The Barge.

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:54 pm

Time to do this...

As some of you know I bought this A4 from Si 'Ninenails' Luke.

In need of some TLC on the body but the oily bits are spot on. Requires the front arms replacing at some point but thats for another day, also the rlease bearing has a slight whine, but again, not overly urgent.

So, what did I end up with, well a '95 A4 B5 2.6 V6 12v Quattro in Rubin Red with cream leather, climate, pre-select 'roof, trip computer, etc etc. Everything that should work works. 186,000 miles on the clock, some MOT and a spot of Tax.

A trip on the train took me up to Prestatyn, North Wales, a sandwich and a drink in the local with Si, an exchange of some monies and a 160 mile trip back home.

The area for immediate attention was the O/S front wing...

So, off it came...

Marvellous.

New wing was from a B5 I broke earlier in the year, rust free, albeit silver, so a quick trip to TRI paints in Cheltenham had me with a couple of custom mix aerosols of Rubin. Blew some paint and clear on and left in the sun to bake for an hour or two.

And then on the car.

Needed a week or so to go off, then I flattened it with 1200 wet/dry then 1500 wet/dry. Finally a pass with some G3 and then a good polish brought it up acceptable.

Laqueur Peel
Car had a few areas where the laqueur had flaked and peeled, the O/S A pillar, O/S rear door and rear bumper were the main areas affected.

What to do? Well, the only answer was trial and error.

The affected areas..

O/S A pillar

Rear bumper

Rear door had an area no bigger than a credit card ( As seen in the interior shot at the top), after rubbing down with 400 grit left me with this....

So, thought I, try and clear straight over the top? Or flash two coats of colour on first? Tried the clear option, failed, so rub down again and then colour coat and then had to re-clear the whole door. After using this method i carried on with the rear bumper and A pillar to reasonable success. The door will need more work to get right yet, but its nearly there, probably another 1200/2000 grit session and some more compound and polish.

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:56 pm

A Pillar after some work..

and the rear bumper.

Bumper had a quick 'tidy up' job as I have a pair of facelift bumpers to go on but have decided to get these painted properly, unless my technique improves somewhat.

So, whats next....

Facelift headlamps to fit, however I need the plugs and part loom from a 1999.5 to 2001 B5, unless i can come up with another plan, also need to grind back the lips on both wings to accomodate the lamps.
Bonnet has some tin worm under the grill, again, silver one in stock, so more paint unless I can tidy up the original one myself.

Also have some 1/2 decent 17" wheels on the other A4, not OE, unless someone tells me different, but a lot better than the OE 'Sport' wheels on the Barge at present, will need a tyre or two, but aim to have these on for ADI.

Towbar to come off, yes it's useful, but it looks crap.
Boot spoiler, I detest boot spoilers, so, another bootlid required, which I have, in silver.
Bugger.

Onwards. Very Happy

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:33 pm

love the interior on the car.

looks like you have done a good job with the paintwork.

not a massive fan of spoilers either but must admit I think this shape A4 looks better with the boot spoiler fitted......

looking forward to seeing pics of finished car

Mark

Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 19

Hi

Flaking lacquer is indicative of the panel being repainted at some time, the cause is either poor prep (Panel paintwork not properly etched, meaning the painter was a lazy blighter and just gave the panel a quick scuff over or even not rubbed down at all... Rolling Eyes

) Or the basecoat was left to long before being lacquered, will look good untill the panel gets a chip and weather gets underneath and lifts the lacquer from the basecoat...

Leaving it to long before being lacquered causes the two substrates to have very little adhesion. You want to make sure that you get as much of it off as you can otherwise any paint you put on might be at risk again.

Sometimes a good going over with an airline will show you how bad it is, if it's coming off around all the fiddily bits (Door handles, locks, around window rubbers or door mouldings but sound everywhere else it usually means he was lazy getting it properly rubbered down, if it's coming off in sheets from the basecoat, it's been left to long and you will need to make sure you get all the lacquer off and the troublesome basecoat before repainting.

Either way it's crabbing that some lazy git didn't do it right in the first place... Laughing

Best of luck

I'm a panel beater/painter BTW... Wink

Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 19

Hi

Flaking lacquer is indicative of the panel being repainted at some time, the cause is either poor prep (Panel paintwork not properly etched, meaning the painter was a lazy blighter and just gave the panel a quick scuff over or even not rubbed down at all... Rolling Eyes

) Or the basecoat was left to long before being lacquered, will look good untill the panel gets a chip and weather gets underneath and lifts the lacquer from the basecoat...

Leaving it to long before being lacquered causes the two substrates to have very little adhesion. You want to make sure that you get as much of it off as you can otherwise any paint you put on might be at risk again.

Sometimes a good going over with an airline will show you how bad it is, if it's coming off around all the fiddily bits (Door handles, locks, around window rubbers or door mouldings but sound everywhere else it usually means he was lazy getting it properly rubbered down, if it's coming off in sheets from the basecoat, it's been left to long and you will need to make sure you get all the lacquer off and the troublesome basecoat before repainting.

Either way it's crabbing that some lazy git didn't do it right in the first place... Laughing

Best of luck

I'm a panel beater/painter BTW... Wink

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:18 pm

No, really?? Wink

The rear door started as a chip whic spread over the years according to the previous owner, I 'hope' I have got on top of it, for now, been round the car and I can't see anything else starting so fingers crossed.

Thanks for the info though, nice to have some paint/panel experiance on here, there is a few of us who run the, ahem, more mature car and advise is always appreciated.

Cheers. Wink

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:20 pm

Interior is nice, just needs a good leather cleaner and conditioner, no rips or tears which is good too.

Pulled the removable tow bar neck off today, thought it may improve things, spoiler is still hanging by a thread untill I decide though. Laughing

Si.

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:26 pm

She's a dilly,

Looking forward to how you get on with the bodywork as I am thinking of attempting something like this on mine at some point as I have numerous chips and scratches although no bad laquer at the mo...

Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 19

sdk778 no probs, anytime Wink

Your not alone running the mature vehicle, I've got three 80's and one A4 B5 which is the youngest of the bunch on a 2000 plate... Laughing

But hey, style never dates... Very Happy

Camped on the site Joined: Aug 20, 2010 Posts: 214

Nice work, I was shocked to see so much rust on the wing. Are Audi no longer doing the full galv treatment ? Still, it's comforting to know a wing is fairly straight forward to replace. Love the interior, looks very classy with the Red. hurry with the finished item Smile

MrblueSky, I would value your opinion on polishing machines. Is there a good one that is ok for home use without costing a massive sum of hard earned money? OR... would it be more cost effective to get a chap such as yourself to do the work? I have a '91 lady which needs some light scratches taken out that grafting with auto glym has not really touched. Am scared to get the t-cut on it. The scratches are on the bonnet ( I have a replacement bonnet I'm picking up at weekend which has similar work needed, the current one also needs a dent taken out so I thought to get it fixed whilst off the car ).

Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 19

Chelli...

Polishers

I'll show what not to get first... Wink

Rubbish

Now something that you can use...

http://www.makita-direct.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2emakita%2ddirect%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2findex%2ehtml&WD=polisher&PN=Makita_9227CB_SanderPolisher_180mm%2ehtml%23a1_21374#a1_21374

This is the model I use every day, good points are variable speed control, Lock-on button, No Load Speed Variable Trigger and 1200W motor. Though at nearly £200 it might be a little too much for you to use at home?

So there you have two examples of what to keep away from and what to be aiming at, have alook on ebay for a second hand one, I know sealey use to do a good robust polisher for around the £80 to £100 mark, twin speed...

Thinking about it, you might just as well get a good valeter for the money to polish your car, he should be able to either get rid of any slight paint scratching or at the very least lessen it.

Can you show us a photo of it?

If the dent hasn't damaged the paint to any extent, a good PDR man would be able to get it out for you for around the £40 - £50 mark again show us a picture please...

Camped on the site Joined: Aug 20, 2010 Posts: 214

Cheers- I will take some pics, don't hold ur breath Very Happy

!