theres no such thing as free lunch!

 

here are some pics that i took. i sanded first with the 60 grit then i primered it...it dried and now i just sanded dow with 80 grit and i must say it's turning out alot better than i expected. i'm gonna give it one more coat of primer, sand it with 120, and then start painting it with the blue i got.

 

Ummm... looks like the bumper is textured... is that the look you're going for? I don't think the paint is going to fill that in unless it's a bad optical illusion

 

well, it's the effect when you use paint stripper on plastic. it didnt get all the pain so what i'm gonna do is keep sanding it til it smoothes itself out.

 

^ +1 lol...

 

snowball,

all the pics you hosted are no longer available ... can you repost them or send them to me via email?

i'll pm you my addy if you're down

im really curious to see how the paint looked throughout the stages and what the final product was ...

my car might be seeing this same type of application in the next year or so ....

 

+1 I wasn't able to see the pics either.

 

Titos Toy...You're gonna be prepping that thing for a long time.

I had to go through the same thing. My advice is to get some body filler, and sand down where the chips meet the bumper material, as close as possible, then spread a thin layer of filler over it and re-sand till smooth. To like 400 grit.

That's what I did, and it's coming out good.

 

Yeah, for best results, your last sanding before paint goes on should be 320-400 grit. After paint, clear, and after clear, I've had excellent results going with 800 grit, then 1000 grit, then 1200 grit, and right into compounding with a monster orbital buffer. (Not a $20 random orbit polisher from Wal-mart! Went through two of those before I found the REAL deal!) Don't press hard or you'll swirl like crazy, let the (probably 20 lbs!!!) weight of the buffer put pressure on the pad for you. If it doesn't shine enough for you, do it again! I've had awesome results from 3M's Perfect it II Heavy compound (the 1200 grit equivalent one, not the 1000 grit one!)

 

here are the pics, ill see if a mod can fix the posts since i cant edit anything that old
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...g%20the%20car/

 

dude!!!

that looks nice!!!

props to you ... that looks damn good ... i now have something to work towards

how's it holding up .. i know it hasnt been that long since you finished it (i assume) but man that paint looks brand new factory style!!!


you're the man!

 

its been something close to 2 months now, still looks the same. no pealing issues or anything.

 

yeah, i had a feeling of that. that's what i get for rushing to get it stripped!! last night i put on a second coat of primer and i'll sand it down with the 80 grit again to see what happens. i might as well pick up some body filler too....i'll post pics as i update y'all.

 

I'm surprised you decided to paint on top of... paint. I'm not expert, but if I were in your shoes, I'd sand it down until the surface is even. Best of luck to you!

 

Snowball, how many coats did you do and did you mix the paint with solvent till it is just thicker than water?

and you did a amazing job

 

6 coats and yes.

 

dude save your money , screw thw cheap apaint job. most of the guys in here can barely afford there cars anyways, lol wait and get something ya like, belave me ull like the end result, dont put no 50 buck crap job on your car , its a rx7 it deserves better tha that. good luck.......

 

all i have to say.

 

it looks good from far away but close up it looks dull and poorly painted... like a matte finish..

 

its not super glossy but not many whites are.

 

That's ****** pretty snow.

 

Almost everyone that paints cars that I know of paints over the top of paint, but they rough it up first with 320-400 grit sandpaper. Then the existing paint becomes a primer coat. If the existing paint is in good shape, then the surface is already pretty even. If there are dings or dents, you'll want to sand down to bare metal, pull them a little less than perfectly flat and blend them in with body filler. The difference is if there's a problem with the original paint, like early 90's GM cars where the factory paint would spontaneously fall off the factory primer. If there's a peeling paint problem, you'll want to sand down through it. The only time I've ever stripped a car before I painted it ended up being lots of work, burning my hands and arms, and came out looking like garbage. If you've got a multithousand dollar budget like Overhaulin, by all means, strip the car and have it media blasted If you're just a guy, there's nothing wrong with going over the original paint as long as you rough it up first. If you don't, the first ice storm you have will pull all your nice new paint right off of the old clear, don't ask me how I know

 

So... can we get a picture bigger than 1 inch x 1 inch.

 

Exceptionally nice, for 50$ in my opinion...However, I disagree... this day in age the way a color reflects light ie. whites, blacks, is due to the quality of the CC that is on the BC. Acrylic enamel technology is way outdated... I've seen plenty of glossy whites, and dull whites, dull usually meaning the clearcoat has faded dramatically. In your case, you're using a low quality acrylic enamel at best, which is an exception. Normally acrylic enamels can be buffed with no ends, with really high gloss retention. So the quality of the shine is more dependent on the result of the quality in the paint.

 

You don't have much experience with enamels do you? hehe

But, yes, quality of the paint (and solid content) is what ultimately determines gloss and durability.