Bad paint

When I arrived at the shop this morning the door to my stall was open. No doubt this was because of the heat we have had the past few days, but since it has probably been a year since the last time it was open, the sight of the exposed rear end was a bit of a shock. It made me realize that I did a lot of nice work back there, but I moved to the front long before the back was anywhere close to finished. Now at the front, my progress has slowed because I am trying to achieve "paint ready." I did not go that far in the rear because I was worried about my ability to repair the nose.

The only real challenge left is the doors. Everything else is time and money. Replacing doors skins sounds straightforward, but since I have never done one it remains a challenge. Right now the challenge consists of finding them -- nobody I have contacted by mail had replied.

I spent some time today on the lower front panels, sanding and filling small voids with putty. Very close to paint ready.

The last part of the session was spent fixing the alligator skin primer on the LH corner. I wet sanded it smooth with #150, and went a little deeper just to be sure. I thought perhaps the problem was a layer of oil from sitting in the shop so long, so before painting I scrubbed the area well with Marine Clean, then treated the exposed metal with Metal Prep. When that was dry I shot it with POR-15 Etching Primer, because beneath this area is a fiberglass patch. I thought the poor adhesion may have been due to the POR-15, even though the bad paint covered a much wider area. The result looked good, but I had to go before it was completely dry.

A couple of notes. First, I don't think it is a good idea to paint directly over an application of Metal Prep. A better method would be to rub the dried surface with Scotch Brite, to improve adhesion. Second, in places like this where oily dust may have settled on the surface, wash it with Marine Clean and use Scotch Brite rather than just a brush.

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