Today between 11am and 6pm without break all external areas were given 2 more coats. Yes it took almost 7 hours, very slow, and very careful as the small compressor tends to fill up the water trap pretty quick.
All that is left is the bonnet still... will be forwarded to panel beater soon, and the outside of boot lid (this weekend maybe?).
More photos coming in a few weeks after putting everything back together, cut and polish and tidy up.
The NOS tail lights are really going to set this off!
Very happy with these results.
Sorry by the time the camera came out if was dark, so the colours arent really this pink... honest!
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Warm weekends with no wind, bliss!
First coat of paint is on. Despite the wisdom of the paint shop, a 2mm tip on the spray guy seemed to be too air hungry and above my skill level to control, so ended up using the trusty 1.4m tip touch up gun with larger paint pot. No doubt the finer tip seems to work better for low pressure spraying, and maintains a better velocity. The paint also seems to respond best by blasting a coat on, letting it cure, very finely sanding back and then doing a very careful final coat. This technique seems to work so far anyway. I call it the "heavy guide coat method" *laughs*.
So now time to wait for a few warm days and baking, then its final blast time! The dent / rust and ding repairs seem to have turned out well with panels flat and clean.
Anyone who has ever done this alone at home in a very cramped environment can image the stress and self doubt that the painting stage can cause. Or perhaps ingesting a good dose of thinners (despite industrial strength respirator), effects the brain into fantasys of neighbours calling the cops? None the less, no complaints so far *touches wood*.
Inside boot lid:
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Painting has begun, and the annoying part to begin with... aka door jambs and window surrounds. A quiet calm and warm day was perfect for the job, and being a weekday no passers by the garage were splattered with the custom matched original cardinal red. Apologies for the pics... taken on mobile phone again.
Also rusty boot channel has been repaired and painted w00t!
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The Mazda is making progress, removing rubber and fittings in preparation to paint door jambs has taken a while, and now it is pretty much a case of having the roof and bonnet dents dealt with.
In the mean time, it is perhaps time to think back to the car that got me into the Jap classics, a red Datsun 1600 P510 we owned 5 years ago in Canberra. The L18 engine was an undying testament to old school engineering, and she was the lovelyest thing I ever travelled in. We hope she is doing well these days and enjoying plenty of looks as these cars become increasingly harder to find!
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Australia Day long weekend... what better way to celebrate than doing the truly aussie task of working on the old clapper. 4 panels are repaired, primed and ready for paint, rust repaired around tail lights and rear beaver, and one of 4 door jambs ready for paint. Old rubber is slowing the process down a little, removing very old glue and rubber crispyer than a fresh pack of Ritz. She is starting to look good, flat, smooth and straight! Looking forward to having all the paint and panel side of things finished so can start getting the suspension and mechanicals played with. Apologies for quality of pics, were taken with old mobile phone :) You should see the red stains on the driveway!
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