If modern methods are employed, it is not difficult to refinish an automobile at home. Quick-acting chemical paint removers and electrically operated paint sprayers are rapidly replacing tedious scraping and brushing operations.

The cost of a small motor-driven spraying outfit can be more than saved by doing the job in one's own garage, and the outfit remains to become a permanent and valuable addition to the home workshop equipment. Several reliable, ruggedly built outfits are now on the market, priced under fifty dollars.

Although not hard, the work takes time - for a novice, about forty hours of actual working time. With lacquer finishing there is no waiting for paint to dry, as one side of the car will dry while the other is being sprayed. The car therefore need not be out of commission more than a week or ten days, which is about the time required by a professional finishing shop.

Before the work is undertaken, the following materials should be assembled. The quantities listed are sufficient for a sedan having a 120-in. wheel base and will cost about twenty dollars.

3 quarts paint remover 2 quarts red oxide of iron primer 2 quarts undercoat (color similar to finish) 2 quarts finishing lacquer for final gloss (sometimes called "retarder thinner"; it contains approximately 80 per cent thinner and 20 per cent body material) 1 gallon lacquer (total for one or more colors)

5 gallons lacquer thinner 1 tube glazing putty

1 gallon high test gasoline 1 gallon benzole

1 steel scraper

2 steel scratch brushes, one 2 by 6 in., and one

3/4 by 6 in.

6 sheets No. 2/0 emery cloth

6 sheets No. 280 waterproof sandpaper (also numbered 8/0) 6 sheets No. 400 waterproof sandpaper (also numbered 10/0) 2 rolls masking tape (if two colors are to be used) Sufficient tin to be cut into 3-in. strips for holding paper over the windows.

First, have the running gear washed at a garage under high pressure water and specify that the wheels be washed with gasoline to remove all grease. Then remove all easily detachable accessories, plated side lamps, and door handles. The engine hood should be taken off and used to experiment with; that is, every unfamiliar operation should be tried first on this part. Cover the wheels, engine, tires, and top with paper or rags (Fig. 1). Proceed to remove the finish as follows: Brush a coat of paint remover on the hood and allow it to stand until the finish crinkles up; then scrape the loose material off with the steel scraper (Fig. 2). As some patches will be harder to loosen than others, another brushing should be given and the remover allowed to stand twenty minutes while a part of the body is being brushed over. The second treatment will loosen all but a few traces of paint in the corners and along the edges of the metal. Remove the thoroughly softened residue by scrubbing with the larger steel brush (Fig. 3). Continue this process over all the steel parts, not overlooking the underside of the hood, but under no circumstances allow the remover to come in contact with any of the wooden parts.

Fig. 1. - Cover the motor, wheels, and top with paper or old clothes before applying the paint remover.

All the steel should now be rubbed with the emery cloth until bright and clean, special attention being given to corners around windows and pressed in or raised parts of the body and seams which form any sort of decoration.

If the wheels are to be refinished, they may be removed and the tires taken off, but this is usually done after the body is finished, as the process is much simpler.

Before proceeding further, run the car out and sweep up the dried finish scraped from the body. Also sweep down the walls of the garage and remove anything that would be injured by spots of lacquer. It is not necessary or desirable to wet down the walls or floor as in the case of other methods of finishing; in fact, the final three coats of lacquer should not be sprayed on in rainy or humid weather.

All the usual precautions should be observed in regard to fire. There must be no smoking nor open flames in the vicinity of highly volatile liquids, such as the gasoline, benzole, and thinner.

Good ventilation is also essential, for, although the fumes of lacquer solvents have a pleasant banana odor, continued breathing of the atomized material itself might cause dizziness to anyone unused to it. Keep a window and the main door of the garage open unless the breeze is too strong. If one is especially sensitive to strong fumes, a small respirator, costing fifty cents, may be worn while one is operating the sprayer.

Neatness and cleanliness are equally essential in the actual application of the priming coats and the finishing lacquer. Start with the hood, which should be set up on an old table or box and given another good washing with benzol. Do not run over the surface hurriedly, but rub it hard. After it seems as though nothing could possibly be left, rub the whole surface with a lint less cloth dampened with thinner. During the cleaning, remember that the edges and seams require the most attention.

Fig. 2. - Scraping off the old finish. The crinkled finish peels off easily when softened by the remover.

Mix a pint of rust inhibitive red oxide of iron with a pint of thinner and fill the jar of the spray gun three quarters full. Start the motor and try the spray against a piece of tin. If the mixture is of the right consistency, a smooth, even coat will be deposited. A lumpy or pitted surface indicates that the liquid is too heavy and should be cautiously thinned further. If it sags or runs, it is too thin and more primer should be added. Now spray the hood all over the outside, keeping the spray constantly in motion and held about 8 in. from the surface. Move the spray at an even speed back and forth horizontally and keep it pointed directly at the surface at all times. Start the gun in operation away from the work and swing it on while spraying. Lap each parallel deposit about one quarter over the previous stroke. Never stop the gun abruptly on the work; swing it away so that any necessary joining of sprayed surfaces will be "feathered."

Fig. 3. - Thoroughly clean the body of all old paint by "scratch brushing" it with a stiff wire brush.