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Posted By: SGarage "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Mon Mar 03 2003 03:10 PM
I was enthusiastically waiting to submit my first post on the board showing off our first pump restoration. However, "Murphy" slapped us. I figure we're not the only ones that have swallowed our hearts during a project. The pump is an MS80.

A good friend painted and clear-coated the panels for us.



We carefully loaded the panels into my car and went back inside to get the top.



We returned several minutes later with the top, we were speechless to say the least!




The garage dog had jumped into the back of the car and signed the finished product with his snow and dirt covered paws. We were pretty bummed-out. We didn't touch the panel for about a week. Turns out that it wasn't as bad as it looks. So...we're back on track and will keep you guys posted on the progress. We could use some advice on what product/s you'd recommend for polishing the clear-coat to remove scratches. I'll sort out the UBB code and post other images directly here.


[This message has been edited by SGarage (edited 03-03-2003).]
Posted By: Dwaine Buck Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Mon Mar 03 2003 04:25 PM
Gary or Larry maybe Morgan could answer this real good , as for me , I would wet sand it with 600 lightly then 1200 , then buff it with 3M micro-finish, but these other guys do a lot better job,they will take care of you ,
Posted By: Morgan Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Mon Mar 03 2003 05:25 PM
That 3M polish Dwaine mentioned might do the trick, depending on how deep they are. An option is to wet sand the entire door with 1200 or 1500 and respray a clear coat.

You can put clear over the vinyl decals. I've done it many times. Learned it from some racecar drivers.
Posted By: dodogas Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Mon Mar 03 2003 07:29 PM
Or leave it , its worth more cuz it has more experience!! Dont know how bad it is but it is a great story, more interesting than shiny pump. Remember before 1980 90% of all repainted pumps were done with a brush, thats my 2 cents (about1.2 cents US) dodogas
Posted By: Gary Drye Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Mon Mar 03 2003 07:38 PM
On polishing out scratches, you have to start with the courser leveling compound, then use the finer finishing compound. You could wet sand it first and I agree with Morgan. Use 1200-1500 grit paper.
Posted By: Dwaine Buck Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Tue Mar 04 2003 01:33 AM
There you go S, from Canada down to Calif , over to Davy Crocketts state then where the heck are you from Morgan??? how'd that dog git that big bump on its head , what bump thats a third eye .ha ha ha. gimme that remote, nooooooa
Posted By: Dwaine Buck Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Tue Mar 04 2003 01:37 AM
Any one watch Dr.Phil . you got to love it , Hes a Texas boy , or Southern boy , one time he says , you can hit a child , next time you hear him if he don't like the way things are going , he says , if he were my child? I'd knock him in the head with a board , ha ha
Posted By: SGarage Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Tue Mar 04 2003 02:42 AM
I called Dr. Phill ... ?
Posted By: Anonymous Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Tue Mar 04 2003 02:01 PM
NO SCOOBY SNACKS FOR FIDO FOR AWHILE.!!
Posted By: T-way Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Wed Mar 05 2003 03:49 PM
SGarage:

First thing you need to know is the type of paint used on the panel. If it is a straight enamel you can't rub it out. Enamel will need to be wet-sanded and re-clearcoated to get the scratches out.

If your buddy painted the panels with a catalyzed enamel or a catalyzed urethane - then you can sand and buff.

Look at the marks to determine the depth of the scratches. If the scratches are very shallow, I'd start with a fully wet sheet of '600 Wet or Dry' paper and work my way up to a '2000'. Get every scratch sanded out with the 600, move to 1000 and remove all the 600 marks. Then move to 1500 and get rid of the 1000 marks and finally to the 2000 grit paper. Soak each sheet in your sanding solution (a gallon of water to 3 drops of liquid dish soap) for at least 20 minutes prior to using the sheet. Keep the area you are working on wet, use a quality flat sanding pad and apply even pressure.

When you get done with the 2000 grit paper, dry everything off and proceed to machine polishing. I use Meguire's for all my polishing - but 3M makes a great product too. Just take extreme care at the edges of the panel and the decal. The polish will burn through the clear in a New York minute if you arn't careful. Always run the buffing pad 'off' the edge of the panel or the decal and let the weight of the buffer do the work. Don't lean on the buffer to apply more pressure. If the sanding scratches aren't coming out with the polish - move to a coarser polish and start over.

Hope this helps.

Jim
Posted By: travis_towle Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Thu Mar 06 2003 03:26 AM
t-way said: "If it is a straight enamel you can't rub it out. Enamel will need to be wet-sanded and re-clearcoated to get the scratches out."

Does this mean I should always clear coat my enamel paint? I am painting some of my stuff with rustolium spray gloss enamel paint, it looks GREAT like it is, should it be clear coated? The only thing I am using the clear on now is the brass and aluminum....


Travis E. Towle
Posted By: Dick Bennett Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Thu Mar 06 2003 05:35 AM
Travis,
If you want to restore your pump, use enamel.
BUT, if your going to HOT ROD,PIN STRIPE, Crome/Plating, then you should clear cote [easier to wipe the DROOLE & SLOBBERS off, after your Beer Buddies leave]. Also will be easier to get the [car] cover off for Cruse Nite.
Dick
Posted By: T-way Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Thu Mar 06 2003 01:16 PM
Travis:

If you like the looks of the Rustoleum enamel you're using, stick with it. As long as you dont get any imperfections or scratches in the paint, everything is okay. Rustoleum is a great product. It has such a long 'open' time that the paint gets a chance to flow out and level. This gives you a very smooth paint job. The only problem I have with it is having to cut flies out of the paint in the summer! Nothing worse than finding fly tracks with a fly stuck in the paint the next day! Plus enamel is inherently soft and mars easily.

To clarify my original answer. Straight enamel paint is too 'soft' to be rubbed out. If you have any imperfections in the paint during (or after) it's done, you will need to sand the bad spots and apply another coat of enamel over the entire panel to get it to match. Whether or not this last coat is color or clear doesn't matter.

You can't clear coat over straight enamel with anything except straight enamel clear - so you still have the same problem. If you try to use a catalized clear enamel over your straight enamel base, the catalizing agent will turn your base color into something that resembles a vinyl roof. Not a pretty sight.

Since you can't get lacquer anymore (thanks to the EPA), if you want to be able to rub out the paint, you will need to shoot a catalized enamel or urthane. If you opt to shoot clear over it or not is your choice. However, if you use a Base Coat/Clear Coat system (like most current automotive paint) you will be required to shoot a clear over your base color. The base is not designed to flow out and give you a gloss - you must shoot the companion clear over it to get the protection and the ability to sand/rub out.

Hope this clarifies any questions you had. If you need additional information, shoot me an e-mail and I'll do my best to get you the answers you need.

Jim
Posted By: SGarage Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Sat Mar 08 2003 12:05 PM
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm not exactly what paint he used. I know it was Martin Senour and costs $51/qt at Napa and the hardener was $68/qt. He used some clear that he had for his race car. He did clear-coat the decals at the same time and that came out great.

We picked the two side panels and the base up yesterday. (One person loaded the panels and the other kept a close watch on the damn dog!)

We are going to wait before jumping into the scratch removal project. We want everything to harden up. This pump is going to live in our garage in the winter and outside in the summer. We've been accused by our family of getting pretty anal about the pump. What do they know!
Posted By: Jarvis Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Sat Mar 08 2003 01:18 PM
SGarage, If it makes you feel any better... i had a 16.5 mobilgas special lens i bought from Scott Benjamin that where new old stock and my cat broke both of them after 4 days of me geting them. That happened almost 3 years ago and yes the cat is still alive but still doesn't come near me. You at least still have you stuff, mine went in the trash can.
Posted By: SGarage Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Fri Mar 21 2003 07:30 PM
Well guys, we put it all together and we like it. It's not traditional but it's what we wanted. I've been trying to take pictures that do it justice, but it's still too winter-like to open doors and / or move the pump outside. Here's the url for the project: http://members.localnet.com/~tsuitor/gaspump/projectsgaspump7.html

We couldn't have done it without you guys.
Posted By: Anonymous Re: "Murphy" strikes the Restoration! - Fri Mar 21 2003 07:42 PM
guys ,, check that link out,, it's cool!!!! FRANK..
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