Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

[Jamie25]

I've a question for any of you folks out there that are painting your vans at the moment or have recently in this colder weather....

Now I know now arguably isn't the best time to be painting the van, but due to a recent house move and pending extension/renovation work together with the van failing MOT due to too much of the dreaded rust on the rear arches etc I paid to have a load of welding done and the repairs put into primer. Did some other minor repairs myself, stripped all lights, bumpers etc and took all the glass out. It needed it cause of the usual leaky windscreen and as I'm changing colour it was the only way really.

Anyway, to the question - finally got a coat on it on Sunday after what seemed like a week of rubbing down. So what's the bare minium time you think I can get away with before rubbing down. It's kept in an unheated garage. I know the longer the better but I need to get at least a couple more coats on and get it back on the road. Before christmas would be nice! So what do you think? Eight days should do it?

Can't wait to post up some before and after pics - looking good already!

[Silky]

I had the same issue, I didn't want to leave the primer uncovered over winter. I've been painting my van outdoors when the temperature is over 11 degrees, making sure I finish a section by 12pm so it's got time to dry before the evening sets in. I'm actually glad of the cooler temp to be honest, the paint dries very quickly and I can imagine it being a greater rush to finish a section in summer, at least now I have time to roller out any air bubbles.

I've just started flatting down one of the original sides painted - it's been perfectly dry after 7 days and some mixed weather.

Because of a limited painting time (around 10am to 12pm on a warm, dry day) I suspect it'll be a month or two until I'm entirely finished and happy with the results but at least I'm learning patience as well as a bit of technique along the way!

Any photos of your project by the way?

Silky

[Jamie25]

7 days til totally dry sounds great! That way I'll be able to leave it eight or nine days, rub down for a day whilst I'm off in the week and then get my wife painting again at the weekend. She was FAR better at it than me. I knew her art degree would come in handy at some point.

Tried to post some photos up yesterday as Im so pleased with the results already but I need to set up a photo account. Will do it over the next couple of days....

[Silky]

7 days til totally dry sounds great!

I have to point out I did have a very thin coat on the van - I found I got a much better finish if the paint was thinned well. Although it bubbled more when I put it on, it was easy to flat out with a dry roller and the finish is much smoother than a small section with a thicker coat.

Silky

[gaz f]

Sorry Jamie/Silky but being honest that is no where near long enough for the paint to cure properly. When I did mine it was the height of summer over here (mid 30's during the day) and I still left it almost 3 weeks between coats. It may appear fully cured but there's no way it is. I'm not saying it's not possible to sand it back down after a week but be very careful or all your hard work will be ruined. Can't wait to see your pics folks!

[Silky]

I'll leave it a little longer then, though the surface I flatted back worked quite well, it's nice and smooth now and ready for the next coat.

Here's hoping for a warm winter, I'm itching to get it finished

Silky

[Jamie25]

Not quite the before and afters, but the before and after one coat....

Before....







Starting the door and roof..



And after my wife Tess had worked her magic...

[Jamie25]

Silky - you mentioned having your paint very thin. I know thin coats are the way to go but I was just wondering what sort of ratios your using? As far as I could see from this thread, the colder the weather the less white spirit people are using. This seemed counter intuative to me, but I'm sure there's method to the madness. I went with a very unscientific 250ml to 2.5lt for the roller paint, about 9% I think. Where I applied with a brush I used an even more inaccurate 'splash' of white spirit added to a kids party cup half full of already thinned paint.

[CovKid]

Not so much less thinners in winter as more in Summer - if you get my drift. Even then, the ratio doesn't change that much.

As for flatting down between coats, I recommend a minimum of three weeks as it can still be rubbery underneath in the thicker areas. In Summer thats less of an issue as hot days can help bake it. If you're flatting away and its making no impression - stop. Its too early and you'll do damage.

Drying times can be found on my site at http://www.sickfly.virtualmidlands.co.u ... color.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jamie25]

Thanks Covkid, and thanks for this whole thread and starting the whole thing off. I was getting really fed up with all that rubbing down, especially after having spent a fair bit in having new panels welded in. But after seeing just the one coat it's perked me up again. Keen to get the van back on the road, but I've been on my bike for the last three months so no point rushing it now! Hopefully we didn't have too many runs and so well be able to flat back next week. Bring on the sunshine!

[Silky]

As for flatting down between coats, I recommend a minimum of three weeks as it can still be rubbery underneath in the thicker areas.

Mine actually flatted down easily (much moreso than the bugger of the original metallic coat) but it was a thin coat. I'll definitely heed the advice though and will leave the remaining panels a while longer to be on the safe side.

I've got to say I wasn't scientific about the ratio but tended to use the first coat to trial a few thicknesses. The thinnest coat was probably a little too watery (and slightly runnier than Covkid's evaporated milk consistency) and it was sloppy to apply but it's also one of my smoothest now it's dry. I think I'll stick with the evaporated milk though for future panels, with a clean dry roller to press out the bubbles just before it dries.

At Camperjam a guy had a little show painting graffiti style flowers on his van, to be honest I'd have found a roller painting display much more useful...

When do you start taking commissions Covkid?

Silky

[CovKid]

Actually, funny you should say that as I've returned to working on T25s in a general sense after many years of self-imposed retirement to get me fit again. All I can say is that some of the best v-dub minds in central England are presently working together in a positive sense with a view (in the new year) to start repairing and restoring some of the more tatty vans and bugs that need our help. Quite exciting really. However, what we don't need for the moment is long queues at the gate so we're clearing the backlog for now. Bodywork and servicing form part of a long list of stuff we can do...

[rattybird]

Before I paint my bug I want to get it flat and smooth.

whats the best paper to use ?

[CovKid]

anywhere between 380 and 600. I used 400. Get the DVD - tells all.

[Silky]

The cold weather's definitely stopped play at the moment - very frustrating. Having only been able to do a panel or so at a time to allow drying time, I'm in limbo a bit now and desperate for a December heat wave so I can finish off the missing bits. Highly unlikely I know but here's hoping...

Roll on Spring.

Silky