My latest project mk2 CI Travelhome LWB

[davev6newman]

I tried emailing and got no reply either. This is his number, its Danny 07445 280359. He was quite helpful when i eventually got hold of him.

[irishtransit]

cheers for that

[davev6newman]

Ok, Up early sat mornning to flatten paint down again.





According to another thread i read on google, the paint should be a 50/50 mix, the thinner it is the better it levels, so i got nothing to loose.



Infact i well surprised at how it went on. What you do it load up your roller and roll out the excess and push down on the flat end to rid the excess, then quite quickly roll on, what i did was start at the bottom and roll up to the body swage.

The finish at this point will just be hundreds of micro bubbles, but then you go over with your roller very lightly, just the weight of the roller no more. This will start to roll out the bubbles, go over a couple of times and the paint then levels by itself and leaves a lovely shine.

The only down side of using this method is that it does not put much paint coverage on so it will need to have many coats to build up the thickness.

The next coat i will do in 6 hours, and that one just goes straight on top with no flatting.

So inbetween i rubbed down the side of the van and and gave it a coat of light grey primer.







This about the colour the topcoat will be, perhaps a shade darker.

[irishtransit]

it's hard to tell what with it being a dark colour but that seems to have hell of a shine to it.

[transitandy]

Very nice work

[davev6newman]

This time i wetflat the paint with 3M 600 grit paper, using some soap to help with the rubbing.

I mixed up a 50/50 ratio for the paint and applied, then i waited a day and laid on another coat straight on top.







As you can see you get quite a shine and a good reflection already









Now it was time to refit the skirt, i had bought a complete section from a seller on ebay, as the originals were scrap, but what i failed to notice was the corner section behind the drivers door was different from the original, and yes, i binned the original one! so i got to keep my eye out for another one.





I think next week i will start on the roof and get some paint on there first, and hopefully during the week prep up the replacement bonnet i have and get some paint on that.

[irishtransit]

that looks very nice should imagine with a bit of rubbing down that'll look spot on.must give them a ring sometime.bit of a bummer about the corner section it's called sods law.

[irishtransit]

that looks very nice should imagine with a bit of rubbing down that'll look spot on.must give them a ring sometime.bit of a bummer about the corner section it's called sods law.

[savagesam]

just read it
coming along very nice and paint job dont look to bad
i did that once and drove by a spray painter i know and he thought i just sprayed it
you can mop it up to get better shine
keep up the work

[davev6newman]

I bought some Meguiars Ultimate Compound that has been recommended on the youtube clip.
Fine sanding with 1200 grit and polish with compound. I would be too worried in going through the paint with my mop.
I think one more coat will do me now, and just had to order another litre of paint, so 3 litres to do cab in total.

[transitandy]

Great work as usual

[davev6newman]

I had an early shoot from work today, so as the sun was shining i thought i would have a go at the new bonnet.



No guessing what this came off then??

I gave it a sand with the DA with 320 grit and rubbed out all the chips





Then 2 can of UPOL primer



And very gently wet flat with 400grit



At this point i started thinking that it going to take me weeks to paint this bonnet with all the paint build up that it will need. If the rest of the cab is anything to go by.
So i thought i would cheat a bit and spray can the bonnet in Midnight Blue and then just go over with the other blue and i would prob get away with 2 coats.





That was the first coat (above)

And these are the 2nd coat





The finish is actually better than it looks, made me think i was better spay canning the whole cab!

Ill wet flat that weekend and roll a coat on, hoping for no reaction

[bov783]

Got one just like yours. Looks like you are doing a fantastic job. Wish I had your tallent. I hope when you start using her you get as much pleasure as we do !!
Well done keep up the good work !!
Regards
Phil

[davev6newman]

Thanks for that, but as for talent, if i can do it anyone can. Ive never attemped anything like this before, especially the woodwork.

[davev6newman]

Ive decided that to save time and money i will paint the body in Dulux Weathershield, i painted my shed doors in it years ago and they still look new. So whats good for the shed is good for the van.
Quartz Flint 2 is the colour and in the tin its looks a nice light grey colour, but on the van it looks much whiter, but hey i bought it now so on it goes!

i needed to paint the front of the luton first so i can still walk on the old bonnet.



At the same time i needed to give the scuttle a fresh coat of paint






Once that was done i could fit the new bonnet, i wet flated it down with 600 grit and gave it a coat of the right colour paint, i only had enough paint for 1 coat. but it has blended in very well.





Now it was time to rub down and primer the passenger side.



I also fitted the other rear lamp holder and wanted to fit the rear step that i had made up last summer.



Trouble is it didnt fit right, it has to lay on the tow bar hitch when down, to support it, and the brackets were to low. All i needed to do was weld a larger piece of angle onto the existing ones and make the hole higher up.




End result is a good fit.




Getting so near the end now i can taste it!