1975 Peugeot 304 S Cabriolet with hard and soft tops.

Update time for the car and my health. Not feeling 100% yet but almost there, discomfort rather than pain now which is a relief after 4 weeks. Also got the results of the ultrasound scan on my tackle and nothing of any concern found. Must have been the shingles which caused them to swell to about treble the normal size.

Some of the car is now in colour and for my first attempt at painting I am quite happy. Had a quick phone call with Chris halfway through just to confirm something which was answered with his usual good grace. Top man.

So, the boot floor is now in colour. The sides will be staying in white epoxy as they going to be covered in either black or anthracite 4 way stretch carpet.



Next was a bit more ambitious. Engine bay and screen surround. All went ok other than lack of space to get the gun in all the angles and I ended up with a couple of runs (well avalanche really) low down on the sides. Could do with having a right angled air line connection instead of a straight one I think if there is such a thing. Also although illumination looks ok I always seem to be working in my own shadow so thinking a head torch might help.



Had some paint left in the pot so the front panel got the same treatment, ie, gripper coat, followed by 2 colour coats with hopefully the appropriate flask off times applied.



Quite happy with the results so far for my first attempt at painting a car.

Having tomorrow off, back on with it on Friday rubbing down the high build primer, Day off on Saturday as got my covid booster and flu jab at 2pm so the whole day is wasted. Sunday there will hopefully be more top coat action.

Ray - If that's you first attempt at applying a finish coat 'Well Done' - Looks you have have achieved a good even coverage with a nice gloss - painting a car or even a single panel can be a daunting task and for someone to have the bottle to give it a go in temporary / far from the right conditions and achieve a decent finish from the off is very commendable 

I get that all the time - I'm trying to do some repairs in the rain channel around the boot on my project at the moment so space is limited, and wherever I put the light, either my arm or the grinder just throws a shadow. I was thinking maybe a small LED lamp fixed to the side of the grinder might do the trick, a bit like those electric screwdrivers that have them, but able to be on before you actually pull the trigger.

Quick question which I have had a quick look on the internet for the answer but didn't find it.

Does U-Pol high build primer absorb moisture? Reason I ask is there was a bit of condensation in the cow shed today and the bottom 9" of the car was quite damp. There is a diesel heater like this

www.amazon.co.uk/IMAYCC-Diesel-Heater-Control-Caravan/dp/B08P7HJNVB/ref=sr_1_8_sspa?adgrpid=1187473465121934&hvadid=74217310003106&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=40991&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-74217237771047%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=9532_2248902&keywords=diesel+heater&qid=1696183451&sr=8-8-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.cc223b57-2b86-485c-a85e-6431c1f06c86&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

which I can use and it pumps out a tremendous amount of blown hot air so I can dry everything out before painting if necessary.

Almost ready to paint the rear wings and rear panel but there are a few bits which are not 100% in my limited opinion so I am going to spend Wednesday improving the finish and hopefully paint on Thursday. The quality of the finished product is only as good as the preparation so I am happy to spend another 8 hours on preparation.

Thanks Chris. It is 2K, S2025 primer and S2030 hardener.  The weather might be ok on Thursday and there will be no need for the heater but if I do have to use it I will go round twice with the panel wipe as I have plenty of that.

Got the paint on the rear wings and back panel today after a major struggle with the spray gun. First pot was ok but the second one I had what I thought was a blockage straight away. Tipped the paint back into the mixing cup and cleaned the gun. Reassembled it and poured the paint back in. A test spray on a piece of board was ok, managed 2 passes on the car and the same again.
This happened about 5 or 6 times before I sussed it was the vent hole in the pot that was blocked and the vacuum was stopping the paint flow.
By this time I was way way beyond the 15 minute flash off time and seriously stressed but decided to carry on. Need to find out if the flash off time is important.

So the paint is on but not as good as my first attempt with quite a bit of orange peel. Will need to flat it and polish when it hardens or spray it again. The faint circular mark seen in the photos is something on or in the lens.









A bit deflated tonight as the paint finish is not what I wanted still feel wound up with the spray gun hassles but all sortable I think.

Ray - Has Andy states above - stick at it - you're doing fine - problems with paint occur and its very much a learning process - I've been at decades and it still challenges me on occasions - Quick tip then, flat & polish a small area in the worst section of orange peel / finish and see how you get on results wise over time taken - then take a view on either flatting & polishing or just flatting down to apply another coat of paint 

I'm sure Chris can give a pro tutorial on runs.
But I did some aerosol based repairs on my sons car recently and got a run.

I had one of these really thin stainless steel masking things to hand.

Stainless thingy

That allowed me to take off 90% of the run, without touching the surrounding paintwork.

I could then remove the mask and do the last little bit, knowing I wouldn't sand through to primer.

Thanks Andy and Chris. Will have a look in proper daylight when I go to the car tomorrow and assess the situation.

I think a major issue (other than the spray gun problem) is the lighting, which looks fine until you start to paint. Also trying to do both wings and back panel at the same time when there isn't really enough space to comfortably get down both sides of the car. If I do repaint it I think I will do one side at a time with the back panel being painted along with one of the wings and try to join it in on the other side as there is no panel joint to paint up to.

I don't have a polisher but if flatting and polishing is the way to go I would probably get one of the valeters from my old work to come with a suitable machine.