I was thinking Rich, that's a lot of work and cost for Dixie.Great work Richie. Love that colour too. Reckon you'll be able to keep your paint booth set up?! Maybe you can paint my car in the future...
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The Project Dixie thread!
- Thread starter richiep
- Start date
MCBladeRun
Club Member
That's a strange engine swap
richiep
Club Member
Well, the compressor has a lot of utility beyond painting Dixieās engine bay; I use air tools a lot, and the old compressor has been flagging for some time, so it was a necessary purchase (especially as it was starting to kick out a lot of oily smoke - not conducive to painting!) The booth itself didnāt cost much. Iād had the wood I used for a couple of years and the plastic is off the masking roll I have. Used a lot of tape though! The filters arenāt particularly expensive; mostly, itās been time as the cost to myself.
But, as mentioned, I intend to use it beyond Dixie. Hence the engineering of the doorsā filters! Itāll just be a case of screwing the beams back into position and re-lining it and off we go again. I want to repaint the RA25ās engine bay next year when I pull its single cam engine out. My Civic Type R needs various bits of paintwork, and the red Z some work on top of the driverās outer sill. All things increasingly within my skill set to tackle. Plus I enjoy doing it and practice makes perfect (or better than rank amateur anyway).
But, as mentioned, I intend to use it beyond Dixie. Hence the engineering of the doorsā filters! Itāll just be a case of screwing the beams back into position and re-lining it and off we go again. I want to repaint the RA25ās engine bay next year when I pull its single cam engine out. My Civic Type R needs various bits of paintwork, and the red Z some work on top of the driverās outer sill. All things increasingly within my skill set to tackle. Plus I enjoy doing it and practice makes perfect (or better than rank amateur anyway).
richiep
Club Member
Had a bit of time with the car today and progress made with new spray gun, new body shop quality filter setupā¦
Close, but no cigar yet. Had a couple of small paint reaction spots that I didnāt manage to solve on tonightās attempt. Iāll need to sand back more thoroughly on those spots and try to get a final coat of base on tomorrow.
Will probably be a few days/next weekend before I get near trying to clear coat it. Once the engine bay is done, a key landmark will have been achieved. The shell will come off the rotisserie, and go onto the fixed stands. Then doors, wings, etc., mounted for alignment checks.
Close, but no cigar yet. Had a couple of small paint reaction spots that I didnāt manage to solve on tonightās attempt. Iāll need to sand back more thoroughly on those spots and try to get a final coat of base on tomorrow.
Will probably be a few days/next weekend before I get near trying to clear coat it. Once the engine bay is done, a key landmark will have been achieved. The shell will come off the rotisserie, and go onto the fixed stands. Then doors, wings, etc., mounted for alignment checks.
No problems with the atmosphere this time of year Rich? The car is looking fantastic.
richiep
Club Member
Itās not ideal to say the least. I wouldāve preferred to have been doing this a month ago, but inadequate spare time and getting everything set up right has dragged it out. Iām having to wait longer between coats due to temperature. I desperately want to get the clear done before the temps drop much lower, otherwise itāll be on ice until spring. Finishing the bay is important because I can actually start assembling certain things after that, even if the exterior panels of the shell are still in primer. Never mind the list of DIY jobs in the house has exploded and Iāve been faffing with the car instead!..
richiep
Club Member
Finally got the basecoat done this weekend. Had a few issues that threw my plans out but got there in the end. Annoyingly, I had a simple blow in to do where there had been a little issue, but a fitting on my gun had come lose without my noticing and it spat drips all over the left shock tower, meaning I had to wait, sand, and do it over again. Had no motivation to put more hours in on the clear coat, so that may be another week away.
Well done for correcting the issue and then walking away. Annoying but nobody was hurt and it looks fine now!
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Shame you didn't get the opportunity to clear it shortly after base - it really helps to chemically bind it but a key and clear will be fine! Looks good so far Rich. I really don't miss doing the bodywork on mine! Such a long job! And I still haven't flatted and mopped it yet, hope I don't mess that up!
Ian
Club Member
Looks good though.
So easy for a tiny leak to happen at the gun and to wreck a job before you notice.
I prefer to clear the same day as base, but I can understand in a bay why you didn't, can take longer to do a bay than even an entire outside of a car.
Will feel great when you finally see that bay finished in clear.
So easy for a tiny leak to happen at the gun and to wreck a job before you notice.
I prefer to clear the same day as base, but I can understand in a bay why you didn't, can take longer to do a bay than even an entire outside of a car.
Will feel great when you finally see that bay finished in clear.
richiep
Club Member
Would you go for a keying of the base? There seems to be quite a bit of to-and-fro online about this topic. There seems to be some evidence that the whole thing about needing to shoot lacquer wet-on-wet/soon after base is more a "CYA" move by paint manufacturers to cover themselves against vehicles being left in suboptimal conditions (contaminated) and the resulting clear coat failure being blamed on them. I think someone from one of the US paint manufacturers (Southern Urethanes if I remember rightly) actually confirmed this and stated that 2k clears should chemically adhere without issue even if the base is fully hardened and not scuffed.
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Itās just the process I was taught, every professional painter Iāve met has always keyed and cleared over a base if itās had time to cure. From what I know too, the base coat can absorb moisture, which in your cold garage may be an issue if you clear over it too late and you donāt want to be repeating all this work again. Is it just the bay youāve done so far? Iād get a clear on it asap and get some extra fast hardener.
richiep
Club Member
On further reading, some of the stuff Iād seen online didnāt hold up to scrutiny; also I had word with the paint factors I use, given itās their own brand base and clear, and they recommend keying with grey scotchbrite, shooting another final coat of base, flash off, then clear. Iām using extra fast thinner with the base and similar for the clear hardener, given temperatures and conditions. On the plus side, the āboothā warms up very fast with even a small heater blower given all the plastic sheeting involved, so post painting, Iāve been able to really boost the temperature in there.
Iām going to be super popular taking another weekend day on this particular exercise, but it needs to get finished.
Huw
Club Member
As Iāve said many times, loving your work Mr Richie. I must admit I really like that colour as is, as a kind of satin finish.
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Sounds good Richie - I was going to suggest consulting with the supplier.
Yes I'd agree with blowing over a light base coat first, not only will it help with adhering but if you scotch anything it will always be a slightly different colour after, certainly cant clear over patches if you rub through from clear to base from clear without another base coat to blend - ask me how I know
richiep
Club Member
Done it. Not perfect, plenty of dust nibs to deal with (mostly due to a freak incident with my test paper on the wall suddenly deciding to shed a cloud of particles for no good reason), a few dry spots, put plenty of paint to work with for wet sanding and buffing.
Engine bays are a pig to paint. Too many surfaces, corners, places where overspray can bounce from the area you are painting to the surface you just painted perfectly. But got near enough in the end.
I have a day off next Friday - wet sanding and buffing time! Need to get the front wings out of storage at the barn so I can paint the insides with Raptor. Iāll also need to paint in the satin black areas on the front of the rad support and on top of the scuttle area.
toopy
Club Member
Very nice work Rich it will look amazing I'm sure 
I'm a paint newbie, but i recently rattle canned a replacement piece of plastic trim for my van, primer, colour base and 5 coats of lacquer. Although it looks good it still appears a bit satin compared to whats on the van. Do i need to carefully wet sand and then polish, or should i add some more lacquer first?
I'm a paint newbie, but i recently rattle canned a replacement piece of plastic trim for my van, primer, colour base and 5 coats of lacquer. Although it looks good it still appears a bit satin compared to whats on the van. Do i need to carefully wet sand and then polish, or should i add some more lacquer first?
Ian
Club Member
Bay looks pretty decent, but should look much better after some sanding. What kind of finish are you aiming for? A little peel like oem or mostly flat?
Toopy - It could look a little satin because you put 5 coats on, thats a lot, I would definitely wet sand that back. I go max 3 coats, If I were to do 5 then its because I would intend to cut it back starting with 600 to get it super flat.
Usually the finish is dictated by gun settings and applicator skill, but with a rattle can, you are limited when it comes to clear, but for base it not an issue.
Also, how flat was the primer stage? very important to have primer super flat as everything shows up once its shiny.
Toopy - It could look a little satin because you put 5 coats on, thats a lot, I would definitely wet sand that back. I go max 3 coats, If I were to do 5 then its because I would intend to cut it back starting with 600 to get it super flat.
Usually the finish is dictated by gun settings and applicator skill, but with a rattle can, you are limited when it comes to clear, but for base it not an issue.
Also, how flat was the primer stage? very important to have primer super flat as everything shows up once its shiny.
toopy
Club Member
Primer was nice and even, colour also went on well, lacquer looks great when wet but dries to more of a satin effect. Sand and buff will hopefully fix the issue then.
How do cars come off the production line, i can't imagine they are sanded and polished, but for aftermarket it seems to be the norm?