Ok, so I bought an OEM fender to replace the one that was bashed in. I went to a paint shop, gave them the paint code and they gave me a can of paint, and a can of clearcoat. I've never painted anything before in my life. I'm looking for tips on how to do this. They're both spray cans. I'm not sure how heavy or light to go, how many coats I should be expecting, or how much clear coat to put on. Its flamenco black pearl. Sorry for all the noobish questions, just a little confused and new to paint tryin to do the best I can without having it done elsewhere. Any help is appreciated, thanks H-T.

 

Bump.

 

TTT

 

Thanks for the bumps. I tried it out this weekend. It looks horrible. Frickin n00b ***.

 

typically i do 3-4 light coats of color on top of 2 coats primer, and 3 coats clear. Afterwards I sand out all the orange peel and other errors i made, and buff until glossy again.

 

How long should you wait after clear to wet sand/ then buff (with rubbing compound, correct?)

 

not sure the actual amount, but i just wait 24 hours, n that amt of time works for me oh and 10 min between the coats, i use 3m rubbing compound on a PC

 

Rubbing compound between coats of base or the clear?

 

after clear sand with really fine sand paper (2000+) until its not glossy(should be like a foggy like smooth texture), followed by the rubbing compound.

 

I've been doing this for a while for touch ups and have it down pretty well. I usually give it three solid coats, but not thick enough to run obviously. You want the paint to flow and settle. I've found with the spray can jobs, the paint finish can tend to be rough if the coats are too light. Make sure you apply enough coats so that the paint is thick enough that you can REALLY wetsand the hell out of. If your buying from a paint store and theyre premixed cans, chances are its a base/clear single stange and you wont need to clear coat it. Either way you'll get away with clear if you chose. If you do want to clear, dont bother wetsanding after the color coat. wait 24 hours and start off sanding your final coat of whichever, with a 1500. Use a board or hand sander to make sure the surfac is flat. You can be really aggressive if you need to be. Once the surface is flat you can move to a 2000 grit to remove the scratches from the 1500. I've used meguiars compounds with good luck. If your using a buffer, try a meguiars medium cut, followed by the fine cut or a cleaner. Then you can hit it with polish. Wait two weeks before you apply wax. Good luck.

 

its been pretty humid lately in socal, and had the same problem.

I did light coats - and it got rough fast. I didnt notice it - and put 3 coats of light clear over it. (on a bumper)

Its still rough, so should I do a wet sand of 800- then do prehaps another 2 layers of base, and then clear again?

Also, ie, on a bumper, and long should my passes be? 35 seconds back and forth, and then stop? Or longer?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by efficiencyJunkie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its been pretty humid lately in socal, and had the same problem.

I did light coats - and it got rough fast. I didnt notice it - and put 3 coats of light clear over it. (on a bumper)

Its still rough, so should I do a wet sand of 800- then do prehaps another 2 layers of base, and then clear again?

Also, ie, on a bumper, and long should my passes be? 35 seconds back and forth, and then stop? Or longer?</TD></TR></TABLE>
best would be sanding away the clear only and get it smooth. if you hit metal(sanding too much), u gota reprimer that spot followed by your base+clear.

if its a really nasty rough feel i would just use 600 followed by base+clear, the base covers up all the scratches

 

Great, thanks man!