scorp88

Painted my sides couple of days ago.
Not good!!!

First of all colour didn't match!!!! I got the paint of paintscratch.com
They sent me a painted sample on a piese of paper which was perfect match 01G, but when painted, it turned out to be brighter silver then the car which is 2003.
Clearcoat....it felt like it's way to thin and there were too much presure in a can. I used the whole can and still clear is prietty much not present.
And last, it turn out to be very spoty. It wasn't spoty when wet, but as it dries, it becomes worse....

Here is what i did:
I sanded it down with 400 grit.
Primered with grey primer 2 coats (duplicolor)
Silver base coat x4
Clear coat x3
I did it inside the garage and it was sunny with about 45% humidity and around 75F.
Did I do something wrong? Or it's the paint/clearcoat?

jwrx

did you sand between primer coats?

oh, and how did you apply the silver? how long did you let the paint dry between coats?

scorp88

silver is sprayed on top of grey primer with about 5min between the coats.
no sanding between primer coats...as far as I know it's not nesessery.

RedStage

iTrader: (4)

sounds like the skirts may have still been dirty or rather contaminated.

There is a stripper treatment process that should be used first to remove any unseen contaminents on the surface.

That may have caused the spotting. Also I think the primer should be 100% dry prior to applying any color. Same for Clear coat. Not a painter, but have tried similar before and had a friend go over steps with me.

Hope some of this helps, but also that some more knowledgeable individuals add in.

jwrx

give the primer time to dry, at least an hour. sand before you apply color with a fine grit. wet sand between the color coats with at least 1500 grit. im not a professional painter, but ive done a little bit of painting on stuff, and thats what i would do. theres also something called tackcloth that helps the paint stick better.

andrew12

def needs at least 15 min in between base coats too.

leave more time for primer... 1 hour. wet sand a little 1500grit, then base coat... 15min base coat...15 min and so on.... then clear coat... 15 min wet sand and so on and done

plus get paint from paintworldinc.com, and use their bulldog primer cause it has a flex agent in it

chile

meilers

I've painted a hood scoop, fog light covers and a bumper with paintscratch paint. You need to sand between all coats, period -- the only coat you don't sand is the very last clearcoat. The reason you sand is to smooth out imperfections and give the next layer of paint more surface area to grab onto.

Sanding itself is a very delicate process. You should start with 400 for the initial surface prep, and both dry and wet sand (wet sanding is CRUCIAL, as it removes the dust created from dry sanding). You should work down from 400 grade to 600, 1000 and finally 1600 grit; sand with a foam block as a backing, so you get even pressure and not just pressure from your fingertips.

Primer should dry OVERNIGHT, and ideally 24 hours. A good paint job takes 2-3 days, period; it can't be rushed. You should also never paint in a garage; not only are the fumes dangerous (especially the clearcoat, which is suspended in acetone!), but garages are too dusty. The best way to paint is outdoors in little or no wind and with full shade.

I also waited 60-80 minutes between paint coats and almost three hours between clearcoats. Why? Because the clearcoat is suspended in acetone, which REMOVES PAINT. Most likely you rushed the clearcoats and actually dissolved the layers of paint you were coating, which caused it to run or mix with the clearcoat and caused the spotting. The clearcoat is literally like acid -- you have to apply it in extremely light dustings, and wait a LONG TIME for it to be dry (and for the acetone to evaporate) before a second or third coat.

For my hood scoop, I sanded it with 400, 600 and 1000, then applied a first coat of primer. I waited for this to dry (60 min.) and then wet-sanded it, then applied a second coat. I let this sit for 24 hours, wet-sanded it again (1000 grit) and did my first paint coat -- just enough to create a slight shine, barely dusting the surface. I waited a full 45 minutes between each coat and built up very gently the next 3 layers, sanding lightly between each coat. I then let it sit for another 24 hours. One more wet sand, and then I hit it with one last coat of silver, which is the one you will actually see; this one is a bit heavier, because you want the metal flakes to get evenly distributed so they have to "swim" a bit in the paint. Then I let this dry another 12 hours, and then did 3 layers of clearcoat. I sanded each layer of clearcoat with 1600, and didn't sand the final one. Finally, I used the rubbing compound included (very gently!) to give it a shine. To this day no-one has ever been able to spot the difference between my factory paint and the paint on the hood scoop.

scorp88

WOW. That was some process!!! Deffinetly not what directions on a can said.
I'll have to do my sideskirts again.
Thanks for everybody's help!

meilers

The reason for the extended drying time is because there is so much solvent in the paint. Real auto shop paint has hardly any solvent and NO propellant, so they can just hose it on and not care. Aerosol paint is mostly solvent and propellant (usually N20, which is why junkies get high off of it) and you have to give the solvent plenty of time to evaporate.

The paintscratch web site has much better directions than the can does, check those out and a few other sites that pop up in google search. I didn't use this elaborate of a method until the hood scoop; I rushed my first job (a small patch on my rear bumper that still looks bad ) so ever since then I've been much more careful and conservative.

scorp88

I am thinking of buying a compressor and air tools.
Might buy a paint gun as well, at list a small one. The process will be much faster as well.
You're right about spray cans, it's poor substitute. I've tried to use spray paint to paint computer case with the same results. On the other hand I was using airbrush for a long time and never had a problem. Just thought that side skirts is too big of a job to be done with air brush.

jwrx

see if you can find a package that includes the compressor and tools. i bought a 22 gal compressor at lowes that came with 6 air tools, including the paint sprayer. its probably a crappy one but its worth a try.

meilers

jwrx, I'm not an expert on these things but that paint gun is probably for latex paint (MUCH thicker than auto paint). I think any local auto paint shop will have nozzles for auto paint, you might be able to swap it out. Tell us how it works out!

jwrx

truth be told, id probably get a better sprayer intended for professional use (~$100), or borrow one that a buddy of mine uses. hes painted a few car parts for friends (bumpers, hatches, etc) and his results are pretty good. im gonna have him help me paint my other subaru when the time comes.

scorp88

Yeah.
Sears has some that look ok and not too expencive.