16 replies to this topic

[joshyboy]

Hi Lads, im planning on respraying my mini (seen below) and am gonna do the rub down myself to save a bit of cash. ive been looking in loadsa mini manuels etc to see what is to be done when rubbing down, but to be honest, there were so many different methods and orders of doing things! quite confusing!

could any body tell me exactly what i need to do to rub it down to bare metal. equipment to use, what order to do things, and what to do with any rust i uncover!

im sure its very easy, but am confused by the manuels! :nugget:

thanks

[cooper_shaz]

To take the car down to bare metal,

Strip all the lights, grille, handles etc etc etc etc off

what i tend to do is 1 panel at a time
start with the wing

run masking tape between the wing and bonnet so that about 1 mm of the wing has tape down the edge

using a paint brush cover the wing in nitromorse or something like this

clicky me

scrape the paint off and then clean the surface up, if you come accross deep rust
cut it out and weld a new clean metal section in

if it is just surface rust then clean it up and use a broken drill bit to get into all the small dimples, if you leave any of these then rust will come back.

next when you have the metal clean I use this product, it cleans it up and zinc coats the panel, this will help them last alot longer

clickety click

fantastic stuff.

After that your panel is protected, prime with an etch primer and it will protect it for a while.

Primer is hydroscopic (absorbs moisture) so the panel will rust if you leave it for months or if you leave it out doors.

you just work round the whole car this way.

hope this helps
cheers
shaz

[joshyboy]

Thanks shaz!

so no need for any rubbing down with sand paper/whatever?

[THedooBZ]

no point spending hours rubbing down if u want to take it to bare metal anyway.
as shaz has said just do one panel at a time with a paint stripper i used wilkos paint stripper cost £4 for a litre i think and it works a treat.
when cleaning before priming i like to wipe the panels with a alcohol wipe or similar to completely remove any dirt or grease etc...

also that frost metal ready as posted in one of the links above works really well.

[joshyboy]

yay no sanding! sounds good to me! thanks lads!

[ianbunyan]

By the way, Keith looks amazing!! (The Mini, you understand!!)

That is how I want my Mini to look if she doesn't sell. Lovely black arches with chrome detailing from tip to tail... SOOooo nice... plus I think my spot lights kinda ruin my Mini, though they're FAB for the country lanes for sure

[ianbunyan]

Hang on a minute?!? I have seen Keith driving around!! I do a day a week in Maidstone on the South Park business estate, Enterprise Road (near Armstrong Road...) I swear I have seen my "Mini twin" drive by at the traffic lights there Now I know what my Norah would look like withough the lights and the chequered roof - hehee :tongue:

[joshyboy]

:grin: Thanks ianbunyan! ive just bought it a few months ago, so you may well have seen it with its previous owner! i havent been driving it about tho, because not taken my test yet! im def gonna be keeping all the same colours n arches etc after my respray. great having a "mini twin"!

[joshyboy]

by the way, the frost metal ready stuff, thats not primer is it? or would i be rite in thinking it was a sorta pre-primer thing..

[Will]

yep, i think thats right, it etches the metal ready for primer but cooper_shaz or paintmain would be able to give you a better answer

[Paintman]

You should aways etch prime bare metal no matter what your doing.

[cooper_shaz]

As paint man says, always etch prime bare metal.

But just to clear up the details if you want to use metal ready (it is great stuff) do this onto the bare metal and then etch prime on top.

Cheers
Shaz

[Snowfruit]

To prepare the car for a full respray you don't _have_ to take it back to bare metal do you? My car is going to be ready for a respray in a few days and I also wanted to prep it myself. But most of the original panels are still attached with the original paint and I have read some where that if the paint is sound there is no need to go back to bare metal?

So if I don't what work do I do to prep the body work? Does the car need to be primed before spraying or is there no need if its been painted before?

[joshyboy]

good question, im not sure. im taking mine back to bare metal because the previous owner did a bad job of it and its now peeling, so gotta take it of!

tho, i could save myself time but only stripping the bad bits if its possible to paint over the old but good condition paint...

[cooper_shaz]

Hey Guys, no you do not need to take a car back to bare metal to respray it.

It is a case of somepeople prefer to do it because you never really know what is underneath although you can get a gauge that measures paint thickness.

If it is a bodged job then the rust will re-appear sooner or later..

If you want to use POR15 then it goes onto bare metal ..!!

but if it is a respray in the same colour, you can get away without priming, but your going to have to make sure the paint your going to paint over has been sanded and keyed thoroughly.

No shiny bits or dimples anywhere or the paint will peel..

if there are sound panels key them down..

Etch priming is a great way to start as it bites into the paint so ensure good adhesion for top coats, 2 litres or primer will do it easy, so for the sake of 18 quid, is it really worth skimping on it ??

ultimately the chioce is yours, it is a mini, it will rust again thats for sure, how you prepare it will be the key factor in how long it is before it rusts again..

shaz