Well, my 123 needs to get painted. There is a little welding which needs to be done first, but since it was such a nice weekend I decided to do some paint preparati.on, so I stripped it.
The car paint condition was the clear and most paint is gone from the hood, roof and trunk. The sides where starting to go so I just thought I give it a little help. I used a trick I found in surfing the net utilizing paint remover to liquify the remaining clear coats so as to either get to the base color or the primer.
I applied the paint stripper with a brush. It's nice to have a power washer. Helped big-time in removing the stripper. Once dried, I went at it with a DA and an 80 grit disk. Only had enough time today to do one side of the car along with the trunk.
What's the collective forum wisdom say I should do next ? I plan to sand the other side. Remove the rubber-seal/chrome trim at the bottom of the windows, the bottom trim on the dooors and sand the entire car in 220 then 320 and prime. Any other suggestions would be welcomed.

Greg

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Hi Greg
Finish the strip, fix the body work and little dents. Mask it and put some two part primer on it, base coat and two part clear coat.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

I will be doing this myself to my Smoke Silver 124 this summer. I will put her in the garage on skates and completely de trim her, then sand her down. Mine needs no body work and has no rust. I plan on using Dupont, although I have not painted a car in fifteen years so I need to catch up on the latest products. I still have a good Devilbiss sprayer which I paid over $200 for more than 20 years ago. I'll be watching your progress with interest.

One thing I never did was leave bare metal exposed overnight, I would always protect it with rattle can primer until I could get back at it. Maybe unecessary but like Neil Young says rust never sleeps.

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Brian
87 300Dturbo 180K #14 head still running R-12 SOLD 12/2017
02 F350 Powerstroke 180K
05 Chevy Express 1 ton w/Royal Utility box 120K
08 Infiniti FX-35 40K
15 Golf Sportwagen TDI 35K
10 Sprinter 3500 chassis with a Class A Winnebago on it. 56K

Yes dieselmania, the car got rolled back into the garage and is being kept out of the weather until I get other things fixed and can re-install the hood. The body work needed is localized to the rear driver passenger panel. Damage was caused by a hit-and-run 8 months ago. After having the uni-body straightened, the trunk well seperated from the fender. I have new patch panels for both the rear quarter and the trunk panel.
As for paint, I'm using PPG Deltron line. Probably two coats of primer and then allot of sanding, followed by a sealer, top coat and at least 3 coats of clear. Although this may be good paint, and expensive,a good paint job is in the prep. I've painted boats before and you can tell a shxxxxxty job from a good one. With the said, all trim, bumpers and logo decals will be removed.

Dieselmania, a conventional gun such as a Devilbiss are still used today. There is a lot of stuff and hype about HVLP but allot of painters still use conventional runs and do allot of majic with them

Well you must have a decent compressor if you are running an air sander - I've got a V twin compressor with a rather small tank that wouldn't be able to keep up with that; although for a conventional spray gun it is just about right.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Stretch, yesterday was the first time testing the air sander with that compressor. I have to admitt, when doing large panels it slowed down quite often and required stopping so the compressor could catch up. Eats allot of air. I have a bigger compressor (2 stage 90psi@22cfm) runs on a 14 hp gas motor and is mobil. Might have to bring this one out from storage. Since I've got 2 other vehicles to paint after this one, it would probably be a good idea.

Sounds like you have some painting experience so I won't add much. I've done a TON of paint and body and have some schooling on it. About the only thing I'd add is to use the PPG DP series epoxy primer in the number (color) that works with your base coat - DP90 for example is black. Anyhow, if you thin it according to the instructions with lacquer thinner it makes an EXCELLENT sealer and pretty much blocks anything under the base from attacking the base or the clear.

Spray the base a little bit dry. I'm used to enamel which has to be sprayed just perfectly wet (too dry = orange peel, too wet = runs) so I tend to want to spray the base wet. If you do that it sometimes will bubble or wrinkle as subsequent layers trap the escaping solvents. So a little dry, mist the first coat of clear then have at it - wet, smooth, and shiney.

Dan

If you only plan on doing it once, take everything off and sand it with a DA sander. Start with 220 and then go back with a 400. Then scuff it to make sure that you've got all of the hard to reach areas with a scotch brite pad (gray) and then run it up to Maaco for a single stage paint job which is $300.

Check out all the different Maaco's in the area as they are all franchises and make sure that you're happy with the standard of work.

For a one time job, it's not worth investing in the equipment that you'll need to paint it yourself.

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With best regards

Al

Thanks Dan Stokes. Yes, when painting boats you would use a process very similar to what you're talking about. The paint was Algrip and it was an expoxy primer with an expoxy topcoat. The primer would go on wet, with the topcoat going on first with a light dusting. If memory servers it needed 20 minutes to flash off for the subsequently next layer. You would increase the amount of paint used for each layer with the final 4th layer having the most amount of paint. As the paint dried, the shine would come to the surface and last about 10 year until needing to be re-applied.
ALABbasi - to late already own the equipment! I've got 3 240D's which all need paint plus my son's Ford 150. It should be a fun summer. My garage is part wood, engine and starting to get into metal so I like having air tools.

When I painted my car I got the paint from:
Automotivetouchup.com Touch Up Paint, Aerosol Spray Paint and Touchup Paint Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup | 888-710-5192
The color matched well and was easy to do.

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

Yea, I did the same thing...anywhere rust was peeking through, we sanded that spot down to metal and put some spray bomb primer that was supposed to neutralize rust..... Called "Rust Check" Then we found a close match color touch-up paint...masked and sprayed with the spray can and put the Rust Check clearcoat on. For spray cans it was expensive....and since it is rusting again a waste of money...did'nt work like the can said....wish I'd have saved some money and just bought some Tremclad.

That was'nt more than 2 years ago and the rust is starting to peek through those spots again. How do you get rid of rust so it won't come back aside moving where they don't put salt on the roads.

That is aot of work to paint an entire car....good job so far.

rust check type stuff in a rattle can is a waste of money on rusty metal.
to fix that, you need to clean and remove the rust, then TOTALLY seal it with Por-15 or equivalent. then primer and paint and clear the repair!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Mac I didn't have to paint the entire car as most of it was hard and good. It was my first go using 2 part painting techniques. My car is not for show but I can't stand to look at rust. I try and be as self sufficient as possible. Here is a thread of it. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/329783-what-silver-paint-do-i-want.html

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

I used the zinc primer from KBS. It is almost identical to their tank sealant. It cures in the presence of water vapor.

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.