paint for a fibreglass bodied kit car

[blackolive (Ste)]

need to paint my kit car body, Its been stood about for a while and has a few broken bits which will need glassing up. going to do the back arches and cycle wings in gloss black and the body in a loud orange. dont want to fanny about with air fed masks etc to do one car. what paint/hi build primer comes recommended ??

 

[jaykay]

get a celluose line.
etch primer first,then hi build primer, 3-4 coats of top coat.
stick with the same brand thru out.

 

[FranV8]

I think you have to be a bit careful with old fiberglass if you've sanded all the way back to the fiberglass. It's something to do with pores in the fibreglass, which you don't want something in there that will pop out later.

I'm interested in this too, I'll want to get round to painting my Chevrolet at some point soon.

 

[jaykay]

what chevy you got,fran????

 

[hermetic]

glass fibre paint

I used to use some stuff called Lesonal, it is a two pack high build primer, it is a bit expensive, but gives a fabulous high build finish that is really hard, flats back to a mirror finish and resists crazing and fills pinholes on old GF. You need to put it on thick in a warm atmosphere. have a clean brush handy and if you get a run just brush it out, as you will not be able to flat it out! that stuff sets HARD! it is a resin/hardner system very much like GF. pot life of about 30 to 45 minutes, after which get it out and clean the gun thorougly! actually it is quite easy to use but make sure you get a product sheet so you can read up before you spray.
phil

 

[langy]

You need either epoxy or etch as your first coat unless you want to get problems later.

 

[Hitch]

I think epoxy based stuff is what the marine guys tend to use on boats.....

 

[blackolive (Ste)]

sounds liek epoxy is the way to go for the primer. it is in a red gel coat at the moment.

funnily enough had a guy round saturday who had bought some ebay stuff, hed has used waterbased paint on his, and it had a crazed tortoiseshell finish

 

[allkarma]

need to paint my kit car body, Its been stood about for a while and has a few broken bits which will need glassing up. going to do the back arches and cycle wings in gloss black and the body in a loud orange. dont want to fanny about with air fed masks etc to do one car. what paint/hi build primer comes recommended ??

Do not use cellulose,you`ll live to regret it. I had a covin porches replica,fibre glass body ,which sounds like it was in the same condition as yours.
Did a bit of glassing etc,then primed and painted in celly. Couple of weeks later all the paint cracked,due to temperature drops and rises. Celly and fibreglass react to heat so not the best combination.

Sold the car brought a cobra project same condition as last car,after fibre glassing,i painted 2 layers of gel coat with a paint brush(or use a 2.2mm spray gun will work too). You can get gel coat now in nearly any colour, sand and buff if you dont want to paint. Remember to key the fibre glass 180 or 240 before you stick on the gel coat
Or you can paint the car in 2k outside and push the car in the garage to dry on a none windy day,i know health reasons ect and safety first,but i was in no position for an air fed mask so used a full face gas mask like the military use,there filters keep out mustard gas,should stop 2k NO.

 

[FranV8]

what chevy you got,fran????

It's this:

Arguably least popular of the Corvette generations, but perfectly capable!

 

[jaykay]

hmm, we have a 79 vette. and a 81 z28

 

[FranV8]

I only just saw this Jaykay - sorry.

Nice collection - I used to have the Z28's economy brother - a 1980 3.8 V6 ! - Loved it. 25mpg all day long.

 

[Engineer]

Any areas which have had gel coat removed can be repaired using polyester body filler. Filled areas need to be carefully sanded, and then apply guide coats over the whole car, and wet flat using P240.

After de-greasing with panel wipe, apply 2 coats of HS 2k primer, which after properly cured, can have guide coat applied and wet flatted ending up with something like P600 finish.

Finally top coat in either COB or solid colour 2K, and the jobs done. If you are able to spray outside on a nice day and are wearing a reasonable mask, there are not likely to be any problems related to not using air fed mask (which relates more to pros spraying 2K every day).

Using cellulose materials on GRP will provide very disappointing results, with problems related to cracking as stated earlier, as well as sink back and repaired areas become visible after a while. Cellulose on GRP also seems to become dull due to UV faster when applied to composites, and will look a real mess quite quickly without regular attention.

 

[langy]

I would definitely disagree with the wet flatting, dry flat filler & primer unless you want problems later.

I personally don't like Celly but lots of GRP cars have been painted in it successfully.

Any areas which have had gel coat removed can be repaired using polyester body filler. Filled areas need to be carefully sanded, and then apply guide coats over the whole car, and wet flat using P240.

After de-greasing with panel wipe, apply 2 coats of HS 2k primer, which after properly cured, can have guide coat applied and wet flatted ending up with something like P600 finish.

Finally top coat in either COB or solid colour 2K, and the jobs done. If you are able to spray outside on a nice day and are wearing a reasonable mask, there are not likely to be any problems related to not using air fed mask (which relates more to pros spraying 2K every day).

Using cellulose materials on GRP will provide very disappointing results, with problems related to cracking as stated earlier, as well as sink back and repaired areas become visible after a while. Cellulose on GRP also seems to become dull due to UV faster when applied to composites, and will look a real mess quite quickly without regular attention.

 

[pedrobedro]

I primed and painted my nosecone and front cycle wings on the Locost with cellulose paint and had no problems from cracking or dulling. It only ever got washed with some wash'n'wax stuff when it got dirty.