Defender Respray

[alans90]

I have rebuilt my Defender 90 (1990) and it is now in need of a total respray to make all of the panels match!

Does anyone know the best place to purchase paint, primer, etc and hopefully to get advice on what I need to do to make a reasonable job of it, so that the finished job looks presentable.

It would be a shame after all of the effort to rebuild the thing if it is let down by the final result.

Also, does anyone know someone in the Midlands that could do the job for me at a reasonable cost.

Thanks

Alan

[paintman]

Whilst I can't help with suggestions for a professional respray, I agree entirely that you would be best getting it done profesionally.

Many people try to DIY it but unless you have previous experience it tends to end in tears and frustration.

You might do better putting your location in your profile.

[landyash]

Hi Alan, all depends what colour it is? none metallic paints are a lot easier to paint,you can also wet flat and polish any imperfections out, like runs flies etc.

If you are going to try and paint it yourself,I would suggest transport paint [synthetic type ]

but apply quite a few coats.

To do it yourself I would say it will cost around £150 ish in materials.

There are a few paint shops in Nottingham,I could get there numbers for you if you want??

Good look Ash

[JSG]

You're brave to have a go yourself - I don't know that I would. I have a link somewhere to a website full of tips which I'll dig out when I get home (its on the home PC).

My only advise is prepare, prepare, prepare before painting. Unless you are really confident pay someone to do it - maybe keeping the cost down by doing the prep yourself.

I limit myself to brush painting NATO on ALF - marks add to the character.

[q-rover]

The first 110 I had had terrible paintwork, so me and my wife decided to give it a go.

The result was actually very good if I do say so myself.

However I won't attempt it again in a hurry, but as you are rebuilding

your vehicle (we weren't and it was our only car) you may be OK.

It took us about 6 days from driving it in ( a borrwed workshop with professional equipment)

to driving it out again.

The most important part of respraying is PREPARATION.

If your PREPARATION is carp your end result will be carp.

The better the PREPARATION the better the result will be.

So spend time on the PREPARATION as the actual spraying only takes a few hours.

Did I mention PREPARATION?

[paintman]

Preparation is indeed the key to a quality paint job. Any imperfections will show in the finished job.

As will any dust, insects etc that lands on the paint as you are applying it.

Solid colours are easier to work with as they do not need a lacquer over the top. Metallics & pearls do need a lacquer over the colour coats (which are matt BTW) and gun technique can affect the appearance of the base coats significantly. mPoor technique can result in the colour having light & dark patches or even more stripes than a zebra

The refinishing trade are going through a period of major upheaval at the moment due to converting to water based paints under the EC Directive. Solvent based paints - this includes cellulose- will not be available from Jan 1st 2008, so any DIY painter is going to have to adapt to the techniques required by compliant paints

As I specialise in SMART repair I will be using waterbased colour coats overpainted with clear lacquer for both metallics and solids as this suits the type of repairs I do.

[Guest WALFY]

When I had my truck painted a couple of months ago I used transport paint. About 12 quid/L. Not overly expensive and a fairly good finish. As it's a challenge truck I wasn't to fussed with the finish, to that end from start of rub down to paint being thrown at and left to dry was about 4hrs. Not the best prep in the world but transport paint hides a lot of blemishes. It was rubbed down with a DA with rough then not so rough paper.

You can see pics of it in the Members Vehicle forum.

[Les Henson]

I have sprayed catflap myself, but in bits. I built a big plastic tent in the back garden to do the roof and rear tub, then the smaller stuff in my shed. Mine is metallic which is considerably more difficult as you can't flatten out runs etc as it makes the paint grey, so another layer of paint is needed to cover it up. As G-Rover syas - preperation is everything (well almost). Air temperature - dependent on the paint you are using, dust in the air, the amount of thinners, and spray pattern/pressure all make a difference to the finish. I used MG lemon yellow for the roof, and the rest of the body is Ford T4 Azure blue in cellulose.

Les