So I think its time time to let the cat out of the bag!
Don't do it they said,It'll look crap they said
So even cheap spray jobs cost thousands and I just don't have it
Besides I am stubborn
So at first I thought what Blue was the van originally?
There were two different blues on it plus black bits in hidden places as I stripped more and more sound deadening away it soon become apparent the original colour was black
This is great for two reasons its gets to go back to more or less factory colour and black being a generic shade you can buy it cheap as long as you go the general generic black as opposed to an official OEM Mopar Black.
So what paint is it what gun did I use Yadda Yadda Yadda?
No
As I said I was told don't do it as it would look crap,I bought 36 500ml generic Gloss Black 1k Acrylic paint for ÂĢ112 ($155)
She said Wot
Yes you heard right!
Over about three weeks a couple of Walmart sanders and just picking days that were dry hot and still with little wind I rattle canned a whole van minus one fender and the roof!
These were a godsend!
And the results?
Not perfect but I'm happy with it for now
Does the paint have drips and runs?
Of course it does but some panels you would be hard pressed to tell they had not been done in a body shop whereas others I need to look at again.
You see we have great neighbours apart from one nosey parker busybody who spends her life complaining and reporting everybody for everything
I discovered she was going away for a work trail until the end of April so time was of the essense !
Neighbours moved cars for me away from direction of wind until I had finished they were great
I haven't done the roof as I plan on another colour though I will be doing that soon and painting it with red oxide until that happens so at least its clean and protected
And the reason the drivers fender is painted with red oxide is because I took that right down to bare steel as the van had had a fender bender in its past and I need to get that wing a little better
The seller did a great job beating it back into shape and perfecting it with paint but there are a few high spots I need to get knocked down before just a finishing skim of filler so rather than waste paint until its done I painted it with the red oxide to halt any rusting for the time being
Its not over yet I will be flatting and marking out low spots in the paint and rectifying them as well as a few dents the idea was to get it all one colour fast and then perfect one panel at a time until I am happy then leave it to harden for a month and wet sand and buff the paint.
So far I have used 20 cans at a cost of about ÂĢ62 ($85)
There are about 4 coats guessing with the fender ill use around 22 cans leaving 14 left for a couple more coats once the imperfections have been sorted out and if need be ill buy a few more
All in all I am happy for now and once the outside is done ill move on to the inside metalwork like rear of doors steps etc.
Today I am having a rest