My car has bad sun damage in various places and I would like to try and patch it up until I can afford a paint job. Here are a few pictures of the damage.




Will spray paint work fine on my plastic car? If yes, any good brands or just regular rust paint? Will it look any better than it does now? Should I try and sand the orange peel off of the front part of the roof? Or does that need to be filled with mud? What is the front part of the roof made out of anyway? It looks like fiberglass. I also have a mustang scoop that I will be putting on the back deck, but it needs paint. Can I paint that with a spray can? and finaly can I wax over the parts I painted, or will the spray paint rub off? I have expierence painting models and motorbikes with spray bombs, and I can do a good job. But I just need to know if the paint will stick.

P.S. are there any good sites or posts about instaling a mustang scoop?

Thanks

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'69 AMC Ambassador sst 2dr hardtop 390ci 3 spd B&m shift kit-the cruiser(315hp/427ftlbs)
'86 Fiero GT 4spd, aluminum head 3.1, vented rear brakes, Cavalier seats-got a T3 turbo just need some time
'93 Cavalier Z24 5 spd (engine donor)-parting out
'82 Yamaha Heritage Special 400cc 6 spd, hi-flo exhaust and air filters-For Sale to buy more Fiero stuff

You could probably get the car looking better than it is now if you spray paint it. However, you'll likely find you'll get good results in small areas (like the roof and pillars), but you will not achieve desireable results on large flat areas such as the hood & decklid, and the doors.

Not sure what paint to recommend - as unsightly your paint is now, you would be better off saving your money and put it towards a "real" paint job.

But, if you do go ahead with spray paint, you'll need to prep the entire car - clean, sand, and clean again. You'll have to be careful with the sanding, though - you don't want to damage the panels.

As for what the car is made of - different types of plastics are used, no fibreglass (composites).

what you see is the clear coat delaminating from the base color. Some have removed their clear coat and then used a good wax to extend the time between paint jobs/

why would you remove the fiero tale and replace it with mustang tail?

Forgot to mention - items like the spoiler and the mirrors can be easily removed from the vehicle, and painted. If you properly prep these, you should get decent results...

I can not think of the brand name (Krylon?), but there is a paint I've seen advertised on TV lately that will, "bond to plastic". I saw some of it at Wal-Mart yesterday. It was around $4.00 I think.

Finally! A topic in Tech in which I am a self-made expert!

That could be my car when I bought it. Well, mines a black notchback, but same paint.

I have found that regular spray paint works great. The clear coat around the edges will need to be heavily feather sanded to avoid being able to be seen in the new paint.

I use scratch fill primer, shoot the base and then hit it with clear. After its dried, I go through the procedure for buffing and I can get a pretty good finish for $15 worth of materials.

Another technique is using a razor blade to remove the cooked clear coat and then using a polishing compound and wax on the remaining black paint. Not fantastic, but it gets the job done in a crunch.

On small areas of delamination, I've just shot on some black spray to make everything black again.

Please be aware, that the delamination is much like rust. It continues to grow. Eventually, you will need to get her painted.

I did mirrors, lower trim, spoiler, windshield wiper arms, door handles and front and back lower facias with Dupli-color GM black.
I thought that it came out very well for spray cans. It has been 4 or 5 years and it is just begining to chip a little bit.

I also did the rear deck grill vents, took them apart, did not last as long because of the heat.

I thought that it looked sharp with all the parts painted the same color black. Did not paint any of the body panels.

And now for our very special guest speaker and authority on paint................thats your cue, Roger!

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jetman
Silver 86 SE 2M6 4-speed, with "check wallet light"

geez...That is really bad, never realized how bad the sun is for paint.
I vote we get rid of the sun.

I used to spray cabinets in a shop and I believe that a lot is the technique with which you sweep your arm.
I have painted some things with spray bombs and got pretty good results--washer and dryer, motorcycle etc;
but something as large as a body panel would take a lot of skill to keep from streaking--the spray pattern is too thin from the little can. But, if you did a good prep job, took your time and got nice even coverage-a few final clear coats and good buffing technique?? who knows

I am going the same thing to my MR2. Sand the paint with some really fine samdpapre and then wet sand it to get a really smoooth finish lol. Dont sand into the paint only sand off the bad clear coat. If you sand into the paint you will get waves and it will cost you more to get it painted when you want it profes done. Use several light coats of paint and allow time for it to dry between coats. I would also add about 2 coats of clear coat so you can polish it without worrying about removing the paint. Dont paint in the sun do it in youre garage in the shade on a really dry day. If it is really humid the paint wont cure properly. I hope you get good results good luck

[This message has been edited by red85gt (edited 08-08-2003).]

While your average spray can will make the paint look better , you want to think about the long run.

Your average spray paint like Tremclad is one SOB to sand off in peperation for real paint. I learn't this the hard way.

I spray painted one of our Fiero's with the local store brand as an interm paint job untill we were ready for a professional job.

After having the body shop look over the car, the guy told me that it was spray painted, and that it would be a significant bigger charge to have them strip the spray paint off.
I opted to take the car home and sand it myself.

BIG mistake! After 2 weeks, I gave up and paid 2 guys to sand it for me before I took it to the body shop.

Since that episode, I have vowed to never ever use any type of rust spray paint or what ever on a car.

On another note there is a local body shop supply store that mixes automotive quality base coat paint in spray cans for about 8 bux more than your average can costs. I just take them a paint code, and have some mixed up. Once that is applied, a simple can of clear is all thats needed to make it shine.

While this still isn't a proper paint job, it does look 50 times better than regular spray paint, and more importantly it is easy to sand during prepwork for the real deal.

GOOD INFO JELLY!

youll want to make sure you get a spray can that has the "spray gun" nozzel for a better spray, if you dont know what im talking about, they usually say something like that on the can or jsut look for one tht doesnt have just a little cylinder with a small hole in it for a spray nozzel

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--Adam--
1987 Blue GT 5-speed
IM AOL: FieroGT5speed

quote Originally posted by fierogt3: geez...That is really bad, never realized how bad the sun is for paint. I vote we get rid of the sun.

Not I! After all this friggin rain & snow this year, I would be glad to have my paint fade a little instead of soaking my frame in slop constantly.

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The clear coat being sanded off with wet sanding, and a new clear coat is the answer for most, but if the colour coat is discoloured or worn, it won't work.

I have painted cars the traditional way, in enamel, and in lacquer, but I also have refinished a grand piano,(gloss black) and I refinish guitars as a hobby. Very fussy and particular work.

My preference for an amateur paint job is lacquer. If you overlap your spray strokes on long strokes you can get a fairly even application of colour, with either aerosol or gun. (I can even hand wipe a finish on if I need to) You then wet sand at about 400 grit, or better still, buff out with wet compound to get a flat, and even colour surface. Lacquer works quickly and is friction sensitive so you want to work wet, and don't overdo it!

A clear gloss lacquer can be found at, (get this) any Benjamin Moore paint store. You can get a liter in a can and use your own spray gun, or get an aerosol can. This is good quality lacquer.

Again, long strokes, overlapped, with thin layers will produce a nice finish. You then wet buff with rubbing compound, followed by Maguires red bottle, then glaze. Correct any large errors with 400 grit wet. It is a very forgiving process.

Fieros are relatively small surfaces. The hood isn't much different than the top of a grand piano, and believe me, piano's are alot more fussy than cars for paint jobs.

The really nice thing about lacquer, is that it is easy to fix. If the finish is uneven, you just wet buff it down to where it is even, and do another application of clear coat. No sanding required between coats. The coats just meld into each other.

Now if you want to go to a urethane or some star wars finish, that will work, but it will not be forgiving for an amateur and it is a real bear if you want to fix a mistake.

I would use enamel for paint, or lacquer, to paint any car, but I would leave urethane high gloss to a pro shop for a nice looking Fiero.

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Arn Brown

Well, I suppose I should chime in. Having spent several years working in body shops doing mainly prep work but also a little paint (did my '56 Chevy myself) I know a bit about this.

First, I cannot stress how important prep work is. I can prep a car so well that no matter how bad the paint is laid out I can sand and buff it to perfection. Yes, I have painted cars with spray cans and gotten very nice results. I will try this weekend to refinish my spoiler (time permitting) and will post a pretty detailed walk through with pictures when I'm done. Some quick tips to get you started though. Start with a DA (dual-action sander) on the worst areas. If you try to hand sand it you'll be at it forever. The not so bad areas can be done with 500 grit wet or even a red scuff pad if you are going to prime over it. When sanding, never sand back and forth, the scratches will show through the finished paint. Always go criss-cross!

Once you are happy with the prep work go to your local auto parts store, or preferably an auto body store and get paint made specifically for cars. You need to get the following things; prep cleaner, base paint and clear coat. Wash the whole car with a little dawn and dry completely. If you have access to an air compressor a blow gun will be your best friend to make sure you get the water out of every crack. Next you need to wipe down the area with the prep cleaner, making sure to wipe it off with a clean cloth before it evaporates. Now you can lay down your base coats. 2-3 wet coats should be good. If you run it don't worry, let it dry and wet sand it with 2000 grit then repeat the cleaning process. When the paint has cured you can do your clear coat. I like 3 coats so I can do a lot of final color sanding to achieve a flat finish. This should also be laid down wet but be more careful of runs.

When you are all done the finish will have two problems. Orange peel and nubs. Orange peel is pretty self explanitory and the factory finish has a little so don't worry too much about it. Nubs are little specks of dust that settle in the wet paint and are pretty noticeable. Both of these problems can be taken care of with some 2000 grit wet and buffing. Some people like to start with 1500 then switch to 2000 to speed things up but I prefer the control I get with just the 2K. That pretty much covers it for now. I'll try to get a new thread posted with a complete pictoral walk through up by next week. Questions?

[This message has been edited by Taedir (edited 08-08-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Taedir (edited 08-08-2003).]

And to think that I wasted all that time typing out all that information.......

[This message has been edited by Firefox (edited 08-09-2003).]

One thing to add on spray bombs, not all are good. The little guys have way too little spread and they don't last.

I would use the bigger truck paint spray cans if I went that direction.

As for sanding lacquer. Sanding? The inherent nature of lacquer is to dissolve into itself. The only reason to sand lacquer between coats is if the coat you just sprayed is orange-peeled or uneven, or sagged. I freshen up lacquer on 40 and 50 year old musical instruments and all I have to do is even out surface imperfections.

I still maintain that the best for an amateur is lacquer. It is far more forgiving and easy to work, and less work to apply. Most guys are too young to have worked with it, or bought the story of the auto supply places that want to sell you expensive high tech stuff.

If you want to spend time sanding, try urethane. I promise you that urethane takes far more sanding and it is not nice to breath.

And.. don't forget a good tack cloth. They have always done the job for last minute dust.

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Arn Brown

i did my whole fiero with a can bomb using 500 degree ceramic engine glass black.looks ok from afar but get within 5 feet and it looks kindof bad(but hey its one color now )
cant wait till next summer when i can afford "real" paint
shane

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send 84 database info to
mankins@earthlink.net

"I do not fear death,
only how it happens"

I don't have time to read all this one so hopefully no one covered this already....

You have the typical snow coating (Bad clear coat) that tends to show worse on black and metal flake paints... I have the same problem but simply haven't had time to fix it on mine yet.

I've used allot of cans over the years...

First thing is get a couple cans of cheap paint at a dollar store and practice controling them.

Big item... Be moving across the target BEFORE you press the button. Most of the rules for using a pro paint gun still apply to cans. (A book on painting can be really handy.)

Spray cans won't give pro results but if used carefully can be pretty darn good. Can't look any worse than snow coating...

Some also depends on color... Duplicolor is usually fairly close match if you get past oxidation and bad clear coat. It can be close enough that with a bit of clear over it you can hardly tell it was panted. Black can be pretty tough to shoot even for pro painters.

Again... it all depends on allot of stuff. If the paint is really bad only a total repaint will be any good.

On my mirrors... I use Krylon. Satin or Semi Flat. I can't remember right now. It looks good but I used the wrong primer or didn't do something else right on one mirror. the Krylon didn't bond right. Several areas flaked off one mirror. (I was in a hurry on that one so it's not a huge surprise...) The other mirror looks like I painted it yesterday. (A couple year old now...)

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No good ever came from dark and spooky. Norville "Shaggy" Rogers

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 08-08-2003).]

Wow, I never knew there was so much prep work involved in using a spray can good thing I asked you guys before I did it. Canadian Tire sells spray paint for fixing rockchips on cars, Would that be a good choice? I hate tremclad too I tried to paint my motorbike with it and if I made any mistakes I could not sand them out.

Mustang Tail? It says mustang scoop and the reason I want to put a mustany scoop on the rear deck is extra cooling for when I install my turbo and it also looks cool

Red85GT-When did you get a MR2? Are you going to be around saturday? I'd like to take a look at it.

Thanks for all the great info, I would have realy screwed this up without it.

i have used cans for along time.. i even sprayed a whole door and i did a better job then most macoo paintjobs.

the key is 1. only use 75% of the can that last 25% will spit and make a horrible mess..

make sure it is warm out.

spend the 2 bucks and they sell this lil clip on to a spray can to make it like a gun.. your fingurs will get soar and tired using a can for a long time..

you have to try to blend it in to the rest of the car.. after your done wait 2 weeks for the paint to really stick and give it a good buffing to try to blend it in with the rest of teh car..

and a tip to jetman.. exhaust manifold black paint.. the paint that is supposed to be cooked on in a killen. just paint it and let your car run it will bake on enough where it wont fade and chip.

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You should know that the clear coat is much harder than the color coat. That means sanding the clearcoat takes more time and effort but when you finally break through the clearcoat, the sandpaper will bite through the color coat much faster. Be careful.

a buddys car (red) was as bad if not worse than yours and he used the color matched Wax, and it really did work quite well, lasted real good for a week, but not much more, so once a week he'd just wax-on every time he washed,
bieng Black, it shouldnt be hard to match

its an easier alternative to rattle can

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Rich AIM one fast 2m8
WTB: 3.32 OR 3.65 4 speed tranny
'92 325i-- X-brace, eibach pro-kit, bilstein sport, S.T. brace, borla cat back,
'86 Fiero 2M8 ,350 bored .030 over,World Products s/r Torquers-ported, Manley valves, Weiand X-CELerator, edelbrock 750cfm.carb hypereutectic pistons, 1.5 rollers,lumpy cam, sanderson cc90's,2-1/4" exhaust4:10 tranny, Spec stage 3copper puck clutch, adj.Koni's, Eibach's,polly, tons more...
'86 Fiero 2m6, 2-1/4 inch drop, KYB's, ocelot exhaust, No cat.

[This message has been edited by $Rich$ (edited 10-28-2003).]

I agree with Rich on that one, I did the same thing with my red gt before i got it painted, wxing once a week is easier

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86 2.8 V6 fastback GT
65k original miles