Heatwave 76 behind the scenes ;)

[8BAK465]

So a bit of development in real world terms of what is now a 57 year old motor (shhh dont tell anybody )


So I am doing it in the spirit of how these cars were fixed up in the 70s when they just £100 bangers to get you to work and back so obviously dont want to spend "How F*ckin Much!" on a paint job

As you will all know I found blistering and bubbling on the top faces of the bodywork,tops of wings,bonnet boot etc but as I have cleaned out the car more and more one day something hidden in plain sight caught my eye in the hidden areas of guttering and some shuts etc

Brush Marks!

Yes it seems it has been tickled with a brush sometime in the 70s and to be fair somebody did an excellent job of laying it down but cut every corner in the book when it came to prep

Hence why its now blistering and falling off

On the rear lower quarters under the rear bumper I just peeled some off underneath the original paint shiny not sanded or prepared

As too much has been done to the car the original paint cannot be saved but it proves zero prep was done before painting all those years ago

At a Guess it was washed with fairy liquid than lets go which is a shame as if it had been sanded,undercoated and degreased the paint would of still been serviceable

SO.........

With that in mind I am thinking of going with the spirit of the car and Coach Painting it?



It's cost effective and solid non metallic colours only thing is I have nowhere to paint it so searching for a suitable place right now

The other thing is I am stripping the whole front end front wings and bonnet and front and will be painting with Bonda primer to get me through the winter

Ive nearly stripped one wing its really solid

But...........................

There is some rust

But rule of thumb is at £1000+ if 75% of the wing is good and solid they are generally saved by most owners as repair panels are available

The passenger nearside is the worst its gone at the bottom which is expected but has a couple of pinholes around the light a curious hole which I thought might of been a 70s side repeater mod that's been plated from inside but there's non on the other wing

An Aerial hole that has been filled and a large hole top of the wing that's also been plated from inside

The large hole is near to the wing mirror hole so will probably be cut out further and end up filling that hole too.

Its not bad for a 57 year old (i cant say that on the other thread)

Remember to look surprised when your told back in 76

Jo

[mercrocker]

1970s and 80s resprays were notorious for paint reactions - whether one did the job at home or at one of those £100 places. Paint formulation was going through one of its transitional changes and often the only way to prevent it was guaranteeing that the composition was exactly the same as that on the car or a bare-metal job. Silicon-based waxes and polishes had also been around long enough to screw up respray plans too.

Think of it as added authenticity!

[Hooli]

The passenger nearside is the worst its gone at the bottom which is expected but has a couple of pinholes around the light a curious hole which I thought might of been a 70s side repeater mod that's been plated from inside but there's non on the other wing

Replacement wing in the past? that'd explain the odd side repeater style holes.

[mercrocker]

That was my thought - either that one or the one on t'other side...

[LynehamHerc]

1970s and 80s resprays were notorious for paint reactions - whether one did the job at home or at one of those £100 places. Paint formulation was going through one of its transitional changes and often the only way to prevent it was guaranteeing that the composition was exactly the same as that on the car or a bare-metal job. Silicon-based waxes and polishes had also been around long enough to screw up respray plans too.

Think of it as added authenticity!

I had the MGB resprayed in the early 80s and can certainly agree with this. I've rattle canned it over the last few years and invariably had to bare metal it.

[8BAK465]

1970s and 80s resprays were notorious for paint reactions - whether one did the job at home or at one of those £100 places. Paint formulation was going through one of its transitional changes and often the only way to prevent it was guaranteeing that the composition was exactly the same as that on the car or a bare-metal job. Silicon-based waxes and polishes had also been around long enough to screw up respray plans too.

Think of it as added authenticity!

True

I am not sure if it was Brush Painted then sprayed but there's definitely brush marks but it was done well

I tracked down a couple of the earlier owners who stated there was no rust or blistering and remember it being like that as far back as the 80s so ironically if the idiot I bought it from hadn't stored it inside covered in bird droppings and fallout and damp it may of stayed good

But from another point of view id now be blissfully unaware that the bottom of my wings were gone and my nearside sill falling off

So in a way it being stored badly alerted me to it

It could of course been painted twice with a brush? Once with Enamel,Then overpainted with something like ICI Brushing Belco which was available back then and was Celulose and Celly over Enamel wont play nice and share toys

But for something like 40 years they did

My plan is the front is being stripped to bare then Bonda Primer which can be over coated with Enamel the rest of it ill see? I will either strip off the top layer then use a brush on bar coat or might just bare metal a panel at a time and Bonda Primer ?

But either way its a Re Paint not a Respray

[Hooli]

I might be totally wrong but my guess would be that because the surfaces weren't mixed, the gloss finish stopped the paints mixing to react until damp got in & affected the original paint.

[DodgeRover]

If the original paint wasn't messed (just lightly flatted to key it) with you sometimes don't get a reaction when you really should....
Anyway synthetic doesn't react with anything so was the cheap paint of choice, for ultimate cost savings you could also thin it with petrol, to speed up the slow curing time you can also add the hardener and activator you would use with two pack.....
You could also but a hot pot which plugged into a kettle lead and heated up making the paint nice and thin to spray you could get a really nice finish that way.

[8BAK465]

Yeah you might be right but its definitely been brush painted at some point might of been brush painted then sprayed over as the brush marks where in quite hidden places,gutters,near trim,door shuts etc but one thing I did find was the white comes off fairly easy but the blue side flash is a nightmare it kinda of melts and goes sticky and clogs up the paper the blue is definitely oil based Enamel

[8BAK465]

Ill be posting an update back in 76 at the weekend but back in the Year that is Two Thousand and Twenty Two earth years I have hit upon a dilemma

Ive been burning off what are several blow overs,and brush paint jobs to reveal what it quite solid on the whole bodywork for a 57 year old Dagenham Dustbin then got to the front passengers wing and it all went a bit Pete Tong

There are two metal patches stuck from underneath with filler which could be cut out and plated

The bottom dogleg has gone (no surprise they all do) but when I started to burn through 70s era filler where the wing meets the front valance it became apparent the wing had been put on by a five year old with a flamethrower

And filler trowelled on to make it look factory innit

Then I noted the front valance that already needs partial plating is pushed in a few mm on that side hence the 1/4" filler on that side

That wing though solid around the light is creased and a bit rippled and I am starting to wonder do I source another wing at "How Bloody Much"?

Or try and save it?

There will be pics over the weekend but of course back in 76 wings were a fiver down the breakers now I could by a car for the price of one

I dont want to just fill it again not sure what to do?

I really want to stay in the spirit of things but though I dont want a concours car neither do I want to bodge it I want it to be straight and true

Been on it for weeks getting it winter proof and trying to halt rot as sadly it'll be outdoors for winter.

its not pretty but it should hold off the weather to come