Chris
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You’re welcome.
Sure, you can paint individual panels, but only if there is enough room to do your blend so there is no colour change to the next panel. Otherwise, you’d better be a master colour matcher. Sound like the fellow that did your bar was that, but not the world’s greatest painter. :headsmack:
Let us know how you go.
Originally, ex factory, it was tape. May have been repaired in the interim (VY was 2002-2004) and some kind of glue used – hard to see from that pic. Either way, remove all existing tape/glue and clean whole area (including back of lip spoiler and covered area of original bar. Wash first then clean with Prepsol.
You’ll need the double sided tape, if you can’t find the grey 3M one the black one from Supercheap will do. Automotive grade exterior double sided tape – comes in a variety of widths but 8-10mm will do. From Bunnings or Masters get a 400g tube of Parfix Polyurethane Sealant/Adhesive. You can use the Sikaflex if you like but why pay double for the same stuff? Also a skeleton holder if you don’t have one and a roll of 48mm masking tape.
Dry fit the spoiler and use small strips of masking tape to mark the position where the top edge should be. You’ll probably need a helper. Then affix one side of the double sided tape to the top inside edge of the spoiler but leave the backing tape on where it will contact the original bar and try not to touch the adhesive side of the tape.
The adhesive tape is really just to hold the edge in position because the major part of the attachment/support will be done with the polyurethane. Now apply the polyurethane in a series of big blobs to the back of the spoiler. The size of the blobs (technical term used only by professionals 😉 ) will depend on your judgement of the gap between face of original bar and back of lip spoiler but keep it far enough back that when you press the spoiler into position the glue will not squeeze past the double sided tape but will definitely contact the original bar. Don’t be shy. You don’t want this thing to fall off again!
Next, peel back about 50mm of the backing tape on the adhesive tape attached to the lip spoiler. Just 50mm from each end and fold it back over itself so that it pokes out above the edge at and angle of about 45 degrees. Now, with your assistant, position the lip spoiler in place, moving up to the previously placed pieces of masking tape, not down (the urethane can make a horrible mess) and you definitely don’t want it on your double sided tape. Then press the ends, where you previously exposed some of the tape, in to position and use a length of the 48mm masking tape (that you previously cut and placed in a handy position so you could grab it with one hand) to hold it in place. Continue supporting the rest of the spoiler with your other hand and start peeling the backing tape off. Carefully, if you break it you’ll have to start again! Press in to position and use a few more pieces of masking tape to support it. Have your assistant do the same from the other end. Threaten dire bodily harm if he/she breaks the backing tape. 😆 😆
Now press the lower part of the spoiler in to position and attach screws in the ends (if previously present) and lower or supporting brackets.
Clean up your mess, admire your work for a while and go and have a beer. :cheers Actually have a couple because you can’t use the car for at least 12 hours while the urethane sets.
He has [b]two[/b]? [IMG]http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Surprise/surprised-004.gif[/IMG]
As above, but watch the caramel wheel near the edge – it’s very easily damaged.
Also, use the 3M tape in preference to the cheaper black stuff which isn’t as strong. Make sure that brackets holding the lower edge are in place and, for extra strength use urethane as well, below the tape.
One of the things I always struggled with was doors and ending up with waves down the panel. Even though I had a 14″ speedfile, putting any pressure on the panel flexed the metal and I got waves. Eventually I bought a straight line sander, just one of the cheaper ones to trial the concept, and the results have been way better. Because the sander is doing the work I can hold it with minimal pressure and just guide it over the top. Works way better for me.
Mine appears to be a copy of that Atcoa, looks identical but without the brand and so long as you keep the oil up to it it works a treat. Cost about $75 too. I’m using Sunmight paper with it and that seems to be pretty good. Change paper as soon as it loses its’ sharpness.
Nice.
Can’t quite see from the photo but looks like you mask up the wheel/tyre separately? I’ve seen a few others do similar but always found that you can get a bit of dirt blow back from under the guard. So I backmask around under the lip of the guard, tuck it in and extend down over the wheel.
I wouldn’t have thought that that colour would be too difficult. It’s a fairly simple silver – fine and coarse bright metallics, jet black, a little violet blue, a touch of green gold and some crystalline frost to give it a faintly milky flip.
That said, you are never going to get a decent match, or finish, using spray cans. That pretty little car deserves better. The other thing is that with all those nice soft curves you won’t get away with trying to do a spot repair – it really has to be the whole panel.
First you will need to get to a paint supplier who can match the colour for you. Some slight adjustment from the standard formula is often necessary to allow for variations from the factory. Once you’ve done your repair and primed it – just that area, not the whole panel – you’re ready to apply your base coat.
No don’t start on the car yet. Get a piece of scrap and practice. Blending can be done one of three ways: flick in, flick out or by reduction. First, though, you need to master enough gun control to be able to gradually reduce pressure on the trigger while still moving the gun so that the paint coverage gradually reduces. Now practice going the other way starting with no trigger and gradually increasing so that you go from nothing to full pressure over a span of about 8″. Once you have that right, always keeping your gun perpendicular to the surface and a constant 8″ distance then mark out an area on your practice panel that simulates your primed repair. Put a light full coat over your primer and then extend beyond, fading as you go, by about 8″. Then a second coat, this time fading about 8″ beyond your first coat. Then reduce the paint in the cup by about 50% and put on a third coat, this time extending 8″ beyond the last coat, always fading as you go. If you have it right there should be a gradual coverage, starting from nothing and slowly increasing to your repaired area where there should be full coverage. You should not be able to see any point where you started or finished each coat.
Now go to your repaired panel and plan your attack. Sometimes there won’t be enough space for three 8″ blend coats so you’ll need to work out how to achieve a gradual reduction over about 2/3 of the distance from your repair to the panel edge. The last 1/3 should have no paint on it all so that there is no change of colour from the adjoining panel. Once you’ve planned it out use little pieces of masking tape on your masked off panels to remind you of where you want each coat to end. Now go ahead and paint your repair, gradually blending out over 3 coats allowing the proper flash times between each application. Once fully flashed apply two coats of clear to the whole panel. Remember that spraying in towards your repair is better than working out, even though it is a bit trickier to master.
Ideally you’d want to do your clear coat in a two pack product but I’m sure that I’ve read somewhere that supply of these paints is restricted to professional use only in the UK. This may put paid to your idea of doing it yourself since these products can be particularly nasty without proper breathing apparatus and venting of the spray area. You may be able to use acrylic clear – you’ll have to check that out for yourself.
Good luck.
Yes, can be done. I use Dupont 5717S Metal Conditioner after sanding well with 180. Rinse and then 2K etch prime, 2K primer and topcoats. Works just fine.
Not condoning it but some employers do get a little precious about employees working second jobs because they feel that the employee might not perform at their best if tired from the long hours. This may be her concern.
Of course, if there is a contract that limits what you can do then you’re bound to that but I’d suspect that it could be quashed if taken to court. Trouble is that then you’d lose your job.
I’d be trying for a happy medium. Assure her that what you do after hours will not affect your performance, buy your products from the store wherever possible so they get something out of it too and make sure that your performance cannot be questioned.
OK. So from what you’ve said the acid rain theory now seems more likely. I’ve had quite a few like this. Mazda had a big problem a few years ago with vehicles that had been left on the docks in Japan before shipping here. I don’t believe that wetsanding is the answer here. What that will do is make the edges of the little etched indentations sharper and therefore stand out more. It will also reduce your clearcoat thickness overall. A better solution is to buff. Needs fairly aggressive technique and compound but what you’d be aiming to do is round off the edges rather than go all the way to the bottom. They’ll still be there, but not really noticeable. Might be better to get someone that is well experienced in paint defect correction, since there’s not usually all that much factory clear to work with and a lot of BMWs are cleared with ceramic clear which is as hard as.
The reason your painted plastics are less affected is that they painted with a different type of paint to the body. Quite common.
No, Richie. Scuff or sand all the way to the edges, as Ben says, and clear all the way, too. You want that clear to wrap around the edge a little, not finish before it gets there. What you’re suggesting would leave a clear coat edge before the end of the panel which would be visible. Grey scotch also can leave some fairly deep scratching that could be difficult to compound out.
Before you start taking aggressive measures like wet sanding you really need to try to identify what has caused the problem.
Small spots of 1-2mm don’t sound like acid rain to me. Acid rain, just like waterspots leaves a semi-circular mark. For watermarks this is usually just the minerals in the water sitting on the top. For acid rain there is usually a little etching in to the paint surface, again in a semi-circular shape where the contents of the water become concentrated as the water itself evaporates. Usually much bigger though – about the size of a water drop. Also tends to be on the flat surfaces, not so much on the sides.
You need to stop and analyse. Are the spots regular, i.e.circular? May indicate something has sprayed on the car. Are they all over the car? Or mainly on the front, roof/top of bootlid? Perhaps not on the rear facing panels or rear bar? May indicate something off a vehicle you were following. Have a really close look at the spots. Get a magnifying glass if necessary. Look carefully at the shape. Is the damage towards the front or the back of each spot? Are there spots on plastic surfaces or just painted surfaces? How about stainless or chrome trims? Glass?
Once you get a better handle on the damage then you may be better able to narrow down what caused it. Once you’ve done that then you’re half way to fixing it.
Yep, spot on Diambert.
As a shop owner that’s exactly what I’m looking for. Efficient use of time so that the dead spots are utilised and it becomes possible to do the work in less hours than were allowed. Quality – absolutely essential! Reworks are like taking out my wallet and throwing $50 notes on the floor. They cost money and you’d better believe that the boss will notice if your reworks are more, or less, than the average. To be honest I’m suspicious of a painter who tells me that he’s “fast”. To me that says that he cuts corners and there is nothing worse than having to do warranty repairs because some lazy git thought that he could skip a step or two and meanwhile has moved on to wreak his particular brand of havoc at some other shop. Do the job and do it right and you will succeed.
Up until I got the shop about 8 years ago I used to be mobile. Work was primarily dealers which was ok in the sense that it was reasonably consistent but as the pressures on them grew to make use of every square inch of yard space I found I was being squeezed out.
Downsides were that it was impossible to work in the rain, couldn’t use 2K products at all and you could spend a lot of time, unproductive, travelling. Having the shop I’ve kept most of my trade customer base and been able to develop much more retail work, plus, importantly, productivity has improved out of sight and I can employ others.
In the shop we still focus mainly on small repairs and do no panel beating at all, just paint. There is a good market for it and the bigger panel shops actually refer work to us now, especially small repairs that they couldn’t be bothered doing. It does take quite some time to build up a big enough retail customer base so we do use radio advertising to help this along
I’d never go back to it.
I’ve just about completed an upgrade on our booth so I know the feeling when it all comes together. Looks good. :cheers
I see they still haven’t fixed the spelling error in that Aston Martin ad. :S But, who cares. 😉