1993 Daimler Double Six

A bit more rust that I was hoping for, but at least I'm sure we are both happy the wings weren't full of filler from previous repairs.

Like you say the timing was about right, the old girl has lasted quite well from 1993 if that is all original.

Final welding job was just to attach a stud on the offside front toe board / wheel tub which retains the wheelarch liner 



Any bare metal underbody areas were primed 



And once cured a seam sealer applied 



Including the inner faces of the seams (which is how they were undertaken at the factory) 



Then cracked on to sort the profiles out 



Areas of work were feather edged & the panels keyed back has required 













Areas were then locally masked 





Prior to the application of several coats of a primer / filler 









Now left to cure overnight 



I'll flat it back after applying a guide coat in the morning 

The primer on each panel was wet flatted along with further prep for paint 




Each wheelarch flange edge was then carefully masked and a anti stone chip coating applied 



This will give the flange edges much more resilience against the debris that gets thrown up at them by the road wheels 



I've not applied the coating too heavy but enough to do the job intended



Accelerated the curing process with heat lamps 



Once cured I very carefully just softened the outer edge with a light wet flatting using P600's 

 

Demasked & blew any loose debris off the car 


 




Then spent sometime undertaking the final masking in preparation for the paint & clearcoat 



Poor masking can ruin a good paint job so never underestimate the amount of time it can take to properly mask a car up 



There's some clever masking products in todays market that prevent overspray between panels 



This one being a self adhesive foam strip that sits on the fixed panel that the door then closes against 



A different product does the same job against the the bottom of the door but also provides a soft edge for the paint & lacquer to lay up against - this makes for really nice finished edge that can just be polished in rather than the hard stepped edge that masking tape would leave 



There was a ugly touched in scar on this painted pillar trim that I have prepped and will sort whilst the paint is in the spraygun 



With the masking complete some minor spot priming was undertaken 



And a light primer coat was applied over the stone chip coating on the wheelarches 



Although the car carries a colour identification code 



Its always better to use the code in combination with the physical colour of the car - hence a small panel off the car - in this case the fuel filler flap - this can then be matched against any colour chip variants that may exist at the paint factors - in this case they was a choice of 2 variants 

 

Now already to go with the paint in the morning 

Blimey - the old girl is getting more paint than I expected.
But it'll be lovely.

I was initially confused with the missing fuel filler - but it all makes sense now.

I so look forward to the evening updates 

Thanks for all your hard work Chris.

Paint thinned and ready to apply 



It takes several coats to achieve the correct coverage & paint density - note on the masking that the paint is concentrated on the repair areas then lightly faded out to the edges / away from the repair - This method gives the best viability for colour matching to existing paint finishes on the vehicle - especially with metallic / pearlescent based paints 



The basecoat colour dries to a flat matt finish 



Its the clearcoat lacquer that provides for the finish gloss 



I have peeled the masking back where I have blended the lacquer up to a soft edge tape 






Then peeled the masking back on the rear door to check for the colour match 



Which will be fine 



Flatting & polishing session tomorrow - I like to leave the masking has intact as possible - this just helps from a cleaning up purpose - the polishing process can be a little messy and removing white polish stains from some black / rubber trims can be quite painful at times 

and that is why I'm not brave enough to do it myself 

Looking good though.

Both front wings were flatted & polished 



I then demasked the car 



The rest of the paintwork is original and over the last 29 years has sustained various minor scratches 





The finish is also quite dull 





A initial polish on the bonnet detected quite a bit of 'Fallout' - this is where the vehicle has been within the vicinity of some type of industrial process / extraction system / industrial chimney - fine particles have settled on to the paint finish making the surface quite rough by a paint finish standard 



I added another process and used a clay bar to remove the worst of the fallout 



Then applied a first & second stage polishing process 



Everything to right of the centre swaged / fluted panel on the bonnet has been polished and to the left is yet to do 



Probably more visible / noticeable if you compare the reflection of the left ceiling lamp with that of the right 



Bonnet complete 



Its not perfect but certainly commensurate of a looked after 57,000 miles from new / near 30 year old motor   



Then the second stage polish undertaken on the lower sections of the front wings 



All the upper surfaces have suffered the same fate - this is the boot lid prior to a little work 



And once completed 



Offside rear door has been through the 2 stage polishing process and the offside rear wing just required the second stage having already been the subject of a flat & first stage polish 



And likewise with the nearside rear wing 



That now just leaves the 2 nearside doors and the roof panel



Some touching in of the stone chips on the original paint is required along with the fitting up of the mudflaps / wheelarch linings & the front / rear bumpers but its well on its way now 


  

Oh my 

This is looking great.
I've no idea where the industrial fallout came from - must have pre-dated my ownership.

I'm so happy that it is original paint, and the work you have done hasn't uncovered any history.

Clay bar is a miraculous thing. You can run over paint that looks and feels clean and yet still pull loads of rubbish of it.