First "real" paint job questions

www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html
lacquer paint "system" with a clear from advance auto
never saw it, never heard any good or bad
did use "citristrip" on what i think is ABS,tested it overnight on the back
seemed ok so i put it on the top, worked ok didn't hurt
the plastic, then soaked the covers in very hot water to make sure it was all off
i thought about sanding but had chips and many layers of paint, at least 5, thought it best to start over

Patton wrote:

EasyRider1 wrote:

what about the plastic parts

Am recalling an earlier thread with suggestion for using brake fluid to safely remove paint from the plastic parts (side covers and tail piece). Perhaps soaked for awhile inside a zip-lock baggie??

Have never tried this, so please await confirmation advice before attempting it.

I used brake fluid on my side covers. Worked great at removing the spray paint that a PO had sprayed on. Did not do much to the factory paint underneath, but that's okay. I let them soak overnight, and in the morning, the old paint just slid right off.

I had heard some warn that the brake fluid might become embedded in the pores of the plastic, and later come up after you've repainted.

After removing the paint, I cleaned them up real good with soapy water, then ran them through my dishwasher a couple times. Didn't have any problems after painting.

Hi, I have painted several cars over the years and what ever you do dont strip the plastic parts with any type of chemical strippers it will just screw your plastic parts up. When it comes to stripping plastic parts all you need to do is sand them down a little with 400 wet/dry paper then go to a 600 wet/dry dont sand in one spot to long and always make sure your paper is good and wet. If you dont have any really bad imperfections before you start this method will work fine on almost all finishes that you are going to apply. If you are going with a clearcoat finish you can use 800 wet/dry paper just to be sure that there are no light scatches left behind from the earlier paper grits. If you are going with a laquer finish then 600 grit will more than do it. I have never used flex agent in any of my paints and never have had any problems. As for the tank strip it down to bare metal so you know what you got then use a decent etching primer put a couple of coats on it then sand it like I descibed how to do plastic.

Well, I sanded and primed the plastic parts today. I did use "airplane remover" for a few moments on one of the side covers (despite my better judgement)but got it off quick before any serious damaged was caused.

I would like to mention that I did not use a barrier coat on these plastic parts and I am using lacquer paint so I guess this will be a test. I did sand all the shiny clear off of them and smoothed them with 400 grit and primed(yes lacquer primer). I also removed the sticker pin stripes (what a pain!)

I do plan on stripping the tank completely before painting.

I will post updates and eventually photos. Any advice is welcome. Thanks

Post edited by: EasyRider1, at: 2008/02/26 00:40

JUst a quick caution from someone whos been there screwed that up. dishwasher works very well for cleaning parts, wife is probably gonna be unhappy but oh well. I did find the heat from the drying cycle was to much and warped a thinner piece of plastic body work. just a caution to you guys. take care all jonnybiker

yeah but if you have access to one a dishwasher is dabomb for cleaning up engine cases and stuff like that after glassbeading!

I put a set of wire hub caps in the dishwasher once, Mom made me take it apart and clean everything inside by hand or I was going to be the new dishwasher, I will never put anything but dishes in again

is dabomb :P

Quick question:

How important is it to have the part totally covered in primer before doing the color coat? For example: I sand and prime a part, then while sanding to get perfectly smooth I may go through the primer again in some spots. Is it necessary to spray the part with primer again before spring a color coat?