Here's the guide as promised:
You'll need:
- Sanding paper. 320, 600, 1000 wet. Maybe some rough stuff for the rust removal.
- Rust Guard - we call it rust milk.
- A paint kit from the dealer. These are about £8 here, small can with paint and small can with clear.
- Primer or spray filler
- Some kind of filler.
- Rubbing compound. Either some mcquires heavy cut or autosol chrome. Its basicly the same stuff.
- Masking tape and something as mask. I use some plastic bags.
First; my work area. The previous owner had clearly just thrown some paint right on top of the rust. Better get working.
Here we are sanded down with 80 grit paper. Notice I've masked the engine and the front of the car. It might seem boring, but it is quick and very much worth it. The trick here it to sand down the bad spots and leave most of the good stuff. I use 80 grit paper to get the rust and get to the metal quickly and get it ready for the Rust Guard.
This is the rust guard/rust milk at work. This stuff transforms the rust into metal. Leave it on for at least three hours. The metal and rust will turn dark blue.
I did not have time to do anymore, so I threw some primer on the just-milked metal, to protect it. Also the first layer of filler is on.
Between the first layer of filler and this picture, the following has happend:
- I've sanded down the the first filler layer with 320 wet paper.
- I've done another layer of filler.
- I've sanded it down with 320.
- I've done two rounds of spray filler and sanded them down with wet 1000.
You can usually get away with one layer of filler, but I've found that I need two for that perfect result. Also I'm a bit of a perfectionist
One will get you by just fine tho.
Regarding the sanding - you sand, then feel with your fingers for inperfections, then sand again untill your fingers can't find any edges. You'll see them once the first layer of paint is on:)
Ok so painting is going on. Painting is simple - primer first (tip!: get a primer that matches you paint color. I'll show you why later) - paint - clear.
A few tips:
- Many layers are easier than few. If you want few do a very light - then a heavy - then light. I do about 10 layers, trying to get the coat nice and thick for the rubbing. I used a whole can on the front lip.
- Then do many layers of clear. Car paint is usually 25% primer, 25% paint and 50% clear.
- Spray towards the edge of the body panel you are working on.
- In the case of a bonnet lip such as this you have to spray the other way to get enough paint on the lip. Don't worry, you'll get it off.
After you are done with the paint it will look like sh*t. Don't worry about it, we'll fix that in 24 hours
So here's my bonnet after all this work. I've just cleaned the car, and it's not looking good. I've clearly spilled paint and done a poor job with the wiping. It also feels very rough to the touch and reflects light very funny. The pain looks decent very close up but horrible at a distance.
Meet my friends!
- I'll do my bonnet two ways here. One half with soft pad+autosol, the other one with hard pad+pure wax. Just as an experiment.
- The idea is to heat up the paint a little to add the wax and clean up the roughtness. Move the machine about 0.5 inches/sek with 2-3pound pressure, at lowest possible rpm. Work for about a minute, be careful not to grind too long. Work a small area, wipe wax, and then start again.
- You can also do this by hand, but tbh it would probably be a lot of work. Borrow a machine from someone. You don't need an expensive machine.
After the rubbing part I added a layer of pure wax.
Finished pics:
Sunlight (There are no spots on my bonnet lip, it's just light playing with me):
Remember what I said about matching primer color? If I'd used black primer this mistake would not have mattered:/:
I'll fix that another day:)
