Ok, so I painted some mirrors I bought to give my painting skills a try and I liked how they came out. Next I prepped the cargo area of my car and this happened.

I sprayed just on the metal(yes I sanded and all) and the paint was just seperating. I cleaned it and primered it and sprayed it again to see if it would work like that, but it did the same thing again. My question is why is it doing that??? Could it have been the wrong mixing ratio?? The Paint is a single stage paint.
Heres what Ive painted that came out good.



Any input would help

 

Well this sux...

 

Where are all the experienced painters at!!??

 

did you prep the area at all? what type of paint did you use? was it mixed or thinned down?

 

Yea, I prepped it. Its a single stage acrylic enamel paint. I mixed it with the hardener and the Gloss look liquids I was supposed to mix it with. Ive painted some things and they came out good. Im guessin It might be the way I mixed maybe, cuz I didnt do all the parts with the same mixture.. I mixed it as I painted the parts.

 

Check the mixing ratios on the can. Definitely looks like it wasn't mixed properly. Also, always make sure you use a quality cleaner before you spray anything. Also, you never want to spray over bare metal, always use an etch primer over bare metal, then your sealer or color coat. The etch primer will "etch itself into the bare metal allowing for a solid substrate to put your sealer or color coat on. It is also possible that this single stage was sprayed too heavy. Looks like a good bit of material. Hope that helps.

 

After looking at the pics again, I think you have two problems. I think you have a problem with how the surface was cleaned, combined with it not being mixed properly. What type of paint gun/ compressor set up are you using?

 

That is a prep issue. Paint is not sticking to the surface. Gonna have to redo it. What do you mean by you prepped it?? How did you clean the surface.

 

Really, could that be it??
Im using an HPLV gun.. and a 120 psi 15 gallon compressor.. The recommended settings on the gun was 45 psi.. I like it better than another normal gravity feed gun I have which I usually shot at around 70-80 psi..

Well by prepping it, what I did was sanding it down from 80-150-220-400(wet)... Then I cleaned it all up, blew the dust and tried spraying it. That didnt work, so I sanded again, cleaned it, primered it and tried spraying it again, but no luck. I never cleaned it with acetone and a tack cloth or anything... I just blew the dust away..
What would be the proper way of prepping it if thats not good enough??

 

Thats your problem.... You have to use prep chemicals to get rid of any oil or grease on the surface. Sanding and wiping the dust away doesnt clean anything. Go to an auto paint store and pick up prep solvent. I put it in a spray bottle, spray it on the painting surface, then wipe it away with a clean rag. When you spray it on, make sure you wipe the surface before the solvent evaporates, or else it doesnt acutally clean anything.

Sand it, blow the dust away, prep it with chemicals, tack rag, then spray... Im sure that wont happen again if you do it right.

 

^Ok, ill give that a try and get back at you guys to see if that was it...

 

Jesus H Christ tap dancing in a chicken basket.

Did you spray any sort of sealer on this? Paint won't adhere as well unless there is something for it to bite into, and since you sanded with 80 grading up to 400, this leads me to believe you sprayed on essentially bare metal. Next time you prep a trunk tub, use a gray scotch brite pad, you don't need to sand the paint completely off, just scuff it up a little.

The only thing Psycho has said so far that I agree with is using a wax and grease remover to properly clean out any contaminants that may still be in the trunk.

 

Ok, Have the list.
-Acetone
-Tack cloths
-Scuffing pad
Gonna go pick these up and see what happens

 

NOT Acetone. use lacquer thinner if you can't find prep solvent. the lacquer thinner must be kept to a minimum if you have to use it. spray a light mist on a prep towel and wipe down the surface. the prep solvent/wax and grease remover can be sprayed wet right on the surface and wiped off.

 

Obviously you need to use sealer, i figured since the guy was doing this himself, he did some research as to what steps to take...

 

What this guy said, you can even find a prep solvent at advanced auto and it works just as good as some of the pricier stuff.