Shell now sprayed

Phill, looking good, looks like you've got a nice amount of paint on there. How much did you thin the paint and did you thin more with each coat? I would have said 7-8 coats (starting with 50% thinners and finishing with 75% thinners) is best as you have a bit more depth to allow cutting back without leaving to thinner finish. Can be a bit if a pain, but really makes life easier when finishing off - I put 10 coats on when I sprayed a new hatch 8O .

Wouldn't have said 1200 is to harsh to start with. I usually start with that or some times 800 on areas that need a bit of work and finish with 2400. G3 is great stuff, this will put a nice shine in after the flatting back. I rub it in with a cloth and polish it with a handheld auto-polisher. My polisher is a bit cheap - looks like a floor buffer. The best ones are the mop type ones  which look a bit like an angle grinder, but much lower geared to avoid burning paint. Often best with cellulose to leave it 10 or so days after spraying before flatting so that the paint has hardened up nicely.

Keep on at it, you'll be grinning from ear to ear when you have nice shiney black Golf at little cost.

Cheers

ChrisB said

That paint job looks not too bad at all, especially given you had to do it outside.

Just out of interest what sort of gun and compressor did you use? I have a small 1.5hp compressor and one of the budget Clarke guns that came with it and just curious to know if its possible to get a decent finish with this setup or whether I would be wasting my time…..

Chris

I'm using a 3Hp 24 Litre compressor and a Sealey deluxe spray gun (really nice and easy to use)… would have thought with your setup you'd be able to get a good finish..

markwon said

Phill, looking good, looks like you've got a nice amount of paint on there. How much did you thin the paint and did you thin more with each coat? I would have said 7-8 coats (starting with 50% thinners and finishing with 75% thinners) is best as you have a bit more depth to allow cutting back without leaving to thinner finish. Can be a bit if a pain, but really makes life easier when finishing off - I put 10 coats on when I sprayed a new hatch  .

Keep on at it, you'll be grinning from ear to ear when you have nice shiney black Golf at little cost.

Cheers

Thanks markwon, I put 2 coats of 50/50 mix, then 2 coats a little thinner (at a guess around 40/60).. kind of went on the thickness instead of preperly measuring it

probably best if I leave cutting back for a week or so and get on with the rear hatch and wings (next on my hit list I think), might even go for a couple more 25/75 coats if the weathers good this weekend .. plus I need to pick up more paint.. it's suprising how much you get through.

Thanks for all the comments guys and I'll keep the updates coming

REALLY can't wait to get it on the road now for summer.. First time driving a mk1 and I'll be like   when I do

Oh, and as for little cost, worked out I've spent in total so far ?1600  
worth every penny though if you ask me!

Quick update, got the car polished up



got the side windows back in (makes the car look SO much better!)



Not sure on the lighting, will probably use the standard lights!




Looks better in the photo's.. when you get close up there's a few uneven spots in the prep work  :cry:  but I'll tackle them once it's on the road!

not bad considering I've never welded or sprayed before (first attempt and all that)

In fact, here's the link to my photobucket… read-only password is :-  golf
http://photobucket.com/albums/y12/PhillT1/
  if any of you want to take a look

I'd be very chuffed with that - looks very good phil.

Well done that man  :dance:

I'ld be well pleased with my self there Phill. Give yourself a pat on the back mate :clap:

I want smoked clusters for mine. What can I say you're a man with good taste.

Hope our projects don?t look completely the same!

Are you keeping the wheels standard?

I'm putting Ronal turbos on. :wink:

Was going to go for Ronal Turbo's myself… those or BBS split's with black centres but they're a little expensive!

going to keep the stock alloy's for shows and meets though as although they're very dated they do go well with the car!

Thanks for the comments guys

Phil - Nice one mate!! You should be well chuffed. The pics look good and you'll always spot every blemish coz you did all the work and no one else may notice. At least it would be easy to 'repair' any patches of paintwork on an ongoinng basis without dismantling the whole car again.

Ref the lights - the originals look better IMO - sell the smoked ones to kins! :wink:

Phill, you should be very happy with that. Paint in top photo looks particularly good. Have you been polishing non-stop since your last photos . How easy/quick are the rear windows to pop in & out? Need to give mine a bit of attention and wondered how long I needed to set aside.

Keep the photos coming you are giving me the inspiration to tackle more and more of my bodywork :y: . Get rid of the smoked lights, originals look better - particularly on a black car

Cheers

Well I like the smoked lights. If you do want to sell them can I Shotgun them please.  8)

We do think a like. I was going to go put BBS RMs on mine. Just sold them though as I though it was going to be too pricey for my project. :cry:  By the time I put Schmidt rims and chrome bolts I thought the wheels would be worth nearly as much as the car. ops:
The ronals complement the MK1 and the biggest factor that swayed me was they are easy to clean ha ha

Cheers Guys, I have been polishing for a good week I think  :wink:

markwon -
The rear quarter windows are seriously easy to take out and put back in, just make sure your headlining is properly glued in before you put the window back in.. took me about 5 minutes per window, but 20 minutes each to glue the headlining!


that's just scarey kins    If I decide to sell the rear lights I'll PM you first, might play around putting each of them on for a couple of weeks once it's on the road..

Agree with you about the cleaning, I hate cleaning my 12 spoke alloys on my *ford*  ops:

Cheers Phill, might pop one out this weekend to have an inspection and tidy up. A few rust bubbles along lower part of the seal.

I had a rust spot I couldn't even see until I took the passenger window out, easy to repair though and doesn't have to be perfect because it's hidden  :wink: