Paint finishing?

[toughguych]

Hello,
I have repaired my tailgate.
I have given it 4 coats of primer and now I am going to cut back with 800 grade.
When I put on the top coat ( Lachas Silver ) should I cut that back B4 putting on the lacqer?
I try to raise the garage temp to 20c for this process and previous primer coats.
Whats the best way to get the best finnish?
Unfortunetly I am using spray cans.

Thanks for all replys

toughguych!

[OBs]

Hi mate 4 coats is proberly 2 to many but not to worry, Your best to spray the silver in thin coats dont go for coverage straight away, What paint is it? (Brand)

[OBs]

Where you from put it on your "Profile"

[OBs]

DONT hold the can to close!! It isnt going to be easy (Big panel) Silver is the hardest colour to get right, how compitant are you? Dont flat inbetween coats as aerosol 'skins' over and will peel up causing that to then react and anyway the flatting marks will show up in the finish (clear) Wet the floor around you aswell to keep dust under control! When you are happy that the silver is covered well enough spray a dryish criss cross coat on to the wet film (Half nozzle) about 1 1/2 - 2 feet away but make sure it dosnt become to dry this will elimanate 'Tram lining' or 'Stripeness' then your ready for clear! Do one light semi dry coat (Grip coat) let that tack off for 5 mins then do your edges first (Only need to do this once) then a nice... Id say 3 - 4 inces a second speed full nozzle coat from about 1 foot away with a 50 - 50 over lap. Jobs a gooden! Good luck hope that helps? PM me if you need any futher help. OBs

[johnono]

clear

1500 wet and dry to remove the pitting, and you will have pitting i promise

spirit wipe

clear again

1500 wet and dry again, to get totally flat

3M finnese it to polish up to glass like quality.



if you follow these simple instructions, your paintwork WILL look like it came from a sprayer i promise

[toughguych]

Thanks for the tips Guys

[toughguych]

Johno,
How long should I leave the clear coat B4 I can cut it back with 1500 and sparay again?
I have put the base coat on and am happy with it.
Thanks for those tips OB's.
I found cutting back the primer with 800 really improved the smoothness on which to apply the base coat.

[FBF]

you can just scotch the silver before the laquer if your not quick enough. the key to getting a nice finish is timing do you know the flash times of the paint you are using? id probably leave a minimum of ten mins between coats.

the key is as was said earlier, say 4 coats of the silver in light coverings then a fith coat but apply this so its got a wet look. (too much and it will run so this is where experience helps) then get your laquer ready and fter 10-15 mins apply a soft cover of laq twice and then a wet cover to finish. this will leave you with a glass like finish and you wont need to rub it back at all. if you are anywhere near gatwick gimme a shout im fully prepped for paint and happy to help out for beer

[OBs]

The Clear is the same as the silver... It will skin over you maybe able to flat the odd lump of dust etc out but dont over do it. Leave at least 10 mins inbetween coats (2 - 3) I do the job all day everyday so!... Your best bet is to spray on to a test panel the same time as you do the boot lid and when the test panel becomes 'tacky' (Your aiming to get the clear so when you dab your fingure on the test panel and pull it away it sort of leaves stringy bits) if that makes sense? They all dry at different rates so... if your warming it to 20 degrees then this time will shorten do the test bit to check? Leave the boot at least 2 days before toching it unless you can 'bake for 1 hr at say 40 - 50 degrees?' 1 day Good luck and let me know how its gone!

[toughguych]

It went well,
Just wish I had paid more attention to the plastic padding I did,
can still see the area I repaired but it is so much better the B4!
Almost perfect but not quiet!