Coat Three

So, the way this process goes is, you paint 2 coats and in between each of the 2 coats, you wet sand with fine grit sandpaper, increasing grit each time to eventually "polish" the final few coats.

Theses pictures are after the sanding of coats one and two with 600 grit paper. 

On the right is the third coat, the left is the sanded coats one and two. 

and the reverse L coat 3, R coats 1&2

                                          

Tomorrow morning at 6:00 am, Doug and I will be waking up to add coat 4. 

Maddie should be waking up to do it, but she decided to ask a friend

over for  sleepover..... So Mom gets stuck doing her job, again.

It's funny how these father / daughter projects and up being father / mother / occasional 

daughter projects. The little butt pie better appreciate it!!

By the way, Doug informed me this little beauty has a Porsche engine in it! It's an old Porsche 411. 

Apparently that's special. 

Painting Phase One

Maddie worked super hard helping me strip

the fenders.

Me stripping the back apron.

Fenderless Bug, minus windows, and everything else.

Maddie stripping the tail light covers.

Bug stripped bare. Messy, messy garage.

Doug was able to strip the entire Bug with a $10.00 socket and screwdriver set 

from the Home Depot.

The last thing to take out was the back seat. 

Last little bit. 

Interior view of the stripped Bug.

Original green Bug painted white, then black.

More of the interior.

Interior with the rest of the back seat taken out.

In order to star painting, Doug had to take all the interior out, the windshield (which broke $70.00 to replace) the rear windows, side windows, all the fenders, the chrome molding, the seals and the handles.

After that was done, Doug and Maddie had to sand the entire bug (minus the fenders because Maddie and I sanded Bondoed, and prepared them). I didn't get any pictures of them sanding, but I did get pictures of them after they finished.

Dirty hobo Doug

Like dirty hobo father, like dirty hobo daughter.

After the sanding, they rubbed down the Bug with a towel, then mineral spirits, then a tack cloth and then they were ready to paint.

Doug used the roller to put the paint on, and Maddie 

followed after making sure that any bubbles made by 

the roller popped. 

After the first coat, they had to wait until the first coat was dry to add the 2nd (of 8 total) coat. Finishing this coat was the end of yesterday June 12th, 2011.

Today

Maddie and Doug finished the 2nd coat. I thought it looked the 

same until Maddie showed me the before and after photo she took. 

It seems like this has already taken forever, but it's just been over a week. Hopefully we will be near finished with the painting and be able to see some real progress by the time we leave for Utah next Monday. 

Tomorrow Doug will be wet sanding the 2 coats they put on yesterday and today. after that dries, he and Maddie will be able to paint the 3rd and 4th coats in the next couple days....

STAY TUNED! 

Painting the Test Fender

It took a full day, but I got the fender sanded smooth.

I did the first half without the mask....

after a couple hours I started hacking.

I decided a trip to Home Depot was in order.

Just finishing up the final spots. I read on another blog that when 

you think you are done sanding, you need to sand more.

I sanded a lot more.

Notice the light spot above the headlight area. That is one

of the two dents I had to Bondo. It was my first time using 

Bondo, and it was easier than I thought it would be.

The paint is an Ace Hardware brand of Rustoleum. We had to 

use this brand because it was the only one we could custom tint.

After wiping down the fender with 100% mineral spirits (also hard

 to find because of new EPA restrictions, I could only find it 

at Ace Hardware) we wiped it with a tack cloth. 

Then Doug mixed the paint with the mineral spirits to thin it out.

 This apparently helps it to settle into MINOR imperfections, helping 

it to finish flat. He uses just enough so that when he dips a spoon in, 

it takes 3 seconds to drip completely off.

Using a high density 4 inch foam roller, he is rolling the thinned paint 

onto the fender. If there are a bunch of tiny bubbles you want to

make sure they pop. The best way to accomplish that is by using

a hair dryer to heat the bubbles until they pop. It doesn't take much 

if you set your dryer to high heat.

More painting and drying. My hair dryer was red, now ti's red 

and orange. This was the first coat of 6. We'll keep posting.

Maddie was inside resting while Doug was painting the fender.

When she came out, she nearly pooped her pants with how good it 

looked. I snapped this just after she threw her arms around her pop

giving him a thank you hug. 

I guess sanding all day long for two straight days doesn't warrant 

a hug. 

Materials used today: 

Bondo bonding putty $10.50 HD

80 grit sandpaper (20 sheets) $14.99 HD

sanding block $3.75 WM

latex gloves (30 gloves) $2.69 WM

respiratory mask (5 pk) $1.69 HD

100% mineral spirits $6.89 AH

tack cloth $1.99 HD

Ace Hardware oil based enamel (one quart) $8.99 AH 

4" high density foam roller (2 pk) $3.49 WM

roller handle $3.49 WM

Hairdryer $9.99 WM

Shop towels (10 pk) $3.49 WM

HD = Home Depot

WM = Walmart

AH = Ace Hardware

The Experiment Stage

 June 4, 2011 

The day we purchased the Bug.

This was just after we took Maddie for her first drive.

June 5, 2011

Doug taking the Rhino Lining fender off so I can start

stripping it. 

We decided, as a start, to try painting one fender 

with the Rustoleum roller method of painting to see 

if it's worth trying to paint the Bug ourselves. 

If it works, the savings will be over $300.00 

 After reading on dozens of forums, I decided to attempt 

to salvage the fenders. New fenders would cost $90.00 each.

The remover and scraper was $33.00. If this works, it will save us

$327.00.

I wore thick dish washing gloves, and followed the directions 

on the can of Aircraft Remover.

5 minutes after applying the remover with a polyester 

paint brush, it begins to bubble and is ready to be scraped off.

For stubborn patches, I used a razor blade. 

The Aircraft Remover worked wonders.

Remember the gloves! It really stings if it comes

in contact with your flesh. Half way through the process,

I changed into long sleeves, pants, socks, and sneakers.

It takes time and elbow grease, but you will 

eventually be able to get all the Rhino Lining off.

It took about 2 hours, but I was able to save the fender.

I figure I payed myself $25.00 an hour by doing the 

work instead of buying a new fender.

The next step is to Bondo one small dent on the fender I stripped, then I will sand it. When Doug gets home tomorrow night, he will start the first step in a 4 day process of painting the fender. If all goes well, we will be repeating it on the entire Bug..... Exciting things to come! 

The Begining

Yesterday, June 4th 2011, My husband Doug and I bought a 1970 Volkswagen Bug for our daughter Madison, who is turning 16 in 4 months. It's spray painted (classy) black, and all 4 fenders have black Rhino Lining applied to them. The interior is needing to be replaced... The entire thing from the head liner (which doesn't exist) to the carpet on the flooring (which isn't attached in any way). You may be wondering why on earth we would buy a car that needs so much work. Well, the mechanics of the car is perfect, so far. This is the sound of me knocking on wood. The motor was replaced and only has 17,000 miles on it. The clutch has less than 10,000 miles and all the wiring was recently replaced, as was the carburetor and the exhaust. It has all the original fixtures, including an awesome steering wheel. After driving it, we HAD to have it, and we were able to pick it up for $2,200.00,

The plan is to paint the bug two toned, orange and cream, and to replace the interior (currently black and red) with cream vinyl. The plan is also to do all of it ourselves.... You heard me, ourselves. Even the painting. We are going to scour the pick and pull lots, and do as much as we can on the cheap. I'm going to be chronicling the entire process, not only to have a record of our first classic car restoration, but also in the hopes that our successes, and failures, might help anyone out there who may be wondering if they could do it.

Keep in mind, I'm a housewife who has never done any car repair. My husband Doug is in Internet marketing. He's done minor repair work on our cars... An alternator, battery, starter, things like that, but nothing major, and nothing cosmetic. SO... if this works out and we are actually able to restore Madison's Bug in the next 4 months, ANYONE could do it.

Here we go.... Keep your fingers crossed for us!