deano
 
Usually I just warm up any spray cans in some hot water for 5 minutes. The paint always cures more like a powder coated job, and the increased pressure and thinner paint ensures the nozzle doesnt club or splatter either.
 

That's a great idea, I'm going to give that a shot next time I rip out a rattle can!

Good work on the handles, what's the grit used in the blaster? I used garnet for ever then was told to go black iron grains and it's rubbish. I'm converting mine to vapour blast and will use glass beads next time mixed with garnet. Less pressure, less mix and a great finish most of the time

It looks like a 3060, the bloke couldn't remember. I tried it on a scrap aluminum part and it's too aggressive for it so I'll swap it out for glass bead at some point and it will be less dusty too.

Yep 30/60 is fine for metal, maybe reduce pressure for ally , glass bead will be best of both worlds.

The door handles came out great.
 
A sand blaster would be pretty cool to have.
I thought I was doing ok getting my first air compressor a few years ago, then wondered how I lived without it for so long.

I did the two outer handles recently on the current build. As usual I researched ways of removing chrome.
And as usual nothing really worked, and if it did it took a lot of the die cast as well!!!
Nothing beats manual removal.
And no Marty I'm not about to buy another tool to trip over!
 
Not sure if I had mentioned it before, but last year when I was restoring the boat and trailer I got in ouch with one of the tech guys at 3M. Ended up using the blue 2" and 3" discs on the air tool. Some of those spongy balls and cones from Supercheap. And the good old Autosol
This is the before and after.

Why am I being victimised again lol..
If the chrome isn't flaking off and still good, a decent sanding or blaster will give it enough tooth to hold the paint for many years. Going back 25 odd yrs I sanded back my chrome handles to satan black then, must've worked as it's still stuck on like the day I did it.
There is some chemicals that will remove chrome, prolly the same chemicals which alin Musk uses to power the rockets!!

Yeah chrome is a prick to remove, I got some glass beads and the handles are profiled enough and there is no surface cracks or damage so I'm confident the paint will stick just fine.
 
Those wheels came up absolutely mint too! Nothing like some time, elbow grease and care to bring life back to older parts.

Here are the handles after the bead blast and ready for paint.


 
And here are some photos with the R/H/R quarter offered up to the car! I'm really happy that we got the new panel, it looks right at home and is a great fit. I mentioned about the roof too Marty and he's going to smooth it out a little.



As prior stated we were worried about the rear panel being full of bog too, there is a little bit but not enough to cause major issues so they're going to just massage the panel that is on there to get it right. It's a little raised on the right hand side vs the left but they're confident it will be fine. If not the other red panel is sitting there and they can cannibalize it for parts.



As it turns out I actually met the owner of the rally pack that is sat next to mine in the shop! I was on the lookout for a new steering column shroud, mine was a bit distorted and he was actually selling a decent one for $40 - bargain! We got to talking and figured out that both our cars were in the same shop . He has had work done there before and couldn't speak highly enough of the finished work, he showed me photos of the cars he's had done there and it made me even more excited to get the car back when it's all done!

That's good they've acknowledged the roof corner 👍. Side panel looks to fit spot on tho it's a shame it doesn't reach the top tho. Back panel should be an easy massage job for the boys to sort. I'm doing a Rally Pack in between my mk1 and other stuff, the rear panel was smacked in the taillight area quite convincingly which bulged the arch a little, a few decent wallops with the 6lber and a tickle with the flapper file it's come up fine

Well Deano that rattle can trick is legit. Here is one of the little headlight brackets I decided to have a go on.

I put the satin black in warm 50c water for 10 minutes before spraying and back in the water for 5 minutes between each coat and honestly I've never seen a better finish out of a spray pack. I was considering getting everything powder coated but after this result I think I'll do most of the small stuff like this.