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MG TD TF 1500 - various paint issues

I am getting ready to paint (having someone else do the work as I am unable)the Td and have some questions. First, anything else I should consider, evidently cleaning the gas tank inner should be done. I will be taking apart the pieces to have painted. I searched the archives and still wonder if there is a base coat/ clear coat that will look close to the original as I understand the clear coat is much easier to maintain through the years but still do not want it to shine too much. Also, how many coats of the base is necessary. As can be seen, I have no idea about painting and just learned what a two stage paint job is. Thanks for any help.

Tim
tim

As a side issue, have your gas tank coated on the inside after cleaning to protect it from condensation rust in the future. It should done before the paint job for obvious reasons.
I have had great success for many years with a sealant made for aircraft fuel tanks.
Jim Merz

Tim,

You will use about a gallon of paint doing a T-Series. Of course, most color paint requires mixing in a reactor and some reducer, which gives you about two gallons to spray. The color only has to go on thick enough to cover the primer. We used PPG DBU, it's an older paint and acts like something from the 80s... because it is.

The spec sheet on the paint will advise on when it is safe to clearcoat, and that coating can go on thicker. We used Keaystone. When it dries, the clearcoat can be scraped with the perpendicular blade of a razor to remove runs, sanded in steps of 1200 1500 2000 and then trizec, each successive step removes the sanding marks from the step before and leaves its own marks behind. Extra cut rubbing compound and regular rubbing compound follows. Almost all of this sanding and rubbing is done by orbital rotary buffers. That will give you a nice shine, easy to maintain, and cut down on any orange peel that might be in the clear coat.

From there you can go to a finer compound and then swirl remover, but that makes it too shiny, in my opinion. I stopped with the regular rubbing compound and I'm very happy with the results.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

That clear is Keystone (fumbled fingers) and I should remind you that the undersides of the bonnet and the undesides of the wings must be painted and cleared as well, as they show. Clear coating has the advantage of making the undersides of the bonnet and wings clean with automotive soap and water... which you will learn to appreciate on these little cars!

dave
Dave Braun

My decision was to go with a single-stage urethane. I used PPG Concept LV over PPG DP40 primer. While expensive, it was easy to apply and came out great. The nice thing about Concept is that it does not require a clear coat, which was not done to our original cars. It is highly durable.

Dave
52TD
mgaviator

Also used PPG Concept single stage urethane. Pricy, but very nice results.

Dan H.
Dan Hanson

This is just my personal opinion about paint, and what I used and why. Detailing my car, my polishing cloth picked up a shard of steel, and I scratched the crud out of a back fender. Since I did use base/clear coat, I was able to totally sand and buff the scratch away- couldn't have done it without the clear coat. As far as not being original (ie clear coated), neither are chrome moly cranks, pertronix ignitions, radial tires, etc., etc. I have no beef with no clear coat, but too shiny? Why bother with doing good body work, nice chrome, polishing brass, etc.- if you are gonna leave it dull and swirly? My painter wet-sanded, and buffed the car. Beautiful work, but just looked fuzzy and not as shiny as it should be. Thanks to Gary K's advice, I polished it using 3-M's new 3 stage machine polishing system (that I can't remember the name now). The wet-looking gloss is sure worth it in my opinion. About the first thing people say when they see the car is how nice the paint looks. Check out the shine on the picture of my car in the Car Show post down a couple of posts. Just my thoughts. George
George Butz

As always you guys give great advice and I am sure that I will have more questions before the final decision in about a month.

tim
tim

Hi Tim

Tim make sure you check out the painter before you turn your car over to them.
You will need to remove all the original paint for a top quality job. They do not recommend more them 10 mils. of old not cracked paint. If you do it your self be very careful with any type of stripper. It can remain in small seams. New paint does not like leftover stripper. The base coat-clear coat is the way most paint shops today work. That is what I use on the main body if my J2. The single stage paint has the clear in it already. That is what I use on the chassis, wire wheels and small parts that need to be black. It is a more durable then spray paint. Make sure they use the best quality of clear as you can afford.
You may have to do some final finishing your self, to get the very best look. I have help a few people save with paint that did not turn out as nice as they wanted.
If you have any other paint questions send me an email I will send you my phone number. gary krukoski at yahoo dot com.

Good Luck
Gary


Gary Krukoski

See? There you go, if it wasn't for Gary Krukoski, I would not have been able to properly buff out my finish! The guy knows what he is talking about, and we are lucky to have him in our club! And I was lucky to have him and others here help me sort out my finish.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Not sure if you are doing any of the prep work, but the biggest issue is getting all the silicon off. The potential that it was used on your car is good as so many of the current polishes or cleaners have silicon in it. Make sure you wash the car totally with silicon remover prior to sanding. Then again after sanding.

You can add fish eye remover to the paint (actually a silicon additive). They work ok, but can affect the gloss.
Bruce-C

This thread was discussed between 21/10/2008 and 23/10/2008

MG TD TF 1500 index

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