S13 restore and respray (Garage style)

[villain]

Thanks guys. Yeah, that midnight blue colour is one of my (if not THE) favourite colours. It just seems to suit the S13. Two-tones and midnight blue, nom nom errday.
As for patience, considering i sprayed the car this time last year and am still cutting+buffing it, i'd say it's more laziness than it is patience. It's a lot of effort to get it looking shiny and from what i've experienced, the shine goes away after a week or two. I'm gonna wait it out a bit and see if the bonnet goes back to being sub-par and if it does, i'm gonna throw another tantrum and moan some more about how acrylic 1k paint sucks.

Cost-wise, it depends on whether you factor in the tools and what not. I didn't have an air compressor, spray gun, mask or any of that stuff before i did this so i had to buy it all as i went.
If you don't count that stuff:
Paint - About 4-5L for around $450 (I bought a bit extra because of wastage/noob mistakes, you only need 4L which is $380 at autobarn)
Thinner - I bought a shit-ton because i used it for cleaning the guns and cups etc, i think i got something like 20L which is 5 4L tins and at $20 a tin it was $100
Sand Paper - I got 2 each of 380,400,800,1000 and 1500 with each of them being $1.25, works out to be $12.50
Measurement cups are like $5 each or something
4L of Clear is $80?
1KG of cutting compound was $20
and i think that's about it. So total was probably around/under the $700 mark.

On reflection, i wasted a lot of money/materials when doing it, so if i were to do it again, i'd probably be a bit more conservative with my thinners and sandpapers.

[villain]

k, one more update with the bonnet. I used a finer grit compound today to get an even nicer mirror finish:



Turned out good. I'll probably spend every free day i have on my holidays sanding/buffing the rest of the car.
Oh, and i also got rid of most of that white mark i had on the front bar.

[Colum Black-Byron]

I just read through your whole thread, and you beat me by one post with getting better shine.

Make sure you sand it down to 2000grit sandpaper before buffing, all the little scratches that are still in 1000-1500 grit will take away from the shine. Also what are you using for buffing? I find the wool pads work really well (and use plenty of water with a small amount of soap) cuts through it pretty well. Also make sure you aren't using too harsh cutting agents, you aren't buffing 2pac, it's far softer.

Also, if you're feeling daring, another tip I heard (but haven't tried), was to sand it down flat, then spray a very light coat of thinners over it, the clear will absorb the thinners, and run very slightly into the scratches giving a smooth shiny surface.

I did pretty much the same as you paint wise, acrylic, plenty of sanding, buffing, but I could never get it to keep the shine it just kept on getting duller (and scratches are super attracted to it). I bit the bullet and went for a quote on 2pac. For the whole lot 4L primer/surfacer, thinners, hardeners, base & top coat; it's $710. I was expecting double that. So I did a bit of experimenting, and the 2pac comes out of the gun shinier than I could ever get the acrylic. And I did a backyard job, any crap that falls in it sands out easily, and it's sooo much stronger, no brushing past it will scratch the paint job.

Also, if you buy more paint, avoid autobarn, go to a proper auto paint place, it's about the same price sometimes cheaper, and far better quality. Also, the people that work there are usually pro painters.

I'm not sure if you resolved the speedo issues yet, it's been a while since it was mentioned, but just in case. Do a bit of troubleshooting. First off, check your fuses. If the earth has a dodgy connection it won't work, check any earth wires, and sand them down making sure it has a good earth connection. Then check if it's the sensor or speedo itself playing up, if you bridge the connection (cross the wires that come from the sensor, but have somebody watching the speedo while you do it, don't leave it bridged), it should make the speedo jump around. If it's jumping, then it's your sensor, if it's not moving, then it's a good chance the speedo itself is dead. Pull out the speedo and apply some power to the wires coming from the speedo, see if there is movement.

Also, if you've got a multimeter, use that instead, it'll make things far easier to see if current is to and from the sensor.

[villain]

I just read through your whole thread, and you beat me by one post with getting better shine.

Make sure you sand it down to 2000grit sandpaper before buffing, all the little scratches that are still in 1000-1500 grit will take away from the shine. Also what are you using for buffing? I find the wool pads work really well (and use plenty of water with a small amount of soap) cuts through it pretty well. Also make sure you aren't using too harsh cutting agents, you aren't buffing 2pac, it's far softer.

That's just what i did, this time around. Results were much better

I did pretty much the same as you paint wise, acrylic, plenty of sanding, buffing, but I could never get it to keep the shine it just kept on getting duller (and scratches are super attracted to it). I bit the bullet and went for a quote on 2pac. For the whole lot 4L primer/surfacer, thinners, hardeners, base & top coat; it's $710. I was expecting double that. So I did a bit of experimenting, and the 2pac comes out of the gun shinier than I could ever get the acrylic. And I did a backyard job, any crap that falls in it sands out easily, and it's sooo much stronger, no brushing past it will scratch the paint job.

Backyard job with 2k? I've been told that it's very illegal to do so because of the isocyanate in the 2k paints. If i could find a cheap spray booth for hire, i'd definitely go 2k.[/quote]

I'm not sure if you resolved the speedo issues yet

Yep! There was some kind of bad connection somewhere in the body loom so i just ran a cable straight from the sensor into the back of the cluster. Works like a dream.

[Colum Black-Byron]

That's just what i did, this time around. Results were much better


Backyard job with 2k? I've been told that it's very illegal to do so because of the isocyanate in the 2k paints. If i could find a cheap spray booth for hire, i'd definitely go 2k.

Each state is different, but in SA:

‘Surface coating’, which includes spray coating operations (specifically spray painting and powder coating), is listed in Schedule 1 of the Act as a prescribed activity of environmental significance. This means that any spray coating operation with a capacity to use more than 100 litres of paint per day, or 10 kg of dry powder per day, is required to be licensed under the Act.

http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/xstd_files/Noise/Guideline/guide_spraypaint.pdf

There is lots of guessing and chinese whispers going on with what is and not illegal. But basically in SA if you use under 100L a day, it's pretty hazy. I've read through the whole documents, and searched for the rules, but I can't find anything.

I don't do anything stupid with it, I've got the mask recommended by the auto paint place, and have a chat to my neighbours and let them know to stay inside for a few hours, it's handy to be on good terms with them.

[IHeartS13]

I'm tying to paint a boot up for my s13 and to be fair it is a rattle can job.

You seem to be the best person on the forum for painting, how did you get it so dam shiny? I got the rest of the paint good but no matter what I do the clear coat never goes to a mirror finish, only slightly glossy

Any suggestions on what I can do to bring out the shine better?

Fantastic job on the hood btw that is some seriously impressive painting for a back yard job

[villain]

Re: S13 restore and respray (Garage style)

I don't think you can get mirror shines from rattlecans. I sprayed one of my brothers guards with a rattle can for fun but couldn't get it to shine. The rattle can paint goes on a lot thinner than it would from a gun. You could try putting 5 or 6 layers of paint on there, letting it cure and then doing what I did. Wet sand it with 1000 grit then 1500 and 2000 before buffing. I think you'll find that you'll chew through the clear/paint pretty quickly though

[Evlevo]

I don't think you can get mirror shines from rattlecans. I sprayed one of my brothers guards with a rattle can for fun but couldn't get it to shine. The rattle can paint goes on a lot thinner than it would from a gun. You could try putting 5 or 6 layers of paint on there, letting it cure and then doing what I did. Wet sand it with 1000 grit then 1500 and 2000 before buffing. I think you'll find that you'll chew through the clear/paint pretty quickly though

its doable. Takes a bit more technique tho. Youre right about it going on thinner. Takes more coats. The Trick is to get it nice and wet. Find that fine line between smooth paint and oh my god my paints running away. Its alot harder with a spray bomb. When i did my "onevia" conversion on my old silvia, I used a spray bomb (rattle can) and the cheapest clear i could find (also spray bomb) Let it cure for a couple days and polished it only once.

[IHeartS13]

I am intensely motivated go paint my boot in the middle of the night now hahaha

[villain]

Seeing as it's been bumped, i continued cutting and buffing today and got the passenger side done:

Also, for those who missed it, my 20 minute old-cutain-door-trim job:

[evil80e]

are you cutting it by hand or with a buffer? make sure you get wax on it as well when your done cutting it back

[villain]

Got a bit sick of the pimp-my-ride style curtain door cards so i just cut up an old shirt instead


Bit of a shitty bump but ya'know. Just reminding you all that my car is still coming along.

[Codyy]

Haha, just skimmed through your entire build so far, not bad man! coming along nicely

Sucks about your bloody buffer job haha man id be so pissed..

yaaay you got drift tek's like me :3 they're nice as lookin rims, mines black...how much did you get yours for?

[villain]

Haha cheers man, yeah it was pretty annoying but eh, i'm used to the scars now. I'll have to repaint it again some day in the future. It was quite fun, but this time i want to do it a bit more proper.
And i paid $650 for my wheels. Not too bad of a price considering how expensive wheels are these days.

[Codyy]

Ah, i think you did a good job and you can always fix things up in the future, i personally couldnt be stuffed doing all that again..it would annoy me to much lmao

& that's heaps good! considering they're about 250ea