Spray painting

[WogBoyz]

im planning on spray painting my engine bay and some of my exterior (door handels ect) is it ok just to use a grey primer frist then use a normal gloss or matt black spray paint on them? or do i need to use a differnt spray paint?

theres prob a tread on this alrdy but im rly short on time as i need to get it b4shops close, so im sorrry if this has been posted alrdy

any help would be greatly appreciated

[EREXON]

How are you planning to spray the engine bay. Obviously no engine in there and fully stripped.

Well you need to sand the original paint down so that the primer can adhere to it.
First wipe it down using wax and grease remover then give it all a light sand using something like 320 grit.

Once sanded clean the whole area and wipe again with wax and grease remover.
Prime the surface that will be painted. If you are using 2pac paint you will need a 2K primer.

Once primed and left to dry you will need to wet sand it with 800grit all smooth like glass. As its an engine bay you know which parts will need to look good the rest can be sanded quickly.

Once primer has been sanded, once again clean the area and wax and grease remover.

Now mask off all areas that you dont want paint on.

Hit it with your paint.


If its just acrylic paint you will only need to get a acrylic primer. Matt black is cheap and you can buy it in a can.

on the door handles just get some colour match to the car after priming just spray them it comes in a can and they will colour match the paint to the car.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WILL BE USING A SPRAY GUN OR CANS

IF THIS IS WHAT YOUR DOING LET ME KNOW ALSO AND I CAN GIVE YOU MORE DETAILED ANSWERS

[EREXON]

More info on what you want done and how good you want it to look.

By engine bay are you meaning engine pieces and components or the actual bay???

[WogBoyz]

just pieces like the black cover fading over the cooler fan, sorry didnt word it right not the whole engine bay lol

[EREXON]

Ok yeah thats pretty straight forward.

Get some high temp spray paint any colour you like. Make sure its a high temp if your putting it under the bonnet or else it will melt.

you can simply just sand the plastic pieces down and paid them straight over without the need for primer.

so get a bucket of water with 2-3 drops of dish soap and leave the sandpaper in the bucket for 5 minutes. (use 600 - 800 grit)
whilst you wait just wipe the pieces down or wash them.

now keeping the parts wet just sand them using your wet sand paper lightly.

once you scuffed them up a little just wipe them down dry.
when dry wipe them with a bit of methylated spirits to get the grease and dirt off.

place the parts on newspaper or elevate them on a cardboard box and spray them.

give it a light mist coat first let it dry for 5min.

then hit it with a couple of medium coats until all covered allowing 5 min between coats.

let them dry in the shade not direct sun for a few hours or over night that way you dont leave finger indents when replacing them and your done.

same with door handles.

you can use cheap spray cans for the door handles and no one will tell. black is black.

however for under the bonnet i recommend getting the high temp paint.
if its enough you can use the high temp paint for both.

IF YOU DO WANT TO USE PRIMER YOU JUST NEED TO PRIME IT AFTER YOU SAND IT, LET IT DRY, SAND THE PRIMER SMOOTH AND THEN PAINT.

SO JUST 1 extra step.

primer just allows the paint to adhere better to the plastic but ive used paint straight on plastic and its held up fine without any primer.

GOOD LUCK

[WogBoyz]

kk awsome thanks for detail bro, appreciate it mate

[R0d]

primer just allows the paint to adhere better to the plastic but ive used paint straight on plastic and its held up fine without any primer.

GOOD LUCK

i would be using plastic primer...... they can come in small spray cans

[WogBoyz]

yeah i was going too anyway wanna get it done right the first time

[EREXON]

Its up to you mate.

Plastic primer can be used depends how fussy and how long you want it to last.
Iv used both ways with and without primer, and both are fine but for a really top job id use primer aswell.

The other thing make sure you dont get primer "FILLER" for plastic as it will build up a layer to cover any small holes and cracks which you dont need on the plastic parts you're painting. It will just take longer to sand smooth.

so a normal primer to cover it all up will do.

[EREXON]

3 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint is usually enough.

all come in spray cans.

Just make sure you keep it clean before paint. The paint bit shouldnt be a problem as long as the surface is sanded right and clean.

[R0d]

most plastic primers arent meant to be sanded after applied just painted straight on top