Painting a rover

[Deleted]

I decided to bite the bullet and strip and spray my rover.
Started yesterday,the front looks worse than it is,there is little rust the reflection is a bit unfortunate.
Hardest part so far was removing the spot and fog lamps where the nuts had seized.


 
I have rubbed down a couple of doors to sound old paint.

[enigmas]

Well that will definitely keep you busy for a while. 👍

[Deleted]

I've allowed myself three weeks.
I have always enjoyed mending and repairing (essential when you have old P5s)
That applies to things other than cars,the 50 litre compressor cost me £2 from a scrapyard,the motor and pump are an odd pair bought at a car boot sale and the fittings I made from refridgerator tubing. Its in a heavy wood box lined with thick carpet and felt,vented at the rear its almost silent. I've bought a few spray guns at yard sales and car boots,none cost more than a fiver,I've enjoyed stripping and repairing them and selected two to keep.



Today Im starting on the two worst areas,the doors on the N/S which have microblisters and I'll take right down to the original primer/bare metal.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Watch out for condensation in the air tank Kevin you would be wise to have a water trap before the gun! good luck I hope it goes well don't put a time on it!!

[Deleted]

Thanks for the advice John.
I realised the time scale might be extended when I started sanding the N/S doors which I knew had blisters. They are more extensive than I thought and will need serious paint removal. It looks like some oil or grease got into the paint .
In other ways better than I thought,I found no filler or evidence of any repairs at all.
I'll be using cellulose,the compressor has a water trap/filter on its outlet but I'm going to add a copper pressure vessel or length of pipe outside its housing to act as a cooler to condensate and water vapour. I've seen such a thing on a professional sprayers compressor.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Kevin you will get there it is hard work! I wouldn't mess about remove all the clips and old paint, Nitromors isn't what it was even says on the tin in tiny writing "not suitable for automotive use"!! there are trade strippers that are good one on Fleabay item 123822167361, I would also get a DA sander it will save you lots of work!

If it were me I would use REFACE filler primer after etch coat but this gets you into 2K! I would use a solid colour 2K for me it's easier to use,

Be patient don't give up take your time

[Deleted]

Thanks again.
I've been using a DA but I'm not going to go the paint stripper route as the original paint and primer are still sound.
Only a couple of doors and a bit on the boot are bad the rest seem OK.
I dont know much about 2K or two pack other than some of it can make you very dead,in any case I'm getting used to cellulose.
This all started because the roof had a couple of dents in it,which I pulled out and then resprayed the whole thing. It worked quite well apart from my platforms which I erected (because I'm a bit challenged vertically) collapsed just as I finished and I head butted the garage door.

[Deleted]

Has anyone used these trim clips. They don't look right to me.
rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F202127436179

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Kevin try Bresco they do a lot of what you need BRESCO £7.49 for 29

bresco.com/acatalog/For-14.8mm-moulding-gap.-Rover-P5-body-side-moulding-BSF052P.html#SID=29

[Deleted]

Thanks John.
I had totally forgotten about these people,as you suggest a lot of stuff including much that 'will come in handy one day'.
Ordered today.The old rivets have corroded badly,I suppose alloy in contact with steel makes it pretty inevitable.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Jul 14, 2019 10:32:15 GMT @aguywithap5b said:

Thanks John.
I had totally forgotten about these people,as you suggest a lot of stuff including much that 'will come in handy one day'.
Ordered today.The old rivets have corroded badly,I suppose alloy in contact with steel makes it pretty inevitable.

No problem Kevin I used Stainless Steel pop rivets.

[Deleted]

Clips arrived,fifty hours of rubbing down,biceps like Arnie.
A thought,not really Rover,but connected with paint and avoids another thread.
Forty odd years ago I had a near neighbour in his eighties so this is about the 1930s or 40s?
He was a foreman at a firm called Briggs Motor Bodies (American firm but had a factory in Doncaster). He worked in the repairs section and spoke to me at length about painting vehicles at that time. He said that it was common to use six or more coats of paint,sometimes up to twenty. Once the first coat of paint was on,bare hands were not allowed,each coat was inspected by people wearing white gloves.Painters would add to the paint to make it dry even slower to make brush marks flow out and the vehicle would be in a sealed shed with no one but the foreman painter allowed to go in.Apparently the foreman painter was highly paid and usually a martinet feared by workers and even the bosses,his paint brushes were almost sacred with no one allowed to touch them.
Rubbing down was done with pumice powder,wet cotton rags and french chalk and coach lines were painted by hand by men even the foreman painter was wary of upsetting.
Other than him saying that the final inspection was often followed by a wash down with a bucket of water that had a drop of paraffin in it,I cant remember any more. 

[notenoughtime]

Jul 13, 2019 20:20:49 GMT johnwp5bcoupe said:

Kevin try Bresco they do a lot of what you need BRESCO £7.49 for 29

bresco.com/acatalog/For-14.8mm-moulding-gap.-Rover-P5-body-side-moulding-BSF052P.html#SID=29

I ordered a set of these this week also 👍

[Deleted]

Progress made.
Three coats of cellulose rubbed down with 1500 grit between coats.
Two areas reacted badly,presumably old touch ups. I rubbed each down and sealed with Barcoat then painted each with the same three coats again.
At least the whole car is now the same colour all over,and I have enough paint left to touch up etc (probably enough to spray it all again).
This is the first car Ive ever resprayed,I'm a number of years past retiring so as a first attempt I'm quite pleased. Still room for improvement though.
Im going to flat it off again when the paints hard and polish it,but that will be by hand,Ive not had a lot of succes with those power things.




Now started putting bits back on.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Looking good Kev keep at it

[Deleted]

I finally got all the trim back on. Car looks OK,I flatted off a few bits with 2500 grit. I'm going to leave it a couple of weeks before polishing. I was tempted to do that with a power polisher but will probably just do it by hand.
I made  a few mistakes along the way and if I ever do another one I'd do things slightly different. I'd either seal any old repairs or dig them out (I had a bit of paint reaction in a couple of small places). I'd get a bit more practice with the gun as well.
Considering I was mainly just trying to get every panel the same colour (in some lights it looked like a patchwork quilt) Im pleased with the result.
Thanks to those who gave encouragement and advice,much appreciated.

[notenoughtime]

Look great in the pics at least it’s done for the end of the summer 👍