NEW HOOD-The 4 P's

[GT400SC]

This is a "HOW TO" on how I'm painting my new Trufiber hood. I am employing principles I call the "4 P's".

It is a method I designed years ago. Other people use different techniques.

The four p's are PREP, PAINT, POLISH and most importantly PATIENCE.

Obviously correct PREPPING is incredibly important. No matter how good the quality of your paint is, not properly prepping your part will yield you crappy results. If it takes you longer to PAINT than PREP, you're probably screwing up!

For the INSIDE of my hood, I chose to paint it with Duplicolor truck bed coating. It leaves a textured finish and is easily maintained. Once cured, the only thing it takes to make this look better is a quick wipe with Armor All or any similar shine product. And touching it up should it get gouged is easy since the same paint also comes in aresol cans.

The underside of the hood was sanded with 220 grit paper and then roughed with a 3M abrasive pad supplied by the Duplicolor kit. It was then rubbed down with a degreaser to remove any hand oils, mold release and dust generated during sanding. Then THREE liberal coats of Duplicolor bed paint were rolled on. In tight corners (i.e. near the vents) a small chip brush was used to "dab on" the paint. The extreme outer rim of the inside of the hood will be shot with the same gloss paint that will be on the top of the hood but this will be done after this coating has cured and is masked off. The three coats used about 1/2 of the can.

Duplicolor sells a "gun" to "spray" this on instead of using their nappy-headed roller. But the siphon gun costs $60. It comes with a tube you drop into the can, hook it up to you compressor and pull the trigger and viola! It sprays out with a spattered/textured coating...just like I got with the roller. I just couldn't justify the extra $60, especially when the results look the same. And I didn't have to use drop cloths and worry about overspray by using the roller. But to each their own. Me? I'm on a budget!

I will continue to post NEW pics as I complete more of this hood. The hood now sits on top of the car upside down on a padded moving blacket on top of the car cover. I will let this dry for a few days before moving on.

Tim

 

[Roushed2]

not a bad idea

 

[GT400SC]

Thanks! I always wanted to do a low maintenance lining on the inside of a hood.

This coming weekend, I will be shooting the top using PPG DAR9000 Acrylic enamel. It is a single stage paint that consists of pigment, reducer and hardener. The mix ratio for most PPG DAR paints is 8 part pigment, 6 parts reducer and 1 part hardener. If you were to say this in ounces, you would mix 8 ounces of paint with 6 ounces of reducer (thinner) and 1 part hardener. This would yield you 15 ounces of paint. And that's a LOT of paint! Enough for this hood. But DAR9000 (which is BLACK) is measured 8 parts paint, 3 parts reducer and 1 part hardener. Essentially, it is thinned LESS but still enough to cover the hood with at least three coats.

Waiting time between coats is about 15 minutes. It CAN be clearcoated using an acrylic enamel clearcoat if desired but the DAR9000 dries VERY glossy and can be colorsanded (wetsanded) and polished when totally cured.

That's all I'm gonna do for today, just wanted to get the pics up and this thread started. Now I'm gonna clean up and have a beer!

Mav, what paint do you use?

 

[Roushed2]

nice deffinately post lots of pics


by the way hows your leg

 

[GT400SC]

Leg is good, I have matching scars on both knees! Brings my body total on SURGICAL scars up to 68"!

I said SURGICAL scars! Not accidents, scrapes and cuts, SURGICAL scars!

 

[Roushed2]

lol

good to hear

 

[GT400SC]

This is the paint for the TOP of the hood. PPG DAR9000 Acrylic Enamel.

Note the disposable paint cup on the gun.
Save LOTS of clean up time. 5 cups for $6+/- at Harbor Freight.

 

[wickedstangs]

wow very nice Tim keep up the nice work..

 

[GT400SC]

The progress is also on my website http://www.gt400sc.com/ by clicking on "Photo Page 3"

 

[wikedcobra312]

can you paint my car?

 

[GT400SC]

Nah, I don't paint cars. I don't mind painting a part here and there but I stay away from BIG toys. Sorry!

 

[Roushed2]

well just take him a part at a time

hood here

fender there

trunk later



LOL

 

[VP_07SRT8]

looks great man keep us posted

 

[GT400SC]

Under the "big top"

So I spent today stringing up a 12x12 tarp for a little protection on the patio so I can paint tomorrow. Protection from the sun and from falling debri, i.e leaves, dust, bird shat...

Set up my trust rickety old card table with a moving blanket folded on top for cushioning and plopped the hood down. I have been sanding (320 grit) ever so lightly because on this particular hood, the gelcoat seems to be thin in certain areas and thicker in others. But that's to be expected. A uniform thickness can be tough to maintain.

Since I'm sanding white gelcoat, there's white sanding dust on the patio. Early tomorrow morning, I will gently hose off the patio, ridding myself of the dust and lay down my drop cloth when the water is dry. And as warm as it's been, that won't take long.

After the drop cloth is down, the hood gets a wipe down, prime, a light sanding, a wipe with a tack cloth and then paint. I'll leave it under the tarp to dry until late afternoon and then it will be moved to the garage on top of the roof of the Stang on another blanket. It will stay there for a few weeks to cure.

One photo below shows two small defects in the hood that probably happened during shipping but are both negligible. A chip in the gelcoat in the corner of the hood and a wrinkle in the gelcoat that could have happened during the initial spraying of the gelcoat in the mold or soon after during layup. Both were easily fixed.

Tomorrow we paint in the shade!

 

[VP_07SRT8]

lookin good bro

 

[Gibs]

Nice work....


Gib

 

[wickedstangs]

Awesome Write up..

 

[blackstallion06]

GT400 waiting paitently... let me know when you feel better and teady to get started on the project. Your hood looks great! Cant wait to see it done and on car. How are you gona do the Stripes?

 

[GT400SC]

Hi Phil,

I PM'd you on Aug 11 asking what days you had off so we could get together but never heard back.

 

[GT400SC]

Paint day

Before painting, the hood was sanded with 320 grit paper as recommended by PPG in their instruction sheet for the DAR9000 Acrylic Enamel paint. This step is where you can make or break a good paint job. If the primer and paint won't adhere to your surface, it'll flake off eventually.

Very careful attention was given to insure that every square inch was sanded. On a hood with white gel coat like this one, you want the sanded finish to look like chalk. A satin finish with all gloss from the gel coat removed. There's no need to sand THROUGH the gel coat, just take off the factory glossy shine.

After sanding, go back and look, as I did, several times and find any areas where you missed. Openings like those of the scoops or places where the hood has detail, irregular corners or shapes require a little extra attention. As I said earlier, if painting takes less time than your prep, you're probably doing something wrong.

When you're satisfied that you've sanded every square inch of the hood surface, wipe it down with a "SOFT CLOTH" (Not your dad's XXX underwear) and use an air hose to blow off any remaining sanding dust.

PRIMER

I used a Duplicolor BLACK primer. One can was sufficient although I bought two. Also known as an "Adhension Promoter", the application will immediately show you trouble spots, scratches, knicks and pinholes that will require repair before moving on. Fortunately, this excellent hood from Trufiber had no defects other that the two mentioned earlier. The primer will dry in minutes and when it has, lightly sand it again looking for any high spots, irregularities or problem areas.

PAINT

Painting is as much an art as it is an aquired skill. You either get it or you don't but it's not really that hard. Personally, I think Pros are a little overrated and can command the high prices shops do simply because the average person is intimidated and scared they'll "skrew it up" or simply hasn't the facilities or equipment to do it them selves. All I can say is, practice on scrap metal and sooner than you think, you'll be wondering why you didn't try it sooner. Good equipment helps too.

Lay down several thin coats rather than trying to load up the part with a thick layer of paint. This particular PPG paint recommends 15 minutes, give or take between coats. You really can't go wrong if you follow the instructions from the manufacturer. This photo is the first coat immediately after the primered coat had been wiped down with a "tack cloth" and blown off one last time with the air hose.

The last photos are after completing the painting. My one quart can (32oz) of DAR9000 paint had about 28 oz in it remaining from a previous project and I went ahead and used it all. The paint gun only hold 20oz at a time. I mixed paint ONCE (for consistency's sake) but filled the paint gun cup twice with 14oz each time. I don't like topping it off to the maximum fill level because it gets rather heavy.

After testing and adjusting the spray pattern on a piece of cardboard (note the box in the upper right corner of the photo) head for the part and begin. Start your stroke at one edge, depressing the gun's trigger and move in a straight line all the way to the opposite end and release the trigger. Make your next stroke going back in the opposite direction slightly overlapping the first stroke. Continue this until you've covered the whole part. That constitues one "coat". Don't try to cover the part with the paint so heavy that you cause build up or runs. Don't worry that you can see the primer coat through the first coat of paint in some areas. You're going to be adding a lot more paint. You'll cover it eventually, several times over.

Personally, I'm and edge freak. The front edge, the sides, any openings, the back edge...These are all places where paint can flake and peel from if not addressed correctly. I sand a little more in these areas, I prime just a little more in these areas and I hit them with the spray gun and paint just a bit more than the rest of the hood. When I can see I'm almost out of paint, I'll walk around the part one last time spraying all the edges.

I'm not a pro, but following directions, planning thouroughly and paying attention to you prep work can give you professional results.

NEXT:

After letting this hood dry to the point it can be handled (4-6 hours) I will move it into the garage on top of the car for a few weeks to "cure". Paint shops have infra-red heat lamps and can bake their parts rather rapidly. I don't know if that's better or not but it's definately faster. If your project isn't your daily driver, your patience will pay off in a couple of weeks when the paint has completely hardened and you can move on to the next step, color sanding and polishing.

STAY TUNED!

As always, these photos can also be found on my website: http://www.gt400sc.com/