[Vwdiesel] update- Painted my Golf 2day-what NOT to do

[Mike & Coreen Smith]

What I learned...........by Mike the Newbie el-cheapo $15.00 painter:

Let's be honest, it's a $100 car that's future is bleak, (it's REAL
rusty).........so
My goal was: " Just to get it all 1 color......."

Well, #1 is I should've done more surface prep.  It's bumpy, holey, bubbly,
etc..  I didn't really care WHAT it looked like.. (at the time).....but now
that the color looks really quite fetching, I wish I had done a better job
and used some more Bondo, done more sanding, (less grinding) etc..

#2 is I would've mixed *all* my paint prior.  My secret concoction was using
a $10 can (liter) and a $4 can (250ml) of Tremclad metal rust paint.  Blue
main color and I mixed it with a little silver color  to get a faint bit of
sparkle/metallic look in it.  I ran out about 2/3rds of the way into the
job, so had to mix up another batch.....I don't know what happened, but the
2nd batch was a lot more "silvery" and hard to match with what was already
on the car.  Perhaps some gobs of silver that never got off the bottom of
the can the first time 'round....I dunno.  Big no-no mixing paint 1/2-way
into a job....on the fly.

#3 is I would've tried to paint an old board, etc. first,  to get my spray
pattern just right.  I don't know yet if my gun was gummed up, knob jammed,
or paint just too thick. (though it was coming out pretty good) to get the
intended spray.  My pattern was like a baseball bat.....not unlike a rattle
can.....and hard to work with.  Later, upon cleanup, fiddling with this and
that, and spraying some paint thinnner through the gun, the pattern was more
like a large vertical fan.  Very nice !......a wee bit too late. DOH!!!

#4 I wouldn't have done any taping with black electrical tape.  As I was
running *very* short on masking tape, I did around the window corners, door
handles etc. with black tape.  Unfortunately, the sun came out, it got nice
and toasty and all the tape shrunk/malformed itself in the sun.  Left some
small areas of chrome, etc. exposed to blue paint.   I don't know what
you're SUPPOSED to use.... I always thought regular ol' masking tape, but ,
, , (?)

#5 I would've plugged the window vents.......DOH!  I even knew about this
one, but in my haste forgot all about it.

#6 Even though I reckon it took me some 3-4 hours to tape the car, (includes
meals & bathroom breaks for me and my 4yo son) I did rush here and
there...so I would've taken even MORE time next time and done a real nice
job.  There's bits of overspray on tires, trim, windows, etc.  Not much mind
you, but a wee bit here and there. I've already been over the car once, when
the paint was still tacky, but needs going over again.  Especially the tiny
bits on the 20 yr old rubber moldings and trim that WON'T come off with a
rag soaked in paint thinner.  I have to go back and clean the windows yet
again for a 3rd time.  Overspray is viscious !

........that's all I can think of for now.  I know some of you won't
understand why I didn't do 2 days worth of work on this car, with the proper
$150-$200+ tax, worth of proper automotive primer and paints, but I'm all
about doing it "on the cheap" with this particular car.

Mike in NB





Mike, Coreen & Corey Smith
699 Rte 616 Keswick Ridge
NB
Canada
E6L 1T1
----- Original Message -----
From: "jon" <jon at kenneke.com>
To: "Mike & Coreen Smith" <ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca>
Cc: "Mark Shepherd" <mark at shepher.fsnet.co.uk>; <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Painted my Golf 2day


>
> Mike,
>
> Tell us what you learned! I've done a few "rattlecan" jobs on cars.
>
> My first tip:
>
> Most car paint places will put honest-to-goodness car paint in a rattle
> can for you. I have some nice pics of touch-up jobs I have done with this.
> Nothin' beats "real" car paint.
>
> Jon
>
> On Mon, 18 Apr 2005, Mike & Coreen Smith wrote:
>
> > LOL Mark....I didn't do much for rust repair, filling, or even much
sanding.
> > In all likelyhood, I'll only have the car until January, where it will
> > promptly fail
> > inspection....so I didn't want to get into another round of "Fill with
> > Bondo".
> > I just sanded a bit here and there...filled 1 tiny hole with spot putty
and
> > painted.
> > It's real rough up close.  Maybe I should've said "REALLLLLLY" rough up
> > close, but
> > at least it's all 1 color now, and for a $100 car @ 50MPG, I'm sure as
heck
> > not complaining.
> >
> > Thanks for ALL the emails.  I will certainly take more time my next
paint
> > job and do a
> > much better job.   This one was just to learn and test my painting
skills.
> > I learned a bunch and 'specially had a bit of fun.
> >
> > Mike in NB....
> >
> > Mike, Coreen & Corey Smith
> > 699 Rte 616 Keswick Ridge
> > NB
> > Canada
> > E6L 1T1
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mark Shepherd" <mark at shepher.fsnet.co.uk>
> > To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2005 12:23 PM
> > Subject: [Vwdiesel] Painted my Golf 2day
> >
> >
> > > Are we looking at the right pictures? That's quite a
> > > marketable colour (8OD)
> > > Miser
> > >
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> > >
> >
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>