I am going to spray my Type-R grille and wanted to know if this a the best way of achieving a great finish.

1) Really good clean of the part in quetion
2) Wet n Dry light sand of part
3) Thin layer of pastic primer, let dry for 2-3 hours, finely wet n dry sand to smooth
4) 2nd layer of primer to cover and then dry & sand to smooth.
5) First layer of paint, let dry and finely sand
6) Second layer of paint, let dry and sand
7) Final layer of paint. Leave to dry.
8) Apply thin layer of laquer, leave to dry then apply a final coat.

All done. Sound good?

 

Whenever I have sprayed anything, I usually just wet sand it with 600, shoot it with a good primer, non-laquer. Laquer will bring up scratches and "ghost" images. After the primer dries wet sand it again with 600 but do it lightly. When you go to paint it, do a light coat, just barely mist it just to make it tacky, let that dry and do a "wet" coat. If you have any any imperfections in the paint, you can wet sand them out with 800-1000. Go about 2-3 "wet" coats and when your happy and it looks good, shoot it with a clear of the same paint type, i.e. urethane with urethane. Put enough clear on, do it the same way you painted it. Finally you can wet sand it out with 1000, 1500, then 2000 and buff it. Your paint job, if done correctly will come out like glass.

 

I think it depends on if you want a flat or glossy finish...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PandaHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whenever I have sprayed anything, I usually just wet sand it with 600, shoot it with a good primer, non-laquer. Laquer will bring up scratches and "ghost" images. After the primer dries wet sand it again with 600 but do it lightly. When you go to paint it, do a light coat, just barely mist it just to make it tacky, let that dry and do a "wet" coat. If you have any any imperfections in the paint, you can wet sand them out with 800-1000. Go about 2-3 "wet" coats and when your happy and it looks good, shoot it with a clear of the same paint type, i.e. urethane with urethane. Put enough clear on, do it the same way you painted it. Finally you can wet sand it out with 1000, 1500, then 2000 and buff it. Your paint job, if done correctly will come out like glass.</TD></TR></TABLE>

wanna do my lip and side skirts...

 

Panda you say you don't laquer, I'd rather do that then cut it as apposed to sanding and buffing a clear paint cover. Unless thats what you meant.

 

panda--whenever i wetsand my clear coat layers(1500grit) it turns them cloudy, uneven and scratched looking!!! i havent dont rubbing compound on it yet.. but am i doing it wrong??

 

Use lots of soapy water, keep the paper and the part soaked.

 

To make the paint stick real nice, Blow dry each coat. It may be Ghetto but when I rattle canned my side skirts years back the paint never even flaked or chipped. It's like your baking the paint to the plastic. A heat gun may be better heat wise but just make sure you don't heat it to the point where the paint or plastic starts to bubble.

 

How long does primer take to dry, 30 mins in a warm area?

 

EdLeake-Primer usually takes around 2 hours to FULLY cure. Then you can sand it as much as you want. It is best to let this dry naturally also.

For clearing, you can also just clear the parts in a dust free area, sanding clear just gets the "orange peel" out of the paint as well as dirt and debris.

lkailburn-whenever you sand clear, you want to buff it out. I use 3M Perfect It II Rubbing Compound then 3M Perfect It II Machine Glaze. I'll try to post a step by step on painting and buffing parts.

 

This isn't the best picture for detail, but this is a roof I wetsanded with 1000, 1500 then 2000. I used 3M Perfect It II Rubbing Compound and Machine Glaze on it. It looks like a mirror in person.

 

I'll vouch for panda on this. I do exactly what he said after whatever car
I've painted comes out the paint booth.

btw, nice write up

 

Panda, you wetsand the final layer of paint, then apply a layer or two of laquer, right

I've heard conflicting reports, some say wetsand the final layer of paint then laquer it and some say laquer then cut it.

 

if its a new part, scuff it, primer, wet sand, paint, clear, wet sand.. bodobing

 

Yea, getting a smooth surface for the paint to lay down on is the key here. If you want, you can just wet sand the fianl paint coat and lay a smooth clear on it.