and again, from Essex

[edsaz]

Hi all
I am the dad of "another from Essex" Hayley small. I thought i had better join to keep an eye on her and also join in with the banter hopefully gaining some tips and help with finding parts. Hayleys' car will be the first time that i am going to be painting a car so any help from budding sprayers would be good. I have managed to get her car running which as it was sold as a non runner with a bit of an uncertain explanation of the issue, i was expecting an engine strip down. All i had to do was clean the plugs!!!
Hayley gets her love of old cars from me, i am currently almost finished with mechanically correcting a 1963 F**d Galaxie 500 which i bought as a "finished car", it was just finished in a hurry so has since need an engine rebuild, brake rebuild, and new suspension all round, it's a good job i enjoy doing it!!

[GAV]

Hi Galaxies 500 , I had a 64 TBird actually made in 63, same floor pan etc, but stuffed the original 390, and bought a 352 cu ins at the Damn Yankees show circa 1992, from a guy who had fitted a 454 to his 58 Ranchero. Delivered £150 .
Could have got away with just some rings, and despite having just been made redundant from Tesco at 40, made a bit of hay whilst the sun shone going to shows and stuff with other Yank Tank enthusiasts then started on what was probably the longest rebuild in Christendom.
I hung onto that car through long term unemployment getting back into work then after 18 months got laid off again then a first coronary, and seemed to be constantly working on it even through initial recouperation.
Finally I sold up and the cars went, for peanuts. Got a lot of stick for that from those who may have expected me to be buried with the darn things.
Acter moving got back into boats , and bikes

Howeversince being back in the Classics scene find I got/get, at least as much attention whilst out and about in the Viva and at shows , without some of the negativity one experiences from the gas guzzling antis.At least I haven't had to move it 3 times apropo of storing a near 18 foot car.

Good luck with the Viva, which if a 90 should have a red painted block and top end, but of course after so many years...

[1972nail]

Hi Edsaz, it's great to see young ladies taking an interest in Vivas, they usually like Beetles or Minors and it's great to see dads encouraging them too.

Advice on painting -

1, Get a good compressor, 2hp with 50l tank is the minimum for any full panel work but it'll struggle with anything more than a wing or a door. I've a 3hp belt drive with 100l tank and it is about the minimum you need for anything bigger than a single panel, eg a stripped shell comprising rear wings, rear panel, roof etc. It will still struggle if you are going to paint a full car in one go.

2 Buy a good spray gun. I bought a Sealey HVLP gravity feed gun with 1.4 tip (about £45) and find it adequate for most solid paint work. I bought a second hand DeVilbiss gun for painting my car in pearl base coat and clear and found it better but my skills couldn't get the ultimate finish from it. So really the Sealey gun, in my ametuer hands would have produced an acceptable job without the extra expense. Also add a cheap (£20 or less) mini touch up gun to your armoury, great for those tiny spaces or just bits you've missed or chipped. Always leave plenty of time to strip and clean your guns properly after you use them.

3 Preparation, when you think it's good enough, generally it's not! Take your time, use a guide coat when rubbing down, don't be scared to add more primer and rub down again.

4 Allow lots of time for primers, especially high build primers, to dry out thoroughly before top coating, they will always shrink and sink in if you don't. They quite often sink even when you have allowed what you think is sufficient time!

5 Most of all have fun!

[hbpeter]

Welcome. Ask any questions you may have, someone will know the answer eventually. Hope you both enjoy the car. Even though its a 90 version, dont expect to rewrite any performance records! At least it has the better brakes.

Peter

[edsaz]

Thanks for the good advice, i have bought a 2HP compressor which came with a gun but i suspect it's probably not very good, will give it a try with some primer and see how it goes.
Hayley announced she wanted a classic as her first car a long time ago and is more into muscle cars than anything else, the curvy lines of a beetle or minor don't really appeal. I think the boxy front shape and straight grill appealed, it looks a little tougher, and she already has ideas of superlight wheels or lotus europa replica wheels also known as dunlop D1 i think??
I have had a very short drive of the car and it needs new fuel as what is in the tank is probably at least 2 years old, it struggled just to get going so new fuel will be a vast improvement.
The main part of the car that worries me is the trims that cover the panel joins around the back end as one of these is a bit past saving, are these available??

[1972nail]

The gun that comes with the kit of bits accompanying compressors isn't even good enough for primer! Buy a HVLP gun and if you can afford it, a cheap one for primer and a better one for gloss. Having a primer only gun means that you don't have to be so particular about cleaning it.

Supalights are sooooo common these days, I think the Lotus 'Exactons' or Dunlop D1's are the way to go

[hbpeter]

The trim over the joins isnt available generally. The club did get some fibreglass ones made many moons ago. Its either make your own, repair what you have or be very nice to people on here and see if anyone has some! HA on D1's.http://www.vauxhallclassics.co.uk/tag/marvin/

Peter