Diy Spray Job

[KezR33]

Hey guys,

Today I had a crack at re-spraying painting my stock front bar and it came up pretty good with one exception; its really dull!

Colour is near perfect match (which is good considering my car is a 4-layer pearl). The reason for the dullness I suspect is because my paint surface is really rough, whereas my car is really smooth.

How do I go about correcting this? I've got 1600 grit sand paper which I've used to remove most of the roughness, do I not just cut and polish, or have a missed a step of sanding somewhere along the process?

Thanks,

Kieran.

[boostn0199]

The dulness can be from a few factors, one it could be the technique in whcih you sprayed, have you used a clear finish? You shouldnt sand it down now after your final top coat but just cut and polish it , you should of just sanded it with a fine grit after the primer coat. Also it could be the mixing of paint and thinner could have been wrong which is why you got dullness but usually with arcylic laquer when after you cut and polish it you will get the shine and it will make it a smooth finsh

[KezR33]

The dulness can be from a few factors, one it could be the technique in whcih you sprayed, have you used a clear finish? You shouldnt sand it down now after your final top coat but just cut and polish it , you should of just sanded it with a fine grit after the primer coat. Also it could be the mixing of paint and thinner could have been wrong which is why you got dullness but usually with arcylic laquer when after you cut and polish it you will get the shine and it will make it a smooth finsh

That's what I did wrong, I didn't sand after the primer. I'll give it a cut and polish and hope for the best. Not really worried about overall quality. I have the equipment now, materials are cheap. Just need the experience!

Thanks for the quick reply.

[boostn0199]

yeah either way if you cut polish now it will be much more glossier than it is now and will be smooth.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

cut and polish by hand will take quite a while.. did my bonnet on my old car and my arm was sore the next day LOL..

i would give a bit of wet and dry rub over first.. using wet to smooth it out first.. wash down and then cut and polish..

[mad082]

if you want a really good shine you need to lightly sand it between coats as well as giving it a good polish after the clear.

[Craved]

if you want a really good shine you need to lightly sand it between coats as well as giving it a good polish after the clear.

pretty sure you cant knock-off metallics - that would only work with solids and clears

[KezR33]

So cut and polish just slowly removes the paint, correct?

Could I cut and polish till its thoroughly smooth then respray it with the finisher again, or just put some wax on it?

Excuse my noobishness, I had the gear lying around for so long and didn't use it because I was paranoid of screwing it up. Then a day came along with perfect weather and I figured I'd just give it a crack. If I stuffed it up I'd seek help, turns out its a lot easier than expected!

Highly recommend it to anyone considering doing it themselves, I am the least practical, mechanical or "hands on" guy you'll ever meet, yet I found this surprisingly easy and very satisfying!

[istdercollen]

don't respray unless you cut through the clearcoat. you are cutting and polishing the clear to make it as smooth (and as a result, glossy) as possible. if you go over it again with the same method as before after that with the paint gun, chances are it will look like it did before.

[mad082]

just out of curiousity, were you using acrylic or 2 pack? and what sort of ratio did you mix the paint and the thinners and the clear and thinners? this may have a bit of an effect on the results. if you have a lot of 'orange peel' happening then the clear won't look as nice.

also just remembered this from when i was first looking at doing some painting. it is well worth a read for anyone thinking about doing it.

http://autofix.com.au/blog/archives/497#comment-75099

[KezR33]

just out of curiousity, were you using acrylic or 2 pack? and what sort of ratio did you mix the paint and the thinners and the clear and thinners? this may have a bit of an effect on the results. if you have a lot of 'orange peel' happening then the clear won't look as nice.

also just remembered this from when i was first looking at doing some painting. it is well worth a read for anyone thinking about doing it.

http://autofix.com.au/blog/archives/497#comment-75099

It was acrylic, I had to put a yellow layer down then follow it up with a sort of silvery, clear paint that make it sparkle a bit more. I did an even 50/50 ratio of paint to thinner on the yellow paint, and then 3:2 ratio for the thinner:silvery paint and the thinner:top coat. This what the shop recommended, and was written on the paint tins.

Edit: Thanks for the link too, I actually found this when I was painting the other day. Very helpful.

[Craved]

here is the crutch of your problem

"Acrylic Lacquer Con’s

Has to be ‘buffed’ and polished to achieve a good shine.

Is not as chip and scratch resistant as 2 Pack.

2 Pack Pro’s

Has a shine straight off the gun, great for areas that are hard to polish such as engine bays and door jambs.

Is very hard and scratch/chip resistant once set."

2k acrylic doesnt need to be buffed to have a full gloss, regular acrylic does. get out your 2000grit paper and get smoothing - then buff it out - you could try the meguirs buffing kit - comes with the electric orbital buffer etc and i dont think its too expensive.

[mad082]

i have been told that you can put 2k clear over the top of acrylic, but unsure about it