While Phil Norman gets involved in some heavy welding work we jumped into his spray booth to get some restoration work of our own done

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Myself being normally a fairweather painter (and I use the term painter very loosely) the opportunity to try my hand in Brickfield Autos proper spray booth was not to be sniffed at. After some welding up of previously butchered holes in our Type 25
Dashboard we were ready to get to work at Brickfields
(www.brickfieldautos.com).

The welds only requiring a little filler, these was sanded back ready for etch prime.

The etch primer was to act as a key for what was to follow as we wanted to replicate the original textured finish of the volkswagen dashes. This came in the form of an aerosol of UPOL PLAST4 textured paint built up in thin layers over the etch prime.

Again building up in thin dust coats we sprayed over the pre mixed brown to match the dash pods and plasticwear we managed to source from Mick Crowe at NWVW (07794 727360). This ensured that the paint didn't clog and fill the indents between each grain of the texture - whilst matting agent added to the paint gave the end result it's satin sheen

We think it looks right on retro and will be refitting in the bus to get it to MOT as soon as we can.

If you too have a project that is nearing the end of the prep stage and fancy yourself good enough to paint it yourself then do give Phil Norman a ring (020 8689 8527). Like all good painters and restorers he is snowed under with work but if you can take advantage of his fully specc'd paint booth while he is knee-deep in welding work then go for it.