TR6 Painting

Frame: The frame was repaired, sandblasted, primed, and painted with an industrial coating. The sandblast shop did the painting and I'm not sure what they used for paint. They assured me it was the very best protection available. Thinking back, it may have been an epoxy primer and a urethane paint.

Body: This one I'm sure about. All the paint used for this project have come from NAPA Auto Parts. New floor panels and rockers arrived with a black primer coat. Prior to installation they were hit with two coats of a light gray primer (Econobody primer surfacer). Two coats of Acrylic Enamel followed. Welding messed up some of these panels but I figured that they would be better off with a good all over protection. Of course the welded areas have since been sanded/ground and got the same treatment.

The trunk area was cleaned, derusted, and repaired. Bare areas were primed with an etching primer (Martin Senour 7220 spray can). Then the entire trunk area was primed with with a primer/sealer (Martin Senour Crossfire CS279).

I'm still learning about paint so I'd like to share some of the things just learned. There are three basic types of primers, etching primers used on bare steel for good corrosion protection, primer/surfacer a good general purpose primer that builds quickly and requires sanding, and my new favorite; primer/sealers. Primer/sealers actually create a moisture proof seal. Have you ever primed something with regular primer only to see rust bleed through after sitting awhile? Primer/surfacers are pourous and depend on the topcoat of paint to seal it. I was advised to use primer/sealers if the project would be started and stopped. A primer/sealer doesn't require sanding if the topcoat is applied within sixteen hours. A light going over with a gray surfacing pad is all that's required if it been over sixteen hours. Primer/sealer dries with a slight sheen. Primer/sealers are also ideal for areas that don't need a lot of wet sanding or a mirror finish such as undercar, interior, underhood, etc.

This car is getting four new fenders. It's pretty drastic but there wasn't any choice. Anyway the fenders will be painted off the car then bolted in place. The new fenders arrived with a single coat of black primer. Laid out on sawhorses they will each get two coats of a urethane primer sealer inside and outside.

I watched a demonstration where the same sheet metal panel was painted using different primers then "keyed". The entire bare panel was first sprayed with NAPA's Vinyl Wash etching primer (8827). It left the panel with a very tough dark olive drab surface. The panel was then masked into two sections. One was sprayed with a coat of lacquer based primer/surfacer and the other sprayed with a urethane primer. The panel was then painted with a single stage black urethane topcoat. Both sections gleamed equally. A quarter was dragged across the face of the panel starting on the urethane primed side. Yes it scratched the paint but not through to the primer and it could be buffed out. The lacquer primed section was destroyed as the quarter tore through the finish exposing the light gray primer. The topcoat paint was the same but what a difference! Last year I helped my son paint his Datsun 280ZX. We used a lacquer based primer and already the parking lot dings and scratches have taken it's toll. My TR6 fenders and doors will be primed with a urethane primer/sealer.

The urethane primer on the outside will be block sanded until all panel imperfections have been addressed. Outside and inside will get two coats of urethane primer/sealer (Martin Senour). Both sides will get a base coat/clear coat finish (Tec Base). Base coat/clear coat is a very high end modern finish not originally used by Triumph. Two coats of base dry to a nearly flat finish. Two more coats of clear bring out the shine. The finish dries hard and can be buffed for even more shine. I have enough base/coat clear coat materials on hand to do both sides this way but my original thought was to use a regular primer/sealer (NAPA Crossfire CS279) on the inner sides and finish them with acrylic enamel.

This car originally was painted Delft Blue. It was my intention to change the color to something flashier like a bright red or even a yellow but my better half liked the blue. So blue it is. NAPA listed Delft Blue and all the Triumph colors and their formulas. They have the formulas in acrylic enamel and several other paint types but nothing listed in a Tec Base type. Acrylic enamel delft blue formula is 99-22158. While doing the trunk, I primed a piece of cardboard and gave it two coats of delft blue acrylic enamel. NAPA scanned this sample with a spectrometer and came up with a formula for Tec Base, 98-60257. It turns out that this same Tec Base formula is used by Mack truck!

The hood's paint is badly checked from too many repaints and old age. All the old paint must be stripped before refinishing. The trunk lid will get the same treatment. Both will get the same Tec Base finish as the fenders. The usual stripping method is a DA sander and 80 grit paper. Needless to say there is a lot of dust created so I'd like to try a waterbased stripper (will get part number). I'll let you know how it goes. Once they are stripped an etching primer (NAPA's Vinyl Wash) will be laid down, followed by a primer/surfacer, then Tec Base and clear coat. The undersides also needs painting so these will probably get primer/sealer and acrylic enamel.

The doors will be painted like the fenders. Once again, acrylic enamel inside and tec base outside. All this painting is being done in my cluttered dusty two car garage.

So far my paint spraying has been done with a conventional touch-up gun at about 50lbs pressure. Our store just got a new HVLP (high volume low pressure) spray gun. It sprays at 8lbs pressure at the nozzle and has little overspray. I can't wait to give it a try.

Tonight two coats of Crossfire primer sealer were laid down on the tub parts using the new HVLP spray gun. The gun worked well but I could use a little help setting it up. It ended up running about 35lbs pressure at the regulator. My test piece had a pretty heavy coat that orange peeled until the paint was thinned more than specified. Then it sprayed pretty nicely with very little overspray. It's going to take some getting used to.

The primer went on very well. Stinks pretty bad but by tomorrow the smell should be mostly gone. Actually there were two small area that the primer reacted with the old paint. Both were areas that I'd repaired years ago and touched up with a blue engine paint that sort of matched the original blue. These little spots will be sanded and recoated. One little spot on the cowl had some scratches from a coarse sandpaper remaining.

Today is the day to put the final finish on the tub. Two coats of base coat color then two coats of clear coat. My friend, Bill, came over to show me the finer points of painting. Thank you, Bill! Putting down the basecoat was nothing like I'd expected. The first coat was incredibly thin just as if you held a spray can two feet away. The second coat merely filled in the voids. I gave it a try and put it down as if it were acrylic enamel - way to heavy! Correctly done it has a dull finish, bordering on orange peel. A couple of spots reacted with the new paint and wrinkled up. Previously the cowl in front of the windshield had some scratches from sanding that I'd repaired then sprayed with a Duplicolor primer/sealer. Every spot treated with the Duplicolor primer reacted! Fortunately except for the cowl the other spots were on inside panels. Prior to applying the topcoat all surfaces were cleaned with NAPA's Kleen-Easy. The cleaner dragged as it passed over the Duplicolor primers and I should have taken the hint. Bill finished up the tub except for the cowl with two coats of Maximum Performance Clearcoat. WOW! What a shine! Most striking was the rear deck that shines so much everyone thinks it is still wet. I'm a very happy guy right now.

Dirt. Yup there is a little dirt in the finish. Not very much considering this garage has no ceiling and someone has been sandblasting TR6 parts! A spray booth would have made the job absolutely perfect. Bill advised me to lightly sand the clearcoat with wet 1500 grit paper. There goes my shine but so did the imperfections. Machine buffing will bring the shine back better than ever. Next up is painting the fenders.

Four brand new fenders to paint today. Once again I've changed primers. The fenders arrived with a black primer called e-coat. The interiors were roughed up with a red scotch pad and the outside was wet sanded with 400 grit paper. There were a couple of tiny dents from shipping that were filled with green acrylic putty and wet sanded away. Wet sanding the exterior exposed bare metal in a few places that was spot primed with an etching primer. Both sides of the fenders were primed with a urethane primer/sealer (Martin Senour 5105 tintable primer/sealer). I chose this high end primer to ensure that the finish would be hard and resist scratching.

October 13, 2001

Back at it again the next morning with lungs still aching but being super careful about fumes. Today would be easier as only the outside needed finish coats. Two coats of base were laid down followed by two coats of clear. What a shine! The fenders came out great. Don't know if it would be worth losing a lung over but they sure turned out great. Great care was taken with the respirator and I didn't feel any the worse for wear afterward. To keep the fenders out of the way they will be hung on the tub with a couple of bolts in each. I hope to tackle the doors next. Time is running out for this year with just two weeks before it goes back into storage. A bunch of small parts like door hinges, rocker end caps, inner front fender baffles, etc need a coat of blue acrylic enamel. The blue in the following photo is much lighter than the actual color.

October 21, 2001

The fenders have been hung on the tub for a few days and do they look great! I found that the two lines to the gas tank were switched so no gas to the fuel pump. Now when you hit the key she fires right up and it can be driven out into the sunshine away from the dust and overspray in the garage. This past friday I stripped the doors, trunk lid and hood with a chemical stripper. The stripper was waterbased and did the job in two applications. A single edged razor window scraper proved to be the best tool. Under the paint there were a few surprises. The driver's door had a fairly large patch of Bondo right in the center filling a dent as if it had been kicked. Not very deep when the Bondo was removed but something to be redone.

Here it is nearly the end of October, the painting still unfinished, and snow flurries are forecast for tonight! It's crunch time so even though it's a little past midnight, I just came in from the garage. Tomorrow may mark the end of the painting. The doors are ready for a coat of primer sealer around the inner edges. The outer skins are primed and wet sanded to perfection. The trunk lid's underside is ready for primer sealer and it's top is primed but needs final sanding. The hood's underside is ready for primer sealer. The plan for tomorrow is to finish painting the doors with color and clear coat and do the same to the underside of hood and trunk lid. Time permitting and if things dry quickly the hood and trunk will be finished. They may have to wait until Sunday evening. I've been much more cautious around the paint fumes and so far feeling fine.

Last week I recieved an email from Cliff warning about using two part urethane primers and topcoats. He cautioned that those paints usually require a fresh air supplied mask rather than the standard organic mask I'm using. I checked the spec sheet for the primer and sure enough Cliff is correct. I don't have that type of mask and accept the risk and will finish with this mask but will replace the filter elements. As I'm painting small sections at a time I'm only in the room with the fumes for less than five minutes at a time. And my wife dragged out an old window fan and ordered me to use it. It has made a big difference. This paint needs near 70 degree temps to cure so the fan has to be monitored before it drops the temp too far. Cliff, thanks for your email.

The doors are done and look great. However I did notice a few tiny tiny bubbles in the clear coat. Perhaps it was a bit cool in the garage tonight or the clear should have been thinned a tad nore. I'll get to try out those fixes when painting the top of the hood and trunk lid tomorrow evening. You should see how shiny the undersides of the hood and trunk lid are! No ill effects from paint fumes today. . .

Last two body sections to paint are the top of the hood and trunk lid. Both have been stripped and primed with primer/sealer. Tonight they were sanded smooth with 600 grit paper that removed all texture. There was a little touch up to be done to the front left corner of the hood from slight collision damage. Stripping this car down completely revealed several dents and dings I hadn't noticed. By the time the panels were ready for color it was getting too late and too cold to start painting.