Topic: How To: Paint like Mr. Willy

[reklund5]

Ok Mr. Willy, as requested:

I want to paint my stuff.  I'll start on my truck after I bob the bed and will only be painting the bed.  I need tips on how to do it right.  From what I understand, the best paint jobs results from the best prep work (sanding/putty/primer)  and work area.  I will spend all the time necessary to do the truck right as practice for when I do the Supra.  The Supra has urethane bumpers- will it require any different prep work or paint?  Flex additives?  What tools should I expect to buy?  What kind of gun (siphon or gravity?) Educate me please!

Ryan

[Willy Mammoth]

  OK boys and girls class is about to start so let's get seated. 

We will start with the process for metal and move on to plastic after we get the hang of the basics.

Lets say you have a straight body, but the paint is faded, not cracking just faded.

You will want to dry sand with at least 220 grit if not 180 grit to get past the dead paint. If the paint is not to bad you can use 320 grit. If you do not break through the paint into the primer, metal or even Bondo. you can paint over it without having to prime first. Most of the time you will need to prime first. You will want to use a medium build 2 part primer like PPG's K36.

I for one will not waist time using any 1 part air dry product because it is always drying and can resoften causing it to move and effect the finish.

Two coats is all that is needed in most cases, but you could add more if you want to have some to block on.

After the primer is sprayed on you should fog a little black spray paint on as a guide coat. This should only be a cloudy mist because you are only using it so you can see the low spots as you sand.

You can use a hard block, but I prefer to use a long hand board, block with 180 till the black is gone. this will give you a flat surface without any pinholes, scratches on dents. Then fog on another guide coat and resand with your choice of grit. I like to use 320 on a DA sander. This is followed by hand sanding the edges making sure all are smooth and don't have sharp edges.


Any questions so far?

[reklund5 [OP]]

ok, sounds pretty straightforward.

I'll be using some bondo on my pickup when I bob the bed.  Any suggestions on that?

Ryan

[Willy Mammoth]

Some people in the day used to think you needed to strip the paint off where you were going to put the filler ( Bondo ). Unless you have a lacquer or enamel paint that is not factory you can put it over a sanded finish. I would sand the paint with at least 180 but not courser than 80 before putting the filler on. Any thing finer and it may not stick and anything courser and you will wind up with heavy sand scratches sinking in after you painted it. Also know that a stripped paint edge will leave a ring when the solvents soak in and dry out, but if you spread the filler over the edge of the paint and feather it out it will not leave any rings in the paint.

There are differant grades of filler as well. I like to use a light weight tack free filler USC Feather Rite is a good filler, but there are others as well.

There is a finishing putty like the filler that is much finer and will spread much easer. This can be used for small dents and imperfections.

There are also glazing putty's (beware they are a 1 part air dry product that is unstable and will leave you wondering why you waisted your time.)

You could spend lots of money on power tools to do the work, but all you need is:

8" electric variable speed sander/grinder with a foam pad and stick on sanding disks. 36 grit and 80 grit disks, 3M Gold work best.

Air DA sander 6" foam pad and stick on sanding disks. 80 grit, 180 grit, 320 grit, 3M Gold work best.

Long hand board, long block and short block with non stick airfile paper 40 grit, 80 grit and 180 grit, 3M green (on 40, 80) 3M gold on 180.

The long boards are just as fast as the air file sanders without all the noise and you get a better feel of your work.

Did I miss anything?

[reklund5 [OP]]

Sounds good.  I love a good teacher!  I just hope i can afford the tuition at MrWilly U!

Ok, how bout some tips for actual paint application- how to prep for paint- what to use to clean before paint, spray gun types advantages/disadvantages.  Spray application methods, paint area prep (ventilaton, booth rental, garage booth conversion...etc...)
Ryan

[Willy Mammoth]

That's the year long course, but here we go.

First I like to use all PPG products at this point because they are a good quality product that is easy to use without having lots of experience, but if you are going to try to match a metallic color the size of metallic seems to be bigger and more pronounced. I would use Dupont Chroma Base for that unless you want to go with a high grade product like Spies Hecker or Glasurit which will cost you dearly.

Finish sand with 320 dry or wet sand with 500. Wipe down with a fast drying prep degreaser and maybe an anti static. This helps keep dust from finding your paint job from the air passing over the body and generating static electricity.

Wipe down with a tack rag and start with a light coat first. This is called a tack coat. It is needed so the slick surface you made with the 500 doesn't cause the paint to just run off the body onto the floor. Next follow up with heaviercoats as needed making sure to have about a 50/50 overlap and going slow enough to see the pattern stay wet. Too fast and it will look dry and grainy and too slow and it will run, sag, drip and even solvent pop. Solvent pop is the worst thing you could ever do because it leaves pinholes or bumps that can't be sanded out without stripping the paint back off. Sags you can chase down the panel onto the floor and runs, well you will just have to sand them out.

Ventilation is a must, but there is a point when too much air flow will dryout the paint too fast and not enough will cause fall out to leave a dusty look.You want just enough to clear the air so you can see. I had no problem with my make shift 30" box fan, but you didn't hear that from me.

Don't forget the mask! These new polyurethane's will KILL you if you don't take precautions. An air fed resporator works best because you have fresh air pumped to you and don't have to filter out the solvents.

Any questions?

[Skinny_Pedal]

willy u talked about spraying rattle can very lightly for a guide coat. why not just use an actual guide coat? otherwise sweet

[Willy Mammoth]

willy u talked about spraying rattle can very lightly for a guide coat. why not just use an actual guide coat? otherwise sweet

What ever is cheap cause you are going to sand it off anyway. There is a graphite powder for this but a spray bomb is easer to apply. Krylon satin or flat black, gloss is too heavy and gums up the paper.

[Skinny_Pedal]

cool. never would have thought spray paint for a guide coat . i do learn something new everyday

[Willy Mammoth]

OK, sounds pretty straightforward.

I'll be using some bondo on my pickup when I bob the bed. Any suggestions on that?

Ryan

Some times, no, it is always easier to skim (spread) a layer of filler over a lager area and block it off than to do a little here and a little there  because if you sand back and fourth between the spots you will find it hard to get it flat. The filler will get harder as time passes and will sand harder making it hard to control how much you are taking off and where. So skim a lager area and block it down all at one time. It sands best when it is about 3 to 5 minutes old, after that it starts to get tougher. Make good use of this window and it will be a lot easier to shape. Wait to finish sand till it has fully cured. Shape large areas with 40 and finish with 80. You could finish with 180, but too much sanding will cause undercut. this is where you remove too much around the edges and it isn't flat anymore.

[Willy Mammoth]

cool. never would have thought spray paint for a guide coat . i do learn something new everyday

Allways glad to help. Just don't want to do much of this anymore.

[sandboxtoy]

thats great advice, I've painted a few and theres always more to learn. thanks 

[toy87]

i am in the process of preping my tuck to paint as well and thanks for the lesson Willy very helpfull, i had over looked a few things.

[TrackVino]

Very nice instructions, I too have painted in the past, but nothing like this. I will be painting my rig too, so I will make sure to book mark these instructions. Or I can just put them into a PDF for anybody who wants to download them later.

[Willy Mammoth]

You have access to over 15 years of experiance here so ask what you want and I will try to give you the rite answer. Keep in mind that I always prided myself in doing the best job for my customers so you will learn it rite here.