Prep and Primer

Yesterday we finished sanding the body with 220 grit sandpaper and cleaned it all down with TSP substitute and water.  Next I worked on polishing the aluminum stripe.  After that I taped off the polished aluminum stripe (with frogtape) and washed off the Pearl with the TSP substitute and water mixture again to get rid of any waxy residue that would interfere with the paint adhesion.

Today we applied bondo to a few areas that needed it and sanded that with 80 grit sandpaper.  We went over the whole body with a tack cloth.  The primer we applied is a mixture of Rustoleum primer with Rustoleum Reducer (one to one ratio).  This was applied with a compressor and spray gun (at 35 psi).  Thanks to Kevin for lending us his compressor and sprayer :)

This was my husband's first time using a spray gun and he did a great job!  It looks really great.  He applied 2 light coats.  By this time it was getting late, so we'll put on the white and pink colors tomorrow.  The only problem was that we don't have a garage to work in, so we had to spray outside.  The sprayer has a lot of overspray which wafted into the air and into the street.  The kids held up a tarp to try to stem the flow of paint.

I can't wait until tomorrow to see her painted!  The weather is supposed to be nice.  Cross your fingers!

The Frog tape is supposed to leave a clean line - we'll see tomorrow

Stripped and ready for bondo

Joshua giving the thumbs up.

David applying the primer (it is a light gray color)

Christian holding up the tarp with an oar

Joshua with the other oar