Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

[simple]

bought these, can vouch for the quality. Foam brushes and round edged rollers.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INNOBRUSH-27- ... 807wt_1141" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Silky]

Thanks CovKid. I'm hoping the rust will be sorted this week, if the weekend's looking fine I'll give it a go then before it gets too cold.

Simple, I've just ordered some of those rollers too - hopefully there'll be enough there to get me through the "emergency coat".

Silky

[CovKid]

Not seen this kit personally but do make sure the rollers are gloss rollers, not ordinary ones or you'll be getting a textured finish

[simple]

Not seen this kit personally but do make sure the rollers are gloss rollers, not ordinary ones or you'll be getting a textured finish

No worries, I tried out the rollers on my sliding door panel in the kitchen last weekend. Lots of bubbles as I was a bit too hasty to get the paint on, quick brush over with a fine bristled job. Lovely finish, love this paint, now I need to work out how to get the rest of the van in the kitchen

[CovKid]

Once the roller is properly saturated, the bubbles stop.

[Silky]

I'm sanding mine now, electric sander and I've a selection of wet & dry papers - 240, 400 and 600. None of them seem to be touching the paintwork -it's currently a very thick coat of metallic.

Daft question but when will I know the paintwork is suitably prep'd ? I've run my fingers over the bits I've done and it doesn't feel any different, it doesn't look any different either. Should I go for a much coarser grade?

Silky

[Silky]

Amend:

It must be doing something as I've been able to get a small glimpse of the paint below in one section I've just put a bit more elbow grease into but the metallic finish still appears highly glossed....

Silky

[Cyrus]

Amend:

It must be doing something as I've been able to get a small glimpse of the paint below in one section I've just put a bit more elbow grease into but the metallic finish still appears highly glossed....

Silky

I have the same problem, mine is metallic maroon and sand paper doesn't seem to touch it, it has a thick lacker on it too. Maybe I just need to grow some muscles!
This is why pro jobs cost so much, its the prep work that takes time.

[Silky]

I gave up on the electric sander as it just kept getting clogged up too quickly and I swapped to a sanding sponge from Halfords (or rather a number of them).http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255242" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's taking a while but it's working much better and I'm starting to make headway now. Probably needs another 2-3 hours to finish the other side and then go back and get rid of any shiny spots missed but I'm much more hopeful now.

Silky

[Cyrus]

I'm wondering if an orbital sander would be more effective. Covkid did warn of swirls by using one though.

[Silky]

Well after spending all yesterday sanding, and then ages this morning wiping down the dew and masking up, I finally got a coat on one side. I was amazed at how quick it started to dry even at 10 degrees, you really have to "work" the paint quickly or it starts to set.

The hardest part was actually summoning up the courage to give it all a go - it was much easier than I thought it would be and even some parts that looked a bit of a bugger when wet, soon seemed to all gloss over and dry well. It definitely got easier as I developed a technique - I found it useful to keep going over the wet paint very lightly with the roller to flatten out the bubbles. The result was much smoother. My next door neighbour tried doing this with a brush and he managed to get a very smooth finish with no orange peel at all - I might have to sweet talk him into helping out with the final coat

Pics below:

Amazing what you find when you give an old van a prod with a chisel....



Rust begone -- even if it did leave the van looking two tone :



And off we go....



One side done! Not perfect - it took a while to get the feel for the paint - but looking much better than it did. :



This is the worst bit of the orange peel but I'm hoping to improve this with in Spring with lots of flatting down and a couple of extra coats (and a friendly neighbour ) I must admit I'm surprised at how shiny it is already with just one coat, although it might end up "blooming" a little with the cold night.




I'd like to point out no kids or Cockers were injured in the making of this project, however tempting. The blue Cocker looks stunning

Silky

[Silky]

I'm wondering if an orbital sander would be more effective. Covkid did warn of swirls by using one though.

What grade of paper have you tried on the finish? I ended up with quite coarse paper to break through the top coat but only used these by hand.

Silky

[Cyrus]

@silky
Wow that's a vast improvement!
I've only tried 600 wet and dry (didn't touch the paint) and 100 grit normal glass paper (that cut into the paint but left lots of scores) I haven't fully put in lot of time yet on prep as its something I'm dreading.
I'd like to know what you uses as those results look great.
Did it bloom over night?

I bet you're happy.

[Silky]

I ended up using a couple of sanding sponge from Halfords - medium / coarse (see link in my post above) and it worked a treat. It took off the shine but didn't leave the surface scored. I used the electric sander with 240 grit on some areas that were extra tough, but I had to hold the sander over it for a while to get through.

A small section bloomed over night, the last panel to be painted at just before 2pm, the rest is drying nicely and has kept its shine.

I'm really impressed with the difference just one coat can make, hopefully by the third coat it'll be as good as new

Covkid, thanks so much for starting this thread, I'd never even have considered painting my wagon myself (and everyone I told about thought I was mad) but it's fabulous!

Silky

[CovKid]

Glad it worked out. Not worth spraying unless you're made of money and have a concours example. Besides it can be flatted and brought to a glossy finish later on if you really want that. Yes, sanding sponges can be a great way to flat.

I still contribute to the thread although its become rather long now