Healey folk,
Ok, now I'm starting to panic. Even though my restoration is now 12 years old
I don't have more than 3000 miles on the car. Yeah, I know. That's all
changing now. As some of the older members of the list might remember, the
second time I took the car for a ride after it was "done" (yeah, right)
someone keyed the paint from the passenger side rear wheel well, across the
door and up to the front wheel well. There are a couple of places where they
were particularly aggressive and it goes all the way down to the primer. For
the coup de grace they punched two holes on top of the front clip that go to
the etching primer.
Ok that's the injury that wants repairing, it hurt to say it. The problem is
that the paint is laquer in Porsche Guards Red. And my paint shop tells me
that there is no way I can get laquer anymore either here or in Canada. NOS
standards, thank you EPA.
Here's what the paint job is now. old paint stripped and sanded to shiny
metal. yellow etching primer, three light coats. sanded. Two coats of red
primer, sanded. Multiple coats of US Grey Primer (a thick primer) all coats
mostly sanded off except the last two, looking for color changes to see high
and low points as you go down to different colors of primer. Some body putty
used, but mostly sanded off. Ten coats of lacquer all hand sanded by your
author but shot by a professional. Final finish work done with 1400 wet/dry
and using touch as vision can no longer give you useful information at that
point. Buffed and polished as usual. End result, totally flat anywhere
there's a flat surface, mirror finish, very deep. No clear coat. You don't
gild a lily. Or at least I don't.
The advantages of lacquer are many, along with some need for good protection.
I could get on my soap box about the regulations, but that's for another day.
It's great advantage is that since it is essentially a resin it never "drys".
A scratch can be dealt with. With relative ease. Clean the wax out
thoroughly, use a teeny tiny single bristle paint brush, build up layers
slowly and they will melt together. then finish as usual.
Unfortunately I can't do any of that if I can't get the paint. I thought of
trying to find a close color in fingernail polish as that size container is
all I'd really need, but they tell me that's no longer lacquer either.
Anything else will just separate sooner or later, I think, and I don't need
the scratch coming back as a burbling line across my car. I've even had one
guy tell me that what I needed to do was sand the entire side down and shoot
it all over again. This make me want to gag. I can't even think about
repainting the entire car. It's time for me to get serious about fixing this.
Is there anything the group can suggest about trying to get some kind of
legacy paint or something other strategy?
Thanks guys and gals.
Bill Moyer, BJ7 Chimera waiting patiently for me to get my act together
|