volksrider

After spending a few days trying to get minor dents filled in, adding multiple levels of primer and finally sanding it down with 230 grit paper, I was almost ready for painting. Before I could begin painting the tank, I had to spray a primer sealer over the bottom layers of primer. I found out that etching primer is somewhat reactive to a lot of top coats. Many auto painters seal their etching primer with an epoxy based primer for greater sealing and great moisture protection. Unfortunately, I had only access to aresol primers.

I had to back track some of the primer that built up on the tank do to an unstable base of primer created by your’s truly. When I entered my shop, I realized that something that reduces primer had dribbled onto my tank’s primer base. I grabbed a can of mineral spirit and started to clean it off. That was a big mistake. The mineral spirit caused my top layer of primer to not be able to hold to the lower level primer (it was a primer reducer). I ended up scraping the layers off and rebuilding the primers in the middle of the tank. I must say, after all the sanding I had done prior, I was not looking forward to doing this again. I made it through.

Ok, with the corrections made etching primer, I proceeded to add the primer sealer. I was ready to clean thouroughly and start the painting process. The only important thing I was missing and it was a key factor in the paint process was a paint gun and paint. I purchased a HVLP Devibliss gun online and PPG black semi-gloss paint from a local dealer. This was a learning experience I must say, as I never painted before. The first layer of paint splattered out like a male excited cat un-neutered. I think I created the most detailed orangle peel effect paint layer in the history of HVLP auto painting. I sanded the layer down and painted it the second time with more control and a finer spray. I am Still not sure of the brush adjustments made. I am currently reading documentation on color sanding. Although it doesn’t look too bad, I would like to see if I can get a higher polish look after color sanding it. I am not sure if color sanding comes before or after the clear coat. Here is my gas tank sitting in my car getting me a little excited about my work and what follows.

Here is a picture of the original tank condition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 31st, 2006 at 6:49 am and is filed under Restoration, howto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.