Painting the S1 - do I need to strip the paint offf

[Frank]

Gidday,

Well its been some time that I have been working on my S1 and lots of stuff (and lack of funds)has got in the way. I have now almost completed the engine and chassis and I am looking at the body and paint work.

The car is black and I was intrigued to find out what colour it was originally so i found the plate and got the number which is L15 and it is the original colour. I didnt know they did a black S1 but I am pleased as I thought it would be gold or yellow and Im not a Yellow person.

Now the key question, I have read that to repaint the car you need to strip all of the paint off or it will end up cracking as the paint wont be able to breathe. Is this true? will I need to strip it down or can I sand and prime and paint? What did everyone else do and did it work? I was going to paint it in Cellulose - because I can.

Help on this questions would be appreciated as Im sort or wondering (scared) how many weekends it will take to sand the paint off of this baby.

cheers guys

[andydclements]

My personal preference would be two pack rather than cellulose but then again I'm planning to paint my Excel's bumpers and spats in cellulose (as you stated, because I can).

Re stripping back, my feelings are: if it's the original paint, leave it in tact as it's obviously keyed well (if it's not lifted, cracked away after 30 years), so flat it back to a good sound level/ smooth finish then paint on that. The paint isn't a living organism so the berating must be the release of vapour that was the solvent (so cellulose thinner in this case), if it's unable to "breathe" on paint how would it "breathe" on the body, or come to that on the body of a metal car?

[Chris Southam]

Hi Frank,

I've been prepping my S2 for a respray myself and I've gone with 2k. As for prep, well it's been resprayed twice before (gold, blue then yellow) and in places I've gone back to the original primer.

In other places where the paint is perfect it's just a case of keying the surface. Personally preference is either scotchpad or 400grit and then a coat of adhesion promotor.

In some places (I'm going to test) I don't even think it needs priming.

As to 'breathing', not heard that before as such, certainly not the case with the previous resprays not done by me.

I have heard of using an inhibitor to stop the original paintwork bubbling - it's possibly what you mean.

Good luck, I'm in the area would love to see it one day!

[Nelly]

Would echo what Chris said, when my car was resprayed two years ago it was flattened back to its colour at the time (yellow), but the guys did go further back where they needed to so you could see the original colour (silver).

[simonb]

Dont think you need to strip off all paint - particularly on a GRP car where you are not fighting rot. However by the time it is flattened there wont be much topcoat left anyway.

Once you have spoken with a couple of specialists who paint GRP, it should all seem quite clear

[CHANGES]

Hi Frank,

All good advice, the secret to any paint job is preparation, applying the paint is the easy bit,

I suggest you first clean the car and then wipe each panel rigorously with a panel wipe (body degreaser) while doing this very very carefully study the paint finish and look for gel cracks, You will find some in the various stress points that are always there or where it may have been fighting with the surroundings, when you find these mark them with a bit of tape to refer to later.

Once you have done this you will be able to better asses the sort of paint prep required.

All of the gel cracks will need to be properly eradicated or they will come through your new paint.

If you are using celly. then be aware it is very searching and will cause a reaction like paint stripper on poor prepared surfaces.

Celly does not have great adhesive qualities with old 2k and will chip very easy.

A coat of etch primer will help but also requires a primer coat over that so a full prime is advised.

Unfortunately there is a bit more to it than key and paint.

It may be best to find a local body man who can advise on your particular project how to go about it...

Bedford is a bit far for me.

good luck and hope it all goes well....

Edited May 24, 2012 by CHANGES

[Paul Coleman]

There were nearly 50 black S1 UK cars. So quite a popular colour.

Paul.

[mikeh]

I like to strip off the old lacquer (cellulose) because it is not catalized like a 2k (basecoat/clearcoat or Uethane single stage). Under the sun on a hot summer day the lacquer can swell and then later shrink as the surface temp. cools. This can cause problems with new paint on top of it. Plus laquer checks and cracks like crazy. If you just primer over them you'll evenyually get the cracking through your new paint. Also, it is a good idea to grind out the gelcoat cracks all the way to the fiberglass strands and then use body filler to build the groove back to level. Using a generous amount of acetone on a rag and wiping over a panel will reveal any gelcoat cracks becuase the acetone takes longer to evaporate out of the cracks than over the surface of the panel. This definitely takes longer, but it will make your paint job last longer. Weigh out whether its worth the extra time/money...

I don't use lacquer, it is not that readily available over here. Urethane base/clear is durable and has a high gloss.

[MarkBa]

I resprayed my colour-coded bumpers to black 18 months ago - I used 1200 grade to key the laquer (mines silver)

then used plastic primer folllowed by the satin black. Before I did the front I read that you only need to use primer on bare plastic/

fibreglass, a key to the finish is only required.

All this time on there isn't a mark on them or a reaction. I went round a bend the other day to be confronted by an unmade up road full of shingle and gravel that the workmen had chucked on and left- there were stone chips all on my wings, light pods, bonnet etc, but none on my bumpers! Maybe because cellulose is softer?

Also, I notice that in the Esprit build manual they use cellulose, it's used in the classic car world as a more original looking finish.

Regards, Mark

[Frank]

Thanks guys for the information and advice. It has reassured me about the paint as I was a bit concerned.....I used to be a panel beater but with this thing it takes more than a hammer to get the body straight

There is the forecast of fine weather this weekend so with the information I will be looking forward to taking out the star cracks and preparing the body. With all of these lazy long weekends I am hoping to get the chassis and engine (which is nearly complete) back in the body this summer!

Paul Im surprised about the number of black S1s cause I didnt even think mine was original and dont think Ive seen another one.

Again cheers guys.

Frank

[Chris Southam]

Good luck Frank, I've spent the last four weekends prepping the car ahead of this weekend's respray.

So thankful for the good weather too, don't spray in the damp...

[Chris Southam]

Having said that I've now opted to get it done professionally. Although I've done a lot of prep, the original primer seems to have rubberised in places and starting to bubble. Need a specialist to take a look I think.

Sad that it's beaten me but would rather get it done properly.