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primer and spraying
mat.price - 31/3/09 at 06:11 PM

im at the stage that im nearly ready to spray my wheel arches on my tiger
ive been looking at the past posts about spraying ect
but what im trying to find out is that if i use cans for spraying do i need to use a primer before spraying the colour coats or can i just put the colour coats on??

blakep82 - 31/3/09 at 06:15 PM

always use a primer

Paul TigerB6 - 31/3/09 at 06:20 PM

I take it you are spraying the gelcoat?? Rough it up with medium grade (400-600) wet n dry first to give it something to key to. Halfords sell a Plastic Primer in cans that seems to work well in gelcoat anyway. I've seen etc primer recommended also but whatever is used - if it doesnt key really well then its not going to last long.

mat.price - 31/3/09 at 06:38 PM

yes im will be spraying gelcoat and yes i will be roughing it up tomorrow with 600 grit
as for using the primer from other posts you put one layer of primer to every layer of colour paint
yes or no?

Paul TigerB6 - 31/3/09 at 06:47 PM

I've not seen that rule of thumb before. I have always just used enough primer to do the job and allow for rubbing down etc myself. I'm no expert painter though (which has just given me the idea of looking for a college course - i booked onto a Welding course for September only last week!)

r1_pete - 31/3/09 at 09:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mat.price
yes im will be spraying gelcoat and yes i will be roughing it up tomorrow with 600 grit
as for using the primer from other posts you put one layer of primer to every layer of colour paint
yes or no?


No you prime and flat untill you have a 'perfect' surface.

Basiclly prime, 360 - 400 griit wet or dry to take the fur and any runs out, no doubt this will rub through to the gel, re-prime, re flat and on, untill you have a nice smooth even surface, then you're ready for topcoat.

For a top job, spray a guide colour on when you think you're ready for topcoat, preferably black but never red, just a light dusting, then with 800 on a block, sand it all off this will show up any low spots (guide colour left behind) needing more work, or high spots will sand through the guide quickly.

The priming stage is more important than the topcoat, you can flat runs and sags out of the topcoat, but it will always follow the base coat, so if you have an uneven base you can't correct it with topcoat.

[Edited on 31/3/09 by r1_pete]

ashg - 31/3/09 at 09:12 PM

rub down with 600grit dry. clean off with pannel wipe. the prime it. let it dry prime it again. let it dry for 12 hours then sand down the primer with 600grit paper but using water. the aim is to get the primer really smooth not to sand it all away. once the primer is smooth do a light dust of colour let it dry and repeat until it is solid. then get some 1000grit paper and give the colour coat a light sand with water untill it looks slightly dull. once that is done give it a light coat of clear lacker let it dry for 30mins then give it another coating.


finally let it dry for about a week then give it a good polish but dont wax it for about a month.

mat.price - 1/4/09 at 09:12 AM

ok people ill give that a go thanks for the help
wish me luck

Mark Allanson - 4/4/09 at 10:56 AM

Don't use any abrasive that requires water. The primer is designed to absorb the first liquid that comes into contact with it. I would prefer that it was my colour coat than the contents of the rubbing down bucket!

mat.price - 5/4/09 at 05:35 PM

got this today from halfords
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_170745_langId_-1_categoryId_165625

will this do the job ok as it was the only one they had??