

[Mellow Yellow 74]

Penetrol
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[jimf909]

[insyncro]

[Terry Kay]

I wouldn't suggest rolling or brushing Imron.
Even without the kicker in it, it sets up faster than you can use the paint.

I like using my Binks pressure pot on anything longer than a car, with my Binks 2001 gun in the end it pours paint outa the nozzle, with almost a 3' fan on the end of the gun.
I can back off 2 ft. away from the object and lay heavy coats of paint on it.

I go around twice on a semi trailer, dump truck body, or boat.
I do have to be paying attention and move quick so the stuff doesn't start rolling off.

I don't care for HVLP guns, they don't throw enough paint fast enough for me.
With Imron, this can be a problem.
One pass will be tacking up as your laying the next down, you'll have zebra stripes all over.
Gotta lay the Imron down wet.
And the Imron is only supposed to be reduced 10% max, so the paint will strart turning to jello faster than you can possibly roll the paint on, deeming what you have in the roller pan worthless.
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T.K.

[casey79westfalia]

Ill tread carefully on this topic. Whats the saying?Opinions are like a-holes, everyone's got one. Interlux is great stuff.I used it on my boston whaler with great results. Color match is an issue however. When I painted my last few vanagons fiberglass tops I used the same paint I used on the rest of the van. I sanded the fiberglass carefully with 320. I then seal the top with sealer, followed by a very light coat of sem urethane chipguard. This adds some durability and helps to get the factory texture back that you may lose a bit from sanding all failed paint or chips,scratches or imperfections. Also applying sealer will build things up a little You really just mist it over the top very lightly. Again some may not need this step if your tops texture is good after light prep. I then followed up with my urethane clear. I used ppg's esc500 I think its the best clear they have right now, I had it left over from the vehicle overall spray. Any urethane base clear combination will work just fine for the top and I wouldn't worry to much about going high end up there.

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_________________
66 Westfalia
87 Westfalia Syncro "Phoenix"
88 Double Cab
76 Porsche 914
2014 Audi Q7
2010 Tdi Sportwagen

Currently looking for 62 Double Cab, 66 Westfalia Parts!
(Rear seat and pedestal, bumpers, mirrors)

http://www.baycountrymotors.com

My 87 Syncro Westfalia 1.8t Restoration

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=418933

"Do it the right way, or you'll pay for it"

[Terry Kay]

You're going way over the edge here with the base clear application.

Two word's you totally forgot about here.
Cheap & easy.

You have a compressor & paint gun.
99.9% of the vanagon crew doesn't know what you are talking about, costs way too much money to get the equipment, and if you are rolling and brushing that base clearcoat paint job, go ahead and elaborate to the multitude how you got this done--in an apartment building parking lot--for no more than about 80 bucks.

Go for it--
_________________
T.K.

[nemobuscaptain]

[casey79westfalia]

[Terry Kay]

The one and only bonus here is coming up with a duplicate of the exact factory surface after a guy rolls the intelux or petit boat deck & hull paint, just by using the right roller .

Because these paints are self leveling, they will lay down to duplicate the factory textured effect with no problems.

Your tops are too slick by blowing the material on.
You over reduced the paint or clear too much getting it to lay down pretty smooth which isn't correct.

The boat urethane is a simple solution.
_________________
T.K.

[casey79westfalia]

[insyncro]

Casey,
With all do respect to many others here, we have the ability to properly paint things, with professional tools.
Most are looking for a rattle can or roll on application that they can DIY and not spend a lot of time and money...BUT they want it to look great and last.
Good luck with that.
Sure the whites can be done that way, but colors, not so much...with automotive paints.

Tintable bedliner is an option for the DIYers too.

TK, I have a pressure pot and thank you for the heads up on flow and amount of product being sprayed, I read you loud and clear.

For both of you, I have been using 3M Rocker Protection Spray, applied via the PPS system, not the can, to blend any bodywork to the Westy tops.
Very slick system and infinitely adjustable texture pattern can be achieved.

IIRC Casey did similarly in his thread, different product perhaps.
It works great.

I do own "professional tools" and have a personal workshop, I am not for hire, just incase you preceive my posts that way, thank you

[casey79westfalia]

When I first responded I purposely wrote" I will tread lightly on this topic"knowing tk would jump all over this topic and try to be the know it all. I just wanted to show what worked well for me. He just doesn't play well in the sandbox .
_________________
66 Westfalia
87 Westfalia Syncro "Phoenix"
88 Double Cab
76 Porsche 914
2014 Audi Q7
2010 Tdi Sportwagen

Currently looking for 62 Double Cab, 66 Westfalia Parts!
(Rear seat and pedestal, bumpers, mirrors)

http://www.baycountrymotors.com

My 87 Syncro Westfalia 1.8t Restoration

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=418933

"Do it the right way, or you'll pay for it"

[insyncro]

Casey,
Your van is turning out beautifully
I so enjoy watching your thread.
Keep it up and let me know via pmail if you come into any stumbling blocks Syncro wise.
I would love to help you.

[casey79westfalia]

Thank you kind sir. Always offering solid advice with no criticizing of one's methods. I will surely need your help along the way. Let me know know if I can help at all . waiting for his long winded response when all I did was offer some knowledge. Can't it just be left at that.....
_________________
66 Westfalia
87 Westfalia Syncro "Phoenix"
88 Double Cab
76 Porsche 914
2014 Audi Q7
2010 Tdi Sportwagen

Currently looking for 62 Double Cab, 66 Westfalia Parts!
(Rear seat and pedestal, bumpers, mirrors)

http://www.baycountrymotors.com

My 87 Syncro Westfalia 1.8t Restoration

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=418933

"Do it the right way, or you'll pay for it"

[sciroccojim]

I'm really on the fence on this one. I went to my paint jobber and we shot the (unfaded) back of the cargo section with his color matching gun and matched it up with the best looking chip. As it turned out, the line he was able to mix for me in that color doesn't include single stage urethane, so it's base/clear if I want the match. My original plan was to prep the roof, then foam roller it in place with single stage.

I'm sure I can roll the base coat on but clear can be funny. In my experience, it doesn't dry to the semi-durable handslick consistency that single stage does; it remains a little gooey as it's curing and I fear that the roller will create a giant mess when I go for the second coat of clear. It would have to be timed just right.

Of course, spraying would be easier and quicker but atomized clear gets everywhere (even with a turbine gun) and I don't want the stuff flying around the garage - and waiting for perfect outdoor conditions is a drag, which I've had to deal with too many times over the past couple of years. I'd rather do this myself than pay my paint guy to do it.

What say ye? Has anyone tried to roll on more than one coat of clear? Any body guys want to weigh in?
_________________
1987 Westy Camper

[casey79westfalia]

Just a heads up if you roll the basecoat the color won't be right. As even spray pressure can change the color. To get the base to spray the color you see on the chip it needs to be sprayed at the right pressure and right amount of coats. I wouldn't roll two stage paint.

Really all that makes the paint single stage is they add a clear binder (mixing clear) to the base mix. Even my computer at work will tell me certain color is not available in single stage. The mixing clear is not perfectly clear so it will add a little yellow to the mix, but for your purpose should work just fine. What I do is mix up the color I want in basecoat only first in a paint line that I can get a good color match. Make sure you only use Solvent base for this. Then I pull up another color in a single stage mix of the same amount I mixed in base to see how much of the clear binder is used then I throw it into the base mix and it works just fine. You may have trouble getting a paint jobber to mix up this way. Hope this helps.
_________________
66 Westfalia
87 Westfalia Syncro "Phoenix"
88 Double Cab
76 Porsche 914
2014 Audi Q7
2010 Tdi Sportwagen

Currently looking for 62 Double Cab, 66 Westfalia Parts!
(Rear seat and pedestal, bumpers, mirrors)

http://www.baycountrymotors.com

My 87 Syncro Westfalia 1.8t Restoration

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=418933

"Do it the right way, or you'll pay for it"