advice on painting parts!!

[Whippy]

well i have the pastel blue lupo, and what im going to aim for is really glossy black mirrors and wheels.

I currently am only going to run my steelies for winter but want them to be a gloss black, but i would like to do this work myself!! is it possible to re-furb the steelies and get them glossy??

And with the wing mirror covers is there a trick to get a good shine?

cheers everyone

[Deadmetal]

Make sure you clean everything really well, and youll need to key/rough up the surface abit so the paint'll stick.

A few thin coats of pain rather than one thick one is better for getting a smooth finish.

The paint should have a gloss finish to it, unless you buy matte or satin finish. Couple cost of clear laquer couldnt hurt.

[nfbr]

Use a lacquer ontop of it and polish them up using a decent polish like T-Cut, then something a bit finer.

[Whippy]

ok...so with mirrors:

few coats of primer

few light coats of black

the few dustings of lacquer!!

and the wheels??

cheers guys

[marcusgrant]

Remember its all about the prep work

[pro3mark]

Patience, patience, patience.

[marcusgrant]

As Take That would say... "Just have a little Paaaaitence"

[CasperGTI]

Im just doing my interior plastics at the moment, you could use the same sort of process, im aimin for a piano black finish so im going mad.

Key up the surface with 400 grit or something fairly coarse. Then put a layer of filler primer over followed by a layer of grey plastic primer.

Wait for it to go hard (i left mine overnight in the warm) then get some wet and dry sand paper, 800 grit this time. Wet sand it for a better finish and to stop getting the paper clogged up. Aim for a flat surface, gauge how far you are cutting it back by seing the change in colour between the layers (filler is yellow and top coat ig grey) Take you time though.

I then did another filler layer and another plastic primer layer and then sanded back with 800, then went to 1200 grit after. Left it for a day to fully cure.

Then go for your colour, id reccomend if your coming out of a rattle can then 2-3 coats with a light sand of 1500grit in between. Then after time for curing put another coat on that is fairly thick, your aiming for a really level coat, if you get any runs, wait for it to cure and then sand the run only and dust some colour back over. Leave it to cure again!

Then get the laquer on, 3-4 coats with a very light sanding in between. After the top coat has been applied, dont sand it. Let it go very hard and then use a polishing compound like t-cut or G3 followed by G10 or a good car polish.

If you get it right, they will come out really well. Mine are still half way through being done, Starting to look good though.

Takes a long time, and you need patience, but the results will be good.. and you cans ay you did them yourself if they look good enough!!

John

[marcusgrant]

Good write up

After reading that i think i may have a go at doing some of my interior bits.

[jamiea7x]

if its just gloss black then laquer wont really be necessary give it as many light coats of black as you can then flat it back with 1200 grit sandpaper then tcut to a high gloss then use a good polish on top..

i did my dash like this..will redo it at some point as i was a bit too vigirous with the tcut and blasted through to the primer on a little bit( hence telling you to give a fair few coats)

[Taxi Adam]

that ipod holder is class lol.

[HAIRBear]

haha quality! maybe not if someone looking to buy in the furure doesnt have an ipod! lol

[Whippy]

wow thanks for that guys its deff given me enough information now to do my own stuff

jamiea7x that ipod holder is insane

i thought t-cut removed crap from your paint work - so after all my coats of black t-cut the paint then wax it?? cheers

does anyone know about getting gloss black for the steelies???

cheers everyone, helping alotttt

[CasperGTI]

Laquer gives a higher gloss, end of. Thats why it is used on cars to obtain a high gloss finish.

Plus when you Polish it, you wont burn through the colour.

Laquer is also a much harder paint, so harder wearing.

[Deadmetal]

For the wheels try spray hammerite. My bro used it on his Mini wheels and they look pretty damn good.

[arosa_rory]

I see your only in oxfors, thats not too far from where I am.

Ok I dont know where to start with advice here other than avoid all the cheap crap from halfords. The acrylic aerosol stuff is pants.

When it comes to painting plastic parts you have to ensure that the plastic is not fluffy but has a good key for adhesion promoter.

If the plastic has texture and you want it smooth then you need to work through the grades of paper, 180, 240, 320, 400. You need to ensure you lose all of the prep marks from the previous paper.

Once the plastic is at 400 grade and has no prep marks in you can then start thinking about adhesion promoter, I normally use an aerosol prmoter made by upol - I will take a pic and upload it. Dust this on then give it a few minutes to flash, this will go sticky and will allow the primer to set nicely.

For small jobs you can use something like Upol high5, apply this on then give it a guide coat. Once this is dry wetflat it with 800 to remove the guidecoat. This will show you where the high and low spots are. Dont worry if you break through the primer in some places just take it easy on the edges.

The next step is to re prime the part and guide coat it, again when this is dry wet flat with 800 grade wet and dry. There shouldnt be any places where you go through the primer. You will be able to tell now that the primer is flat, this will mean the paint when applied wont look ripply in the sun.

Ifyou go through any edges of the primer it isn't the end of the world, i do this sometimes as it cant be helped, if this has happened to you then I would get a rub through primer, I use maxmeyer or octoral do one. apply this very gently and lightly over the parts, there is no need to rub this out as it dries extremely quick and flat. all this does is protects the paint on the edge lifting from a reaction or poor adhesion.

The next step is to apply the colour coat, give it a continuous coat that "wet" and even, make sure you overlap this evenly on every stroke, it is important to keep the paint wet as it is applied, failure to do so will result in poor gloss in the end, it also effects chemical bonding. once you have applied the base colour leave it fifteen minutes to flash, Apply a second coat now keeping it wet, again this is important, to keep the paint looking even and shiny once clearcoated.

After the second coat has been applied you need to leave this to flash off, this may take longer than 15 minutes depending on the temperature. you then need to apply the clearcoat, this where most people go wrong with runs etc. it is important to put the first coat on for adhesion not shine! Apply the first coat gently, you will not get shine yet.

Let that flash for 15 minutes then give the lacquer a good wet coat the same as the base colour you did keeping the strokes even and the overlap equal on every stroke. let this flash again for 15 minutes, the part should actually look shiny now. Once this has flashed give it another final coat of lacquer.

Let the part dry completely untill it is hard and set properly, doing it like this the part should look a mile deep with a mirror finish. If you have been unfortunate and got hitch hikers in the paint then you will need to polish this out, I wouldn't reccomend doing it with a mop because like me when I first had to do it I burned through the paint and the sprayer at work had to redo it, bloody apprentices lol

To polish it out by hand I would use a 2000 grade wet and dry, yu will see the part go matt and lose the shine, this is exactly how it needs to be, I would then apply some compound to it, I use 3m but farcela do g3 etc. Once this applied to the part buff it rele hard with a wet cloth and work it into the paint. Finish off with a dry terry towel and the piece should look like glass!

Hope this helps!

[jamiea7x]

Laquer gives a higher gloss, end of. Thats why it is used on cars to obtain a high gloss finish.

Plus when you Polish it, you wont burn through the colour.

Laquer is also a much harder paint, so harder wearing.

i was just saying that non metallic paint doesnt requite it,, and most cars that arent metallic arent clearcoated because it isnt needed a high gloss can still be acheived without it

and to rory should you not be letting the paint cure before laquering?

Edited January 3, 2010 by jamiea7x

[arosa_rory]

i was just saying that non metallic paint doesnt requite it,, and most cars that arent metallic arent clearcoated because it isnt needed a high gloss can still be acheived without it

I would disagree colours that don't require a lacquer are solid colours, even some metallics. Older cars used to all be painted using solid colours hence them fading in the sun. Colous that arent solid require a clear coat over the top to bring the gloss and protection, colours with a clear coat dont tend to fade like the older colours because they have a protective layer.

colour coats aren't meant to be shiny unless solid colours, by trying to bring a shine to the paint you are trying to use polish to make the paint appear somethign it isn't.

By solid paint I mean a colour coat that has the lacquer qualities mixed in with it to make it shine instantly.

Edited January 3, 2010 by arosa_rory

[CasperGTI]

Rory, thats some good info. Seems ive been going to slowly with my coats then.

Jamiea.. what are you on about? Most cars are clearcoated now a days?

Edited January 3, 2010 by CasperGTI

[jamiea7x]

haha quality! maybe not if someone looking to buy in the furure doesnt have an ipod! lol

its easily removed the grill vent will just pop back in if i remove it

[arosa_rory]

Rory, thats some good info. Seems ive been going to slowly with my coats then.

Jamiea.. what are you on about? Most cars are clearcoated now a days?

Cheers I've spent a good few years painting now! Any advice give us a shout!

[jamiea7x]

haha quality! maybe not if someone looking to buy in the furure doesnt have an ipod! lol

its easily removed the grill vent will just pop back in if i remove it

[jamiea7x]

Rory, thats some good info. Seems ive been going to slowly with my coats then.

Jamiea.. what are you on about? Most cars are clearcoated now a days?

maybe nowadays... im not saying youre wrong but cars are still painted without it otherwise when using things like t cut or a cutting compound you wouldnt get the colour coming through onto your cloth/pad, you get what i mean?

[arosa_rory]

maybe nowadays... im not saying youre wrong but cars are still painted without it otherwise when using things like t cut or a cutting compound you wouldnt get the colour coming through onto your cloth/pad, you get what i mean?

Again I disagree lol I am yet to spray a newer car without lacquer! the last car I painted that was a solid colour was a 99 plate punto, otherwise I'm yet to find one. Solid colours were replaced by newer methods and technologies a long time ago, although it is still available.

I would strongly suggest that if you have seen a newer car painted in solid that it has been resprayed by a lazy git! I have sprayed thousands of cars now so I have to disagree.

When you get colour come onto the pad when using tcut or similar it means the colour is solid which I discussed earlier and again I am yet to see a car painted with it thats newer than that punto I had to paint.

Edited January 3, 2010 by arosa_rory

[jamiea7x]

cool ah cool well upon looking back the last "solid" car i cleaned was my dads bravo think it was a 99/2000...so yea my mistake..i just assumed that cars were still painted that way wel the cheaper ones anyway