Geo

Well, I finally had a chance to get back to work on my car today. I scuffed almost the entire interior and scrubbed it down.

I've never painted a car before but I know prep is everything. The car is not going to be a show car, but I do plan on doing some promo events and cars shows with it to raise money for Team in Training (fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and perhaps try to attract some minor sponsorship. Then there is the pride of workmanship. My main concern is that the paint not flake off. So, the question....

Just how **** retentive do I need to be with this? I've scuffed pretty well in most areas, but some are tough to get to. Then there is the fact there is some adhesive or other gunk Porsche used in the interior that can sometimes be hard to distinguish from dirt. I've scrubbed the interior pretty well, including using a toothbrush in some areas. Don't worry, it wasn't mine (wonder if my wife will figure it out? ). But just how AR do I actually NEED to be?

I know many of you have built a lot of cars. John, you do this all the time.

I plan on scrubbing and scuffing some more, but if I am over the top here I can spend the time on other things.

Second question: What sort of primer should I use? Yes, for the exterior I'll use the recommended one for the paint. But for something like the interior where somethings need help for adhesion, does anyone use anything special that sticks tenatiously?

I hope to be ready for paint before too long.

Adam Richman

Hi George, I went through this myself back last fall and ended up using an PPG Omni AU40LF "non sander" primer w/ a 402LF Catalyst (this might be generic stuff but its what I ended up going w/ as receommended specifically for this use). I used an PPG paint as well. As for holding up, it would be unfair to say objectively it has, I don't know yet. I was pretty surprised at how well the area around the door bars that I hit each and every time I get out of it (usually in work boots) has held up - not a chip yet nor any permanent marks. Now in all fairness, it has one primer coat and 3 coats of paint in the passenger area (2 coats elsewhere - know I need to go back through it and do some touches any way).

the interior was scuffed, shot the whole car w/ thinner and wiped down, primed it, shot it with a coat of some foolishly overthinned paint next day. Shot it again the following week. Its a lot of work and it looks good enough but I have the upmost respect for professional painters and know they could do both better and in shorter time.

BTW, does Team in Training have a website? If you haven't already, check out grid.org and start processing!

Geo

The official web site:

http://www.teamintraining.org

Our personal website:

http://www.active.com/donations/fund...cfm?key=GRoffe

And our local training group site:

http://home.earthlink.net/~geo31/TNT/TNT-Kingwood.html

Thanks for the feedback on the interior painting.

I'm a bit surprised at the amount of time I have devoted just to cleaning this thing for various reasons. But, if you want to do a good job, that's the price.

Adam Richman

Tres cool man! My buddy Larry is a NHL survivor (http://www.gotcancer.org) which is what initially got me aware of NFCR and the Grid. This is a neat and ironic since he was training for Boston prior to the diagnosis. I will definately forward the URL.

Yes, it is a lot of prep work - I have done it three times now and I guess its sorta oddly entertaining (until a point where I just lose my patience ). Since I pulled the doors, roof, hood, trunk all off the car and only had two sets of hard lines running through the car when I shot it and absolutely nothing in the engine bay, it was presumably easier. At the same token, I gotta believe that maybe 5% at BEST of the paint actually makes contact with what you painting, especially when you are doing the cage. It was funny, when I did the door jambs, I thought ... "man, too bad it can't all be like this."

One recommendation. If you are having the exterior shot w/ multiple colors or a color unlike the interior color, paint (not just overspray) on the flat surfaces around the doors and inside the gas filler area - it will allow them to tape off where they want to cut in so you won't have some funky line of exterior paint leading into the door well (this is if its not all one color of course).

Good luck!

Geo

Thanks Adam. I am painting the car two colors.

Team in Training (TNT) has been a life altering experience. It's been incredibly inspirational.

Juan Lopez

Great cause !

On painting, prep is (mostly) everything. Anyone said ****???

Larry Herman

Wooooo, Wooooo, Wooooo! Hear that Juan...the **** police are coming for you!

Know what you mean though, they've been at my door many times.

Geo

Juan, did you use anything special for primer and/or paint?

I still have the mastic (or whatever it is) that Porsche used on seams still on the car. I'm not planning on removing them. I'd love to and I hope next time I build a car I'll have the space for a rotisserie and can also have the tub dipped. But, for now that's not in the cards.

Also, to add to my general questions, will a little bit of remaining dirt here and there in areas that are hard to reach really present a big problem? I'm only talking a little here, not really sloppy prep, AND I realize any foreign matter compromises the adhesion. I'm just looking for a practical guide. If I have to get surgical on it I will.

Geo

BTW, I know there are industrial primers and paints that can be sprayed over dirt and grease even. I don't know if there are any specialty products for automotive applications. I would think there would be.

Juan Lopez

Larry, the police have been around

George,

The shop cleaned the interior with wire brush, scrapers, scotch brite, knifes, ... They cleaned it with RM PreCleano, the it was hammered/dollied to correct any problems with the metal. After that, it was scrubbed again with scotch brite and "precleano'ed" again.

Not sure what brand of primer/paint was used but they refer to it as a high build primer. I seem to recall that some epoxy based paint was used (not sure where), I'll try to get hold of the shop and post additional info.

IMHO, if you are at it, go crazy and get rid of all the interior gunk and then (as time/$$$ allows) work on the undercarriage.

I think that some dirt on hidden nooks/crannies will not really hurt. In my case, that was not an option as we decided to fix all preexisting problems by attacking one compartment every year.

Let us know how you make out on this. Any pics?

Geo

I'll try to get some pix this week. I thought about taking some yesterday. I've gotten it pretty clean. The only bad spot is the driver's footbox. I have the wiring harness laying in there at the moment. When that comes out (or possibly just gets bagged up) I'll finish that area. I was going to originally just bag the harness for painting, but AR that I am, I really want to do this right.

Mike Buck

Geo,
anything you can remove before painting, do it. I painted my rollcage, not whole interior just the cage, and paint overspray got into all kinds of places I never imagined. No amount of tape, newspaper, bags etc.. will keep everything out. Spent several days doing prep and still made a mess of some parts. Good luck

RedlineMan

Hey all;

If I had things down as far as Juan, I would most definitely use an acid etch primer to start. This is just what it sounds like, and is the ultimate for adhesion to bare metal. Some guys even use it on plastic bumpers!

It also works well for interior stuff where you simply can't get everything scuffed well. Be it over old paint or bare metal, it will greatly promote adhesion of the top coat.

If you need to get fancy, a 2k (catalyzed) high build primer will allow you to fill a lot of scratches and imperfections. Sanding it is the bitch!

The real key to making it look good is CLEANING. I blow out the interior MANY times, then use a damp towel to wipe, then vacuum with a bristle attachment, then wax & grease clean, then blow again, then vac again, then tack rag, then spray.

If you can get your hands on it, HVLP equipment (high volume low pressure) will save you a lot of material. Puts out more material with less waste into the air, especially helpful on cages. Otherwise, turn up the pressure fairly high (60-ish) and back way off on the material flow. This will blow the paint into knooks & crannies better, and also keep you from running it everywhere. Do force yourself to wait between coats!

I use a detail gun for cutting in all the tight spots, sometimes for all of the perforated interior panels. I rarely find a use for a big gun, unless it is for floor pans.

Paint the floor last. You can expect to have to climb inside to do the sides and roof. You will then have to reclean and vac the floor before painting it. It helps to put paper on the floor for climbing around on.

It is EXTREMELY tedious work, especially if the interior is not fully stripped. Careful and competant masking of an interior to spray a cage is positively mind numbing, but essential.

Benton

I don't think I have the patience to do that in my track car... especially with a deadline coming up in about 2 months. Aside from the weight penalty, is there any downside to using a high quality catalyzed truck bedliner? It would probably take two gallons... so I'm thinking about 20 pound weight penalty. That's not a big deal to me, especially since I'm not going to be doing any professional racing with a 928.

Edit: And obviously, I realize prep work is still involved. I just don't want to spend two weeks on prep work to make it beautiful.

Juan Lopez

Truck bedliner is very heavy (as you pointed out) and if/when you decide to remove it.....lots of patience are required. Instead, IMHO I'd just spry it with paint and when you have the time then do it right.

Perhaps you should just spot paint the areas which need to be protected.