rust sucks

[Blazin]

P.S. I'll trade this weekends work with ya! I am sanding my kitchen and dinning room floors and refinishing them! Started yesterday afternoon hopefully I will have them done by Wed.

[Sierra4x4]

im still trying to figure out how im gonna get to work mnoday! oh i had to pull the gas tank and fix the leak and fab up brackets and straps. That didny speed the process up much either. We have to wet sand today and hopefully pull an all nighter painting. Hpwever i did get to drive without the doors and it was really cool, no i mean cool, pooring the rain and everything! hehe

[Sierra4x4]

well i finally got it painted last night, Started about 11 pm and finished i got home about 2 am. We still have some touch up to do before we clear it and wet sand some. overall it looks good, not saying its 'professional' but heck for a first time paint job im happy. ill get a few pics when its all done.

[Blazin]

Cool I wish I could say the same for my project. Putting the last coat on tomorow. What a pain in the but.

[Sierra4x4]

well bad news. We borrowed a gun off my friends dad and my brother in law broke it. Since then he was supposed to get a gun off one of his friends so we could finish up, he has yet to do so. Wont return any calls or try and work on this anymore. So i guess im going to have to finish this on my own. I cant wait another week on him to get going. Can you give me a run down on how to clear coat? Its the most important part i know... This sucks. Ill never ask him to help me out again...

[Blazin]

The clear coat should have been sprayed while the paint was still wet!! If you read the can ( on any brand of paint I have ever used ) it will say to give approx. 5 to 10 minutes flash time between coats and 10 to 20 minutes flash time before clear coat. These times vary depending on air temp. etc. I usually add at least 5 minutes to them when I paint so as not to chance getting runs or sags. If you wait more than a few hours you are going to need to sand it all again and base coat paint doesn't sand very well as it has no catalyst to make it harden, and is very thin so it will be easy to break through with the paper. If I was to jump in here I would sand you base coat with 320 or 400, respray the color hitting any spots that broke through first to achieve hiding then one or two coats over the whole thing. Then wait the 20 or so minute and spray three or four coats of clear. The fist one medium the second medium to wet and the third and fourth if you do four wet. Between each coat of clear you want to wait longer flash times. When determining wether or not it is ready for another coat you should be able to touch the clear or paint on the masking and not have any stringing when you pull you finger away, but you should be able to leave a finger print behind. Hope this helps.

[Sierra4x4]

well it helps me alot but unfortunetely it was too late. I wish i had never trusted my brother in law to help me with this. He totally bailed out on me leaving me with a paint gun that he broke and no body work experience. Well anyhow. I pretty well guessed on how to do it but i think it turned out well. I took a few coats really lightly at first. I had problems with the gun puking every so many passes and i had to be really careful not to run it. The first layer was pretty light and i kept stepping it up doing one side then the other and letting it dry (but not completely) It stuck pretty well actually. Looks all glossy etc. I think i can wet sand it and call it quits. Right or wrong i had to have it done, I have to have my truck back to drive. If my friend hadnt screwed me over it may have been done better but who knows. Say next week i wanted to do another clear coat would i just need to sand it down a bit then hit it again in much the same way? How about washing it? Im going to get the doors back on tommorrow and let it sit out in the sun for few while. When can i start washing it? Will high pressure car washes hurt? Thanks for your help blazin, for my first time painting without any help it turned out pretty good. Heck its not gonna be a show truck anyhow...

[cimfth]

I hope you guys aren't using a hardener with isocynates. you better have a good respirator. Anyone who paints for a living can tell you about it. Make sure if not to cut your rocker panel and floor out at one it will really screw your alignment up when you try to put the new ones in. I did all the body work on my truck my self. I got books on and asked alot of questions. Anyhow those books scared the @#%$ out of me. There is a crapload of stuff that can go wrong. Like my rockers were some sort of galvanized bare metal. Hi Prime would stick I finally discovered ethcing primer. I did everthing except for putting on the topcoat. After I read about it I didn't have a respirator or  a decent place to apply it. I don't know if you guys have an Auto Value parts store near you but they have all the materials at a good price for painting.  

[cimfth]

did you use acrylic enamel? The more water you put on it the harder it will get. use a garden hose dont let it puddle up

[Blazin]

Three or four days you can wash it. I wouldn't do high presure right away. Don't let it bead up as the water beads act like little magnifying glasses and burn the paint. Wash and dry in the shade or indoors. Use car soap only and dry with a chamois or =. If it loks good I wouldnt mess with it, you said it wasn't a show truck. Plus reclearing it is wasting tape, paper, = $, plus you chance something going wrong if you are not used to painting.