Sheetmetal Painting Advise

[lyle11]

I am painting my third Cub hood. I’m a rattle can painter and far from being a perfectionist. My issue is that I probably should have totally stripped the old paint off but it wasn’t bad and was rust free and very tough to remove with a grinder with a cupped wire wheel, so I left some paint on the hood then used Bondo Glazing putty to smooth it out before I primed and painted it.

But, once the shiny paint went on it revealed imperfections. I suspect as I sand it I’m digging into the softer putty and creating small divots that become visible once the paint is applied. As I continue applying and sanding the putty it gets a little better with each coat. The entire tank and the hood sides, where I took it down to bare metal, look good. It’s the top of hood where I left some old paint that has the waviness.

I have been using a small palm sized sanding sponge to feather the glazing putty. I’m considering the following options:

1- Use a stripper and wire wheel on the top of the hood where it is wavy and take it to bare metal and start over on that area.

2 - Keep using the glazing putty with a larger stiffer sanding block and less pressure that doesn’t flex and dig into the softer putty.

Looking for any recommendations.

Here is a picture of what I am referring to.

Thanks

677B0CA0-A22F-4F03-8199-0DE9283D6FDB.jpeg (45.61 KiB) Viewed 967 times

[trekrider69]

I am not an expert on painting on any account, but I know prep work is extremely important for the final spray to look good. I do lots of sanding with 100 and 220 grit sandpaper and feel for the feathering of painted to bare metal interface. I then use primer to cover everything. That should show you any places that will show once the color is sprayed on. I then wet sand with 1500 or 1600 grit. Wash and dry. Then I spray the color if everything looks good with wet-sanded primer. I always want my projects to look their best, but I know there will always be places I should have spent more time on.

[brewzalot]

Rattle can painting puts down such a thin layer it takes a long time to build up a layer as thick as the original. On my hood, I started by brushing on 2-3 coats of paint, sanding in between . Then once I had the build up I wanted I finished up with several coats of the rattle can paint and then clear coat. Not sure if this is a good practice but it worked well for me and it turned out real nice.

tim

[Rob in NH]

Strip and start over, even if you reprime and block it out the primer will shrink and look like what you have.

[bauerei]

I agree with stripping and starting over.

I've used the orange-smelling paint stripper from the big box stores with great success. The factory original paint comes off a few minutes after putting the paint stripper on. I usually reapply to problem areas and only use the wire wheel at the very end to get off the really tough spots.

[lyle11]

Thanks. I’m gonna strip the top of the hood and start over. I also like the Citristrip orange stripper. It works good and doesn’t smell bad like the other stuff.

[Scrivet]

.............. I’m a rattle can painter and far from being a perfectionist..............

Then what I would do is stand farther back to look at it.

Seriously, I think if you're noticing it now you'll never be satisfied leaving it that way. Starting over sounds like the best idea and probably you'll end up spending less time than doing patch work on it.

[lyle11]

I used CitriStrip on the top of the hood followed by a wire wheel and took it down to bare metal. Painted it and I’m really glad I started over. Now I only have to use glazing putty to smooth out a dent I repaired using a C-Clamp rather than fix poor preparation.

[DickB]

When I went to repaint, first thing was to ask neighbor how he did such a nice job on his tractor. Ans: paint brush. Then asking the local expert on "how to" without a spraying setup he said: Sand down as much as you can, then brush on heavy rust primer from Rustoleum, sand lightly, put on 2nd coat of this; then sand lightly again; then brush on several coats of IH Ironclad red with sanding between the two coats. Standing back of course helps but the heavier paints seem to hide lots of imperfections.

[halftonstude]

I use Dad's Easy Spray chemical stripper. takes off everything. have to wash it really clean before you start anything else after stripping. then I clean the surface with lacquer thinner to remove any oils or residue. boddy filler, i use Bondo i love the smell lol. if you're looking for fantastic finishes you'll need two colors of primer, then when you sand the high spots show the first coat. But this isn't a deusenberg it's a farmall... i've both shot and rattle canned my 52. fenders, hood, engine, torque tube the big stuff with my hvlp gun and the small items like distributor, wire clips, governor i did with a rattle can. i used 1 coat sandable primer, and use multiple grades of paper. sand paper only removes the marks from the previous sand paper. if you start with 220 the 400 grit will only remove the marks from the 220. you'll need 800 to get rid of the marks from the 400, 1100 to remove the marks from the 800 etc. i got a fine finish only going down to wet 400 and i'm pleased with the results. like i said it's not a deusenberg it's a farmall.
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