Rat repair.

[swamp rat]

So Wednesday was a productive day, I got the passenger floor and inner kick panel both primed and painted, no pic again, keep forgetting to take one.

Got an early start today, had a friend come over and welded a bumper on his tent trailer for him.

The other day I bought a 4" twisted wire cup and used it to strip the paint off the outside of the fender, worked great but you had to be carful and not press too hard, it definitely was not getting the metal too hot, after the cup I finished it with both 2" and 3" dotco pads to clean up the remainder of the primer and tighter areas, one small area just forward of the marker light had some bondo on it, I'm debating on just spreading my bondo over the top of it? or removing it all.

About the time I was done stripping off the paint I had to grab the welder and fill in a hole on the well area, the metal was pretty thin right there but I eventually got it filled. I then remembered i had a rusted in broke off bolt that needs removed, got it drilled to.125 but the size 2 Extractor would not budge it, I drilled it up to about .250, now I got to go buy a bigger Extractor as I never replaced it when it was broke way back when, and it was pretty hot by then so called it a day.

[Vic1947]

Looks great, Mike. If it were me, I'd probably remove the filler unless you know for sure what's under it. It could be perfectly fine, but for a patch that small, I'd grind it out, maybe dolly it a little better, then spray the area with self etch and redo the filler as needed.

I know what you're saying about too hot to work. The guy doing my paint work has slowed to a crawl. Went by there Friday to pick up a piece I wanted to work on this weekend and the place was dark. I figure everyone took off, what with the temps near 100 these last few days. Although I'll admit I prefer sweating over freezing.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Looks great, Mike. If it were me, I'd probably remove the filler unless you know for sure what's under it. It could be perfectly fine, but for a patch that small, I'd grind it out, maybe dolly it a little better, then spray the area with self etch and redo the filler as needed.

I know what you're saying about too hot to work. The guy doing my paint work has slowed to a crawl. Went by there Friday to pick up a piece I wanted to work on this weekend and the place was dark. I figure everyone took off, what with the temps near 100 these last few days. Although I'll admit I prefer sweating over freezing.

The filler is under the paint but I didn't see any holes on the back side, its pretty thin though so I'll take it out, I assume the factory may fill slight imperfections? Kinda thinking it was just a little imperfection in the stamping. Your in the school of using self etch before mud, have you had any bad experiences using mud direct to bare metal?

Yea I was so trashed yesterday that I still hurt so much today I canceled my fishing trip to the lake LOO! I gotta admit I'm not used to heat or cold anymore

[Vic1947]

Over the years I've come around to the "primer first, bondo second" mindset. Truth is, though, I've never had any issues going direct to metal as long as it's roughed up good using a DA sander with 80 grit or coarser paper. I think a layer of primer (self etch or epoxy) adds some extra insurance under plastic filler. But the best medicine is a sturdy topcoat... either a quality single stage urethane or BC/CC.

[DWilbur]

How did the rust converter work for you. I tried some on my car seats and it was kinda gummy after 2 days. I ended up media blasting them in the end. the brand I used was from Home Depot.

[swamp rat]

You probably used Ospho or something like that, the stuff I use GEM stays thin because it's a liquid instead of a product that has the consistency of maple syrup so it drys out pretty nice.

[DWilbur]

ya the stuff I used is thick.

[7dee2]

Sorry to hear the truck work was kicking your butt, it's been really hot the Rat needs you Mike..

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Sorry to hear the truck work was kicking your butt, it's been really hot the Rat needs you Mike..

Yea I know that sounded pretty pathetic didn't it. LOL! Truth is I have bad legs and feet so sometimes i push too hard.

Ground out the old bondo and pulled out the dent a little with my stud puller, hit it with a little acid etch then started applying new mud yesterday, got it roughed in. Naturally I forgot to snap a pic again. 🙄

[7dee2]

No worries! Ha, I love my big swamp cooler, been camped out in front of it all summer!

[swamp rat]

Late start after work, realized I still had to go get the EX-3 extractor, more kroil and heat, 3 times no budging it, drilled it up a bit more, repeat, nope! Drill up to 1/4", more heat and oil, nope! Brought out the chisel, center punch and a sharpened drill bit and started chipping away at it, tried to start a tap got a little ways then because the hole was off a little on the back side it dislodged it a little so I tapped it out from the back side then ran the tap through it, figure I got about 75% of the original thread remaining. That only took me 2.5 hours including the trip to the hardware store.

[swamp rat]

Just more bondo and sanding, one of them days it seems that ya just get nowhere but ya know its better than yesterday.

[rgunlock]

I suspect most of us following have "been there, done that" and had those days. Keep up the good work.

[swamp rat]

Well this is where I'm at, ran out of high build and self etching primer but I think the outside of the fender is almost done. Per the area in front and below the marker light, I seem to have added considerably more mud than what was on it, but it just seemed like it needed it.

[swamp rat]

A little advice please, I should have probably sealed the fender in primer right after I sanded the paint off the fender because I got sidetracked and progress stopped, now my finger oils have created some surface rust, what's the best way to remove it? Don't want to over sand, should I wipe it with something that will eat the surface rust like the Gem rust killer I have then a light skuff with a da?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

A little advice please, I should have probably sealed the fender in primer right after I sanded the paint off the fender because I got sidetracked and progress stopped, now my finger oils have created some surface rust, what's the best way to remove it? Don't want to over sand, should I wipe it with something that will eat the surface rust like the Gem rust killer I have then a light skuff with a da?

You can make up some prep solvent by mixing equal parts isopropyl alcohol, acetone and water. Shake well, pour a small amount in a dish, then dip a grey or maroon scuff pad into it and scrub the affected area. Wipe it with a clean cloth or paper towel to remove the residue. Let the area dry thoroughly... at least 45 minutes in warm sunshine. Self etch or epoxy primer will bite right thru any tiny amount of surface rust that remains.

GEM Rust Killer is a "converter" (phosphoric acid + iron oxide = iron phosphate) which is a great surface prep for powder coating. If you plan to epoxy primer over it, you may want to first treat it with a mildly acidic solution like vinegar and water or 20% HCl. At least that's what some epoxy manufacturers recommend. Others say just squirt the epoxy right over the iron phosphate. At a minimum, if you treat it with the GEM, I'd scrub it good with the prep solvent I described above before applying any primer. And as I mentioned, it needs plenty of time to dry thoroughly.

[DD1]

Hey Mike, looks like you are making some good progress. It's looking good.

[swamp rat]

Ok , nice break in the heatwave/forest fire smoke wave from Canada that we have been dealing with for about 3 weeks, figured I best get a little more done, sanded the front bondo coat down a little as I thought it was a bit excessive, made the 3 parts Water/Acetone/Denatured Alcohol and scrubbed off the surface rust, grabbed my DA sander and gave the exposed metal a quick skuff, then a light hand skuff on the bondo areas, gave it a good wipe down and shot 2 coats of K2 on the outside. Will let it cure for a bit before I do the inside. Yes the pic is upside down, no time to download to my computer and edit it. 😁

[7dee2]

Nice job on the fender, looks great!

[DD1]

The fender looks really good. You are making great progress.

[swamp rat]

So I do seem to approach things a little backwards sometimes, I probably should have prepped and primed the inside first, it was just a little messy! The driver fender wasn't near as bad as this one so I didn't prep or prime the inner part at all but this side needs all the primer and paint it can get. Spent today prepping, masking, touch up sanding and wiping the inside with alcohol, then Mineral spirits, then hung it up, will give it a final wipe down with wax and grease remover tomorrow before I prime it. ( and again the pic needs to be rotated, it's hanging upside down ).

[swamp rat]

Got the inside primered about an hour ago, maybe 2? Was sitting here thinking how nice it would be if I could just mix up some color and top coat it without any prep within a certain timeframe, is this a pipe dream?

This is PPG DP50lf grey primer and DP402lf catalyst.

Top coat is DCC single stage with DT reducer and DCX61 hardener, ratio 4:2:1

This is the pdf for the top coat. http://www.myrv10.com/N104CD/paint/p-168.pdf

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Got the inside primered about an hour ago, maybe 2? Was sitting here thinking how nice it would be if I could just mix up some color and top coat it without any prep within a certain timeframe, is this a pipe dream?

This is PPG DP50lf grey primer and DP402lf catalyst.

Top coat is DCC single stage with DT reducer and DCX61 hardener, ratio 4:2:1

This is the pdf for the top coat. http://www.myrv10.com/N104CD/paint/p-168.pdf

For DP50 I believe the posted recoat window is around 7 days. To make sure, you can put a small amount of urethane reducer on a rag and gently dab a tiny, out of the way spot on the fender and see if any of the DP primer transfers to the rag. If it does, you're good to go. However, if the primer is fully catalyzed and does not show on the rag, you need to scuff the surface before applying anything else.

That said, my "opinion" is that you should always final block any primer before applying a color topcoat. I no longer have access to a clean environment for painting, so a few dust nibs almost always find their way into my work. Also, you have to be a top notch painter to lay down heavy primers without some orange peel to the surface. I find it best to final sand the surface with 500-600 grit paper before applying the color coat... whether single stage or BC/CC. Just my $.02 worth.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

For DP50 I believe the posted recoat window is around 7 days. To make sure, you can put a small amount of urethane reducer on a rag and gently dab a tiny, out of the way spot on the fender and see if any of the DP primer transfers to the rag. If it does, you're good to go. However, if the primer is fully catalyzed and does not show on the rag, you need to scuff the surface before applying anything else.

That said, my "opinion" is that you should always final block any primer before applying a color topcoat. I no longer have access to a clean environment for painting, so a few dust nibs almost always find their way into my work. Also, you have to be a top notch painter to lay down heavy primers without some orange peel to the surface. I find it best to final sand the surface with 500-600 grit paper before applying the color coat... whether single stage or BC/CC. Just my $.02 worth.

Thank you for that, so basically if the primer is not fully cured you could spray a topcoat on it correct? I agree with you on the final blocking for visible surfaces though to keep the orange peel to a minimum. Not to mention if I missed as an area like I did it would be another fine mess. 😊 I will say though that im surprised at how hard this primer is in sanding after 24 hours , I am following a the directions of the paint store as to how to read the graduations on the mixing cup to achieve the ratio.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Thank you for that, so basically if the primer is not fully cured you could spray a topcoat on it correct? I agree with you on the final blocking for visible surfaces though to keep the orange peel to a minimum. Not to mention if I missed as an area like I did it would be another fine mess. 😊 I will say though that im surprised at how hard this primer is in sanding after 24 hours , I am following a the directions of the paint store as to how to read the graduations on the mixing cup to achieve the ratio.

Yes, if the epoxy hasn't catalyzed completely, you can spray whatever you want on top of it. If it's outside the recoat window, you'll need to scuff it before squirting anything else over it. I've noticed epoxies from different vendors can be easy or tough to sand. Haven't shot any DP for a long time and don't recall how it compares to others, but they can be sturdier than the 2K primers. You can't go wrong mixing according to the manufacturers directions. Pictures look great! Wish I'd had time to come down to Tacoma and visit while we were in Seabeck, but it was a very short stay. Keep up the good work.