Preperation for Painting
 

Now my chassis is close to completion my mind's turning towards painting.
I've got a 2l chassis pack of Epoxy Mastic 121, the plan being to use a brush and roller to apply it.
The instructions say you just need to clean the chassis with a wire-brush on a drill.
Is there anything else I should be doing to clean it before painting, i.e. should I be degreasing it or owt? (and if so what should I use?)
Whatever preparation I do needs to be something I can do at home without any special tools/equipment, so sand/shot blasting isn't really an option.

Any tips on how to approach the painting itself would also be gratefully received!

I used some wet and dry to remove any surface rust (worked better than wire wool), wiped over with a clean wet sponge, left to dry then wiped over the top with thinners or panel wipes.

M

oilfree clean dry and totaly rust free is what is needed for epoxys
a sprit based wipe or some thinners will get the dirt and grease off and acid based rust removers cand lift off light rust and leave a good key for meny paints

me i just used an acid rust remover then upol zinc182 primer with chassis black on top all sprayed with normal thinners
no fancy epoxys as im thinking there may be ajustments needed before im finished:rolleyes:

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I always use these 3m scotch bright pads for that sort of thing ,you can wrap the stuff round a dowel and get in all the places a machine cant get to.

Bob

I used wet and dry to remove the rust but didn't take it back to bare metal.
The 121 stuck better if it had a slight covering.

DON'T even bother using a brush apart from in the corners where the roller won't get to as it leaves a horrible finish that I sanded out. You will need quite a few gloss rollers, wilko do a nice set with about 8 for ~£3.00

If you have a spray gun and compressor it would prob work better and be quicker but I'm not sure about cleaning (ask AshG as he sprayed his chassis). At least with the rollers you can throw them away.

Lastly wear disposable gloves, put the pots on some newspaper as unmixed its horribly sticky and doesn't set and mix in a disposable pot (I used a paper drinks cup)

oh and only mix about 200ml (100+100ml) at a time as it gets really sticky by the time you use it all up.

I agree, it's very sticky stuff unmixed, but it's fairly easy to use.

I can't understand how you didn't get a reasonable finish with a brush; I managed it fairly easily when I was repainting the floor in my road car.

It just looked crap (IMO) slightly streaky and a bit too thick. Looked much better with a roller

I had sent my chassis for a proffesional shotblast and when it came back I immediately sprayed it with lead oxide primer (thinners based) followed by a two pack epoxy.

BTW, the chassis was originally cleaned with acid rust removers et all (instructions followed to the letter) and epoxy primer sprayed and after sitting in the garage for a few months, rust formed under the paint and lifted the paint resulting in some cancerous spot all over.
Then decided to do it the proper way and one really need the surface preparation (velcro like) shotblasting produces for the paint to adhere properly. Done a few months ago and chassis still perfect.

Thanks guys, I'm stocked up on wet n dry and paint rollers now, just got the last bit of tidying with the angle grinder to do and I can start prepping it for painting :)

I'd love to get it shot blasted first Wynand. However funds, timing, and transportation are against me at the moment. Just have to put a load of elbow grease in and hope for the best!