DIY paint

[Ulf]

To my great annoyance, the paint on the front wings just behind the lower part of the headlight has started to bubble up (strange since my car has spent most of its life in San Diego and has been loaded with cavity wax last year). The affected area is only an area the size of a medium-sized coin so far, but I want to catch it before it spreads further. I can get a spray can with the correct colour (180G) + a 2 pack clear coat for about USD 60, and my idea is to give it a try and paint the entire wing up to the crease in the bodywork to disguise the transition. Naturally, I will sand down the affected area first, then treat it with POR15 or similar, then some filler, sand that down and then a layer of primer before the actual colour + clear coat.
Is it feasible to get a reasonable result out of this or should I rather just call a professional straight away?

Any input would be greatly appreciated 

Best regards

Ulf

[JamesL]

If you do yours yourself and the results are good, I may ask you to come over and do mine on both sides!

[reggie]

You dont need to be a good painter, if you are a good polisher. 
Reg

[DavidBrough]

Spraying metallic paint from a can is very difficult indeed, especially on a large area like a wing, as you can get heavy spots of colour that no amount of polishing will eradicate. Why not do all the prep yourself, which isn't too hard, and then get a pro to do the finishing. The main things to remember are that paint flows best when warm so put the can in a bucket of warm water first and use a good prep cleaner and a tack rag to remove all the grease. With standard paint you can almost put it on with a stick as all but runs will polish out afterwards.

[mdsalemi]

With the utmost respect to Ulf and other DIY'ers on things like this (there was a recent posting on the restoration of some headlamp part using the aluminum from a downspout strap) who try and engineer these solutions...

...at some point in the future, an FO (that would be "future owner" as opposed to "previous owner") will look upon this and cringe and shudder.  "What was this PO thinking? ... I can't believe this work... Now I have to re-do it."

An independent inspection, or PPI, would yield comments about inattention to detail or poor maintenance, bad body work, bad painting and more.  If they did THAT so badly, what else did they do?  Or, if a car brought "here" for review, it might very well be torn apart like vultures on road kill.

My opinion only: Ulf, don't waste your money on the paint.  Let a pro do it.

[RickM]

I agree with Michael. However, I see no reason not to prep yourself. You may want to do your best to access the rear of the repair area and treat as well. Remember, the visible rust is almost always the proverbial tip-of-the-iceberg.

[scoot]

We attemped to paint our car ourselves and stopped when the doors (being done separately) were not coming out well.  I think the bulk of the cost in painting the car are prep work, followed by materials, and lastly the actual painting of the car.   Do the prep yourself.  Take things off the car yourself.   Then get someone good to paint.  At least that's what worked for us...

[Ulf]

Thanks for all your input, guys! Looks like I'll do the prepping myself and have a pro do the finish - even if this cosmetic fix is merely temporary until I have saved up enough money for a complete respray (after I'm done saving up for an engine rebuild right after I'm done getting the car back on original steel wheels etc. etc.)

Ulf

[Witt]

.....boy oh boy, that brings back memories.....about two years ago I tried to "fix" those rustbubbles around the headlights....just a little sanding and touching up......well, I opened that proverbal can of worms, I ended up stripping the whole car, repairing all the rust and refurbish and or replaced chrome and trim.......something that I was not prepeared at the outset....now two years later and having a professional do the final bodywork and paint, I am glad I did and the outcome is awesome.....Pictures at the for sale portion of this site: " 1970 Mercedes 280sl for sale $39500.00 Canadian".
Do it right or you are going to hate yourself....

CHEERS !
WITT !

[RickM]

I'm looking at rust bubbles around my headlights and I know there's alot more than meets the eyes. I'm very tempted to repair.
There's something to be said for retaining original metal but where does one draw the line.......?

[Ulf]

Thanks a lot, Witt...(may contain irony )

I simply don't have the means for a full-blown restoration at this moment, but I'm also kind of sure that the rust spot is very local as the cavities were inspected with an endoscope last year and were quite sound, I think water has been trapped in there behind the headlight when I made the mistake of garaging the car wet in October (had no choice). But that leads me to an additional question: how much of the stuff around headlight, will I need to remove in order to be able to access the cavity behind it?

Ulf

[Bernd]

Ulf, maybe I am misunderstanding your question, but removing the Headlights is a 5 minute job and can be done with a good screwdriver. If the question is how much paint to remove: That can really only be decided when you look at the area directly. Then it "should"  become obvious. Good luck!

[Naj ✝︎]

I think to do a good repair, the headlamp 'bucket' would have to come out to get good xs, but its welded to the front panel and fender/wing.

naj

[Ulf]

Dang - I miss my MGA, where everything was just held together with a few nuts and bolts...how about drilling a small hole in the bucket to get access to the inside of the wing and then fill it with cavity wax after the repairs are done and then plug it up again before re-installing the headlamp?

[Naj ✝︎]

Have a look from the back of the h/l bucket after removing the road wheel.
Maybe enought room to clean-up...

naj

[Ulf]

Okay, thanks Naj - will take a look at it Sunday :-)

[Naj ✝︎]

Hi, Ulf,

There may be just enough room

naj

[Ulf]

Naj - I too think there is enough room, I will remove the wheel, the light and the side indicator, sand the affected area down to bare metal, treat it, fill it and paint it. In the spring, I will then take the car to a professional for a respray of that wing as well as one of the rear wheel arches.
I'm actually in the process of writing a letter to the first owner (I'm the fourth) to check whether he used 180G when respraying the car in the 90's or whether he just went for a random silver colour.
 

Ulf

[dseretakis]

Where there are bubbles there is almost always rust through especially in that area.  If you have any welding skills you should expose the rusted area, cut it out, fashion a sheetmetal patch, weld it in, do all the weld finishing, filling/sanding and then take it to a body shop for paint.

[Ulf]

Don't have any welding skills, but the guy fixing my old Land Rover does - it will surely be a better long-term solution...