70 louver Painting and touch up.

[Bill L.]

I had my 70 painted and it looks okay but now the guy has moved from Maryland to Florida. I have plenty of the BC CC paint that he gave me in case of touch ups.

The louvers have both peeled and I suspect he did not use an etching primer. If I strip both sets of louvers can I use a Preval spray set up to repaint if I use the SEM self etching primer? If so, any tips?

Second, what advise can be offered regarding color sanding, buffing, and minor touch ups? There also appears to be what I hope in minor shrinkage that I hope will buff out.

The guy has painted corvettes for years and came highly recommended by an NCRS member. He relocated to Florida but before that he was going to take care of what might need to be done as the touch ups to the paint job.

Thanks! Bill

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

Well I found a solution and thought I might share it although I am sure I am not the first to do it.

I am taking the paint left over and bringing it to a local automotive paint store. They will put both the base and clear coat in aerosol cans for me.


Now if only I can color sand out the shrinkage


Bill

[John M.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

How about removing the louvers and giving them to a paint shop to strip and paint properly?

Those Louvers are not easy to paint with all of the different surface angles without running or leaving dry overspray.

It wont hurt to give it a try, but depending on how much extra paint you have, it may be something to consider before using it up.

Hard enough to control the paint from an aerosol can without all of those compound angles in the Egg Crate. Plus, the Mil thickness from a spray can will be pretty thin and susceptable to rock chips if you can pull it off.

Not sure how difficult your paint is to match, but I'd think long and hard before putting what's left in a spray Bomb.

If you absolutely have to try it, pour it in a Prevail spray applicator so you can pour what's left back in the can if it dosen't work how you planned.

Just a thought.

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

John,

That is great advice regarding the louvers and that was going to be my first plan. However, I have to repaint drip rail where the paint is lifting because the body man did a last second repair that was not allowed to cure properly. By his own admission. There is also an area right below the one bumper corner on the driver's side I would like to touch up.

I have had good luck with the Preval units for small touch ups before on my other cars. Maybe I will try the SEM self etching paint and top coat with the Preval. I bet around here they will charge $300-$500 just to paint the louvers. Very frustrating to have to re do anything on a virtually brand new paint job.

I am trying to avoid taking it back in to a shop because of all the over-spray. It would wreak havoc with all the detailing I have put in to her. Obviously the louvers can be removed and painted separately.

The color is Classic White and I am finding that it is tougher to match than some might think. If I could get a perfect match I would paint the louvers with lacquer and then clear. Much easier to use and detail the louvers versus bc/cc.


Bill

[Chuck S.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

...The louvers have both peeled and I suspect he did not use an etching primer. If I strip both sets of louvers can I use a Preval spray set up to repaint if I use the SEM self etching primer? If so, any tips?
...

The quick answer is this is no job for aerosol cans. You can probably make it look good for a time, but it probably won't last. If you don't have the equipment and painting experience to do it right, I would take it to a pro after being armed with knowledge.

You didn't say if the repaint of the louvers is peeling to the chrome, or if they are peeling to a primer or original color coat. The reason I mention this is that the louvers were originally primed with a black primer from hell. This primer is NOT the standard GM black primer used to paint chassis components...to get down to the original unbuffed chrome in the louver areas, your painter would have had to strip this primer, and it is VIRTUALLY unstrippable with any product. I highly doubt they were stripped to bare chrome. If the original black primer is still on the louvers, I would leave it intact and paint directly onto that primer after scuffing and cleaning. If there is any original lacquer under your peeling BC/CC, I would probably strip or sand that off.

If your painter DID manage to strip this primer, I would recommend you start with two wet coats of PPG DP epoxy primer on the rough cast surface, allowing ten minutes "flash time" between coats. It was impossible to buff the louvers during the plating process, and this area was left intentionally with rough cast surface for paint adhesion; or...that area was painted specifically because it could not be cost effectively buffed. If you are lucky enough that PPG products were used, you can top coat the DP within a week without further prep; apply your BC, then clear, and you're done. If you're not lucky, then you'll have to select a compatible epoxy primer instead of DP, and you'll probably have to sand prep and clean that primer before top coating.

If the original primer remains and is well adhered (it will be!), simply mask off the unpainted chrome, sand off the peeling paint and scuff the original finish for DP or compatible primer of choice according to product sheet instructions.

Etching primer is exactly the wrong thing to use. My hearsay experience is that etching primer sticks to bare metal substrate fantastic, but the bad news is that you can't get paint to stick to the primer...at least that's what my old bud claimed, but he was a gifted bean-counter trying to teach himself to be a painter.

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

HI Chuck,

I actually stripped the louvers before the vette went to the paint shop. There was no original primer left on them and they were peeling when I got them. I have stripped the one side and it appears that the shop did not use any primer and just shot the base over the chrome. He said he used some kind of clear etching primer but it sure did not look like it.

The reason I mentioned the SEM self etching primer is it worked beautifully on the chrome gauge bezels so I though maybe it could work on the louvers too.

I am trying to save a little money or I would take them to Tony's corvette and I am sure they would be done extremely well.

Am i being penny wise and dollar foolish here?


Bill

[Alan S.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

Hi Bill,
I noticed your mention of thinking about lacquer.
That's what's on my 71 louvers which haven't had any problems with peeling or lifting. I think this may have something to do with the lacquer having a thinner build-up and thus not wanting to bridge all the many angles and corners of the grills as some other paint systems. Matching the color may not be too much of an issue since the louver is a seperate piece, is down low, and at a vertical angle
I also feel that painting the entire grill without tape and then very soon after 'slicing' the paint off the chrome reveal areas with a X-acto blade helps the lifting problem, too. I first tried using tape but found when I removed the tape there was an open edge to the paint that wanted to lift in some places.
I realize all this is moot if you don't use lacquer but you might want to consider it.
Regards,
Alan

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

Hi Alan,

Well I have a little Classic White lacquer that I was playing around with which hatched the idea of using it on the louvers.

Did you clear coat your louvers too?

Maybe it is worth painting the one side with lacquer to see how it looks and or matches. It seemed to be a very close match when experimenting. Not perfect but very close.

Did you use any self etching painting before applying the lacquer? Did you polish them out a little since the BC CC is so much shinier?


Thanks,



Bill

[Chuck S.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

...I actually stripped the louvers before the vette went to the paint shop. There was no original primer left on them and they were peeling when I got them. I have stripped the one side and it appears that the shop did not use any primer and just shot the base over the chrome. He said he used some kind of clear etching primer but it sure did not look like it.

The reason I mentioned the SEM self etching primer is it worked beautifully on the chrome gauge bezels so I though maybe it could work on the louvers too.

I am trying to save a little money or I would take them to Tony's corvette and I am sure they would be done extremely well.

Am i being penny wise and dollar foolish here?...

Congrats on stripping the original primer...it took me forever using a combination of numerous stripper applications and wire brushes.

Hmmm...A CLEAR etching primer?!...Yeah, sure.

If you have the side grilles stripped, the method I outlined before is the long term solution. Epoxy primer will stick to the rough chrome if lacquer thinner (Not Prep-sol) is used to clean the surface of all grease and oils before application.

I have no experience with SEM self-etching primer; if it worked for you before, it should work for you again. The only caution I would offer is to keep in mind there is a big difference in the endurance expected of exterior parts exposed to UV, the elements, and constant exterior maintenance than for interior instrument bezels.

"Am i being penny wise and dollar foolish here?...I think only you can answer that question. It depends on how much it would cost to have it done professionally, the level of quality required for the activity in which the car is used, and your personal standards. If you're very skilled and can get good results by anyone's standard, save the money. If you can be objective and know your efforts are falling short of your personal goals, have it done professionally.

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

Hi Chuck,

My thoughts on clear etching primer exactly.

I am going to see how much it will cost to have them redone professionally.

Depending on the cost, I may give it a shot myself.

I have already stripped them twice, what is one more time


Bill

[Alan S.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

Hi Bill,
I didn't use the etching primer, but did use the black epoxy that was used on the rest of the car.
The fellow who sprayed my car and guided me in it's prep really harped on not getting too thick a finish on the car. It's REALLY easy to get too much on the small parts.
The grill was painted the first time and I used a blade to slice the paint off the chromed areas. It was good but not good enough, so I sanded the grill with 400 and put a light coat on with a Pre-val sprayer and sliced again. Still not good enough, but I was learning! I sanded once again and sprayed another coat on the edges of the gill and just dusted the flat areas and sliced. This time I was satisfied
There isn't any clear on the grills or on the car itself.
This method worked for me and my situation but I realize there are other ways to success.
Regards,
Alan
This picture shows the grills at the painter's, I think you can see, especially on the other parts that there's not much paint on them.

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 louver Painting and touch up.

Thanks Alan,

I decided to go with BC CC but had some classic white lacquer mixed up to see what I thought. After much back and forth I opted for for the BC CC.

I have been playing around on various small parts using lacquer and found that if a am careful with a brand new blade it works really well when stripping the edges too. I have also found that it works best when I do it just as the paint is dry. This is how I did all those chrome edges on the interior parts.

Bill