Quick Paint Question

hiya guys, ive taken all the plastic parts from my engine bay i.e engine cover, fuse cover, relay cover etc. i used 2 coats of primer and sanded each coat down, then added 3 coats of paint, and then added2 coats of lacquer, each drying for 24hrs. so my question is what can i do to polish them up now??? can i add a wax or like a paint detailer that wipes on and off??

You should be able to polish them up in the same way as you would any other plastic body part, some kind of abrasive to flat them down, polish and then wax.

thanks michael, wasnt sure if the lacquer was still porous and waxing might make it cloudy. when you say abrasive you mean as in like a light rub with a scouring pad or an abrasive polish?

didnt you use heat proof paint???!!!

Best to wait a few weeks to give the paint a chance to harden.

thanks michael, wasnt sure if the lacquer was still porous and waxing might make it cloudy. when you say abrasive you mean as in like a light rub with a scouring pad or an abrasive polish?

abrasive as in sand papaer like 1500, very smooth, need to use that to make it look dull then the polish will make it sparkle:cool:

thanks michael, wasnt sure if the lacquer was still porous and waxing might make it cloudy. when you say abrasive you mean as in like a light rub with a scouring pad or an abrasive polish?

Well I'd certainly leave it a while for the paint to cure properly but then you could go over it with some 2500 and 4000 wet and dry before following up with a slightly abrasive polish to remove the wet sanding marks.

Please don't go near it with a scouring pad

no just normal halford car paint. i did them last year but didnt lacquer them so i took them off as im not using the car and stripped them down and started again. i drove the car all last year and it never cracked or anything. i was told heat proof paint wasnt needed

 

Please don't go near it with a scouring pad

I did think someone might say not to:blink:

Need to clear a few things up here before some of the well intended but inaccurate advice causes you problems, first off you need to know what type of paint the Halfords stuff is, i suspect its a one stage acrylic, and TBH I'm not 100% sure if it can be flatted an polished successfully, and this means flatting with 1200-1500 wet n dry abrasive paper ( and AFAIK there is no such thing as 2500 or 4000 grit Michael) but normally it would be machine polished, and i don't know if it can cope with this,

If i where you i would get some G6 and ca fully go over it by hand, to get a shine and then wax.

Oh and another tip acrylics/2K don't need or like being left for 24 hours before re coating, 1 hour max but really just until the coat has flashed off, just slightly tacky, or you will end up with the coats de laminating as the solvents didn't penetrate the previous coat.

isn't 4000 grit just paper?

isn't 4000 grit just paper?

LOL yeah paper probably equates to about 2000 grit;)

I suspect I'm the "well intended" individual you want to save him from but rest easy that I'm giving advice based on personal experience of small parts (not whole cars) rather than picking info from the air.

i suspect its a one stage acrylic

It generally is acrylic from Halford, the cans I have certainly are - as for "one stage" I'm not sure what you mean by that but it certainly works better when applied over primer and can be applied in multiple coats, that's the method they recommend. I consider that multi-stage but then I'm not in the business (I guess you are?) so am not up on the terminology.

and TBH I'm not 100% sure if it can be flatted an polished successfully

My experience with it says it can be and very nicely to boot.

and this means flatting with 1200-1500 wet n dry abrasive paper ( and AFAIK there is no such thing as 2500 or 4000 grit Michael)

Would you like me to take some pictures of the 2500 4000 grit stuff I have? Or the 2000? I wet sanded my bonnet and intend to do a lot more, there isn't a chance I'd go near it with 1200 - 1500 though, 2000 followed by 4000, a couple of passes with a paint depth gauge backing me up.

but normally it would be machine polished, and i don't know if it can cope with this,

If i where you i would get some G6 and ca fully go over it by hand, to get a shine and then wax.

G6! He wants to polish, not take the paint off and start again If you must use these god awful body repair products then maybe G10 but a nice Menzerna PO85RD 3.02 followed by some Final Finish PO85RD would be my preferred attack for a decent finish that isn't covered in swirls.

Oh and another tip acrylics/2K don't need or like being left for 24 hours before re coating, 1 hour max but really just until the coat has flashed off, just slightly tacky, or you will end up with the coats de laminating as the solvents didn't penetrate the previous coat.

15 minutes if it's Halfords stuff, slightly longer in this weather I guess - I cheat and use a bit of heat though, the colour gets flatted back before the clear goes on anyway, there is nothing worse than a perfectly smooth clear over a crappy orange peel colour.

But other than this I totally agree with you and of course none of this matters if the prep work is pants.

I suspect I'm the "well intended" individual you want to save him from but rest easy that I'm giving advice based on personal experience of small parts (not whole cars) rather than picking info from the air.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tricky-Ricky

i suspect its a one stage acrylic

It generally is acrylic from Halford, the cans I have certainly are - as for "one stage" I'm not sure what you mean by that but it certainly works better when applied over primer and can be applied in multiple coats, that's the method they recommend. I consider that multi-stage but then I'm not in the business (I guess you are?) so am not up on the terminology.

Quote:

and TBH I'm not 100% sure if it can be flatted an polished successfully

My experience with it says it can be and very nicely to boot.

Quote:

and this means flatting with 1200-1500 wet n dry abrasive paper ( and AFAIK there is no such thing as 2500 or 4000 grit Michael)

Would you like me to take some pictures of the 2500 4000 grit stuff I have? Or the 2000? I wet sanded my bonnet and intend to do a lot more, there isn't a chance I'd go near it with 1200 - 1500 though, 2000 followed by 4000, a couple of passes with a paint depth gauge backing me up.

Quote:

but normally it would be machine polished, and i don't know if it can cope with this,

If i where you i would get some G6 and ca fully go over it by hand, to get a shine and then wax.

G6! He wants to polish, not take the paint off and start again If you must use these god awful body repair products then maybe G10 but a nice Menzerna PO85RD 3.02 followed by some Final Finish PO85RD would be my preferred attack for a decent finish that isn't covered in swirls.

Quote:

Oh and another tip acrylics/2K don't need or like being left for 24 hours before re coating, 1 hour max but really just until the coat has flashed off, just slightly tacky, or you will end up with the coats de laminating as the solvents didn't penetrate the previous coat.

15 minutes if it's Halfords stuff, slightly longer in this weather I guess - I cheat and use a bit of heat though, the colour gets flatted back before the clear goes on anyway, there is nothing worse than a perfectly smooth clear over a crappy orange peel colour.

But other than this I totally agree with you and of course none of this matters if the prep work is pants.

__________________

LOL Actually Michael, my reply was derived from the majority of comments, not just yours, but then you wouldn't be you if you didn't take it personally;)

One stage acrylic is just that, no mixing unlike most commercial paints ie 2K which requires an actuator to be mixed with it, in order to harden.

2500 and 4000 grit, well apologies, my local paint suppler has never stocked it as its far to fine for the job of nibbing, which it flatting to take out imperfections such as dust, orange peel, (bad spraying technique} etc, which is then followed by machine polishing, to re shine the paint lacquer, can be done by hand but requires arms like Schwarzenegger and amphetamine's to get good results.

I recommended G6 because it gives a better finish than G3 which is also intended for hand use but gives a much less shiny finish.

As for flatting a base-coat, its something you shouldn't do,especially metallics!and unless its a solid colour, which is not intended to have a lacquer over the top anyway, flatting metallic base coats will result in a very odd and crap look, that is why surface and primer preparation is everything, you shouldn't be doing anything to the base-coat other that tack cloth it before coating with clear.

I suspect the problem is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist and your techniques are simply about pleasing 99% of the public

I actually don't work in the trade, and you are welcome to have a good look at my Supra and pick holes in my recent respray;)

Lol..

I actually don't work in the trade, and you are welcome to have a good look at my Supra and pick holes in my recent respray;)

I wouldn't do that sir!

I admire anyone who is willing to take on something like that, as I said in my post I only do little bits, a whole car is a completely different story

cheers for al the advice guys, i think im going to let the parts sit for a few more days just to make sure their hard as they are in the garage and its quite cold. the only reason i left the paint 24 hours was that they didnt seem to cure very fast due to the cold, and each layer still seemed to take to the previous coat. the paint work was very smooth and the lacquer is very flat to, think ill just give it a light sand with th 2000-2000+ wet and dry then polish it up.