Fiat paintwork restoration

[John Shore]

Recently a MMM reader asked for help regarding the failed paintwork on his campervan. Just in case this is helpful, I have a 2004 Fiat ducato from the era when they seemed to use water-soluble paint! The paint eventually thins down to the grey primer and then down to rust!
Any attempt to respray just lifts the edges of the original paint.
I recently tried brushing on the white Metal paint sold in plastic cans in Lidl's and it didn't lift or bubble up the old paint. And when the paint was fully dry, I was then able to use aerosols of Lidl's gloss Metal paint to restore the finish (all carried out in very hot weather of course).

[John52]

I used a can of generic white spray paint to do the bonnet and grill under the windscreen of my X2/50 where it was flaking.  If you do the whole panel you don't notice a slight difference in the colour.  Rust doesn't seem to be a problem on the X2/50 bodyshell as its galvanised.

Sevel changed to water based paint for very good environmental reasons, so I think we should cut them some slack and not complain too much about it.  One guy was demanding they strip and respray his roof which I thought was unfair - you could use any white paint up there as nobody sees it.

[laimeduck]

 

I have just patched up the paintwork on my 2005 Benimar Ducato in the cab area.
The paint was flaking off under the door windows and on both front wings.
I had already had the bonnet resprayed in about 2012 as that was flaking badly along the leading edges.
The base vehicle was made in 2003, so the paintwork is 20 years old. I guess as a commercial vehicle the paint was not expected to last very long
I sanded down the areas, applied Jenolite to some rust spots, sanded again, then gave 3 coats of grey primer, wet and dry sanded again, then used aerosol fiat bianchi spray paint - 4 or 5 coats. In a couple of weeks when the paint is completed cured I will use a cutting compound to normalise the areas then polish with a good wax.
The whole process took about a day, with a few days in between processes.

Considering I last did this sort of work on a TR4 wing back in 1970, I am very happy with the result.
BUT, how long before other areas begin to flake? ... Who knows!

Jeremy

[John52]

Looks like a good job Jeremy

I just wonder if it would have been easier to take the wings off and do it in the garage?

Certainly is with the X2/50 bonnet and windscreen grille - only 4 bolts, do it out of the wind and weather, and use cheap generic white paint as you don't see the difference when you spray the whole panel.  When you take out the 4 bolts it leaves a paint mark you can use to line it up when you put them back

[laimeduck]

32 minutes ago, John52 said:

Looks like a good job Jeremy

I just wonder if it would have been easier to take the wings off and do it in the garage?

Certainly is with the X2/50 bonnet and windscreen grille - only 4 bolts, do it out of the wind and weather, and use cheap generic white paint as you don't see the difference when you spray the whole panel.  When you take out the 4 bolts it leaves a paint mark you can use to line it up when you put them back

John - Fortunately the weather was dry if not a bit windy, and I really don't have the facilities to remove the wings and the doors .... (and then put them back on successfully!)

We've also just given the ghastly grey plastic "bumper" it's annual wipe over with Olive oil which transforms the look!

[John52]

Looks great Jeremy

But I tried olive oil on the faded patchy grey plastic on the X2/50 and it wasn't a success.  Didn't revive the colour and caused some streaking.  The only think I found that worked well on the X2/50 plastic was cleaning it off and melting the surface with a 3kw electric hot air gun with a flat nozzle - the type used for welding plastic tarpaulin sheets.  Just had to melt the surface without getting the plastic soft enough to distort - which is easier than it sounds because the colour changes as soon as it melts, so you can see as soon as its time to move the gun on.

Like some professionals do to prepare vehicles for sale.  Works great first time round - but the more times you do it the less effective it is

PS: I doubt if it would work with the DIY type paintstripper hot air gun - not hot enough and the heat too widely distributed with the round nozzle - You just need to heat the surface - I think you would end up heating the plastic right through so it distorts.