Grahams81-Leon 4wd, Big Turbo - Back in the saddle :-)

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
Just cought up on this thread. Love the orange. It's amazing that one bloke can turn his hand to fabrication, engines/gearboxes, welding and painting. My hat is off to you.....................again.
 

Seal_LCR

Active Member
Jun 4, 2012
2,601
5
Redditch
Just cought up on this thread. Love the orange. It's amazing that one bloke can turn his hand to fabrication, engines/gearboxes, welding and painting. My hat is off to you.....................again.

Caught.

I've been waited to do that for ages as you seem to be the spelling and grammar police on SCN :lol:
 

grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
I LOL'd at the grammar / spell police...



Thanks for All the comments Guys, i really appreciate all the support on the forum... i would say if it wasn't for the forums i would have jacked the project in a while ago. Not now though i'm feeling positive

I've just come back from a fortnight working in Northern Ireland so not a lots happened - i did do some more painting before i went though....so here you go.

Mounted the remaining doors on the stand then flattened to primer down with 320 using a block.

IMG_1388_zps193c0b17.jpg


It was a bit on in the day to start mixing paint so i spent a while rubbing down the rear spoiler delete (this is just to cover the gap above the rear window so to allow the airflow to flow to the new rear spoiler)

Ready for primer now -

IMG_1391_zpsde52f45e.jpg


The following day i mixed the paint up ( i have been over thinning the mixture to help flow through the small SATA mini jet ) but i decided to try and stick to a maximum of 30% thinners.
The reason i've messing about with the mix a little is because the paint i've done already isn't really really hard yet (if i push my nail into the paint as hard as i can i can leave a tiny mark )

I stuck very exactly to the mixing ratio's which was 2:1 of paint / hardener but it said 10-30% of thinners - i tended to use more thinners as it helped me get a really good finish from the gun.

So i really struggled on with the paint and it came out "ok" some areas were quite orange peely.... it was quite hot on the day and i think my Speedy thinners were evaporating before the paint could run back into itself. So a tad dry in some parts.

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One particularly orange orange peel :doh:

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So knowing that i'd be wet sanding the car complete the polishing it up i wasn't that bothered.

A couple of weeks ago i decided to buy some stuff to check that the paint was going to work well wet sanding / cutting / polishing.

After a bit of research on Detailing world and a couple of suggestions of buying a good rotary, i chickened out and bought a DA.... after all i've never used one so it a better choice for a beginner (safer) although it'll take a lot longer to polish out sanding marks but as anybody will realise reading this i'm in no rush :lmfao:

So i bought -

A Meguiars G220 V2 with a Sonus SFX Polishing / Cutting Kit compromising of 4" & 6" (cut & polish) pads with various backplates & polish & Finishing compound.
Here's a link for anybody thats interested - http://www.rollupandshine.com/meguiars-g220-v2-sonus-sfx-2-polish-kit-with-spot-pads-316-p.asp

I also ordered some stuff from Polished Bliss -

PB Soft Paint Polishing Kit
Meguiars Sanding Backing pad
Meguiars Water Spray Bottle
Meguiars Wash Mit
Meguiars Wash Bucket & grit guard
Meguiars Supreme Shine towel
Meguiars Ultimate Wash / Wax
3m Blue low tack tape

So after all this stuff came i had a quick go on one of the doors.
Then i discovered i didn't have any 1200 wet & dry so i wet sanded with some 3M 800 with plenty of water with a bit of soap in. This took the orange peel out quite quickly, i then went over it with some 2000 grade and then fired up the polisher for the first time.

As i was a bit cautious i used the stuff that came in the soft paints kit, and it works a treat.... although a little slow.
Then i finished of with the fine pad / polish stuff.

I then realised that there were still light sanding marks in the paint although the paint had come up ok, i obviously didn't spend long enough with the 2000 and long enough polishing. but it's a good learning experience.

Sanding marks -
IMG_1397_zps940958f6.jpg


So i decided to use just the 2000 grade to do an area of the door , the 2000 grade stuff is just cheap sh*te i bought from ebay and it showed.... but i cracked on and then got bored and decided to polish it up. It's going to need more wet sanding but i'm quite happy that with some work it'll be looking like orange glass !!!

IMG_1396_zps46db58c3.jpg


So after my first experience / training myself with the DA i decided i needed some more good quality wet and dry so i put another order in with polished bliss. I also decided to get some wet & dry pads for the DA to help with the cutting procedure.

So i bought some Mirka Abralon Discs of 1000-2000-3000-4000 grades in 2 sizes of 77mm and 150mm
I also bought some decent wet and dry - some Meguiars UniGrit 2000 & 3000 (sold out of the 1000 so i'll have to get some from somewhere else) and a litre of Meguiars Ultra-cut compound as i thought i'd need a sh*t load to do the whole car.

So after struggling with the actual painting of the doors i decided to stop messing around and just buy a bigger gun designed for High solid paints. After much research i found out that HVLP guns aren't that good for spraying Clearcoat / 2K as the HVLP can produce a drier coat / more orange peel.

After working with the SATA Minijet for so long i started to look at SATA's but i really couldn't justify spending £500 on a gun to paint a set of wings / bonnet and bumpers.
So i found loads of people who love the DeVilbiss guns, and to be fair there a fair bit cheaper than a SATA and come with various tips / nozzles to suit the type of work your doing.

So i bought a Devilbiss GTI PRO with a 1.3mm needle and a T2 cap.

Here's a bit of bunf from the website -

DeVilbiss GTI PRO Gravity Spray Gun

Our opinion - a very popular choice from large bodyshops to perfectionist hobbyists. Cutting edge technology with easy servicing and quick parts sourcing. A great choice.

Developed for busy professional painters needing the ultimate in quality finishes.
All new ergonomic gun body design.
New ultra high flow fluid tips provide superb versatility across a range of viscosities. Revolutionary air valve design gives smoother feel for even greater air and paint control for ease of fade-outs and blend-ins.
Simplified, user friendly components provide easy cleaning and maintenance (also shares many spares with it's sister mini gun, the SRi.)


PLEASE NOTE - there are four air caps to choose from that affect the way that the gun sprays. These are:

T2 - Faster flow gloss/lacquer
All round gloss / clearcoat gun.
Flow rate and fan pattern lend themselves towards a wetter application style.
Compliant trans-tech high transfer efficiency (but not HVLP)
Air consumption T2 (free air)12.4 CFM / 350 l/min
Fluid tip sizes available: 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4.
For 2K gloss / clear the 1.3 is by far the most popular choice & is recommended by the majority of paint manufacturers for their HS 2K products. (DuPont & Debeer -1.2)




IMG_1415_zpsc9d7e87b.jpg


This set-up is designed for Clear coats / 2k than require a good wet coat.

Pics -

IMG_1416_zpsa5ae3e2a.jpg

IMG_1417_zps016f3cc4.jpg

IMG_1418_zpsf5dbf88b.jpg


Hopefully i'll give it a go in the next week or so, i "should" be off for a few days so i'll hopefully get the remaining two doors fitted and then start on the remaining parts to paint :D

Thanks for reading & any comments.

Cheers,

Graham.
 
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Seal_LCR

Active Member
Jun 4, 2012
2,601
5
Redditch
Think this is one of the only threads I read than never gets a scan read it always gets read start to finish!

Excellent work do u have a completion date?
 
Oct 21, 2006
1,226
1
Norfolk
Great update as always Graham. It seems that you're over the hill with the painting and hopefully getting into the enjoyeable stages now -ie- detailing and beginning to rebuild the car.

My dad gave me a Devilbiss GTI-pro when I went through a bit bit of a 'bloke' moment in the spring and purchased a compressor with a view to paint some bits in the future. Had a go laying a matt black coat and was really impressed with the ease that you can use it. Maybe I'll get to use it properly one day...

On the wet sanding front, I went to a detailing show at Peterborough Show Ground last summer and was blown away with what could be achieved. It seemed so unnatural to put sandpaper to paint but I had a go when my strut brace was done a couple of months ago. It made the polishing stage so much more effective. I'm planning on going on a detailing workshop weekend in Brum sometime over the winter - should be useful - no school of Graham mind...

Keep going buddy. It's gonna trump your mates' projects... :)
 

grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
Cheers James, glad to hear the guns are good - plenty of people swear by them... as for the wetsanding stuff.... it's simply amazing the difference between cheap (ebay / halfrauds), good (3m), and excellent Meguires Nikkon stuff. The particle size is very good / consistent on the Nikkon stuff.
I'm pretty sure it'll cut amazing with minimal scratching.
Like you say i'm over the worst of the painting now, nearly done :)

I can almost picture it in my head now sitting in the sun for the first time.

Thanks Again Mate.
 
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grahams81

Active Member
Oct 14, 2010
1,165
6
County Durham
Cheers Lads,

Well i spent a couple of hours in the garage / Man tent today. Not really much to report but still progress.

I started off by lifting the rear door off the painting stand and sticking it on the shell -

IMG_1420_zps47bd0114.jpg


Shortly followed by the front -

IMG_1421_zps3f3a219c.jpg

IMG_1422_zpsce464e2a.jpg


I then set the boot on the paint stand -

IMG_1424_zps9b818a20.jpg


A quick one of the new spray gun just to show the size difference -

IMG_1425_zpscf540667.jpg


I then started clearing up the garage, it's like a bomb site at the moment after plenty of frantic painting.

So thats all 4 doors painted & fitted - nearly there now :D
 
Dec 19, 2006
673
0
Really good to see this progressing so well and looks like your cats very comfy in the back too lol.

Look forward to more updates.
 

ReDBull

Every day's a school day.
Nov 21, 2006
2,991
14
Lincoln
Just promise me you not going to brake the car within months of finishing it! I'd love to see this car in the flesh one day.
 
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