Ok, after a bit of advice here.
I've got a compressor, a spray gun and 4l of paint but never done this sort of thing before.

A few years ago I was given some Palinal 407 Nitro Airdry paint in a really nice blue metallic colour, and 4x1L Holts Dupli-Color Clearcoat Lacquer.

I've got some FG panels which are both gelcoated and have been painted on top. What I'm thinking is rub these down to get a nice key and give them a blast with the above paint. But I'm not exactly sure the best way to do it.

Given the details above, is the paint I've got enamel? And if so do I need to thin it down with something, if so what and how much by.

I don't mind if it goes wrong as it's for the race car so if the finish isn't perfect I don't mind, it's only going to get knocked and scraped

So any tips for a noobie? How far do I need to go with the rubbing down? Will the paint I've got react with whatever's on there? I'm assuming it's probably had water based paint applied as it was only done last year.

I got an instruction CD of ebay for about £4, helped me out no end.

Nitro is cellulose, you need 50/50 mix with thinners if it's not already thinned (thinned it runs like milk, otherwise like custard ) Get some decent quality thinners and watch some youtube videos, lots of good stuff on there.

remember it is ALL in the prep.
use 600-800 wet and dry for flatting. Acrylic stopper is brilliant for little imperfections.

Spraygun cleanliness is essential too, get used to stripping it and cleaning it. A small/deep metal tin (baking tray??) is ideal for filling with gunwash thinners to do this.

Stir the paint really well. I use a small paddle mixer in a drill. Especially if it has been sitting about, the solids will settle out and it will take a while.

I think you will need some etch primer on fibreglass to get paint to stick sell. Certainly on any ali panels.

All panels will need wiping down well with panel wipe before any paint goes on. At a pinch celly thinners will do. But you can't use that on anything that has recently been painted with celly paint......

Tackrags are very useful. Despite what you say, you do want to get as good a finish as you can!

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/48784

Why would you use etch primer on GRP? My understanding was etch was for bare metal only?

Thinking about spraying my car over the winter (at the moment it's a vinyl wrap which is getting scruffy) - is it practical to do this with the panels on the car? I'd remove the panel over the exhaust manifold (or maybe the manifold itself) obviously, but could everything else be done in situ if I carefully cover the rest of the car?

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Originally posted by theduck
Why would you use etch primer on GRP? My understanding was etch was for bare metal only?

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