THE unofficial Durabak Thread (1 Viewer)

[bosljeff]

Okay, I'm gonna try to consolidate all the threads regarding specifically durabak with my own step by step experience starting today.

I have a 4 day break and I am going to prep and paint the lower portion of my 60 with Black UV durabak. I'm gonna provide a step by step with frequent updates. A lot of my research came from "Durabak-ed my 80 this weekend" by MaddBaggins, "Rhino lining the body of a 60" by cwb, "Durabak tips" by llih, and several of concretejungle's threads regarding the process.

On my way out I'm gonna get it washed, no wax, just a good cleaning.

STEP 1: SHOPPING LIST
-xylene 1 gallon
-tape: wire, electrical, 3M...
-Bondo: I'm not rich and have some rust holes and I am going to fill in the holes where the chrome strip runs along the bottom.
-Sandpaper: 80, 100 grit
-Scotch Pad things...
-Xacto knife with blades
-Surgeon's masks so I can keep my lungs
-Some sort of anti rust/primer: rust mort, silver bullet, POR-15, Permatex, rust bullet, zero-rust
-Paint mixer paddle for drill
-paint pans
-paint rollers
-putty knife for bondo
-rags

I'm off to buy all this ****, an update to follow when I get back.

 

[bosljeff]

Okay, so here is what I got:

-Paint pan
-3 paint pan liners
-drop cloth
-40, 60, 80, 100 grit sand paper
-100 grit sponge thing
-sanding discs
-xacto knife w/blades
-rust brush wheel for drill
-rustoleum primer
-xylene
-masks
-metal bondo
-rags
-3m masking tape
-electrical tape
-4" rollers

NEXT---
-Removal of trim, bumpers, headlight shrouds...anything in the way.
-prep body where paint is bubbled/rusted (see pic)
-fill holes/sand/prep where chrome trim was
-tape
-sand/prime (as needed)

 

[bosljeff]

The bubbled paint that I will sand down, bondo if needed, and prime...

 

[bosljeff]

Started raining so I figured it's time for an update...

Everything is pulled off. I kept the front bumper on and took off the valence thing under the grille cuz the front bumper wasn't going to come off any time soon, so I will just durabak that valence thing off, then bolt it back on.

Everything is sanded down and all holes have been plugged with metal bondo. All I need to do now is tape, final sand, xylene, then paint.

I will probably black out the "Toyota" on the grille while I have it off.

Here are some pix, more to come...

 

[bosljeff]

Ready to tape...

 

[bosljeff]

PREP DONE:

First layer of tape is electrical cuz it follows curves much easier. The next 2 layers are green 3M masking tape.

All the areas are sanded with 80. I will xylene tomorrow when I am ready to paint.

Since everything was off, I decided to sand, clean, and black out a lot of those trim things...

 

[D'Animal]

I have to do this in the bed of my Tow Rig so I will be watching your thread.





Please get a real dust mask to save your lungs. Get one that has canister filters and seals against your face. They start at $29.95. You will notice when you use the ones you have you will end up with dirt around the sides of your lower nostril since they do not seal. A good rule of thumb is that if are smelling it, you are breathing it.

 

[bosljeff]

Thanks, I'll go get one right now before I start.

 

[antFJ]

mm looking good - question though - are you putting the rustoleom (rusty metal?) primer down before the durabak? is it okay to put bedliner over an oil-based primer?

 

[bosljeff]

I considered this, and sanded it away just in case

 

[bosljeff]

APPLICATION
(I added a 4th layer of masking tape just to give me room to play)

First I did a xylene cleaning twice to the areas I was getting ready to paint.

Okay, I layed out my painting mat so I didn't ruin my driveway, got my drill with paint paddle, durabak can, paint pan with disposable liner, roller, and durabak roller.

For every section of the vehicle, I re-mixed the paint to keep the particles suspended. So, instead of pouring the paint into the pan, I just dipped the roller in the can, then ran it up and down the pan to distribute the paint.

I then set my stopwatch cuz it is hot and humid as hell here in NC so I figured my cure time was going to be much shorter.

For the FIRST coat I painted side to side and went thin, just enough to see a little color through the durabak. Again, at each new section of the car, I would slide all my crap down, re-mix the paint, then paint.

The first coat took my about 27 minutes. I put the roller in some xylene, closed the can, got some water and let it cure for about another 30 minutes.

After the FIRST coat:

 

[bosljeff]

SECOND coat: nothing different except I went up and down with my strokes. Same as first coat other than that: mix, paint, move, mix, paint move.

This coat again took me about 27 minutes. After this coat my durabak roller finally fell apart, so I got my second one ready for the third coat.

After this SECOND coat, I stripped that 4th layer of blue tape fwiw.

I sill waited it out so this coat had a total of about an hour to cure.

SECOND coat, 4th layer of tape removed:

 

[bosljeff]

THIRD coat

I did decide to do a third coat since there was still paint showing through on lots of spots.

The directions stated to remove the tape after the second coat. I assumed that was with the understanding that a person was only doing 2 coats, so at this point I just repeated my sytem for a third and final coat with the exception of using a brand new duraback roller thing, switching back to side to side strokes, and taking a regular brush and "stippling" those hard to reach places.

Same as normal, mix, paint, move....

This coat again took me about 25 minutes. So total time is nearly 2 and 1/2 hours of curing time. I immediately went to remove the rest of the tape EXCEPT the last layer of electrical tape.

I was getting nervous that the durabak may have cured too long and that the tape was going to pull it off...it didn't.

Final coat, all tape but electrical tape pulled:

 

[bosljeff]

REMOVAL of electrical tape:

By the time I got all but the last layer of tape off, the 3 coats had been curing for about 3 hours in hot, humid NC. I thought for sure the electrical tape would pull all my work off...it didn't.

And the "ledge" people have mentioned is so very small even after 3 coats. Don't worry about it.

Just went slow and smooth.

 

[bosljeff]

Final product all buttoned up with newly blacked out stuff:

(Before pic is 1st)

 

[bosljeff]

And last one...

 

[Taildragon]

Nice work. I like the lines you chose. I've been thinking about doing this to my 4runner. Thanks for the write-up. JT

 

[bosljeff]

TIPS:
I will update this as they come to me...

-once that can is open you are under a time frame cuz that stuff starts to cure in the can. so have everything you need. At least 3 of the durabak stipple roller things. Have someone available to run errands for you too just so you don't have to leave the project. I was alone for the weekend, so I had everything I needed and then some back ups.

-I bought 2 gallons and only used a little over 1/2 of one. However, now I have a fresh one available, and an unused durabak roller for touch up if needed.

-Get some knee pads or a roller stool if you have bad knees. work smart, not hard.

-I went a little OCD and let the thing cure for 5 total days in my garage before exposing it to any elements.

-

 

[bosljeff]

I'm crazy busy. I'll get back to you soon...

I used the textured UV stuff. Not bad, but it will scratch ya. In the engine bay I personally would use smooth. The rough looks better on the outside, rather than looking like you tried to paint it, it looks like you "armored" it up. In the engine bay where you'll be scraping knuckles, smooth may be the way to go.

Pix soon.

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

That looks nice good work!

I have two gallons sitting here one in black for under the tub and Dark Grey with UV for the inside of the tub. I WANT TO SPRAY it but everything i read says good luck... Has anyone had any experience with spraying it??