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One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-09-05 11:32 PM (#614793)
Subject: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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One of my long list of things to do on my car, that I did in 2019 flying back from Europe, was improving the paint on my 56 Dodge's roof. It wasn't terrible overall but there were areas that required attention. To this end, over this past winter, I investigated alternatives to the original "Sapphire White" roof paint and fixed an area damaged by dripping fluid in the parking garage where my car had been stored by the seller.

At one point I had been told Ford's Wimbledon white from DupliColor was a good match. I tried that when I repaired the edge of the roof near the rain gutters a few years ago but in the end, I thought that both Wimbledon white and the original Sapphire white were too yellow for my tastes. I investigated alternatives and came up with a DupliColor Chrysler "Stone White" that I liked much better. I documented that investigation here:

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=75368&...

I ended that thread with this statement:

56D500boy - 2021-05-14 8:43 AM
If that doesn't work out, I am quite happy with the Chrysler "Stone White" and will be applying that to my roof this summer.)




Well, its Labour Day long weekend and nice warm days are going to start to be fewer and farther in between so I finally got on it again the other day.

First thing was to resand. I did this with 220 and 400 grit W&D (Dry). They I wiped it down with a slightly damp micro fibre towel. While that little bit of moisture evaporated away, I masked the roof and the rest of the car, using 3 mil drop sheets over the front and rear of the car and newspaper on the side (I had had a previous FkUp during the winter when I was patching a bit of the roof and trying out the various paints and I didn't want a repeat of that. Plus I knew that there would be overspray (or at least atomized paint that might or might not be dry when it drifted down onto the darker blue hood and trunk paint. Better safe than sorry.

I planned on two coats with 4 cans per coat. Basically one can per quarter of the roof per coat. For the first coat I had left the paint in the sun to warm it up. (Actually I might have got it too warm).

I used a two-step step-stool to give me some height and a better angle down onto the roof.

I don't know how this happened, but the way it worked out, I sprayed the driver's side first and mostly started in the center of the roof and pulled back to the outer edge, trying as much as possible to work in a wet edge. The advantage to that was if the lower edge of the spray can touched the roof, it did so where there was no paint. So no harm, no foul. The disadvantage of that was I was blowing "overspray" back over the wet paint. Not the best idea.

So on the passenger side, I reversed the process and started at the outer edge and moved towards the center of the car. That seemed to work better because I could see the wet edge much better. The downside was when the bottom edge of the can inadvertently touched the roof as a moved from left to right (and right to left), it scraped into wet paint. Fortunately I only did that a few times and, when I did, I found the scrape line and added more paint to hopefully fill it in. The other disadvantage was I blew more overspray onto the otherside (not good).

When the first coat was dry (enough)(the next day), I dry sanded the paint with fresh 600 grit paper. I wiped it down with a lint free cloth and then the damp microfiber cloth.

Once I could see the state of the roof a bit better, I could see a few small areas that needed a bit of spot putty so I added that and let the spots dry before sanding with 220, 400 and 600 grit in preparation for the second (and last coat). I spot painted where the sanded spot filler had been applied so that area wouldn't end up thin on paint.

Now fully aware of the overspray issue, before the second (and last) coat, I masked off a little less than half of the roof with thin black garbage bags. The idea was I could use the garbage bags to limit the impact of the overspray on the previously painted area.

I masked off the passenger side of the roof yesterday and sprayed the second coat on the driver's side. Trying to push the wet edge from the outer edge of the roof towards the center. I wasn't always successful in sticking with Plan A and sometimes reverted to moving from the middle towards the outside. As long as I was seeing wet and shiny areas, I don't know if it mattered. I think that I only scraped the roof with the spray can edge once moving from the outside towards the middle.

Today I removed the garbage bags and sanded in the middle strip with 400 and 600 grit before wiping down the passenger side and adding the masking bags to the driver's side (in both cases I think I covered about 45% of the area and painted on the 55% side (so there will be plenty of paint in the middle).

Then I tried harder to go with Plan A and paint from the outside edge towards the middle, pushing the wet edge towards the middle and eliminating getting overspray onto a wet painted area. I think that was more successful in achieving a nice shiny surface than going from the middle outwards. I think that I grazed the roof very lightly with the spray can only twice and was able to correct the small line with more paint almost immediately. So again, no harm, no foul.

I will wait at least one day (maybe two) before I start wet sanding the entire roof with 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 grit W&D sandpaper (wet). I will then use Meguire's No. 4 and No. 9 polish to finish off. Hopefully the results will be decent. Regardless, the result *should* be much better than what I started with. (I hope)

Here are a few photos from the past couple of days (any dark spots in the photos are due to dust inside my little digital garage camera):

Edited by 56D500boy 2021-09-06 3:22 PM




(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMasking.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterFirstCoat_1CanPerQuarter.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSecondCoatOnDriversSideWithMaskingOnPassengerSide_2MoreCans.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSecondCoatOnPassengerSideWithMaskingOnDriversSide_2MoreCans_1.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSecondCoatOnPassengerSideWithMaskingOnDriversSide_2MoreCans_2.jpg)



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Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMasking.jpg (165KB - 116 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterFirstCoat_1CanPerQuarter.jpg (144KB - 123 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSecondCoatOnDriversSideWithMaskingOnPassengerSide_2MoreCans.jpg (125KB - 115 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSecondCoatOnPassengerSideWithMaskingOnDriversSide_2MoreCans_1.jpg (102KB - 112 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSecondCoatOnPassengerSideWithMaskingOnDriversSide_2MoreCans_2.jpg (139KB - 111 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-09-07 9:05 PM (#614820 - in reply to #614793)
Subject: RE: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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56D500boy - 2021-09-05 8:32 PM
I will wait at least one day (maybe two) before I start wet sanding the entire roof with 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 grit W&D sandpaper (wet). I will then use Meguire's No. 4 and No. 9 polish to finish off. Hopefully the results will be decent. Regardless, the result *should* be much better than what I started with. (I hope)


The second coat of paint went on Sunday and I restrained myself to wait on the sanding until today (Tues).

All sanding was wet, augmented with a damp cloth to wipe away the wet sandings. I only used a bit of 600 grit - on a few areas that had a bunch of overspray "grit". Then I did two rounds of 800 grit and one of 1000. I thought I had some 1200 but I was wrong. Just 2000 so I did one round of that.

After the second round of 800, I tested a couple of areas with Meguires No. 4 machine polish (by hand). Definitely improved the look. One of those two test areas got some Meguires No. 9 "Swirl Remover" and that further improved the situation. I actually thought about going directly from 800 to the Meguires No. 4 (and No.9). But I decided to go 1000 and 1200 (except it was 2000) to make the application of Meguire's No. 4 (and No.9) easier (and more successful).

I'll work on hand application of No. 4 tomorrow and then machine polishing with No. 9 to end off.

Here is today's sanding result (looks better in person than in this photo):

Edited by 56D500boy 2021-09-07 11:24 PM




(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_SecondCoat_After600_800_1000_and2000W&Dsanding.jpg)



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Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_SecondCoat_After600_800_1000_and2000W&Dsanding.jpg (135KB - 111 downloads)
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Viper Guy
Posted 2021-09-08 2:35 PM (#614839 - in reply to #614793)
Subject: Re: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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Hey, looks professional enough to me. Rattle Can Magic for sure. Great job!
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-09-09 2:17 AM (#614858 - in reply to #614839)
Subject: Re: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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Viper Guy - 2021-09-08 11:35 AM
Hey, looks professional enough to me. Rattle Can Magic for sure. Great job!


Thanks. That was before polishing with Meguires No. 4 and No. 9 polishes (today) so you might even like today's results even more (or not)

I tried the No.4 by hand with a microfibre/foam hand pad and it was too brutal. So I dug out my 10" Simoniz brand random orbital polisher and foam bonnet for the application. Went very on quickly and then I took it off with the 10" with a Terry-cloth/microfibre bonnet (foam bonnet off). I took some photos at that point.

For the No. 9 (Swirl remover) I started to use the 10" random with the foam bonnet but the bonnet ripped and blew up in the first minute so I applied the No. 9 by hand. In retrospect, I was *TOO* generous with the No. 9 because removing it and polishing with the 10" and the Terry-cloth/microfibre bonnet resulted in a bunch of snot balls. So I went with microfibre towels by hand. Even that was tough. In the end, I reverted to using clean (new) blue shop towels to get the last bits of polish off.

During this final process, I found a few areas that needed more 800/1000 grit Wet and Dry. Asking the No. 4 and No. 9 to correct those areas was asking a lot. The good thing is with this process, you can always go backwards and start over again, as needed in select areas.

Took the car to a "Pop-up" car show (that has been popping up in the same place on Wednesday nights since about May. I have been to 4 or 5).

The roof is NOT PERFECT but it is much better than it was a week ago when I started this process.

Photos from today:


Edited by 56D500boy 2021-09-09 10:49 AM




(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4_1.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4_2.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4AndNo9_1.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4AndNo9_2.jpg)



(56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterW&Dsanding_AfterMequiresNo9_3.jpg)



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Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4_1.jpg (199KB - 116 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4_2.jpg (121KB - 126 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4AndNo9_1.jpg (147KB - 119 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterSandingAndMeguiresNo4AndNo9_2.jpg (143KB - 120 downloads)
Attachments 56Dodge4drSedanSprayBombRoofPainting_AfterW&Dsanding_AfterMequiresNo9_3.jpg (165KB - 120 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2021-09-09 1:46 PM (#614873 - in reply to #614793)
Subject: Re: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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I've used that paint before and it works well as long as you don't let it get too much UV exposure. Your polishing efforts seem to have paid off! Now you can consider doing the same polishing on the dark blue parts.

Edited by Powerflite 2021-09-09 1:47 PM
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-09-09 3:18 PM (#614878 - in reply to #614873)
Subject: Re: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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Powerflite - 2021-09-09 10:46 AM
I've used that paint before and it works well as long as you don't let it get too much UV exposure. Your polishing efforts seem to have paid off! Now you can consider doing the same polishing on the dark blue parts.


Thanks for that UV hint Nathan. This car lives in the garage, except on sunny days when I am driving it. I live in BC so no baking California sun to contend with. So I think that it should be fine. (??)

Hear you on the polishing. I have previously did a little polishing on the hood and trunk but I didn't go at it like I just did on the roof.

None of the other dark blue *OR* light blue areas have been colour sanded and polished - YET. They are on a list of things to be done (which *IS* getting shorter).



Edited by 56D500boy 2021-09-09 4:01 PM
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-10-08 9:53 PM (#615687 - in reply to #614878)
Subject: Re: One attempt at improving my 56 Dodge's white roof paint



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Location: Lower Mainland BC
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Somebody stop me!! Some how, I am caught up in making my car "perfect" instead of just "better."

The other day, I bought the Step 3 blue-topped 3M 06068 Ultrafine Maching Polish, which can make things even "better" (or not).



Yesterday I worked on the driver's side of the roof, wet sanding it with 1500 and then using the 06068 machine polish. It did improve things but now I start to see imperfections
that I didn't see before. Worse, somehow, while standing on the step stool and working on the rear driver's quarter of the roof, I managed to lean on the roof and scratch/chi[ the paint with something on my jacket.

When I got finished with the front driver's quarter, I cleaned up the scratch/chip and applied some paint (sprayed into a 35 mm film can), dabbing it on with a Q-tip. I did that a couple of times yesterday and once today. Then I sanded the "bump" (no longer a chip, now a pimple). And in doing so, I sanded too hard and burned through a small section of the new paint, exposing the old paint.

So now I've sprayed that area with the Stone White and tomorrow I will attempt to stop myself from further destruction and lightly wet sand with 1500 and 2000 before polishing with the 06068.

The problem area is circled in red.

Wish me luck!





Edited by 56D500boy 2021-10-09 2:24 AM




(56DodgeCustomRoyal4drSedan_RoofPaintPolishingWith3M06068MachingPolish_1.jpg)



(56DodgeCustomRoyal4drSedan_RoofPaintPolishingWith3M06068MachingPolish_2.jpg)



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Attachments 56DodgeCustomRoyal4drSedan_RoofPaintPolishingWith3M06068MachingPolish_1.jpg (105KB - 107 downloads)
Attachments 56DodgeCustomRoyal4drSedan_RoofPaintPolishingWith3M06068MachingPolish_2.jpg (189KB - 112 downloads)
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