Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

[gaz f]

What do you reckon guys n gals??





I'll take proper pictures once it has all its 'bits' back on but was so pleased with how the cutting and polishing went today I just had to share!

[CovKid]

Its a joy when it comes good Gaz. Its difficult to imagine the final result when your roller is going like crazy and your arm aches like hell. Can't stop when you start though can you

[CovKid]

Thank you to those that ordered the new DVD. First batch should get theirs today, todays orders by Thurs of Fri.

It was waiting for me when I got home. I'll hopefully have time to watch it after the football. Cheers to all those involved.

If you have any kids, they'll love the 'filler fairy' in the preparation section! My five year old kept getting me to rewind it...

[toyclean]

Hi all, have any of you tried that Mirka WnD paper? It's a bit cheaper on fleabay than 3M but I've no idea if it's a decent brand.

Advice welcome.

Got the DVD on order too, very exciting. Will probably only get the fibreglass roof and rsust prep done this year though...


MT

[CovKid]

You don't want to be painting in these temperatures if you can help it anyway MT. It'll dry too fast and not give it enough time to flow and lose any texture. If weather is consistent, next window of opportunity will no doubt be late August onwards. Adding more thinners won't be enough to slow drying time when its this warm, plus its just too uncomfortable to be working in.

Strangely Rob and I hadn't actually sat down and watched DVD end to end as I'd be beavering away trying to make sure we'd covered everything in the on-screen text and supporting subtitles. It was the first time that Rob (Chickenkoop - our featured beefy rollering model) had watched it at all and his comment was "Actually thats bloody good". Its a lot of information for sure and should help avoid the more obvious pitfalls. I've seen various short clips (stateside) that show cars done this way but none are particularly helpful to watch or consider things like temperature, technique or even prep. The big advantage is that its a T25 being painted so you get an idea of how certain areas are covered and how quickly we work.

By the way, if anyone is still undecided on colour schemes - heres a way to help you make up your mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WcG83G0 ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[toyclean]

Yeah, I've read the Wiki and lots on the forum and I know it's too hot right now. Is it also too hot to paint the fibreglass roof?

It's just that I need to cover some repairs made to the fibreglass. Mind you I washed the roof in the today, all that stretching over the high top in the sun nearly killed me. Think I need a higher step ladder!!

Also, I need to reseal the guttering and some othe rbits on the roof. I've got tigerseal, will rustoleum paint over it or should I paint first then apply the sealant?

Cheers.

MT

[RichardN]

Just something you should be aware of if repairing your van before painting...

About three months ago I had some welding done including a repair to the footplate. The welder painted the edges of the weld with some kind of seam sealer (I don't know the make but it was black and rubberised - Tiger Seal perhaps?). He then coated the lot in red oxide paint and a grey primer before passing it back to me for painting with Rustoleum.

Well, the paint worked perfectly on the new metal and the original paint around the welded panel but refused to dry out where it was over the seam sealer despite the coat of red oxide and primer covering the sealer. I left it for over a week and it was still completely wet on the sealer but dry everywhere else (as you would expect after a week). In the end I gave up hoping it would dry and got a rag soaked in white spirit to wipe over the new repair. It took off all the Rustoleum on the sealer leaving the dry paint unaffected. That left me with a rather strange looking panel with grey lines all over it where the seam sealer was. That was the odd thing, the red oxide and primer dried out as normal. It was only the Rustoleum that wouldn't dry. It was as if the sealer was giving off some chemical as it cured that stopped Rustoleum from drying.

I decided to leave it for a while to see it it got any better and about two weeks ago tried again with the paint. This time it seemed to start drying but only very,very slowly. It has taken about 10 days to stop feeling tacky but does now seem to have dried correctly.

I have since been told that seam sealer can take several months to cure fully and this may be the cause of the problem here. So be careful using Rustoleum on new welding if you have used seam sealer or something like Tiger Seal. Try putting your sealer on a piece of scrap first and see what it does to Rustoleum. I was lucky that it was just the footplate as you cannot see that normally so it didn't affect the rest of the painting.

Richard

[CovKid]

That would be correct. The seam sealer could well be a petroleum derivative and rustoleum is thinned down by white spirit. The other layers may well have been cellulose based so unaffected, although the sealer would still not have gone off ofcourse and the two layers semi-porous.

[toyclean]

mmm, on the fibreglass repairs - done by previous owner, there's a coating of deep red paint over the top. I've no idea if it's oxide paint, do you think I should prime that before using rustoleum or just rub it down then try to rustoleum?

If no-one has a view i guess I'll just have to test it - it's right up top so nice and out of the way. Also a pain to get to as my step ladder is too short!!

Cheers.

MT

[HarryMann]

Combicolour does seem to dry over quite fresh Dinitrol polyurethane seam sealer.. but maybe not as quickly as over adjacent old paint surfaces

There are also some starnge old paint finishes that whatever one uses, seems to run or not cover well... the blue on my Doka that the BBC used (misused might be a better term!) is one of thos, everything that goes near it runs...

including me, yuck colour, yuck stuff

[CovKid]

Just give it a good key and go.

mmm, on the fibreglass repairs - done by previous owner, there's a coating of deep red paint over the top. I've no idea if it's oxide paint, do you think I should prime that before using rustoleum or just rub it down then try to rustoleum?

If no-one has a view i guess I'll just have to test it - it's right up top so nice and out of the way. Also a pain to get to as my step ladder is too short!!

Cheers.

MT

[MarcJ123]

Many thanks to all of the contributors to this thread! Have read all of it! Just ordered the DVD - I'm from "the other side" and I haven't got a VW! Have had a couple in the past though, the beloved T25 left us just over a year ago to be replaced by the self-build merc.
Just dealing with prep at the mo, paint should be with me this week - couldn't believe no-one has ever tried to match the very common Arctic White Sprinter colour to Ral or BS codes. Had to go the DIY shop and hold a swatch to the paint, fingers crossed Sean Lawless will come up with a code he can use.



Rollers, sand paper & paint (hopefully) on the way...
Thanks for all the inspiration!

[CovKid]

Thanks and welcome. Yes, Sean has been most helpful throughout and they get a mention on the DVD Marc. If you've signed in, that credits you with an 80/90 discount with them. Keep us posted on how it goes. The Merc is a cousin ofcourse! What do they do to the gallon and how do you get on insurance wise? DVD should be with you Wednesday - order went through fine.

[MarcJ123]

Yep the 10% will help.
It does about 30 to the gallon - more than the old T25! Insurance wasn't too bad - can't remember exactly but I think £300 ish (maybe £400).

[HarryMann]

Keep us updated on the Arctic White Marc, cheers..

Ralph, expecting that DVD to pop onto the doormat any day now... looking forward to some more inspiration, I need it...