My first build: Kobra

[WorldClassAccident]

Apparently the spray painting is all about having enough CFM from the compressor rather than the tank volume.

I just ordered a 9.6CFM with spray gun from SGS Engineering - or rather thought I did until a different compressor turned up with a nail gun. About to shout angry things at SGS when I double checked my order. I must have clicked on the wrong picture without realising it. SGS were very nice and agreed to swap for the correct one if I send it back to them.

[clinkadink]

A bit of both as I recall, otherwise you'll stopping every other panel and waiting for the pressure to restore.

Mine is this one from Machine Mart.

It has 14.5 CFM which is at the low end of the acceptable 'spray painting' range. I read somewhere to spray paint a car, the compressor would need to output between 14-18 CFM.

[kon]

Very nice work indeed.
one tip I read/saw with using a budget compressor for spraying, is to use an appropriate sized gun. I think it might have been MCM who said to get one of the little guns used for small details, as it gives a good spray pattern with cheap compressors. it might take a while to spray with the small coverage it does, but for a DIY job that doesnt always matter.
I look forward to seeing the results from the pro paint job

[clinkadink]

SGS have done me proud, a lot my kit is from them. Even my 50L compressor (which was swapped for my current 100L one).

[clinkadink]

Cheers Kon. Good tip about the little gun. Wish I knew that at the time, would saved a small fortune

[Barber]

Great work, and thanks for posting up the progress, the "binge" approach works too. Fingers crossed that the paint job is as good as you wish for.

[clinkadink]

Cheers Barber. I am not sure which is more effort, update as you go, or spend a day updating at once

I am confident the paint job will be good. He's done work for me in the past, and does a cracking job. That said, I haven't had a full respray done with him before, but I am hopeful

[Mick O'Malley]

Originally Posted by clinkadink

I can't wait for the phone call saying "Your car is ready to collect"

I know this feeling so well: I also know that holding my breath isn't an option....

10/10 for grasping the nettle and having a go yourself, it looked a lot better than anything I could have done, that's for sure! I also loved binge reading your build. Once in a while I look back through my Monaco thread and despair at my feebleness when I see some of my huge 'commitment gaps'. Your car is an absolute credit to you and I look forward to seeing it in the flesh.

Regards, Mick

[Lucky@LeMans]

Nice build, well done ! Like you said with a bit more practice your paint skills will improve, it is a big learning curve !

Like your choice of wheels, not many have been fitted with wires. With some chunky wide tyres they look good on a K/Cobra. Only advise would be to get them spaced in the arches correctly.

Looking forward to the finished photos.

[clinkadink]

Thanks Mick, this did make me smile. With 15 kit cars under your belt, I think 'feebleness' is the last way to describe yourself. Well done you.

Just looking at your Monaco thread now. Impressive stuff. I will be keeping an eye on the thread from now on.

Incidentally, for my next build, I am toying with the A352 or the 250 SWB coupe.

Cheers,
Chris.

[clinkadink]

Cheers Lucky. I will keep trying, especially now I have the kit and quite a bit left of unused paint.

When you say spaced in the arch, are you referring to wheel spacers or something else?

[WorldClassAccident]

I am going for a 9.6cfm compressor matched to a spray gun that requires 6cfm with the hope that the match should let me spray a reasonable job.

Mine is going on my latest project which is a 1953 piece of shit that I am using to learn the techniques with the hope of doing a decent restore in the future.

[IanA]

Nicely done and very brave to try a metallic first time round.
The first car I sprayed (outside) was my Lotus Seven S1. The compressor was powered by a washing machine motor, still in its Hoover chassis and the collector was a fire extinguisher body. I used an electric gun for the hi-build primer.
I put enough top coat on to be able to polish it down to a rather good finish and was very pleased with it.
My Z300S was sprayed professionally about 9 months ago and I've done nothing to it except wash it v-e-r-y carefully. No runs and no drips. My mistake was not inspecting the primer coat before the top finish and sorting the few imperfections which were down to my prep of the grp body but only I know where they are!!!

[clinkadink]

Thanks Ian. Didn't even consider metallic would be more difficult. Suppose its obvious thinking about. See ... lots to learn!

I am struggling to envisage a washing machine, connected up to a fire extinguisher, whilst powering a compressor. The mind boggles.

I did my apprenticeship in a dusty, old classic car garage in the late 80's. Just me, a senior mechanic and the boss. The latter being a mechanic in WW2. He used to tell me how he (and the rest of them) used to hand paint cars with 7 layers of cellulose, then rub them down. The finish was remarkable. Whilst there I prepped a few classics; austin healey, frogeye sprite, morris oxford and hillman minx. He would never let me spray mind. Probably just as well!

[Lucky@LeMans]

Originally Posted by clinkadink

Cheers Lucky. I will keep trying, especially now I have the kit and quite a bit left of unused paint.

When you say spaced in the arch, are you referring to wheel spacers or something else?

You need to offer the wheels up with the splined adaptors to see how they fit. The front wheels will fit upto the edge of the arch, the rears might need an extra spacer to achieve the same position. Its only a subtle change it can make a big impact on the final look of the car.

[clinkadink]

Thanks. When I have the wheels fitted, i'll take a look and see if they need them. I will post on here for all to see.

Cheers.

[IanA]

With metallic, the undercoat colour affects the top coat shade. Then providing the metallic finish is satisfactory, as many coats of clear (or tinted) lacquer as you want will provide the final finish.

That "Hoover" rig was a very compact device mounted on the top loader chassis. I used cellulose for that job.

I borrowed a "proper" compressor for my 2nd spray job- Starsky & Hutch red/white on an HB Viva. The previous user had done a blue/purple flip/flop metallic job on his Capri. We ended up with a few of those flakes on the Viva. But again, plenty of top coat (acrylic) allowed us to flat down and polish to an acceptable finish.

"...tell me how he (and the rest of them) used to hand paint cars with 7 layers of cellulose, then rub them down..."-

You mean to say they didn't use the 12-coat Valspar method that was popular at the time? I think that was an alkyd paint similar to household gloss.

[Lucky@LeMans]

It is down to personal choice at the end of the day and I'm sure your car is going to look first class at the end of the day.

Did you find a local paint shop in the Swindon area to do the job ?

[clinkadink]

Ian - how ever many coats he used, I think we can safely say it was sponsored by GlobalWarming.com ... full of lead and other nasty stuff no doubt.

Lucky - yes, only a couple of mile from me. He's Polish, a nice chap and a right grafter.

[IanA]

[QUOTE=clinkadink;100754]Ian - how ever many coats he used, I think we can safely say it was sponsored by GlobalWarming.com ... full of lead and other nasty stuff no doubt. /QUOTE]

Agreed- lots of lead in household paints of the era.

Cellulose paint- developed from gun cotton used in WW1 munitions.

Acrylic paint- developed from WW2 aircraft canopy materials.