Maybe           
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBER-THROTTLE-RETURN-SPRING-/172138242681?hash=item28143d2279:g:ZnkAAOSwMORW6~JE

 

I have said this many times before, sometimes there are just not enough swear words available.



And I find myself in that position once more.


Today has been a nice sunny day, I have been out with the spanners repairing the trailer tent - I have done all of my chores, and I have some free time to play with the Buggy. As you know, I am still tossing a coin as to whether or not to paint my shell, and whilst staring at it awful hard, I noticed a small blister on one of the side pods. Actually, thats not strictly true, the blister has been there for a few years now, but if I`m going to do any painting, then I need to deal with this and see what is going on.

The blister was about an inch long, and had actually cracked the paint around it. No point being delicate here, the blister needs to be removed, and after a few seconds with a stanley knife, I had a disc in my hand about the size of a 10p. It had come off a little too easily for my liking, and I noticed that there was some mud on the bodywork that had got behind the paint. That should not have happened, and a close inspection of the missing paint patch revealed that the remaining edges were actually sitting proud of the bodywork, not by much, a gnats hair if that, but something was niggling away at me. I stuck the stanley blade into the hole, and managed to slide it behind the paint which now started to come off in great big chunks.





I have often said that I am not a painter, and usually when playing with a rattle can, if anything is going to go wrong, I usually get a paint reaction within a few minutes of applying any paint, sand it back and start again. Thats my limit of painting. If the primer goes on and stays on, then I kind of assume that it had actually stuck to the bodywork. Clearly not on this occasion. 10 minutes with the stanley blade, and I have now removed virtually all the paint from my sidepod, with no damage to the pod surface whatsoever.





I know a bit more about painting now, than I did back then, so I guess I will now remove everything back down to the bare gelcoat and start over.

Bitter sweet moment really - Not happy this happened, but glad I spotted it before playing with the metalflake.

Bummer Dave but I see you have saved all the old paint to use again?

Would an etch primer help?

Thats what I don`t understand Flags, I used an etch primer followed by a high build primer - nothing stuck   

Might just have to stick the old bits in a liquidizer so that I can repaint with the same base colour   

When ever I have sprayed I have always started with a primer filler on a well prepared body and never had a problem the orange buggy was sprayed ten years ago now and still looks great.

That is actually quite impressive Dave.  A real bummer, but impressive 

May need heavy dutier keying before putting the high build primer on to get adhesion. Hope the rest is ok but as you say better to find it now.

Spoke to a man that knows and etch won't help, rough key and lots of high build before flatting then top coat.

Hi Dave, etch primer is for metal.  It wont etch into plastic.
Plastic adhesion promotor would be first coat, after a very thorough prep and degreasing.
Then you could use primer or high build primer depending on your level of prep.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U-POL-PLASTX-2-ADHESION-PROMOTER-400ml-PLASTIC-REPAIR-upol-BEST-price-/221465284972?hash=item33905c116c:g:AHYAAOSwewJTm2Lf

No point messing about, what has to be done, has to be done, and so I start to attack the side pod in order to remove the layers of paint.





I`m quite fortunate to have good arsenal of air tools available, and they made really light work of removing the paint. I used the 6" Sander to remove the bulk of the high build primer, and then a 3" sander to polish up the surface to a nice finish.





The paint on the front wheel arch had also come away, but the rear seemed fairly good, so I will stop there. A quick wipe down and hoover of the dust, and I am ready for the next bit.





A few passes with a rattle can of ordinary primer and hope that this time it sticks.





There will undoubtedly be a few runs in the primer when I go back and look at it tomorrow, but hopefully nothing will have reacted where it joins the existing paint layers. I shall leave it alone now and see how it looks in the morning.

Nice bit of painting Dave and I hope this newly painted panel doesn't turn out so well it makes the rest of the older body colour alongside look a mismatch....

But I did notice that when you stanley knifed the green flakes off you seem to have a yellow buggy trying to get out !

But I did notice that when you stanley knifed the green flakes off you seem to have a yellow buggy trying to get out !

Maybe           
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBER-THROTTLE-RETURN-SPRING-/172138242681?hash=item28143d2279:g:ZnkAAOSwMORW6~JE

Cheers Hudge, just looking at that one   

I hope this newly painted panel doesn't turn out so well it makes the rest of the older body colour alongside look a mismatch....

Actually Hugh, I have a suspicion that this newly painted panel, painted with the same batch code of paint that I did it with all those years ago may just stand out above the rest. And that is because this time it is no longer going to be a top coat - this time around I have decided that its going to be a base coat.





Yep - I am going to go for it (I have a feeling most of you knew I was going to). Those that have seen my number plate light attempt have all given such positive comments. Nobody has laughed at me and a fair few have been lost for words in complete disbelief that I managed to apply flake with a paintbrush, that I am now going to try and flake a side pod. I know it won`t be as good as a professional with a spray gun, but then it won`t cost several grand either. I have a target in my head, and if I have my sums correct, I reckon I should be able to flake my entire car for around £250.

At worst, I`ll be the subject of ridicule, £250 poorer, and I`ll get the air sander out again and start over.