DIY respray???

[Colette]

Just getting around to repairing my fibreglass front bumper as it was badly damaged when she got off the boat from japan, So far I have cut away the damaged fibreglass & put new stuff at the back of the bumper & filled the gaps in the front with body filler & sanded it down. I am wating for the weather to improve before spraying it.
 
Just wondering if anybody has experience in spraying & have any tips/advice. Do i need to spray some sort of sealnt over the body filler before priming the bumper??

[Colette]

Before...
 

 
 
So far....
 

[Colette]

Before.....

 
 
So far....
 

[Jono FD3]

you will need to rub the whole bumper down with something like 600 wet \'n\' dry, then give it a good clean with pannel wipe, don\'t use a rag or cloth that has had anything lik pledge or household cleaners anywhere near it or you will end up with fish eyes in the paint! once this is done, you will need an etch primer to cover the filler, you may aswell give the whole bumper a going over with this! you can get it in a rattle can if you prefer. once this is done give the bumper a going over with some high build primer, give it a couple of coats with this, the once it is dry rub it down again with 800 wet \'n\' dry.
If you brake through to the paint in any part, give it another splash in that area & again a light rub.

pannel wipe it....Now you\'re ready for the base coat.... spray that on in a few even coats, once you get a good coverage & cant see any thin spots, give it another just to be sure.... but allow the paint to go touch dry between coats or you will end up with runs!

allow this to dry for 24 hrs (unles your in a heated booth) at this point you can give it a light rub with 1200 wet \'n\' dry, pannel wipe or tack rag, then go with the laqure. again give it a good few coats, allowing it to get touch dry between coats. let it harden for a few days, then give it a light rub with 1500 to get it totaly flat, then poilish it up to a glass like finish

Jono

[Colette]

Cheers Jono, I read somewhere that the primer needs a few days to set properly or else it will flake, is this true or can it be painted over as soon as it dry\'s?

[Jono FD3]

na... load of crap mate! have ou ever seen a body shop leave a car for a few days between priming & painting!! Yea, a day to let it cure properly, but no longer than that! the only reason paint will peel is if you leave it set too much before you put the next coat on as they won\'t bite in to each other, or you paint a plastic trim/bumper with out a plastisiser in the paint to make it more flexable!

But on GRP you wouldn\'t need to worry about that!
Jono

[Eoiny555]

It may have taken 18 months but ive finally got round to getting some paint which arrived this morn. Car has been off the road so no rush with it, I have come across some rust around the bootlid glass & on the wheel arches so I am tackling these first before the bumper
 
Sope pics of the bootlid & arch after some rust primer
 

 

 
Will keep updates & pics comming, wish me luck

[Grizzly]

Cheers Jono, I read somewhere that the primer needs a few days to set properly or else it will flake, is this true or can it be painted over as soon as it dry\'s?

Depends what Primer your using, Aerosol\'s tend to take allot less time but have allot less build too.

As long as its prep\'d/Keyed well no paint should flake off, as for Time to let dry, (gun finish) High build primer is not like top coat, in the bodyshop world we have Oven\'s and Inferred lamps to force dry primer but there is a reason why allot of people say leave it as long as possible if air drying before rubbing down as it shrinks as it dries and if you rub it down mid process you will get sink marks in your top coat, but people tend to flat it too early because High build does tend to go very hard when completely cured. Also forget the Drying time as such leave it a day first check you can\'t leave a finger print in it, then gentally see if it marks with a finger nail, then check its Dusting (rub it with a piece of dry fine rubbing paper and check it goes dusty and the Dust doesn\'t stick to the paper).

A few tips for you, the first is Do not paint over anything that is still shinny (doesn\'t matter is its edges etc) personally i always start a repair by Scotch brighting the panel (grey for mettalic\'s and red for solid colours) i do it wet (Bucket with water and washing up liquid) make sure you dry it well (leaves water marks if you let it air dry).

     Next, But some good quality panel wipe (slow drying) again wipe it on with a clean cloth and wipe off with a dry clean lint free cloth, i do this 5 or 6 times during the Priming/Painting and it goes without saying once its panel wiped you should not be touching it apart from Tacking it off and even then only the tack cloth should make contact.
 
    Last, I\'m presuming your not using Base and clear as its a solid colour so If some thing goes wrong when applying the paint don\'t panic and over apply, just let it dry and reflat it, if you put too much paint on you are asking for Trouble and it will take an age to dry.

[Grizzly]

O one more thing, Red primer under white is a No No, try and use a colour thats close the the top coat colour (white or grey), red bleeds through white if your not carfull.

[Grizzly]

Are you planning on blending in the arch? or paint the full 1/4? i only ask as Fading solid colour can be a pain especially white.

[Eoiny555]

Using rattle cans, can says allow 15 mins between coats, have been giving a bit longer to be sure, is Grey primer im using, have first few coats on now & its going ok so far. Im onna try and blend in the front quarter so will see how we go

[Eoiny555]

Couldn\'t take pics of primer because my phone batt was too low, Gave the boot 3 coats of primer, rubbed it down with 800 w&d & then 3 coats of top coat, leaving it to harden overnight & will laquer tomorrow
 

 
When painting the 1/4 panel i went out further & further with each coat & with the last i did the whole panel
 


 
The finish is quiet good so far, there is a couple of small runs but im sure i can sand them out before applying the clear coat

[Grizzly]

Ahh ok you meant the Front wing, not 1/4 panel (that\'s usually the one at the back) Aerosol\'s are quite easy to blend tbh but you have to make sure the area your going into has been cleaned up really well (G3 compound it first to remove any Oxidization or you will get a dirty edge when you try and polish it back)

Looks like you have done a nice job.

Just 1 more tip, i would check to see if the car was painted in base and clear before Clearing it some times if its a solid colour by clearing the new paint it doesn\'t allow for Oxidization and will look off shade in a weeks time when the gloss drops off the old paint slightly.. I\'d say if you have a good finish on the White just polish it up.

[Eoiny555]

Put the laquer on the bootlid & drovers side wing yesterday so leaving it to harden for a few days & getting on with the passenger front wing & bumper
 
There was a spot of rust on the wing which i sanded down a few months ago & put some hammerite rust primer on, when i sprayed the primer today it had a reaction so i had to sand 2 spots back & prime again
 



 
Was fine after i primed it the second time
 


 
Finally got a few coats of primer on the bumper aswell
 

[Lacey]

That looks amazing!!! Come spray my FC for me! XD