Paint prep help?
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,670
Likes: 1
From: Oklahoma City ok
Paint prep help?
I have a 79 and it needs painted bad. It appears to be cracking through the paint horizontaly along each side as well as arround the door locks.
Can anyone tell me what I need to do the job correctly if I am going to do this myself ?
Can anyone tell me what I need to do the job correctly if I am going to do this myself ?
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,456
Likes: 6
From: Spicewood, Texas, USA TX-Texas
Re: Paint prep help? (BTRNSEX)
It sounds like the horizontal cracking could be the body seams if they are along the upper part of the fenders. If the car was made of polyester resin fiberglass, I would say the cure is to grind the bonding seam down nearly to the bonding strip and laminate mat and polyester resin across the seam, grind and smooth to contour and refinish. Since yours is an SMC car, I don't know if the solution is still the same.
I have no idea what the cracking around the locks could be, unless it is the result of too many repaints. If the car has been repainted before, you are probably looking at stripping the car to bare fiberglass before repainting.
If you have no experience with auto painting, you need to allow for a long learning curve before taking on your Corvette. You will need to buy some books, talk to a lot of experienced painters, learn about paint products, and gain some experience in smaller doses before taking on the big project.
[Modified by Chuck Sangerhausen, 6:54 AM 1/11/2002]
I have no idea what the cracking around the locks could be, unless it is the result of too many repaints. If the car has been repainted before, you are probably looking at stripping the car to bare fiberglass before repainting.
If you have no experience with auto painting, you need to allow for a long learning curve before taking on your Corvette. You will need to buy some books, talk to a lot of experienced painters, learn about paint products, and gain some experience in smaller doses before taking on the big project.
[Modified by Chuck Sangerhausen, 6:54 AM 1/11/2002]
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,670
Likes: 1
From: Oklahoma City ok
Re: Paint prep help? (Chuck Sangerhausen)
Sounds like what I was thinking about the seams .
I was wanting to strip all of the paint so I get a good clean finish. There is no telling about the number of paints, the car wasn't taken care of. So far I cannot find where it (the body) has been repaired or wrecked. The title was clean a 2 owner, I am the 3rd, was not a salvage vehicle(that was a relief).
I appreciate your response and advice is well taken....Thanks
I was wanting to strip all of the paint so I get a good clean finish. There is no telling about the number of paints, the car wasn't taken care of. So far I cannot find where it (the body) has been repaired or wrecked. The title was clean a 2 owner, I am the 3rd, was not a salvage vehicle(that was a relief).
I appreciate your response and advice is well taken....Thanks
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 38,923
Likes: 1,481
From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: Paint prep help? (BTRNSEX)
Pure speculation on my part, but it's possible your car has never been repainted and what you are seeing are normal stress cracks and normal bonding seam shrinkage which is inherent in Corvettes. Post your paint code and we'll be able to tell you what the original color was; a past repaint in a different color would become obvious. The original paint was acrylic lacquer. It's entirely possible you do not need to strip the existing paint in order to get a good, new topcoat, especially in light of the fact you have not been able to locate any past repairs or body damage.
:)
:)
