AmigOne Posted August 10, 2012 Report Posted August 10, 2012 I think that the paint in my airplane, about 10 years old, looks great because the airplane was always hangared and properly cared for, cleaning, waxing, etc. However there are a few areas that bug me, like the one in the attached pictures (oill dipstick access), that I would like to repair. Short of taking the whole top cowling for a repaint, has anybody found a way to successfully do this kind of touchup? I thought of airbrush, if so what kind of paint (mixed to match) should one use? Also can this door be easily removed?
KSMooniac Posted August 10, 2012 Report Posted August 10, 2012 You might be able to remove the door by extracting the piano hinge pin, otherwise it is riveted in place and de-riveting will cause more paint trauma than you already have. Exposed edges are very prone to chipping paint, unfortunately, and ones that get "messed with" frequently like that door are much worse. IMO, to fix it "right" you ought to try to remove it via the hinge, strip it, etch & alodine the bare aluminum, prime with a good epoxy primer and then top-coat it with some matching paint. Prep work is key for getting paint to stick to aluminum.
Lionudakis Posted August 10, 2012 Report Posted August 10, 2012 You could try airbrushing it in (Preval sprayers work well for heavier paints like you'd use), overlapping back past the edge of old paint, and finishing it out with a little wetsanding with some 2000 to help smooth blend it together, but blending the new into old, away from the repaired area, then rubbing compound to further blend and shine it up. For touchup like that you can use most any kind or brand of urethane available from a paint house. Clean it well, scotchbrite and sand the edges of the paint to hide the edge, and to help it adhere to the existing paint. I have found that the time trying to blend something usually outweighs just refinishing the whole piece, but conditions may not allow that. My hanagar is still a mess from my paintjob, stop by and I'll help you out :-)
Lionudakis Posted August 10, 2012 Report Posted August 10, 2012 I never mentioned prep.. KSMooniac got it
1964-M20E Posted August 14, 2012 Report Posted August 14, 2012 You coudl remove the entire top colwing stirp and paint the whoel thing utilizting proper techniques. You might see a color match issue at the joints to the other colwing parts. I know when atuo body paintes are color matching teh progressively mix a clear into the base paint and progessively getting further from the repair unitl they are almost shooting clear. I'm not sure how well this would work with a solid color like on the plane but you could try it on the top cowl.
AmigOne Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Posted August 14, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions, re the last one I did do that with the airplane I had before and it was not cheap. I'm committed to keep all investments in my Mooney to a minimum, particularly cosmetic investments which are seldom recovered. My airplane looks very good as it is but these small things bug me and I was trying to get ideas from the members on how to do it myself.
DaV8or Posted August 14, 2012 Report Posted August 14, 2012 I used to paint cars, so from that experience I can tell you the challenge is color match and blending. You need a precise color match, even for white. To do this you should bring the top cowl to the paint store and pay for a custom tint. Back in the day I was painting, they used to have a blending solvent you sprayed on top of the patch job. What it did was, cause the rough over spray around the edges of your patch to sort of melt down and better blend the texture of the repair to the existing paint. It was a long time ago and now they're using 2 part epoxy paints and I'm not sure it applies anymore. You may have to repaint the entire top cowl if you are really particular. If you do, you run the risk of making the rest of the plane look bad. You see where this goes...
aviatoreb Posted August 14, 2012 Report Posted August 14, 2012 Quote: 1964-M20E You coudl remove the entire top colwing stirp and paint the whoel thing utilizting proper techniques. You might see a color match issue at the joints to the other colwing parts. I know when atuo body paintes are color matching teh progressively mix a clear into the base paint and progessively getting further from the repair unitl they are almost shooting clear. I'm not sure how well this would work with a solid color like on the plane but you could try it on the top cowl.
carusoam Posted August 14, 2012 Report Posted August 14, 2012 Almost similar to Erik's paint match... I took parts from my plane to the automotive paint shop and purchased an off white in a spray can. Fixed a chip over the door opening about 1/4" in diameter. Couldn't see the fix when it was done. It's better to pay somebody with skill for larger areas, but do it yourself is probably better than not doing it. Prep, paint, sand and paint sand and paint.... You can always pay someone to fix it. No barns were razed by this message. Good luck. Best regards, -a-
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