Club 80-90 Forums

I had my first try at rollering today. Started by just having a go on one door. I had a lot of trouble with bubbles which I couldnt get rid of. Is this a sign the paint was too thick/thin? I used 20% white spirit in the paint and I was using a decent foam roller from homebase. I hope its smoothed out when I have a look later because it looked like crap earlier.

I used a 20% mix but you need to remove all the air from the roller, see the wiki and the video which demonstrates how to do this. I had the same problem first time and, thereafter, left the rollers in a tin that had just enough paint to cover them so that they were well saturated next time I came to use them. Don't leave it to dry with bubbles, if you cannot remove the bubbles using a light pressure with the rollers then have a soft tipped brush available (available from B&Q) and lightly brush the bubbles away and then re-roller the affected area whilst the paint is still wet. Have sheet of metal or MDF handy next time and test for bubbles before starting the panel. There are a lot of people who have sussed the technique and will be happy to offer their advice. If its really bad just flat it back with 400 grade wet and dry supported with a sanding block and re-do it.

I'll try that next time. I think I will have to flat it back cos some of the bubbles have dried in.

ashman wrote:
I am liking the arty pic of the bus CovKid - what steelies have you got on the front as they don't look standard?

Yo - well spotted Ashman. They're Merc steelies. They make it sit and look right. Oddly, Merc Doctor here in Cov noticed the wheels were different too, but no MOT place has. They look very similar in design to the standard ones. Its a subtle change but I can now take roundabouts like a hatchback with those on.

Always felt the original T25 wheels looked ridiculously small and I'm not that keen on alloys

Actually, maybe now is a good time for a recap.

Bubbles. Yup, soak roller properly and SLOWLY first. Video starts with that process. Also, the thinner ratio is no exact science - so much depends on temperatire. Essentially you want it to stay on the sides of the vehicle without running off and not so thick its like coating a toffee apple. A few on here will back me when I say: "When its right, its right". The roller has a nice 'sticky'sound but thin enough to level out after a minute or two.

This is DEFINATELY the month to do this. July will be laden with insect life. Theres a few around now, but May/June is the right time to do this outdoors. Tweezers are handy for the odd suicide attempt.

Anyone who has flatted after a few coats will tell you it is possible to actually exceed a spray job in terms of finish. Heres a panel thats been flatted and polished with ordinary pound shop brass cleaner:



That finish after polishing is actually better than most new cars straight out of a showroom and for those that insist spraying is a better bet, you will use as much as twice the amount of paint, have to mask everywhere, and with spraying you have to remove so much stuff including rubber seals etc etc, meaning you can't drive it away in a couple of hours. Also, a minor scrape just means a quick go with the roller and the job is done.

Spraying will give a nice finish (if youre good at it) but chances are it will still need flatting and polishing. To my mind,thisis within almost anyones budget and a lot less messy.

Just finished the Mini (picture in the chat forum - "At Last....", 6 coats with a flat each week between coats 2,3,4,5,6. Final flat will be in a months time with 1600 grade. Some of the panels look as though they were sprayed (sprayed over two dozen cars so very pleased!). Did the whole bare shell, inside and under as well, but preferred rollering on cool mornings/evenings for the best level finish.

There she is. Looks nice.

I'd never spray again. Not now. I've even done odds and ends parked up outside the local school while I'm waiting for my boy to come out. The sponge brushes are great for that.

Had another go yesterday. Soaked the roller and squeezed bubbles out for ages. Still went on bubbly. When I am going back over again and again trying to get rid of the bubbles the paint was going off and it looks like artex now. Gonna try more thinners next time? Or would that make it more bubbly?

A couple of pictures of the big red bus

Hi Tower
I used a 25% mix of thinners and found this worked well with the red I was using. I don't know why you are having so many bubbles in the paint, but I found it best to just mix the thinners very slowly and any bubbles that did appear when rollering did disappear if I lightly rollered back over the top of them again - before the paint had a chance to dry off a bit. I did roller one panel when it was way too hot and it just dried like sand paper before I had a chance to save it - ho hum a lesson learned there!

Good luck as I'm sure you'll get there

Ashman

Im guessing I've still got the paint a little too thick. Others have said it takes 3 or 4 coats to cover the colour underneath. Ive put 2 coats of white over mid blue and the blue isnt showing through at all.

hi_tower wrote:Im guessing I've still got the paint a little too thick. Others have said it takes 3 or 4 coats to cover the colour underneath. Ive put 2 coats of white over mid blue and the blue isnt showing through at all.

You just answered the question I was about to ask, which colour you were using. I have white over pale blue on a small section of the van and its coverage is how you described. It is the first coat though. I'm going to try a adding a small amount of stone colour to white to make it more creamy. The pale blue (lower half of the van) on the other hand worked a treat.

As others have said, you soon find out what works best. As long as you keep flattening back and adding more coats, youre not going to damage the your van.

Rubbed it all back flat tonight. Had another go with a load more thinners and its going on much better now. The bubbles seem to burst when I lightly go back over with the roller. Quite surprised at how thin it needs to be, like carnation milk.

Yep, think I mentioned this in the WIKI - like very runny custard. Too little thinners and you'll get bubbles that won't vanish before it skins, too thin and it will run. You do get a feel for the right consistency. You need it fluid enough to enable it to self-level or smooth out in about 3-4 minutes after which it will go off. If the weather is very hot (as its been today), turn vehicle away from sun or increase thinners.

Do NOT overwork the roller.

By the way, white generally takes longer (more coats) to obliterate whats underneath. The mid-blue seems to cover very quickly. Got away with 2 coats in many places.

Due to work commitments I've only had one opportunity so far this year to get some paint on my van. I used the darkest blue colour (cant remember the code) which only comes in 3/4 litre tins to cover what was NATO green matt and amazingly it covered it first time. Thinned it about 15%, this was back in May when it was a bit cooler. It was like runny custard just like CovKid described.

I had a bit of orange peel on one panel which I flatted back, no bubbles really but I did soak the roller and spend ages folding the thinners in, again just following the original PYW4£50 thread to the letter.

To be honest, for one coat, I'm amazed and delighted. Everyone who's seen it reckons it looks great too, which is a right result as I don't know when I'll get to put another coat on.

It took me one whole weekend ie 20 hours from start to finish, including stripping, prepping, masking, white roof, blue van and foam brushing the awkward bits like up under the gutter and the door edges. I put all the bits, mirrors, bumpers etc back on on sunday night as I needed to drive it the next day.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the original thread is a work of genius. I only wish there were more like it, ie for mechanical work & panel/camper conversion work ( I did find a similar one about insulating your van which I also found well useful even though it was on a bay, mostly the same things applied)

I swear I'll get some pics up one day, sorry just don't get much time to play on PC nowadays what with my new job, 2 teenagers, a baby, a dog, a missis and a half finished van all demanding attention.

You might have seen it if you were at Bristol Volksfest last weekend though.

Cheers Cosmik. Funny enough I was sat behind a BRAND NEW Mitsubushi today and if you really look at modern factory finish paint jobs, its as orange peely as hell. Paint jobs are what customers accept from a reasonable distance these days and anyone who has got a panel right with the roller technique I described will tell you there is little difference between that and a factory finish.

To be fair you'll always find areas not as good as others cos thinners were too little or you just overworked the roller but you get the hang of it suprisingly fast and if push comes to shove you can flat it down and correct it. Still really pleased with mine. It could do with a freshen up this year but paint is still shrugging off the british weather so I'll concentrate on interior this year and give it two more coats next year.

Above all, this paint is a wicked rust inhibitor - made for these vehicles really. I'm waiting for someone to try a camouflage job. Three greens and a bit of masking - would look really good.

Was tempted to try that myself.