ACM 77how
to
One thing we did notice with
the shell on its spit was that
certain pressings welded to the
underside of the car were
galvanised – the lighter-coloured
parts in the picture(5). I didn't
know Ford did this to Fox
Mustangs, and really couldn't
figure out why those parts were
galvanised and not others. Either
way, it's worth remembering, as if
the blasting didn't remove all the
zinc coating, welding to
galvanised steel can produce
difficulties of its own.
Another unforeseen issue was
fingerprints (6). Your natural skin
oils will start to corrode bare
steel almost instantly, so Wacky
went round the shell looking for
them, then attacking them with
thinners and sandpaper to
remove all traces (7).Then it was time to lay on
some primer. Wacky had
recommended a Lechler two-
pack etch primer, ideal for bare
metal, with a tough finish(8). An
etching primer like this is slightly
acidic and really bites into the
metal, and it's not even
outrageously expensive. It's a
50/50 mix of etch primer (9)and
medium-fast hardener (10),
which requires a thorough
mixing before it goes in the gun.
Normally you'd need air-fed
breathing gear in a spray booth
for paint like this, but in a
massive building like this one,
with roller-shutter doors open at
either end and a huge extractor
fan system, a twin-filter
respirator was deemed enough
(11). And so the primer started
going on.➔5
6
7
10 11
9
8
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