Cellulose paintwork,spraying ,touching up and repairing.

Dealing with micro blisters,deep scratches,cracks and damage on paintwork without a garage or spray shop..

 

Micro blisters on a panel painted in cellulose..

This panel had been resprayed some years before,after a cold damp winter these micro blisters appeared.

Although quite hard to see in some lights,this Rover p5b boot is covered in micro blisters..These are caused by water under one of the cellulose top coats,either from water droplets from the compressor and its airline or damp from the atmosphere being trapped under the paint. The blisters could be cracked with a thumb nail and didn't contain water but this had probably dried out during the summer. With no garage,repairs on this rolling restoration had to be done outside.

Using a fine paper (600) then 1200 used wet the paint was taken down untill these blisters had been removed.

The microblisters are now small dots of undercoat or primer.

None were down to the bare metal,which suggests that the water deposits were under the top colour coats.

Some of the blisters were larger and deeper than others and an old filler repair under the boot handle stood slightly proud so sanding removed the top coats and primer.This small area was primed with cellulose primer.

The badges and numberplate had already been taken off.

The boot was masked off and degreased ready for spaying.

The bottom half of the boot was sprayed with three coats of cellulose mixed with 50% thinners.The cellulose (Rover Burnt Grey) was bought mail order and was a pretty close match.Each coat was lightly flatted with 1200 grit paper and soap. The final two coats were mixed even thinner and misted where old and new paint meet to try and disguise the join.

With no garage the painting was done outside on a still day .

After a couple of days the paint was sanded with a finer paper and finished with a rubbing compound.

The paint will be left for a while before final polishing. Although on close inspection one or two of the blisters are still visible the finished boot looks much more presentable and will do untill the whole vehicle is painted at a later date.

 

These cracks in the drivers door painted with cellulose had stayed the same size for some years.Probably caused by shrinking of the top coats,which were probably too thickly applied or put on before the paint underneath had dried,the cracks didn't extend into the primer underneath.When the car was polished the polish in them dried white.

The cracks were cleaned out with a fine bladed knife and then the door panel was washed and degreased.

A thick white cellulose undercoat was painted in the cracks with a fine artists brush.

When hardened the undercoat was rubbed down with 1220 grit paper used with soapy water.

The cracks were then touched in with thinned cellulose top coat and a fine atrists type brush.

The cracks are now difficult to see although the paint wasn't a perfect match.After compounding and polishing the result is good enough to leave untill the door can be completely resprayed.

The car had to wait a few years until I moved to a house with a garage before it was taken down to the primer/bare metal and resprayed.

My P5b rover.