Hi to all,
First post here and thanks for having such a fine site!! I searched through as best I could concerning my topic and did not find anything. So confused between Laquer, Enamel, Urethane, Water Based ??? I am doing a restore on my PV444 Volvo. I have nearly everything off of it and starting to clean it. The shell paint is original, the fenders have been stripped and sprayed with cheap primer for storage, the doors have had some light work done. I have stripped the front rails and firewall because of rust and paint problems but I really do not want to strip the whole car back to bare metal. There is some surface rust on the roof but that is easy to handle.

My question is as follows. How do I know what type of primer to use that will cover the the car without having problems with mismatched paint requirements?

This is my first experience with painting a car but I have built engines for 30 years. I just do not want to screw it up. Some body work was done by previous owner. He was my friend and died from Cancer, his wife gave me the car to finish and one day she wants to ride in it. Pictures of front and sides.
Thank you for any help,
included.

Sorry about the loss of your friend. The older we get, the more that happens and it's tough.

Your 1958 Volvo originally was painted with lacquer or a type of enamel, possibly acrylic enamel. If it's lacquer, that will react with other coatings you apply. Regardless, it's old paint and should be stripped considering the amount of work you're doing on the car.

Use an epoxy primer over bare metal, followed with a high-build if needed, then base coat and clearcoat over that. If you're painting a non-metallic color, you can substitute a single stage urethane for the basecoat/clearcoat. Check out the Tamco products at the top of the page.

There is much more to painting; compressors, guns, block sanding, guide coats, etc., but you have an excellent start so take it one step at a time and the Volvo will turn out great. This site is a wealth of information. Good luck.

NightTrain wrote:Sorry about the loss of your friend. The older we get, the more that happens and it's tough.

Your 1958 Volvo originally was painted with lacquer or a type of enamel, possibly acrylic enamel. If it's lacquer, that will react with other coatings you apply. Regardless, it's old paint and should be stripped considering the amount of work you're doing on the car.

Use an epoxy primer over bare metal, followed with a high-build if needed, then base coat and clearcoat over that. If you're painting a non-metallic color, you can substitute a single stage urethane for the basecoat/clearcoat. Check out the Tamco products at the top of the page.

There is much more to painting; compressors, guns, block sanding, guide coats, etc., but you have an excellent start so take it one step at a time and the Volvo will turn out great. This site is a wealth of information. Good luck.

Thank you, yes he was a good friend, although he left me with 18 cars in partial stages of repair, and parts in boxes only he knew to clear out. He always did have a thing for messing with people

Excellent information on the paint and what to do. I am trying to get a few hours into it everyday. One thing I am wondering, after having to use a paint stripper on the firewall due to tight areas what is best to use to clean the metal prior to sanding?

I do have a compressor that will handle the range needed and will end up getting a second gun from Eastwood probably. Yes there is a lot to it, thankfully I have a lot of experience with metal working. I also used to do damage appraisals on Hagerty insured classics mostly higher end stuff so I do have knowledge of all the body shop workings but just zip on the hands on experience prepping, cleaning, sanding, painting. It is a whole world of experience needed
But hey, I can take things apart really well! haha
Thanks again for the information, I'll check out the Tamco paint products.

The key with using any type of liquid stripper is just making sure you read "how" it is neutralized after stripping. Neutralizing stops the actions of chemistry and also usually dissolves any remaining Methocell which is the thickener that gives the paste consistency. After that you can sand, Prep Sol ,etc. If you see any traces of a whiteish material in your sandpaper you need to go back and get that remaining Methocell off.

[quote="DarrelK"]The key with using any type of liquid stripper is just making sure you read "how" it is neutralized after stripping. Neutralizing stops the actions of chemistry and also usually dissolves any remaining Methocell which is the thickener that gives the paste consistency. After that you can sand, Prep Sol ,etc. If you see any traces of a whiteish material in your sandpaper you need to go back and get that remaining Methocell off.[/quote
Thank you will be sure and watch for that. I used Jasco on it, it helped with the old undercoating as well.

Is that your furniture restoration business link in your signature? If so really nice work there. I have a dining table set, Black Walnut from the early 1900's sitting out in my garage. Wicker chairs all need work and the table needs to be fixed as well. Not too bad just tightening loose pieces etc., I also have a black walnut secretary desk as well but that one needs more work and repair to the fold out top.

all good post above. for no more than you have to do to remove all the old paint I would defiantly do it. a good way to do it is with a air sander a D/A will work, just lock the rotation and use a 6" foam pad. you can try a few 36 grit discs to just take the top layer off down to the OEM primer the use 80 grit to the bare metal. use stripper in areas you can't sand. be sure to neutralize the stripper usually water works. I like to wash with soap and water then quickly dry doing this outside in the sun really helps. now with it back inside I spend some time just walking around it nitpicking little areas that i may have misted. like around lap joints, corners, drip gutters and so on. this is probably to most important step in your job. make sure its right, then use epoxy for your first coat of primer.
Jay D.

Jasco, yep, decent stuff, one of the Wm Barr companies. Most of them are about 60% metheylene Chloride, with methanol, and some other minor co-solvents. They definitely use both wax and Methocell in their mix. Probably want to do a water neutralization unless they say different on the can.
Yep, that's our company. We are going into our 38th year as a family business. Ha, ha, yeah everybody still has stuff in their garages, basements, attics. With all the imported stuff that has flooded this country since the late 1970s we find more people shopping in their own garages, basements, attics.......

Thank you Jay, I was just researching paper grit for sanding and saw your post. I do have a couple D/A's pretty sure they are 6", but I am not sure what you mean by "lock the rotation" though. I am still cleaning out the driveshaft tunnel. It has a split shaft and both halves are enclosed in a tunnel with a break in the middle and a support bearing to keep the shafts from wobbling. I found one of the tunnels pack solid, with cotton like substance...RATS!!! So I cleared it out with a screwdriver and a rubber glove and lots of solvent, that was a while ago. Today was just getting in killing spiders, there was a Black Widow living up in the hole where the rear spring goes up into the body. That was a bugger getting her but I did, and cleaning out with solvent until I have clean metal!! WOOHOO! Next will be trying to punch down any dented areas on the floor pan and cleaning the surface rusted areas. Then will start working my way up. Thanks for the tips on the paper needed that! Can't wash it outside at this point it's up on jack stands and no suspension under it but I have a very thick tarp under it and will just have to use a water soaked rag to wash it down and blow it dry best I can for now.

DarrelK wrote:Yep, that's our company. We are going into our 38th year as a family business. Ha, ha, yeah everybody still has stuff in their garages, basements, attics. With all the imported stuff that has flooded this country since the late 1970s we find more people shopping in their own garages, basements, attics.......

Really cool, I love old wood!!! Although my son-in-law works in a mill here in central California and he gives me wood all the time so I am not picky whether old or new. He just gave me a 12' X 36"ish by 3" redwood slab a couple months ago.

I will wash with water and might start putting pics of the progress as I go if there is a place here for that.
Thanks again
Paul

Jay was just talking about taking your DA and locking it so it no longer random orbits. You lock it to turn it into more of a "grinder" when using it for paint removal.
You can post your progress over in the Complete and In-Progress section. It is always good to do that with something like this as it provides encouragement to everyone.

And, yes, we work on woods here that are freshly milled as well as some items well over 400 years old. That's the thing that attracted my wife and I to this business.....lots of variety, you are never bored.