Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[brianjt]

Hi, Apologies if this question has been asked before but, as a newbie, I am unaware of previous posts.
I have a 1959 kit car with a self-coloured glass fibre (GRP) body that needs re-painting. Spraying would not be cost-effective and I have been 'directed' towards using Tekaloid but with a primer (and, some say, an undercoat).
What I am in need of is advice/guidance from someone who has actually used this product with GRP - I don't want to follow the usual path of try it on a test area, etc. because I will have spent money and time wastefully if it doesn't work. As an example of the unhelpful comments that I have received so far, a supplier of Tekaloid said that I needed to use a primer but no supplier's name or details of a primer were given even though I asked for more details.
Hopefully my plea will fall on sympathetic ears and I look forward to a helpful reply.
Thank you.

[ajlelectronics]

Priming is best done with epoxy primer. Then a topcoat of your choice, but please don't mess it up by brushing it on, a budget spraygun is not expensive, you can hire a compressor. A decent bodyshop supply company can even supply you good quality aerosols, which have a fan nearly as good as a gun. If you use cellulose paint, it can be worked after it dries to get a mirror finish, so the gun result is less crucial.
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[petermeachem]

Or you can buy a compressor from ebay and sell it there afterwards. With a modicum of luck it shouldn't cost you anything

[baconsdozen]

Try a car boot sale or secondhand shop,I bought a compressor with all the gear at a car boot sale the weekend,new B and Q thing in a box for £35. You could buy one the resell it afterwards.
Cellulose is very forgiving,as earlier post says,you can rub it down and get a shine on it when its hardened off. I've even seen decent finish achieved with brush painting it but only on a small area,it dries so fast that its impossible to keep a 'wet' edge.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[brianjt]

Thank you to all contributors but I do have to use a brush-on method as the alternatives are out of the question. The reference to an epoxy primer raises two points with me - I understand that epoxy primers are for use with metal-bodied cars to prevent the reappearance of rust (my car's body is GRP and so does not rust, but it can absorb moisture if not sealed) and also they have a short working time (because it is an activated product) and so a poor finish would be achieved when having to mix up fresh primer batches.
If there are non-spraying alternatives with which to prime the prepared GRP, I would be grateful for details.

[Phil - Nottingham]

Tekaloid type paints are merely the old fashioned coach enamels that will cover almost any surface and are very durable and designed for brush painting. Brush painting if done properly with high quality brushes etc can give an excellent finish and superior to a poor spray gun application

I am surprised at the so called advice you have been given and you should direct your inquiries to the paint manufacturer's technical department.

The purpose of the primer is to ensure the paint sticks and stays on the surface and the undercoat(s) give even colour and level surface.

If ordinary cellulose/synthetic air dry spray paints can be made to stay on gel coat GRP panels then a brush painted alkyd air dry paint will do so too as it been used far longer.

Our local Barton Transport was still brush painting its buses/coaches (some with GRP panels) well into the 1970's
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Rover P4
Rover P5 & P5B
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[ajlelectronics]

[petermeachem]

Could I ask why buying a compressor would 'be out of the question'?

[aps]

some of my customers ask for a brush painted finish,it is very time consuming .brushing and then flatting back for several coats is an expencive
process but done correctly looks amassing ,so if your going to brush ,it is not the brushing thats hard its the flatting where the skill is needed .

wayne aps