Quote:
Originally Posted by Car photographer
I've been trying to find out the best options for painting my kit (fiberglass)
But I seem to get conflicting answers - some say use etch primer, some say don't, some say 2k some cellulose - does anybody have any proper experience or knowledge of the best options to get a good finish and avoid cracking in the future.
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Hi Paul
To put in my two penn’orth I think one of the reasons you get conflicting answers on etch primer is that no one has really done a proper comparison so it’s all a bit subjective. Personally I don’t bother with an acid etch primer, I use a 2K high build primer followed by a guide coat and a lot of blocking off before I put on the colour.
As far as colour coat goes I used a 1K with a lacquer on my first spray job but for the next three I have used a 2K and compounded it to get the finish I wanted. I also find that 2K is a lot harder finish and seems to resist chipping a lot better than 1K.
I’ve never sprayed a whole car with cellulose so I can’t comment on it. I once used a waterbourne paint on some alloy wheels and found it very difficult to use so I would never ever use it again.
I did find that putting too much paint (I ended up with 15 coats on a bonnet once) results in cracking of the paint, but in my experience most cracking is due to the underlying gel coat or grp so different paints don’t have much effect.
Finally as regards a DIY or Professional job, I think that the key to a good finish is the preparation. If you are going to prepare the car yourself then you will probably need to have all the gear (compressor, spraygun, mask/air fed visor) to spray primer anyway so you could spray the colour coats yourself. I found it the most satisfying part of the job, apart from looking at the finished car!
Neil
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d1y757hp8a...193_n.jpg?dl=0