Painting fiberglass??
 

Hi everyone
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.

Also not sure whether to try doing it myself or finding a local expert to take it on - any ideas or reccommend painters in the Birmingham area?
Cheers
Paul

Dna are in Birmingham , they should know who to talk to to get a glassfibre car painted

Im guessing you would like a classic looking colour and finish

If you are planning to do yourself you could use coach enamel it self levels and is nice to work with.

http://www.craftmasterpaints.co.uk/
I painted my Roadster Connaught green the D type racing green.

I just sanded the body to remove the shiny finish, I used craftmaster primer and then enamel with the largest brush I could.

http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/...pszvvra5oq.jpg

Sounds interesting how does it come with flexing of the fiberglass over time - does it withstand cracking better than normal paint?

The lay up and the curves on the shell meant there was minimal flexing.
However they use the paint on traction engines and locomotives so I would say it should hold up ok.
For the 2 years it was with me I had no issues.

Cool, thanks

Good link on fiberglass prep and paint

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/additio...s-preparation/

Cheers

Car Photographer - Here is a link on hand painting a car (which I intend to follow):

http://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/tec...ting-car-98714

Mister Towed & Swifty are just two of the Sammio builders who covered their painting experience in detail.

Mr T often says his lack of painting experience left him with something that looked like "old" paint. :cool:

The thing to remember is that old racing cars didn't alway have perfect paint originally.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Cheers, yeah I've considered that it might look more authentic that way - not sure which way to go yet

What colours are you considering?

I would listen to Jeff H 's advice on the Tribute forum . You are getting first hand info from a guy who's been painting classic and modern cars for about 30 years .
''A mate of mine said...'' advice or advice from someone who doesnt paint for a living can sometimes lose a bit in translation

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

Great response Neil. More importantly - wicked car !

Dave

awesome paint job
 

Fantastic work Neil. Is that a GTO based on a Porsche 944?
To the paint question I'd just add that getting a good gun and compressor is important too. I've found that a lot of the cheap ones don't give great results. Then practice practice practice. Isn't that what the donor's panels are for? :blabla:

Thanks everyone

Well spotted, it's the 944 S2 which has the 3 litre engine to get the correct engine capacity...I'm just short 8 cylinders :ohwell:

Going back to the days of mini marcos and the Marcos 1600 etc. we always used a polyurethane paint on gelcoats, mainly because it etches itself into the gelcoat and being polyurethane it's flexible. It was also used on 19ft fibreglass yachts without any problems, try SML marine paints or Jotun for more help or confusion?

thanks

Wow I didn't realise you could get a flat finish with a brush - and they use it on steam engines? So that'll be Traction Racing Green then! :D