spraying problems, help!

[freemo77]

bascially im looking for someone to give me a detailed low down of the processes involved in spraying car parts, as im really struggling to get the same glssy finish that my car has. Ive been spraying my mirrors and im unable to get the same glossy finish that the car comes with, so could someone kindly tell me the process involved, starting from the sanding right at the start, the grade of sandpaper used before priming, the number of primer coats, and then the grade of sandpaper used after and so on, as detialed as possible please, right up to the finishing touches which im guessing is a few layers of laquer

if someone could take the time to let me know about this it would be a great help as im going to give it another go in the morning

 

[lukearnold]

i'm currently doing this with mine and am no way an expert so i wouldn't take my advice and would wait until someone else has given an answer but as for me, this is how I do it:

1. remove body part from car
2. properly clean the areas which are going to be painted
3. mask any areas which are not going to be painted
4. sand the plastic down using wet and dry (personally, i work up from 240, 400, 800, 1200)
5. 2 coats of grey primer
6. sand down lightly with 1500 wet and dry to remove imperfections such as dust
7. 2 coats of white primer
8. again, sand down lightly with 1500 wet and dry to remove imperfections
9. 2 coats of the basecoat paint
10. another light sand down of 1500 wet and dry
11. 2 final coats of basecoat paint
12. leave to thoroughly dry out
13. 2 coats of laquer
14. 1500 wet sand lightly
15. 2 final coats of laquer

after this people often sand down again then polish up, but thats what i've been doing and so far its looked okay

 

[rich-6]

If you're spraying with an aerosol, You'l never get the same quality finish as off the gun 2k laquer!

 

[Gardus]

Thanks Luke..that's A LOT of coats I guess when you do the first sanding you reach the plastic, so you remove all the original paint? Is it really necessary?
When I painted my wheels I needed to reach the metal only when I had to use the filler or when the metal was scratched, I just sanded a bit of paint or reached the grey primer anywhere else.

Rich what do you mean with 2k laquer? I'm going to use compressor and gun.

 

[lukearnold]

I can't be sure regarding doing body parts with original paint still on them as I am only talking about spraying the black plastics on cars to make them colour coded so sorry about that, but generally all the sanding at the start is to get the original texture of the bumpy black plastic a little smoother; I guess it depends on what you're doing/painting. And yes it is quite important that you give the part a good sanding at the start so that the primer sticks to the part :approve:

 

[TIG ACM]

I did my strut brace last week and was impressed with the finish I got using a can as people say it is pretty impossible to get a shiney finish

I started off with a wire brush as there was a little corrosion,
I then used a fairly coarse wet and dry to really rough up the surface
laid down 3 coats of white primer,
quick run over with a smooth wet/dry with a little water,
3 coats of yellow (i didnt use halfords own brand crap, got one mixed and was 500 times better and easier to spray than halfords stuff)
another quick wet/dry with a wet fine coarse
4 coats of lacquer
T-cut the whole thing
then 2 coats of NXT wax

Gave a really good finish,

 

[Gardus]

T-cut is polish right?

 

[littleC18]

No T-cut is a cutting compound and a sh*te one at that. I persoanlly do it as he said up there ^^^^ but afterwards i will rub down with 1500 then 2000 grit paper then use farecla G3. this will take any dullness away, will put a super smooth finish on it and will bring out the flake in the paint a little more. Also use a high quality paint from a paint shop, not halfords. and always ask them in the shop, they know what they're talking about and are usualy grumpy people, but happy to help! Were abouts are you located? if your local, i could show you. ive learn lot whilst smoothing EVERYTHING on my car!

 

[AKFM1]

I think it all depends on type of lacquer used. I bought some 2k lacquer in can and it gave such a better finish than the clear lacquer I used to use from halfords.

 

[Beef-Mc]

Complete with pictures.

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...ide-(Preparation-Spraying)&highlight=spraying