Most aggressive compound...

[Stokdgs]

Stokdgs- Heh heh, reading that, and nodding my head in recognition, I realized that we`re dating ourselves with some of those references again

But yeah, I too like the feel/control/etc. of doing it by hand. And hey, back in the days of ss even *I* could finish out OK with a rotary and those nasty pads we used back then

The only finer papers I knew from were, IIRC, marketed for polishing plastics. The same little foam pads you can get today as best I can remember/tell. But yeah I remember rubbing 600 sheets together to make `em milder...did that with a lot of sandpaper actually.

Mi Hermano El Accumulator` !
Yes, this does date us and you know, I am glad to have experienced that too ! Liked reading your comments also !

As much as I loved the work, getting married, having a couple of little squirt daughters, more responsibilities, I just knew things would be changing soon for me.
And when Urethane airplane paint came out, and I read up on how toxic it was, I knew I was not going to be around for that...

For sure, those lovely acrylic lacquers or acrylic enamels were so much more user-friendly..
And the smell !!!! Nothing compares to acrylic lacquer in primer or paint in the morning...
Dan F

[DaveT435]

DaveT435 --
I was born in San Antonio, and we moved to Corpus Christi, Austin, and Dallas, so my Dad could finish at SMU., and then back to S.A.
We saw a lot of little towns all along those places as well..

For sure, the VW will be much easier to work on if the fenders are off the car.. Just remember, keep the gun the same distance all the way around, up and down, each pass, so the paint is even.. It wants to run on the more curvy parts..

Sounds like the prep on the paint you saw was done by places like Maaco, Earl Schieb, etc... Their prep = wash it, run some steel wool over the paintwork with perhaps a solvent, wipe it off, spray the paint... That`s why it`s flying off in 1-2years after...
You have to pay a lot extra to have them actually D/A the paint, perhaps apply a primer or sealer, perhaps block sand it, and then apply the watered down cheap paint..

I always put down a few coats of the the Dupont Factory Pack Paint first, then as it was flashing away, start adding clear to the factory paint, a couple coats, more clear to the paint, then just clear coats at the end..

All of this of course as you know, is based on the type of thinner you use - slow-dry or fast-dry, and the ambient temps you are dealing with..
All of this back then worked really well because the thinner would be absorbed by all the layers down to the primer, so they all melted into each other and became one strong thick layer.. Not going to fall off or peel off ever..

Another thing to consider is where are you going to be doing the work ? Booth?? Shop or Garage?.. It was always better for me even with both options, to get all the paint/clear on at one time, so as it dried, I would have to deal with stuff falling onto it only 1 time...

Another reason for the last Block Sand with 600 grit paper and a guide coat, just in case there were some junk that fell into the paint, or some high spots or low spots that got missed...

Nothing - nothing - nothing looks better no matter what the color or texture, etc., than flat, flat, paintwork... It will always reflect light straighter and will always be the most pleasing to the eye..

And you can also decide just how flat you want to make it as you go..

As I always do, everything, paint-wise, correcting paint-wise, interior/exterior Detailing-wise, it all has to match from one end to the other, then from the first horizontal panel across the top to the last horizontal panel...
Dan F

I appreciate all the info. Yes, my auto body teacher drilled in our heads about the distance of the gun being the same. I only painted the one car, and maybe I just got lucky, but I did lay down a beautiful coat of paint. It was a color change also so I had to spray everything.

I couldn`t agree more about flat paintwork. It`s always so disappointing to see a nice classic car then get close and see the waves down the side of it. I actually thought Macco used a quality paint, just didn`t do any prep work. I remember back in the day seeing the chrome emblems sprayed. Definitely didn`t have time to remove or tape those lol

i talked to the owner of the bug today. If I paint the whole thing it will be with an acrylic enamel. That`s definitely a plus. If I paint the other car it will be BC/CC. The bug I`ll probably take down to bare metal, the other car I`ll have some sanding and DA work to do. 1/2" adequate for each layer when feathering around the damaged area?

[Accumulator]

DaveT435- There`s a member here (he hasn`t posted recently) with the username XtremeKustomz (or something like that). He`s one *HIGHLY* skilled/knowledgeable/helpful guy when it comes to DIYing paintwork. I`d reach out to him if you have any Qs. In fact, I *will* reach out to him should I ever decide to revisit body/paint work.