If you have already mentioned this, I apologize. But, can you summarize your paint process (it looks great); ie. type primer, single stage paint, sand and buff, etc.
First I sanded off all the old paint. The body had been sat outside halfway up a German mountain, undercover but not indoors. Worse they put a tarp over it and that kept the moisture in. The car was covered with tiny blisters which had water in them. Once the paint was off I let the body dry out for the whole summer. I did all the repairs to any damaged areas and used a light behind the panels to find out where the cracks and crazing was. In those areas I sanded it down a little and then glassed over using a very fine 25 g cloth. I used a very small amount of body filler where necessary but I tried to use as little as possible. Once that was all done I sprayed the body inside and out using an epoxy primer to seal it up and keep the moisture out. The idea being that epoxy is watertight where as polyester is not.
Then it sat all winter as it was too cold to spray and I wanted the paint and repairs to shrink before attempting any further bodywork. Once spring came I sanded the epoxy with 220 grit and a block and then sprayed the body with a filler primer. Whenever I could I put the body in the sun to cure the paint. I waited a week and sanded the whole thing with 320 and a block and sprayed more filler primer where I had gone through to the fibreglass. Left it to dry for a week again and then sanded it all down with 800 grit and water. Then on a day after some rain (to keep the dust down) and with no wind I sprayed the body with 2K paint. A couple of weeks later I flattened and polished it all.
In an ideal world it would be better to leave the car for a month after each application of filler primer to really let it cure and shrink although it seems that modern paints are pretty good at not shrinking too badly. I didn't have a booth so there is some dust in the finish but I never wanted a perfect finish anyway as I did that with my last car and was too scared to drive it for fear of damaging the paint! This is a car to be used. If you look closely you can see the odd slight sag and I had to touch up a few edges with a brush afterwards but overall I am not displeased with the end result. So long as I don't put my glasses on it looks alright! Maybe it will need another spray in a few years time but by then the existing paint will have shrunk all it is ever likely too and all it will need is sanding with 800 with water and then spraying. Then it might be more stable.
It seems to me that fibreglass is a very difficult substrake to paint well as it's quite soft, unlike metal. Scratches and repairs are likely to return in time but I can live with that and if I can't I can always spray it again, it's only a little car and doesn't use much paint! I'm not taking the bloody glass out again to paint in next time through! This car is for driving!
It's worth adding that I am a boat builder by trade, not a car painter. I have quite a lot of experience with varnish and painting using brushes but very little experience with spray equipment but I wanted to have a go.
I hope this helps...
Cheers
Benjy 54/0949 France
