Wet Sanding Rattle Can Paint?

[Chris_B]

OK, I appreciate everyone's input and I will report back with pics after I implement this advise. No edge painting, for sure.

 

 

[chargin]

I usually do 2 or 3 light coats then wait 2 day’s curing followed by wet sanding then a final finish coat.

 

usully this gets a pretty nice result  

 

 

[Vicleonardo1]

Oh yeah? You guys may be the worst painters in the world. But I think I got you beat.

 

Doing a nice guitar  from a kit with lacquer. Had some orange peel. Could never seem to get the look I wanted without taking the paint down to the wood. Over and over again....

 

Thinking of throwing a few stickers on it and calling it a beat up road guitar that I pulled out of a trash bin behind some grunge pub somewhere....

 

So you guys can claim poor painting skills, but don't send anything to me to wet sand, unless you really want to ruin it...

[jgerock]

Back when I painted the engine sheet metal on my 66 Beetle (around 1982), I used Duplicolor sandable primer and their paint sourced from my local  Trak Auto.  Looked good for about 6 months then peeled off due to the high temperature of the air cooled engine.

 

Fast forward many years and I only buy expensive spray cans of Rustoleum or anything from The Eastwood Company.  As mentioned above, surface prep and multiple light coats applied in moderate to low humidity conditions seems to work well.

[markmac]

I have been in the 're-finish' mode for a while now with my car so I feel your pain.  Recently painted struts, shocks, trailing arms, rear axle.....etc.,  Not all satin blacks are the same - some more shiny or matte than others....and pretty much all of them won't have the same gloss a month after the part is painted (happily in my experience).  As stated, prep, prep, prep....making sure that the paint/primer has a surface it can bit into (usually 400-600 grit wet/dry or 3M scuff pads, cleaned and prepped with whatever the manufacturer recommends - I use Acryla-Clean SX330 (PPG) making sure that the paint/primer has a surface it can bite into and then a tack cloth just before I paint.  The SEM satin trim paint works well, I also like VHT roll bar & chassis paint.  Used that on my trailing arms, axle and struts and after a couple of months the sheen has really settled to a color I like.  Have also used Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator (matte black) on a number of projects.  Really like this stuff too.  You can get it in pints or rattle can.  Whether its rattle can or HVLP spray gun, wind, sun, humidity can really eff up your paint job.  Last thing with rattle cans - sounds stupid but I always test them out on something other than my project (first) really to get a feel as to how the paint comes out (pattern) and how it goes on.  Learned the hard way by effing up more than one project and in those cases I really just ended up taking off what I put on and started from scratch.  Good luck with your project.

[Chris_B]

I have sanded this thing until it is as smooth as a baby's ass. As you can see, bare metal is showing, I am wondering whether I can simply paint over this. I am going to use SEM trim paint on the recommendation of HBChris and others. Or, should I put a coat of primer on it first? Or, should I strip it and start over (really don't want to do that if I can avoid it).

[markmac]

Some of the paint sold now is 'self-priming' (allegedly).  Since you have some exposed metal I would probably prime it, use sandable primer if you can so that if anything happens you can sand it out.  SEM has a self etching primer for bare metal not sure though that material is sandable (don't recall now).  I have a local FinishMaster that supply local auto paint and supplies, great resource, always asking them questions and they are always happy to help (read they hate me and hope I go away.....not really) I am sure there is something similar to where you are.  Looks like you have enough texture on there for the paint to adhere to, primer I think helps, maybe overkill for this piece but what the heck - do it right I say.

[Chris_B]

In retrospect, I made two mistakes, both having to do with the paint. First, the paint I used is "semi-glossy." I think what I really wanted was satin. Second, Rust-oleum calls the product I used "ultracover" with "twice the coverage" and it is supposed to be both primer and paint. What that meant in practice was that it was ultra-thick. I think that contributed a lot to my drips and uneven coating.

[jrhone]

4 hours ago, jgerock said:

Back when I painted the engine sheet metal on my 66 Beetle (around 1982), I used Duplicolor sandable primer and their paint sourced from my local  Trak Auto.  Looked good for about 6 months then peeled off due to the high temperature of the air cooled engine.

 

Fast forward many years and I only buy expensive spray cans of Rustoleum or anything from The Eastwood Company.  As mentioned above, surface prep and multiple light coats applied in moderate to low humidity conditions seems to work well.

 

Yea, the duplicator high temp primer and high temp clear has lasted about a year and looks like the day I painted it,  I used normal stuff on it before and it bubbled up and peeled almost immediately.  

[Bibm5]

I've always had consistently good results from rustoleom 2x spray paints. I've sprayed pretty much everything with it including cars and golf carts. You can shoot a couple light coats of sandable primer and then then scuff /sand the primer with 220 or higher sandpaper or pads and then shoot several light coats of paint. You should get about 50% coverage on your first coat as a reference, then do the same about 3 more times or until your satisfied with about 15 min in between coats. It's hard to beat a good $20 paint job!

 

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[SydneyTii]

11 hours ago, Chris_B said:

I have sanded this thing until it is as smooth as a baby's ass. As you can see, bare metal is showing, I am wondering whether I can simply paint over this. I am going to use SEM trim paint on the recommendation of HBChris and others. Or, should I put a coat of primer on it first? Or, should I strip it and start over (really don't want to do that if I can avoid it).

If I see metal I usually etch prime to get good adhesion, it drys quickly, not sure if I really need to but it gives me piece of mind and as yet nothing has peeled etc, some old projects are 5 to 6 years old now. Just about to do my wheel wells in Rust encapsulator (Eastwood’s) after a meticulous clean, I like the black wheel wells, also having a Chamonix car they always look dirty, yes I think it’s OCD??

Edited July 23, 2018 by SydneyTii

[Tdh]

Chris,

 

The poster who told you about SEM trim black gave you good advice.  I use it all the time, and it would work fine over your now sanded booster.  I use it all the time, and its a great product.  

 

You've been lambasted enough about your painting technique, so I won't go there ?.

 

I can put a sheet of glass on a car with virtually any gun you hand me, and I still have trouble with rattle can paint sometimes so don't feel bad.  If you have a small compressor, go get a trim gun from Harbor Freight and order a quart of SEM Trim Black off Amazon.  practice a little with the gun and you'll get it in no time.  

 

 

[Tdh]

Just now, Tdh said:

Chris,

 

The poster who told you about SEM trim black gave you good advice.  I use it all the time, and it would work fine over your now sanded booster.  I use it all the time, and its a great product.  It works fine DTM, and I generally do just that on parts like this.  

 

You've been lambasted enough about your painting technique, so I won't go there ?.

 

I can put a sheet of glass on a car with virtually any gun you hand me, and I still have trouble with rattle can paint sometimes so don't feel bad.  If you have a small compressor, go get a trim gun from Harbor Freight and order a quart of SEM Trim Black off Amazon.  practice a little with the gun and you'll get it in no time.  

 

 

 

[Stevenc22]

Try heating the part in the sun or with a heat gun before laying the first coat. This will help the first coat stick without running.

 

I am also an impatient painter but the key really is lots of light coats. 

[dang]

I'm pretty sure good painters started out as bad painters.  Don't worry about it, paint is very forgiving, just consider it a base coat.   I've gotten much better at painting over the years from making lots of mistakes, but I'm still not good at body work.  At this rate, I'll be awesome at body work by the time I'm around 93 years old.