Spray or Hand Paint?

[Robert Clifford-Wing]

My 1926 3 litre has some deep seated rust within the end of the nearside VDP style wing. This is located where the wing is secured to the running boards and will have to be repaired with new plate. Incidentally, this has happened because of a failure to effectively seal the wing to its fastening plate, allowing water to lodge between the two surfaces. Both front wings have crazing to the paintwork, presumably indicating there have been a considerable number of coats applied over time?

I am reluctantly considering repainting part or all of my fabric bodied 3 litre. The car has a different green on the bonnet when compared with the wings, fuel tank and wheels. I am happy with a 'non perfect car' as I enjoy driving 3/4000 miles per annum and would not wish to create one I was worried about driving, for fear of scratching or damaging the paintwork. The existing paintwork has been brushed and not sprayed creating a pleasing patination. Were 1926 3 litres sprayed or brush coated and, what type of paint do members consider to be appropriate in delivering a similar to original finish?

[Philip Edginton]

Based on your own comments, I would think a use of the brush seems imminent.

[William Highley]

Dear Robert,

If you are thinking of hand / brush painting a large panel such as a VdP full length front wing I think you might find it difficult to get an acceptable finish.
In the past I used Tekaloid paint which was a very slow drying paint. It had a very distinctive smell. It took about 24 hrs to dry and the brush marks disappeared. You could easily feather in between brush strokes. The only problem being dust settling on it while it was drying.
The Tekaloid paint you can buy nowadays is not the same. It is still called Tekaloid but dries far too quickly.
The nearest I have found is a paint called Craftmaster Paint. I think it is used to paint narrow boats etc. It is still not as good as the old Tekaloid paint. You would be fine painting the chassis but a large front wing would be difficult to get a good finish.Having said that I am sure the professionals would be able to do it. Are you thinking of doing it yourself?
When my father bought his 1928 4½ litre Bentley he asked Vanden Plas to paint the Bonnet in Black Cellulose. It is mentioned in the Vanden Plas records for his body order. So spray painting was certainly being used in 1928. Not sure about 1926.
Your problem though might being finding the right colour to match the existing paint.
It might be worth you speaking to James E Pearce ( David) or R.C. Moss (Graham) for advice. I would be interested to know what paint they use for brush painting.

Kind Regards,
William Highley

[William Highley]

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Regards,
William

[Iain Warner]

I have used cellulose from Craftmaster Paints and in spite of them recommending it is sprayed on I applied with a brush after much experimenting with the cellulose thinners. The paint gives a nice satin finish as opposed to the very glossy finish of modern paints. I find the finish acceptable on what is basically a rather tatty car!
Do not know how the paint would work on a fabric though.
Cheers
Iain

[Robert Clifford-Wing]

Thank you for your thoughts and advise. Craftmaster Paints is used within the preservation movement, specifically, narrow boats and steam traction engines (where I have come across it). Its reputation is far from uniform and many have not been able to deliver an acceptable finish. I have used modern coach paint, which is in effect similar to enamel brushing paints. This is ok to use, providing temperature and thinning is balanced. Volume of paint verses flow/runs is the order of that day!

I have a friend whose business is in restoring classic cars etc. He has scanned the paint surface and arrived at trustworthy colour matches of the two greens. We are of the opinion that, if we brush paint there should be a final spray coat to reduce the effect of brush marks but to still leave the feel of a hand painted finish. Luckily the green used on the wings bodywork, apart from the bonnet is called *** Bentley green, where the * indicates I cannot recall the first part of the name.

When an old vehicle or similar article patinates over time, there are always difficult decisions to be made when considering 're finishing' visible surfaces.

I recall a lovely old traction engine that was cleaned down with an oily rag, leaving a mellow brown colour that was so pleasing to the eye. Following major boiler works the owners were left with no other alternative but to repaint the engine. I have never yet walked past it without asking someone what the name of the new engine is, as I have NEVER seen it before. Its original colour was green with brown wheels! Maybe the secret is to live with the rust bubbles and arrest any further deterioration?

[William Highley]

When I was experimenting with Craftmaster paints I was recommended to try something called OWATROL. You add it to the paint in varying percentages. It's described as a paint conditioner and rust inhibitor. It's supposed to improve the paint flow. It certainly slowed the drying time.I was doing up an old cattle trailer so used it to try it out on. It seemed to work well but as I was not after a professional finish I ended up just using a fine haired roller on the roof panels. It may be worth you trying some Owatrol and seeing what you think.

It's such a shame that Tekaloid in it's original form is no longer being made.

A friend of mine painted his 3 litre Bentley, Brescia Bugatti and a Stanley Steam car with it and the finished results were quite spectacular.

Good luck with your car.

Kind Regards,

William

[John Murch]

I recall seeing a freshly restored car in the states that had a pleasing finish, on enquiring the owner said that it was a conventional sprayed paint but it had then been rubbed down with wire wool and WD40.

[Stephen Blakey]

Interesting thread. Would it be a shame to lose the crazing on the wings? We have a member in our region who has the same dilemma with his delightfully scruffy original VDP 3L still in the remains of pre-war paint.

I had wondered about the claims on the Craftmaster website which do seem a bit too good to be true bearing in mind that a lot of the best bits of paint have been banned.

I painted a racing car for a pal while he was working in the same space. This meant the two pack primer had to be applied by roller which was quick and easy. The cheapo Screwfix rollers didn't last long but you can get solvent-proof ones for not much more. It was a bit orange-peely but then primer gets rubbed down anyway. Two pack primer is wonderful stuff and worth considering whatever you're putting on top. In this case he asked for cellulose so that it could be easily patched if it got scraped. Modern cellulose is awful but I sprayed on a few coats and it looks alright. I've a feeling he brushed some on the underneath.

On furniture, I've used the oft recommended put it on with a roller and lay it off with a brush technique. That is quicker and gives a more even coating than just brushing.

Anyway good luck and do let us know what you decide. Personally I wouldn't rule out brushing two-pack, however you'd have to knock off the shine e.g. as described by John, above. You'd need to work outside before the flies wake up as the smell is pretty bad, although it won't kill you. It's the spray-mist that does that. Express Paints do a good range of Lechler industrial paints in RAL colours, inter alia. Possibly too much of an experiment?

Finally, if you decide it's all too much trouble and you'd rather get someone else to do it, OCS Paint of Northampton did a fantastic job on Andy Bond's championship winning 1956 Chevy. Bearing in mind this is effectively a new car, the attention to detail is breathtaking and must have taken hours and hours. Can't have been cheap, though.