Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[baconsdozen]

I need to touch up a few small areas on my car,it's been resprayed a long time ago and is cellulose. I know that a long time ago it was possible to buy brushing cellulose but this is no longer available.
I seem to remember reading that a very small amount of turps can be added to cellulose to slow down the drying time but I wonder if my memory has let me down. Has anyone else heard of this or some similar idea?.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[colwyn500]

Obviously you're on the right track because you need a much slower thinner. It would be worth experimenting with a bit of primer and different solvents. I have heard of "brushing thinners". Recently when I was spraying my car I accidentally poured a little bit of degreasing fluid into my mixing pot. Although this must contain alcohols and other solvents and smells very "strong" it had no more effect than water in dissolving cellulose so I guess that there is a limited range of solvents you can use A good start would be the cheapest, nastiest thinners you can get I would guess and work really quickly tidying the paint when dry.

[Jim.Walker]

Surely the firms which are approved for selling cellulose paint to genuine classic vehicle owners and restorers will sell brushing thinners? As well as spraying thinners.
After all the neat paint is the same - only the thinners differs.
Jim.
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Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!

[aps]

for small repairs in paintwork i tend to use a airbrush ,with a bit of practice you can have a a faultless repair ,and use standard thinners .wayne aps

[ukdave2002]

[baconsdozen]

Thanks for that,I have to get some more paint and I'll ask about the slow acting thinners.
I have been able to touch in a small area by using a very soft brush dipped in standard thinners then the paint and used very quickly,resisting any temptation to brush out any brush marks. The resultant finish just needed a quick rub with Brasso and came up very well indeed.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[Bayliss Thomas]

These people have some fantastic paints, used some for my vintage car and caravan with good results. Loads of information about using the different paints as well.

www.craftmasterpaints.co.uk

[Old Wrench]

It is called "Retarder Thinners".

Cellulose Thinners used to come in a variety of flavours: Normal, Fast, Gun Wash, Retarder, and "Mist Coat", which was intended only for metallic finishes which demanded a special aircap on the spraygun and were applied very thin (as a mist), repeatedly, in order to build the paint coat and then the coats were partially reactivated by the "P" coats of paint thinly mixed with burnishing lacquer and finally pure lacquer.

Applied too wet, then the paint would "Gather", the metallic flecks float to the surface and the finish would "Zebra Stripe".

My bodyshop (And I, really) specialised in very high quality metallic finish for high value cars. However that was now (A pretty frightening thought!) knocking on for 50 years ago: when I wert a lad!



In ambient high humidity, cellulose paint would "Bloom": in other words water vapour would become trapped underneath the drying paint surface. Rather like a water ring mark on a french polished furniture surface.

Unfortunately, since cellulose paint systems are now considered an environmental and ecological disaster and are difficult to obtain.

Some guidance here:

http://www.kayalarkimya.com.tr/en/Profesyonel.aspx?CatID=59&MenuID=8


I am in process of (trying: time pressures and absence abroad hinder me here!) to write an exhaustive item about re-finishing older cars in cellulose.

The core problem, now, I fear, is going to be obtaining all the correct materials.

Personally, I believe whilst 2K and water-miscible paint is fine, it lacks the real depth of a properly prepared and finished car in hand-rubbed multi-coat cellulose finish.

It was truly an art form: as were the coachbuilt bodies.

[baconsdozen]

Thanks very much for that,I hope you commit your knowledge and experiences to paper (or disc). We are loosing a great deal of the information hints and tips that went with the old vehicles. I once watched a craftsman putting a gold coachline round a Norton fuel tank. He used a brush with very long bristles and the line was done in one pass,freehand,even when you saw it being done it didn't look possible.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[D4B]

[goneps]

[Old Wrench]

[Jim.Walker]

Quote[ Often forgotten is the genesis of motor body building and finishing: including lining and gold application.

It all came, really, from coach building: even early automotive suspension copies horse drawn carriages and freight carts and wagons. The typical leaf spring was also used for coach suspension...............................]Quote

Surprisingly. After all this time no one has come up with an acceptable alternative to Ackermann steering system he invented for coaches by replaceing the traditional "king pin" with two, one each side controlled by a track rod.
Although there are modern interpretations.

Jim.
_________________
Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!

[baconsdozen]

The video is amazing pretty much the same idea as i saw,needing skill and a very steady hand.
To add to the store of painting dodges and work-rounds. Japanese and Chinese craftsmen would often take small items they were to paint in a small boat to the middle of a lake.That way they would not have to worry about dust.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[Old Wrench]