Respray 2011 : Preparation

In truth the bodywork itself was fine, a few minor crazes around the door handles and windscreen wiper mount but otherwise ok. However the paint was poor with microblisters on virtually every panel at some point.

Yes, they could have been rubbed down and sprayed, but it just seemed to me that a complete respray was the way to go and as the summer wore on, the paint came off.

And I’m glad I did because it became clear that 90% of the panels had some indication of blisters, even where they weren’t apparent on the surface which made me think that a few days in hot sunshine would have made the car look like it had measles.

Nitromors or other "thin" paint strippers are ok on flat panels but no use on vertical ones. Methylene Chloride based strippers are the most effective but will attack bare gel coat if you’re not careful. They are fine if you only use them for just taking off the top layers of paint.

The softened paint was removed with an old wood chisel and then 80 grit paper used dry.

Here we are about half way through with just the last coat left. This was removed with 80 grit paper.

Obviously any cracks that are visible through the paint need sorting, but also you need to check the gel coat once stripped for surface crazing. I find it helps if you wipe the surface with a damp sponge as it seems to show up defects better.