1843 replies to this topic

[Mini Waco]

Brilliant Pete!!   It took me days to read the entire post with note taking and further research as you mention specific topics.  The time alone to share your work on this forum has no doubt been a project in and of itself yet everyone who has read even the smallest portion has shared their admiration.  Thank you!!  I'm rather envious of all you blokes over there with your mini camaraderie and access to parts (used & new).  In reading these last few pages, I chuckled a bit wondering how much you had to fight with your air compressor hose and dragging it around the car to reach all areas keeping it away from the paint.  It must have been a balancing act in reaching into the cab yet holding the hose away from the shell.  Then too, you must be rather good at using both left and right hands when spraying the center areas inside the cab.  A couple questions if I may

- You mentioned increasing the 3mm spot weld tips?  What was your final tip diameter and purpose for the increase?

- Were you using a high Grit (1000 +) when doing your 3 days of rubbing?

 

Have your post as a 'favorites' on my main google bar... 

[Petrol]

I have enough to do with this one domdee. Flatting back gets a bit tedious

 

I can't adjust the current on my spot welder Mini Waco. It recommends 4mm tips. Using 3mm tips would have resulted in too much heat and probably blowing right through. I'm using 1000 grit wet and dry to flat back -

 

 

Finished the roof. The "wavy lines" are the reflection of the polythene lining the ceiling

 

 

 

 

 

Pete

[Ben_O]

Supurb

[Jase]

Perfection

[Danny-T]

Argh, just finished reading the entire thread (my third evening of reading) and am gutted to now have to wait for blow-by-blow instalments instead of binge-reading!

 

Genuinely inspired by your work, both the build quality and the clarity in your explanations and pictures. So grateful to you for sharing this. Going to try my best to follow exactly what you've done on my '92 SPI Cooper. Without any significant experience behind me, if I can achieve something a quarter as good in double the amount of time, I'll be pretty pleased with myself.

 

Fantastic stuff :)

[Petrol]

Thanks guys. Big update

 

Masked up

 

 

 

Basecoat and the 1000th pic posted

 

 

 

 

 

3L of clear coat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete

[Jared Mk3]

No words!!

[myredmini]

Could have put some more effort in on the prep work!!!   ...

 

 

 

 

 

...On a serious note, wow, very very nice work! 

[Petrol]

You can always improve on prep work It's turned out OK though considering at the end of every last coat, I was struggling to see due to the spray dust

 

 

There's a few bits in it which can only be expected really.

 

 

By the time it's flatted with 3000 grade wet and dry, buffed up with Farecla G5 compound on a rotary polisher, it should be OK. I need to leave it a while first though. Pushed into the corner of the garage to get on with the bonnet, boot and doors

 

 

Top side of bonnet is done

 

 

 

There's a bit of flexing in the skin so I have applied some sealant (Sikaflex) between the skin and the frame. This will stiffen everything up and reduce drumming

 

 

On this build, I'm trying to keep the car as light as possible for best handling. I don't however want a noisy "drum box" I have bought some decent ICE to fit so I'm trying to balance weight V comfort. I will be fitting some dynamat but don't intend going mad with it. Bonding the bonnet skin to the frame will lower panel resonance with the minimal of weight gain

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ben_O]

Looking good my man 

[Mini Waco]

Looking Great Petrol.   Without knowing what the weather is like, could you not crack the garage door and pull out some of the spray mist with a fan?  Or perhaps that would induce too much unwanted moisture.

[Petrol]

Unlike cellulose paint, 2K is much more tolerant when spraying in humid conditions as it doesn't tend to bloom. It's not that cold here at the moment but it's not a problem as my garage is typically at 20C. The problem with cracking the door open is bits and bugs in the paint which can be a real pain. The problem with bugs is that when they land on tacky paint, they try to get out and can penetrate deep into the clear coat. Flatting back deep will reduce the shine and you always run the risk of rubbing through to the base coat. If this happens it's game over and the panel will have to be resprayed. I don't know if anyone else has had the same problem but paint vapors seem to be a magnet for bugs!

 

Overspray on the other hand is easy to remove with either a claybar, polishing compound or in the case of this paint job, a 3000 wet and dry flat and machine polish.

 

Today I lashed some more paint on the doors and bonnet ready for a final flat but it's pointless posting up pics, it's just more of the same.

 

Pete

 

[Archived1]

We used to get more bits then that in a booth! You're just showing off!

 

Only kidding bud, thats some real dedication to perfection. Well done 

[Petrol]

I have never sprayed in a booth so wouldn't know what to expect.

 

I spent a lot of time cleaning the garage out but despite my efforts, there were lots of bits in it particularly on flat surfaces. Some areas had gone on a bit dry as well resulting in some orange peel. I knew there was plenty of clearcoat on so decided to flat back with 1500 grade wet and dry using a block. I then flatted back with 3000 wet and dry to remove the deeper marks left by the 1500's. Then I got the rotary polisher out

 

 

Detailing is nothing new despite all these new products and techniques. It's just a case of burnishing the paint or in this case, the clearcoat. I've had this rotary polisher about 20 years. These are the heads I use. Compounding head on the left, polishing head on the right.

 

 

I used Farecla G3 (coarse) on the compound head and G5 (fine) on the polishing head.

 

 

 

 

 

There are still some fine scratches but a very fine polish like Poorboys SSR-1 swirl remover will get rid of them.

 

 

Pete

[Ben_O]

That is a lovely finish!

 

Nice to see someone doing the polishing before doing the fit-up for a change. it's the only way to get that perfect uniform finish.

 

Ben