Malcolm's 1997 Vitesse Fastback

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:29 pm

Well, this afternoon started with good intentions about finishing the engine and brakes. However I had cobbled together a stand for my wife's fishing rods out of some scrap wood yesterday and put it in the loft first, only to discover it's too tall and will need slight adjusting.

All this faffing around made me discover my drill (a 7-8 year old cheapie from Halfords that has really earnt it's keep) has finally expired, so I spent an hour pulling it apart in the hope I could fix it. Basically the power cord insulation had split and it looks like intermittent shorting had started to melt the thinner wires inside the case, so it's dead. Got a replacement from B&Q for 20 notes so not a disaster.

By then i couldn't really get excited about the car, so perversely decided to attack the front arches' rust. I used a Dremel type mini-drill with a sanding drum - first time I've tried this and whilst I went through 5 coarse sanding drums over two arches (they are only cheap ones...genuine Dremel ones would probably be better), I must say a mini drill and sanding drum is the perfect combination of grunt to shift the rust, manouvrability to get in awkward spots and finesse to prevent grinding right through the metal.

Once the rust and paint had been removed I applied two coats of Loctite rust converter and then an undercoat of grey Hammerite primer just before dusk. Whilst the wheel arch liners were out I also went over the inner wing with some Waxoyl underseal (also found a couple of superficial rust blisters on the inner arch hidden behind the liners that were rubbed back, treated and primed first).

In truth although I think I caught the driver's side wing in the nip of time, the passenger wing either needs metal letting in or better still it should really be replaced - there are a couple of chunks missing from the rolled section of the arch that I'm just going to ignore as you can't see them.

Just had a thought though....Hammerite primer. Once it's had the specified 24 hours to set, can I overpaint that with paint other than Hammerite?

I want to make at least the solid wing a permanent repair (the passenger side one doesn't matter so much).

Cheers,

Malcolm

Robert · Post by **Robert** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:47 pm

Nice read & car keep us up to date with how its coming along
Robert

Post by **Richard Moss** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:07 pm

You can overpaint with any paint.

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:10 pm

You can overpaint with any paint.

Cool thanks Rich - I had remembered that Hammerite only seems to thin with their own thinners and cellulose, so I had visions of acyrlic sprays from Halfords blistering or cracking...

Malcolm

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:15 pm

Mostly titivating (or rather starting the titivation) of the rear arches this afternoon.

Same drill as yesterday with the mini drill and no unpleasant surprises - although I can see the back end of the sills should really be done too, but I don't think I'll be able to do that right now.

This one shows the grottiest wing. You can see where the lip just fell away when I removed the wheel-arch liners and you can also just make out the copper brake hose I made and fitted to complement the braided flexi hoses (edit - no you can't - you'll just have to take my word for it!!).

Here's the better wing...

Here's the slightly dented rear wing...the dent is shallow but more extensive than at first sight. I had to hammer the lip of the wheel arch round(ish) again - better but certainly no professional!!! Basically it's a dollop of roughly shaped filler over bare metal, sanded to rough profile with a "detail" sander and protected from the night-time condensation with some Hammerite primer. It will be further played with before a top coat goes on.

And finally the other arch - nothing here more than grinding surface corrosion away etc. Like the driver's side arch there were a few blebs at the base of the sills I attacked at the same time.

Malcolm

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:58 pm

Aargh! I ran out of Oxford Blue aerosols..!!!

Might be looking a little messy right now, but T-cut is my friend!! However the saving grace is there is a layer of gloss on everything so it's fairly weatherproof...

Malcolm

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:08 pm

I think you need some lessons in masking.

Tricky taking pics of paint like that.

How many cans have you used?

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:44 pm

I think you need some lessons in masking.

I did mask properly for the primer and then when it was hard enough went over it with a very fine abrasive pad and feathered the edges in with the original paintwork I'd taken the sheen off.

I am planning on letting the blues merge and if it seems subtle enough I'll lacquer and then I'll T-cut and polish to an acceptable finish...well that's the plan based on a bodger's trick I saw detailed in a magazine (admittedly so long ago I'm working from memory!!).

Tricky taking pics of paint like that.

Funnily enough two of the arches look better in the photo's and two of them look better in real life!

How many cans have you used?

Two original MG Rover cans - they are pretty small. I realised when they ran out that I'd used them before (fog-light surrounds for example) so both were half full. If I'd remembered this morning I would have got some more...

Malcolm

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:50 pm

malcolm_durant wrote:
I think you need some lessons in masking.
I did mask properly for the primer and then when it was hard enough went over it with a very fine abrasive pad and feathered the edges in with the original paintwork I'd taken the sheen off.

I am planning on letting the blues merge and if it seems subtle enough I'll lacquer and then I'll T-cut and polish to an acceptable finish...well that's the plan based on a bodger's trick I saw detailed in a magazine (admittedly so long ago I'm working from memory!!).

I didn't mean for your paintlines themselves, more where else the paint has gone. On your tyres for example.

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:08 pm

I didn't mean for your paintlines themselves, more where else the paint has gone. On your tyres for example.

I have an excuse though...only one roll of masking tape and after the primer's masking had been removed, no paper bigger than A4...until this evening when the free local rag was delivered so tomorrow will be better!

Trim has been covered though so it's only the tyres and under the arches that have taken a hit.

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:16 pm

Fair enough.

I find it easier to use the brown paper that body shops use, it's only Â£7 for a roll 18" by 180M.

Takes a while to use up.

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:19 pm

And taking the opposite approach I try desperately to avoid anything to do with paintwork

This sort of work is very unusual for me, but I'd decided if I didn't do something now I'd have a seriously grotty car soon...

Malcolm

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:21 pm

I don't do proper colour painting. I do quite a bit of painting things satin black and using stonechip though.

Post by **Richard Moss** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:58 pm

With dark colours, you can save a fortune on paint if your first colour coat over the primer is just a generic cheapy of approximately the right shade. Then you use your expensive, original colour coat as a finisher. You may even want to use black as the base coat under a dark blue like Oxford.

The generic paints are often half the price of the "originals" or even less. Light coloured primers require a lot of paint to cover and that can cost a fortune.

malcolm_durant · Post by **malcolm_durant** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:32 pm

The saga continues in it's haphazard way.

Managed to get something in my eye on Wednesday whilst grinding off the grot with the mini-drill. Although I've been washing the eye in cold water ever since, it's getting redder and more swollen by the hour. Went to the GP this morning and the first thing he asked was whether I've been using an angle grinder without goggles (sort of true on both counts)!!

Off to the hospital later this PM to have the (presumed) metal splinter located and dug out. Then I believe I've be doing an impression of Admiral Nelson for a couple of days.

Did also get some paint mixed up at Halfords and have hurriedly slapped a decent coat on. Those Halfords tins don't half chuck the paint out and I have some runs to sort. Not an issue as I'll let it harden overnight before rubbing smooth and assessing whether more colour is needed before the lacquer goes on.

Malcolm

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Malcolm's 1997 Vitesse Fastback

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