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Automotive Paint

N

natermeister

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
463
I want to paint my next case, I don't want to use spray paint, I want to use high quality automotive paint, preferably a two stage base/clear. The problem is, every painting your case guide on the internet is done using spray paint.

Now, the case I'll be using, a Silverstone TJ-03, doesn't have much, if any plastice on it, but of course, the drive bezels are plastic.

What I want to know is if any of you expirience modders out there know if automotive paints will "burn" the plastic used on drive bezels. You're help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nater
 
Have you painted stuff before or is this your first time? First timer's I suggest practicing many many many times before you try it. Or take it to a body shop because they'll always beat you on price (because setup/startup costs are typically a lot).
 
hi, wahey, this is my first post! :D :D
ok, i work in an autobody shop, and theres a big difference between spraying with a can, and using proper paint. firstly, do you have all the equipment (spray gun, airline, compressor etc.) if not, its probably not worth your while doing it yourself, as it'd cost too much. my advice would be to bring it to a bodyshop and ask them to do it for you. You might get some weird looks, but they'll be happy to do it i'd say! even offer to have it sanded down for them beforehand, it might cost you less! :p It wont cost much, and you're sure to get a professional finish. Spraying with a professional spray gun takes a lot of practice (especially lacquering), you cant really just pick it up.
Thats my two cents!
 
I've painted stuff before and have all the tools required, compressor, gravity feed spray gun(2 actually), tack cloths, various degreasing chemicals, gray primer, a can of etching primer, some black primer for guide coats(probably unessesary),various fine grit sand paper for wet sanding, and a few sanding blocks. Painting the case is going to be the easy(or easier) part, it'll be the prep work on the cramped inside space and the finish sanding that will be a pain in the ass.

I don't have the paint, which won't be cheap. Plus I'll need to construct a make shift paint booth, but I have what I need to do that in the garage. I have thought about a body shop, which probably wouldn't be too much more than the cost of the paint, but I'd like to get some expirience laying down and finishing two stage auto paints, I'd like to be able to paint one of my project cars one day.
 
finish sanding? Cutting and buffing?

I'd just have the cage of the case powdercoated because you won't be able to hit every inch properly with a regular gun. The panels can be painted easily. Not much prep involved as long as they're smooth. Just scuff and spray base You already have a finish on the case so there's no need for primer.
 
Painting the plastic should be no problem i can't beleve bruce never mentioned it, most cars and plastic/carbon, or some sort of composite body panels or bumpers to save weight and money. The only time you see a fully metal car is the old style ones (musle cars ect) so the paint should not harm the plastic, just make sure to coat everything as evenly as possible with primer to minimise the risk as paint pealing, ect. Most of all if you use black the paint will show any imprefections. Chose your color and clearcoat wisely. The best bet is like stated above if your case is strong enough to withstand the heat to have it powedercoated. I can't powdercoat mine as its aluminum, and the place i would get it done would melt the case :/ Good luck and remeber to post pics!
 
I've painted mine with automotive paint before. Take it to a body shop. There they have all the right tools and they can bake it in the booth. Tell them it is no big hurry and ask them if instead of firing the booth just for it, if they can bake it with something else. That will help keep the price down a bit because it costs ALOT to fire that puppy up.

We own a booth and it take a TON of power to start up. So, a body shop would be extremely happy to bake it with something else if you don't mind waiting until then
 
I was thinking about that, what material they used for front/rear bumpers, side skirts, decorative spoilers, stuff like that. For some reason I always assumed that it was urethane, but that would probably be too expensive for a large OEM to use on a couple hundred thousand cars. Plastics aren't always the same, but I was thinking that I'd be ok, I just wanted to see if anyone had done this already.

I think I'm going to have a body shop do it, actually a friend of a friend owns one...I got to thinking things like down draft paint booths and baked on clears, I can't do that, at least not safely.

I think I'll still do the wet sanding, as that is one of the major labor costs involved in high quality paint, it'll only cost me time out of my life that I'll never get back should I do it myself.
 
You guys seem to put too much thought into this.

Few places need to bake paint jobs in the summer time when it is already hot.

A urathane (single stage) would be better than basecoat/clearcoat because your case will never see the light of day, it's cheaper, and you'll never be able to tell the diff between it and a bc/cc job.
 
Qtip42 said:
Few places need to bake paint jobs in the summer time when it is already hot.
Click to expand...
Most places DO. As far as I know. We vake anything that will fit in the booth because it provides a better paint job. Letting it air dry exposes it to impurities in the air which WILL be seen in the final product. In the booth, it is baked at a constant temperature so that paint will dry evenly. Also, the air going in is filtered and purified and you will not get any impurities, fish eyes, dirt grains, or anything else in the color. It is cheaper to fire the booth than it is to repaint the car when the customer isn't happy.

As for urethane, never used it, so I can't compare it to automotive paint.

As for wet sanding the plastic bezels, gray Scotch Pad with soap and water until the shine is gone. Do NOT break through the color onto the plastic or else it wills how in the paint after it is painted.

Believe me, it is a bitch when that happens.
 
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