Painting door molds

[Timmos]

I've spoken to a panel beater about spray painting those ugly plastic door molds.. i can't think of their name sorry.

He reckons it would look even worse if he painted it. Unless i could get them off the door first. Otherwise paint will build and clog up on the edges.

I've tried removing them.. that failed badly. how can i paint them?

[soop]

Um, find someone who can paint them.

Its not hard to mask them properly. Not even slightly.
In fact its an hour job. Just sounds like the guy you spoke to didnt want to do it. (I'm a spray painter )

[Timmos]

Um, find someone who can paint them.

Its not hard to mask them properly. Not even slightly.
In fact its an hour job. Just sounds like the guy you spoke to didnt want to do it. (I'm a spray painter )

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they didn't want to do it..

When i was shopping for quotes to spray my kit, i couldn't tell you how many places wouldn't do it because they only deal with insurance jobs!

oh well, thanks for the advice. i'll keep shopping around. Any estimate of how much it should cost?

[soop]

Couple hundred at most I'd say.

[Calaber]

You will never get an easier job to do yourself to get some practice - why not try to do it yourself?
Masking up properly just requires some masking tape ($5) and newspaper (nix)
Thorough cleaning of the strips with wax and grease remover ($10)
Sand back the strips with light grade wet and dry used wet ($10 for the paper)
Plastic primer first coat ($15)
Grey or red primer (depending on the colour of the car) $15
Couple of cans of top coat, then two or three coats of clear (say four cans total @ $12 each $48)
Light cut back with rubbing compound about a week after final coat is applied
Total cost around $100
Satisfaction of achieving something yourself? Priceless.

[Sean880]

Calaber

For the benefit of readers where do you get the spray cans in the correct top coat paint colour and type to match your car?

Thanks

[NVN07]

i get colour mixed from autobarn. they did a pretty good job with matching the hothouse green. cost me $30.

[Calaber]

Calaber

For the benefit of readers where do you get the spray cans in the correct top coat paint colour and type to match your car?

Thanks

Sean

Many colours for current and superseded models are available from Supercheap, Repco, Autobarn etc. It only requires the paint code from the body id plate to be matched to the catalogues in the stores. (Of course, if your car has been resprayed another colour at some time, you might be stuffed.)

If your colour isn't available ready mixed, then NVN07 is on the money with Autobarn mixing a large pressure pack of your colour. Yes, it's a bit dearer than I quoted, but stil much cheaper than paying a professional.

[Timmos]

I've got one that's cracked in the middle. should i bog it up and try to repair it.. or just paint as is.

[soop]

Ahh jesus.
No offense Calaber. But i couldnt recomend you NOT paint your car with quick dry enamel any more. (Spray can S**T)
The finish will leave ALOT to be desired. Its not even half as durable as a good 2k finish. And will last 12months at most.

There is so much more to a decent paint job then whats obvious.

If you're deadset keen on the idea though, save your money and don't worry about the plastic primer, it wont be needed due to the fact that the paint used in pressure packs is all bar usesless.
Give it a quick hit with some grey scotch bright and paint it what ever colour you like. You'll be doing it again in 3months anyway.

[Calaber]

Ahh jesus.
No offense Calaber. But i couldnt recomend you NOT paint your car with quick dry enamel any more. (Spray can S**T)
The finish will leave ALOT to be desired. Its not even half as durable as a good 2k finish. And will last 12months at most.

There is so much more to a decent paint job then whats obvious.

If you're deadset keen on the idea though, save your money and don't worry about the plastic primer, it wont be needed due to the fact that the paint used in pressure packs is all bar usesless.
Give it a quick hit with some grey scotch bright and paint it what ever colour you like. You'll be doing it again in 3months anyway.

Soop

We must have different experience with those cans of paint. They're not quick dry enamal - they're acrylic laquer. Durability, if prepared and painted correctly, is good, certainly better than you have described. I guess our experience is spread out over different periods of time - I painted my first touch-up jobs in 1971 and I've never experienced the problems you mentioned. I've used solid and metallics, with and without clear coat. I wouldn't touch up my current car the way I described - I have a proper compressor and gun and have done complete resprays a number of times on other cars, but this was a suggestion to someone who obviously has never tried to do this sort of work before and wanted to know how much it would cost.

As I said, it would have been a good project to learn on, and if it was stuffed up, it wouldn't have been difficult to remedy.

[Calaber]

I've got one that's cracked in the middle. should i bog it up and try to repair it.. or just paint as is.

It will fill and sand back ok but probably crack elsewhere - they never seem happy to only crack in one spot. If badly cracked, you would be better off removing them altogether then.

[Timmos]

So i we did this too a mates car today, came out fine.. but not even close to the quality of a professional paintjob.

Here was the method we used:
Rubbed plastic back with wet sandpaper 400 grit and then finally with 1200 to make it smooth
3 coats of grey plastic primer (rubbed back with 1200 each layer)
approx 4 - 5 coats of colour matched paint. (rubbed with 1200 each coat)
Buffed paint with polish compound and a cloth
3 coats of clear and polished again

Now a question due to my sudden obsession with painting, How do you get that real flat smooth slick finish of a professional paintjob?

[tyrone]

i can only see one problem with what you did timmos you polished then cleared over top did the clear even stick? apart from that you did it exactly right

[Calaber]

Yep, a couple of points to clear this one up, hopefully. As Timmos said, the last coat of colour should not be polished, nor should it be cut back. The colour alone does not give the gloss or depth you want - that comes with the coats of clear.

Another point is that this paint needs time to harden before you cut it back - it will be "green" for a few days, which makes it difficult to get a good gloss. Leaving it for about a week before cut-back gives it time to harden.

As you have already cut the top colour coat back, and the paint appears to have adhered, try leaving the strips until next weekend, then try polishing again. Polishing compound is pretty abrasive and can still leave fine scratches in the paint which will create a poor, dull finish.

I have mentioned this before - it's an oldie but a goodie, with guaranteed results and no scratches, and it's cheap. Use Brasso instead of cutting compound. You will need to give the strips a fair bit of rubbing as the Brasso is so fine that it only abrades in very small quantities, but if the finish is already cut back, it shouldn't take long for the finish to match what you want. Let us all know how it goes.

[Timmos]

It's just a shame i need to drive my car, during the week i should leave it while it will "green" and it's not garaged

But thank you calaber, this info has defiantly helped me and sure will in the future!

[Calaber]

There's no probs driving the car while the paints hardens, nor does leaving it out in the weather hurt. The paint just needs time to harden, so that it is easier to cut back. If you cut it back too soon after painting, the paint just won't polish up as well as you want because it is still very soft,even though it is ok to touch it and it feels dry.