Paint job pt. 4

Yes, I finally get the car in primer in this post. First, a few words about taping and masking the car: check out this cool tape used to mask off rubber trim and molding pieces. 3M makes it, it’s called trim tape (easy enough, huh?), and it’s great for masking flexible trim pieces that you would likely destroy trying to remove. The leading edge of the stuff is relatively rigid plastic that has no adhesive. That makes it easy to slip behind the trim. Then, you peel of the backing to expose the sticky side of the tape and fold it over.

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Why is this important? Look at the last picture in the series: the rubber molding around the windshield is now being propped up slightly by the tape. I will now able to spray behind the molding. Otherwise, there would be a hard tape line between the roof and where I masked off the molding. Best case scenario: I’d have to sand the tape line down. Worst case scenario: It would be a big problem if I were changing colors- there’d be just a hint of the original paint like a halo around the molding.

The rest of the job is straightforward. Mask everything you don’t want paint to get on, clean the surface thoroughly, and spray. I decided to use Valspar colored primer, just like Doug and I used on his ’64 El Camino (See December ’08). It is kind of a Jack-of-all-trades primer: It can be applied directly to metal, it can be reduced and applied as a sealer, it can be mixed a little thicker and be a primer-surfacer, and it’s a 2K urethane primer, which means it’s weatherproof and can serve as a topcoat for fans of the suede look.  It’s not too expensive either. I paid $180 for a gallon, which was enough to paint the Vicky.

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I used our DeVillbis Starting Line gun again with a 1.8 fluid tip and sprayed three coats. The first two were mixed according to the sealer ratio (called for a little more reducer), and the third was mixed a little thicker according to the surfacer ratio. I used a timer and waited the recommended 20 minutes in between each coat, and didn’t have any solvent-popping problems. At least I learn from my mistakes!



For more information: http://www.valsparrefinish.com/refinish/refinish-products.jsp?cid=5
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Next- prep for topcoat.