Primer / Sealer

[master66]

Yes if you double the dry times you will be fine. Sounds like a blast racing with your son and who knows you could have yourself the next Dave Connely or something there.

[aacorp]

Thanks again for the advice! I looked at the basecoat label, looks like I'm shooting Brand Code 6171: Mazda Red Fire Metallic. Will post pics of the finished cart.

Can't leave without a clear coat question though. I have buffing chemicals left over from a previous project, and want to make sure I use them correctly. They are: Presta - Strata Ultra Cutting Creme, and Presta - Chroma 1500 Cleaner Glaze. IIRC, the sequence is wet sand with 1000, then 1,500, then 2,000, then use the cutting creme with a wool pad, and then finish with the glaze with a foam pad. Do I have that right? Can't believe it's been 12 years since I painted the last car!

Another 'Dave Connely & Erica Enders' would be awesome. My kids love watching the Disney movie 'Right on Track' about Erica racing Jr's.

One more Jr pic for the road:



And a vintage pic - when race cars actually had names instead of sponsors!

[master66]

First of all I love the pictures.

Depending on how much orange peel and debris you get in the clear will dictate on what grit to start with . I usually don't go below 1500 grit to start unless it is really really bad. Usually it is maybe 1500 then on to 2000 it really depends on how smooth you laid it down. And also remember don't sand anywhere you can't safely get a buffer into like inside corners and such. You hate to hit the edge of your buffer pad on an adjacent panel and torch it. The cutting compound and glaze are correct, they actually make foam pads for cutting also and they have a radiused edge so it has no sharp corners.

[aacorp]

Ah - good to know, thanks again.

[aacorp]

Well, the best laid plans

I finished sanding the body, and took everything over to the shop to lay down the AP and a good coat of K36 - only to find out that I'm out of K201, bummer!

So, now that I lost a day I'll be on a compressed time schedule. If I wanted the K36 to dry quicker in these cool temps, but didn't want to buy faster reducer, could I add say 25% more hardner and get to sanding quicker?

Also, I checked the spray tips I have and was surprised that I only have a 1.6 & a 1.8. That means I've been spraying base & clear with the 1.6, and have never used a 1.3. Is there a big difference between the 1.6 vs. 1.3? If so, I'll buy a 1.3 as they can't be a lot of money - assuming I can find one for my old gun....

Last car painted - perhaps I now know why it took so much wet sanding:



Another F/C

[master66]

So beleive it or not if you add to much hardener it will take forever to dry so lets not do that. The only way to get it to dry faster is to use a heat lamp or a large oven so sorry about the bad news.
I personally use a 1.4 but you could get away with a 1.6 if you turn down the product a little and the air up a little. Love the Raymond Beadle car too by the way.

[aacorp]

Wow! Never would have guessed that result. We'll do it by the book, no real reason to rush it now. I'll try to get a 1.3 or 1.4 tip, otherwise will adjust it as you've suggested - thanks.

The old FC's are pretty neat, reminds me of when I'd bug my dad to take me to Englishtown in the late '70's - he hated it, I loved it!

One of the best parts of modern drag racing is the golf cart show that accompanies it. There is always something new showing up on somebody's cart, then a trend starts.

[aacorp]

Could not quickly get a 1.3 tip for my older (1999'ish) gun, so decided to retire it to just shoot primers and bought a kit of 2 guns with accessories that included a 1.3 and 1.8 tips. It can be hard to resist when you are looking at the nice equipment - knowing you have a few projects in the works and can spread the cost over them all!

Also picked up some K201, and wanted to see what you think of this 'general rule of 15'; if the temp is 15 degrees warmer than your reducer, cut dry time in half & if the temp is 15 degrees cooler than your reducer double the dry time. Does that sound like logical, and if so - can one extrapolate that even further, ie; if temp is 30 degrees cooler then take the original dry time x3?

I'm hoping to limit most (maybe all?) of the wetsanding step if at all possible.

For the NHRA fans, the 'Big' guys are involved at the 'fun' level now.



Ben put the Al-Anabi car on the trailer in the 3rd round. The Al-Anabi driver signed a lifetime contract at age 10!



Bode's Mom wears the boots to the Jr races too! Ben got him on the tree - a little.

[master66]

I think you will be fine with just doubling your dry times. You might want to really watch the clear though and just build it heavier as you go so you can avoid any runs.

So what color boots is she wearing to JR dragsters, is it the bright green ones? That is so funny, a little strange but still funny.

[aacorp]

Thanks,will stick to the 2x dry times.

Laid the AP and K36 last night, that AP is very thin and even though it is tinted red it was hard to see how much was laid down! Put one good coat of K36 down, and called it a night.

Put the body parts out in the sun this morning, it was 35 degrees outside and only 40 degrees in the shop - but was warming up. Spent 4 hours sanding the K36, first with 320 then final swipe with 600. Cleaned it 3x (withy lacquer thinner this time, didn't like the way that DX cleaner works), and just got done laying down one medium coat of DP sealer and am waiting an hour+ before putting the color down. Plan is to lay 3 coats of base, wait an hour, then shoot 3 coats of clear.

I keep telling myself this effort is justified as practice for the bigger projects! Sure is a lot of work, but I really enjoy bodywork and painting - a good departure from the day job.

Will post pics tonight.

Oh - boots are usually just black, don't recall seeing any of the funny colored ones - but I'm usually so busy that I just might not have noticed. We call her 'soccer mom'! :) Nice family, they bring Dad's rig and crew - quite the site!

It's 55 degrees in the shop - going to start shooting base!