Datsun 240Z Restoration - Blasting and priming (Part 4)

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Datsun 240Z Restoration - Blasting and priming (Part 4) (www.youtube.com)

Video description:

In this video I continue the restoration of my 1973 Datsun 240Z. After all the body work and alignment of the body panels in the last installment, the car was finally ready to start painting.

The first step in a new paint job is to strip the old paint down to the bare metal. I took the car to a blasting company. They completely blasted the whole car and all the parts. They used walnut shells to remove the paint. This is the perfect medium for the job as it doesn't warp the panels. The only downside is that it doesn't remove rust or roughen the surface, which is not ideal for paint adhesion. So after removing the paint with the walnut shells, the rust was removed with aluminum oxide and the surface was also roughened all around. The entire blasting process took around 11 hours. Blasted parts rust very quickly, so it is very important to protect the metal immediately afterwards. It is also very important not to touch the blasted parts with bare hands. Therefore, the entire sheet metal was protected with a layer of zinc dust primer.

It is a moisture-curing primer based on polyurethane. It is very elastic and does not chip, it really melts into the metal, just like galvanizing. After zinc dust priming, you can touch it and move the car without worrying about rust.

To build up the paint, I still need to apply a layer of epoxy primer. It insulates the zinc dust primer and forms the basis for the paint to come. To achieve good adhesion, I sanded down the zinc dust primer all over with 240 grit and washed everything down with silicone remover to make it grease-free. The car was then placed on the spit. Epoxy resin was first applied to the inside of the car, then to the engine compartment and then to the outside, starting with the roof. After it was dry, the car was turned 90° to paint the underside. It is important to let it dry before turning it, as there is always some sand that can leak out of the cavities and drip into the wet paint. After a day of curing, I also applied epoxy to all the cavities. All the runs and drips can now be easily wiped off.

After letting the epoxy cure for a week, it was time to proceed with the thick coat primer. To ensure good adhesion, I roughened the epoxy resin with Scotch Brite. After masking and degreasing, two to three coats of thick-layer primer were applied. A thick-layer primer is used to build up material for later sanding. It is like a very thin layer of filler to fill in small irregularities. The thick-layer primer also needs to cure for another week. Once all the masking coats had been removed, it was time to reassemble the car for block sanding. All the seals, windows and locks were installed with the freshly restored hinges.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

This video unfortunately took much longer to make than planned. I had a few huge setbacks and lost a bunch of time. The work you see in this video took around 6 weeks.

If you would like to support my work more, you can join my Patreon at patreon.com/mymechanics

To give you something back, I'm uploading daily vlogs out of the workshop along with longer, more detailled versions of the YouTube videos.

Video description: >In this video I continue the restoration of my 1973 Datsun 240Z. After all the body work and alignment of the body panels in the last installment, the car was finally ready to start painting. > The first step in a new paint job is to strip the old paint down to the bare metal. I took the car to a blasting company. They completely blasted the whole car and all the parts. They used walnut shells to remove the paint. This is the perfect medium for the job as it doesn't warp the panels. The only downside is that it doesn't remove rust or roughen the surface, which is not ideal for paint adhesion. So after removing the paint with the walnut shells, the rust was removed with aluminum oxide and the surface was also roughened all around. The entire blasting process took around 11 hours. Blasted parts rust very quickly, so it is very important to protect the metal immediately afterwards. It is also very important not to touch the blasted parts with bare hands. Therefore, the entire sheet metal was protected with a layer of zinc dust primer. > It is a moisture-curing primer based on polyurethane. It is very elastic and does not chip, it really melts into the metal, just like galvanizing. After zinc dust priming, you can touch it and move the car without worrying about rust. > To build up the paint, I still need to apply a layer of epoxy primer. It insulates the zinc dust primer and forms the basis for the paint to come. To achieve good adhesion, I sanded down the zinc dust primer all over with 240 grit and washed everything down with silicone remover to make it grease-free. The car was then placed on the spit. Epoxy resin was first applied to the inside of the car, then to the engine compartment and then to the outside, starting with the roof. After it was dry, the car was turned 90° to paint the underside. It is important to let it dry before turning it, as there is always some sand that can leak out of the cavities and drip into the wet paint. After a day of curing, I also applied epoxy to all the cavities. All the runs and drips can now be easily wiped off. > After letting the epoxy cure for a week, it was time to proceed with the thick coat primer. To ensure good adhesion, I roughened the epoxy resin with Scotch Brite. After masking and degreasing, two to three coats of thick-layer primer were applied. A thick-layer primer is used to build up material for later sanding. It is like a very thin layer of filler to fill in small irregularities. The thick-layer primer also needs to cure for another week. Once all the masking coats had been removed, it was time to reassemble the car for block sanding. All the seals, windows and locks were installed with the freshly restored hinges. > Translated with DeepL.com (free version) >This video unfortunately took much longer to make than planned. I had a few huge setbacks and lost a bunch of time. The work you see in this video took around 6 weeks. > If you would like to support my work more, you can join my Patreon at patreon.com/mymechanics > To give you something back, I'm uploading daily vlogs out of the workshop along with longer, more detailled versions of the YouTube videos.

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