All You Spray Painter Experts Out There

[lingeringsoul]

Ok, I just got some side skirts and pretty soon I'm going to paint them myself. Just want to get some advice on the steps to getting a good finish. I've previously sprayed my dad's old datson before but it never came out shiny. So I was wondering if someone could clarify the steps.

So far here's what I kind of know:

Probably need to sand the side skirts and get rid of little scratches and fix up the slightly rough edge and make sure everything is smooth as it can be.

I assume the next step would be to spray on the primer - how many coats of primer do I need? Do I need to sand it back a little with extra fine sand paper before putting on the color coat?

When you spray the color coat, how many coats of that do you use? (last time I did it, we sprayed the car with 3 coats and it looked pretty good)

When do you apply the clear coat?

When do can you start polishing it?

Cut polish then wax or just wax?

Thanks

James

[skybarge]

hi, i'd say sand it down to about 200 grit, primer 2-3 times, then 400 grit

do about 3-5 coats colour

clear coat as soon as possible after the colour coats, definitely don't sand it down, unless you wait for the paint to completely harden first(a few days at least) then sand it, basically put the clear over the paint, that way you can clean up any orange peel by sanding back the clear, not the colour coat

use 800 grit for bad orange peel, 1200 for standard orange peel, 1500 for low and go all the way upto about 1800 grit, you can then start to buff it, have a rough pad and a polishing pad, it should look mint

I'm doing my 3rd car next weekend, I might be able to take a few pics for a full DIY

[lingeringsoul]

Thanks for the info much appreciate.

What is the orange peel thing though?

[frogman]

Yep, if they are just raw fibreglass gelcoat, you will need to primer them first. Give em a rub with 320 dry, then wipe on/wipe off with wax & grease remover (prepsol).

I'd say put on 4 good coats of primer (I'll guess you are using acrylic) Best to let it dry overnight at least, before rubing with 400 wet to knock it smooth, then a quick 800 wet to get the 400 scratches out. You can 'guide coat' it before & in between coats too if you want, use an acrylic spray can though not an enamel spray can.

Another prepsol before they are ready for colour. You only need to paint the colour till its all covered evenly, around 3 coats should be fine. You can pretty much just keep going with the clear, just normal flash off time is ok, so by the time you clean your gun out, it will be good to go.

If you plan on cutting them back & buffing/polishing them up, you will want 4 good coats of clear.

Let them dry for at least a day before cuting them back & polishing.

It will depend on how much peel you got & how smooth you want them to be for how much to cut them back. 1200 or 1000 wet will be fine, just be carefull on the edges not to rub through. I used to use a buffing compound called 'Farecla' on acrylic (back in the day!) to get all the 1200 scratches out, then polish them up with Autoglym Super Resin polish.

Prep work is pretty much the most important part. Acrylic is pretty easy to work with & fix if things go wrong too, so good luck!

& ask if ya have any more questions...

heres some orange peel

Edited October 29, 2007 by frogman

[lingeringsoul]

Ah so this is the orange peel.....somewhere in the back of my mind, I was wondering what to do if that happened. Quite a bit of preperation work to be done. There's still a bit of rough edges to sand out but I'll post up the result once its done. How exciting.

[mr. kirisaki]

Do a writeup for it lol. I might paint some skirts too soon... any different if they're plastic and not fibreglass?

[lingeringsoul]

I always do write ups if I doing something DIY.

[frogman]

Do a writeup for it lol. I might paint some skirts too soon... any different if they're plastic and not fibreglass?

Yep, if they are fresh plastic... rub them with a green scothchbrite pad and soapy water (carwash). Don't use much prepsol on a rag to clean them, but wipe them on/off twice.

You will have to use a plastic primer too.

[eugen_syd]

Why you bother????? Take it to a spray painter and than you can complain about the quality! Do you have decent spray gear and an oven? Preparation of the paint and quality of the paint job is the secret. People which do it every day .... know what they do it. Takes very little to screw it up..big time.

Take my advice, let others do it.

Cheers,

Eug.

[lingeringsoul]

Why you bother????? Take it to a spray painter and than you can complain about the quality! Do you have decent spray gear and an oven? Preparation of the paint and quality of the paint job is the secret. People which do it every day .... know what they do it. Takes very little to screw it up..big time.

Take my advice, let others do it.

Cheers,

Eug.

Why do I bother? I bother because I enjoy working on the car. I enjoy knowing the fact that it's something I can do myself. I like sanding it back and making it nice and smooth, I like applying the color knowing its almost finished. I like polishing it knowing its going to look good and I LOVE putting things back together knowing it looks 10 times better than before. It's just the way I am, I like doing things with my hands.

Let others do it you say? yeah I've done that, I've taken my car in for tuning and I've taken my car in for suspension change. Came back to pick it up and I can't say it thrilled me much because after spending all that money, I still don't know how to change my suspension and I still don't know how to tune my car.

Thats is why I bother to go to all that trouble. If I screw up big time, so what? there's alwasy a workshop that can fix it so I can do it again.

[eugen_syd]

woow.....huh...no replica...perfect...maybe you should start building your..own car...might be the best we can buy...

[benm]

I agree that the satisfaction in doing it yourself (even if it doesn't turn out 100%) is way more thrilling than just handing over money and picking your car up a week later.

I've spent the last 3mths (an hour here or there) prepping the entire interior of my car (including boot and engine bay) and ive only primed half of it (took me that long to learn how to use my electric spray gun). I could have handed over $1400 to a local shop and picked my car up a week later but somehow doing it myself (cost me about $300 so far for paint + spray gun + materials) is just much more exciting.

Like 1 of my mechanics says, if it doesn't look right or u make a mistake just rub it back and try it again!

[ScaryTed77]

woow.....huh...no replica...perfect...maybe you should start building your..own car...might be the best we can buy...

Dude, I don't know what your beef is with the OP, but get over it.

He asked for advice from Spray Painter Experts. He got a few replies from people who sound like they know what they are doing.

You gave some advice too...of sorts. Doesn't mean he has to take it.

It is his car, and his choice whether he does it himself or takes it to a workshop.

Yeah, if he does it himself he might make a mistake. It might not be a perfect finish. But if people are afraid to try their hand at something then we would have a lot less 'experts' around. Sure, most spray painters (I assume) would have formal training. I'd wager that most of them also learned heaps from giving it a go themselves, and from the mistakes they made along the way.

Edited October 30, 2007 by bnew

[mr. kirisaki]

Yep, if they are fresh plastic... rub them with a green scothchbrite pad and soapy water (carwash). Don't use much prepsol on a rag to clean them, but wipe them on/off twice.

You will have to use a plastic primer too.

Sorry a bit off topic... but they're not fresh plastic, they're painted (copped some second hand ones). So I'd probably follow the same painting technique, or will i still need to use plastic primer?

[MZTRBO]

Hey if your using two-pack paint, use an electric heater to bake them or even better, put it in your bathroom with the

heat lamp on. Ive seen it done with great success ask lengend01 on these forums.

Good Luck and have fun, 110% do it yourself. You learn to appreciate things alot more doing it yourself, I know how much respect I now have for full time mechanics and auto electricians.

Off topic, but next time you get the suspension done, do it yourself. I was so surprised how easy it was. One positive thing by doing something like that is you have the security of knowing what went on with your suspension plus the satisfaction of it all(not to mention the dollards saved).

Cheers

Daniel

[lingeringsoul]

Hey if your using two-pack paint, use an electric heater to bake them or even better, put it in your bathroom with the

heat lamp on. Ive seen it done with great success ask lengend01 on these forums.

Good Luck and have fun, 110% do it yourself. You learn to appreciate things alot more doing it yourself, I know how much respect I now have for full time mechanics and auto electricians.

Off topic, but next time you get the suspension done, do it yourself. I was so surprised how easy it was. One positive thing by doing something like that is you have the security of knowing what went on with your suspension plus the satisfaction of it all(not to mention the dollards saved).

Cheers

Daniel

I acutally don't know what kind of paint thats out there. I just want the ones to match the factory silver for the R33, nothing fancy or anything. Auto one should be able to make it up right? unfortunately i don't have a heater so I guess the best I can do is spray it on hot hot days which I'm sure are plentiful in the coming months.

Re suspension - yeah I was about to do them myslef, even had someone willing to lend me the tools to do it. Unfortunately car was stolen and recovered later. Had to take it to the mechanics to get the ignition barrel repaired so I have everything done while the car was there.

I don't know what the deal is with that guy, seems hell bent on not wanting me to do what I want with my car. Yes, if I had the money and the time and the tools, I would build my own car. I would go so far as to completely dismantle the car to a bare shell and put it back together again for shits and giggle if I had the know how. I don't know what you mean by "might be the best we buy". Anyway, I'm not continuing this argument. I'll post up photos as I go along. Will be doing some sanding tomorrow.

[Craved]

here is a hint .. the HVLP (high volume low pressure) gun sets from supercheap with the 1.8mm or 2.0mm gun is really good for laying 2 pak primer. havent tried them with actual colour coats, but i would use a better gun for that.

You will need :

> a compressor

> the HVLP gun

> 2pak primer (base, thinners and hardener) - from -

V.G. Auto Paints & Tools

Touch Up Paints, Colour Matching, Tools & Equipment, Polishes & More

11 Amax Ave Girraween NSW 2145

ph: (02) 9636 5411

> get some mixed up at a place like vg auto paints to match the factory silver

> stop putty for small imperfections

> 2K body filler for bigger imperfections

> acrylic spray can for guide coats

> sanding blocks - soft flex type and solid block

> Thinners for cleaning up the gun

> sand paper - lots of sand paper - 100 grit for roughing up the gelcoat and knocking back filler - 320 -400 -600 -800

NOTE : spraying 2k paints and primers at your house is illegal due to EPA regulations.

[skybarge]

That is some good advice

You are right about the gun from supercheap, the nozzle is too big, you'll want about a 1.6-1.4 for spraying the other coat you can get nozzles though

I bought a gun off ebay, professional spray HVLP for $150, works mint, I got a cheapie 2.5HP 40L compressor, which is ok, but a tad annoying having to wait for it to refresh every minute or so

You'll need a garage, don't do it outside, i did mine outside, it turned out ok, but then when i went to colour sand it, i noticed the tree next to my car had been sinking pollen into the newly done paint leaving craters in it after the sanding, it did shine very well though after a few rubs, but I'm redoing it in my garage to get no pitting.

If you do it in your garage, make sure you use the following:

- 3M respirator, automotive paint style, comes with 2 dust/paint filters, they work really well cost about $80

- A few old ventilation fans, you want air moving through the garage, not too much, but enough so you don't die, say 2 fans at each end with filters, get them off Ebay.com.au for cheap, or goto a hire place and hire them out. This will also help stop orange peel from occurring.

2k is quite good due to the fact it doesn't need a clear coat most of the time, it can be colour sanded straight down. Gutted about it being illegal, not illegal here in NZ luckily

But it is harder to get a good finish on straight away, due to the nature of the paint and the way it's mixed with the thinner, hardener and sticks to things like a son of a bitch

Acrylic laquer works well too, but you'll need a clear coat, it's easier to spray and sand, but be prepared for a bit of orange peel and a longer drying time.

If you don't have a compressor, gun, fans or any of the other stuff, it might work out cheaper to hire it.

Get some mates in one weekend, have a mad sand down of the car, I've got a dual action air sander, which i do mine with, which takes me about 8 hours for the full car, so that's not too bad and the circle sheets of sandpaper aren't too expensive.

here is a hint .. the HVLP (high volume low pressure) gun sets from supercheap with the 1.8mm or 2.0mm gun is really good for laying 2 pak primer. havent tried them with actual colour coats, but i would use a better gun for that.

You will need :

> a compressor

> the HVLP gun

> 2pak primer (base, thinners and hardener) - from -

V.G. Auto Paints & Tools

Touch Up Paints, Colour Matching, Tools & Equipment, Polishes & More

11 Amax Ave Girraween NSW 2145

ph: (02) 9636 5411

> get some mixed up at a place like vg auto paints to match the factory silver

> stop putty for small imperfections

> 2K body filler for bigger imperfections

> acrylic spray can for guide coats

> sanding blocks - soft flex type and solid block

> Thinners for cleaning up the gun

> sand paper - lots of sand paper - 100 grit for roughing up the gelcoat and knocking back filler - 320 -400 -600 -800

NOTE : spraying 2k paints and primers at your house is illegal due to EPA regulations.

[lingeringsoul]

Girrawen...sweet, thats right next door.

Alright a bit of update. Had some free time today so took the skirts out and examined it. A couple of minor really shallow scratches here and there, nothing really to worry about. I'm sure they'll all come out after a few coats of primer. I was going to sand it down with some rough grit sand paper but the finish was already so smooth so I used some 800 grit I had left over and did the entire thing. Took me about an hour, but I finally got rid of the slightly glossy layer (gel?) layer on the top. Most places were pretty smooth so didn't need too much of an effort. I'm going to see if I can get some info on how much (or how many cans) would i need just for the side skirts. Still got the front bar coming and rear bar to buy so I might do this seperately from the rest as a test. I'm covered in while stuff at the moment, not a pretty sight.

[fab34]

im a spray painter get the skirts give them 240 to get any deep scraches out then giv them 2-3 coats of primer filler giv it a day to dry then giv it a rub with 240 then 400 then giv the a wet rub with 600 then 800 i no it seems a bit much but its well worth it wen there dun just take ur time giv them a prepsol get 2 pak paint from a local crash shop and put 3-4 coats of base coat then 2 coats of clear if its mattalic if its a solid colour 2 coats will do if u need any help just ask but for 500 u could get them dun very good by a spray painter i only listed the basic step there r so many more if ur looking for a show room finish

Edited October 31, 2007 by fab34