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The black paint around my headlights and foglights was chewed up and chipped ever since I got the car. In the corner of my drivers side headlight the surface was real rough and bumpy which I have no idea how that happened because the bumps were higher than the surface that still had paint on it so it wasn't really chips or anything. (pictures below)
Anyway, last year I decided that I wanted to paint it because I figured how ever it came out it couldn't look any worse than it already did. I've had one busy year so unfortunately I didn't get to post this until now.
How I did it:
I started by wet sanding the surfaces first. I didn't go down too far, I just went far enough where I had a nice starting surface. There's a link to pictures of this below. I did all the painting inside a garage with the window open but garage door shut. It was about an 80 degree day with low humidity. I bought a Duplicolor primer in a spray can. I don't remember the name of it and I couldn't find it on their website but it was a clear primer that was meant for plastics. It came in a 12 oz. can. It was weird using this stuff because it was clear so you couldn't really tell how even the coverage was or anything. Because the primer seemed really light I ended up using almost the whole can. After a short drying time, I then used Duplicolor Auto Spray for the paint. The stock paint looked like a flat black and with my car being polo green metallic I decided to use gloss black for the headlights and foglights. I figured a glossy black would look better against the polo green than the stock flat black did. I used two 5 oz. cans of the black. I was going to buy a 12 oz. can but the Autozone near me only had 5 oz. cans. I put the first coat on light and let it dry for about 2 hours. I then applied the second coat a bit heavier, and then after about 2-3 hours of drying I applied the third coat. After about an hour I went over it very lightly with a fourth coat just to finish off the little paint that was left in the can. The black paint was glossy and had some nice depth after the fourth coat but when I started applying the clear coat it looked less glossy, but I wanted that clear top coat anyway for the added protection. After about 3 hours I think, the paint was pretty dry, it wasn't real sticky or anything anymore so that's when I started with the clear coat. It was the Duplicolor Auto Spray Clear Top Coat. I originally only bought a 5 oz. can, but after two coats the can was close to empty and I felt like I needed a little bit more on the top coat so I bought another 5 oz. can and applied two more coats. I didn't use all of the second 5 oz. can, there was a little left in it. I did the first two coats pretty close together and then waited about 45 minutes before doing the second two coats.
How it came out:
It came out pretty good. Being that its from a spray can its not the best, and you can't expect the best out of a spray can, but its not bad either. The surface wasn't perfectly smooth but you can't tell unless your kneeling down in front of it and inspecting it. The gloss black looks so much better against the polo green metallic body color than the stock flat black did.
How it held up:
Well after a year it still looks good. The paint is softer than with a professional paint job. There are small marks and dips where it gets hit with pebbles and stuff on the highway but you can't tell unless you're right up on the paint looking at it. I use microfiber cloths to wash my car and the paint doesn't really like those that much. They get swirl marks easily even with the microfiber cloths so you have to be real gentle. I feel like allowing more drying time, especially before parking it in the sun in the driveway and driving it again would have definately helped but this is my only car and I only had a weekend to do this before needing to drive to work again and the garage wasn't mine so I couldn't leave it in there to let it dry. It still looks better than it did before though.
I highly recommend that anyone with the same problem as me do this. Its a cheap and easy solution and it looks a lot better than before. Its definately not professional paint shop quality but you can't really tell unless you're inspecting the paint job and it will definately make you feel better about your car because you won't notice that eyesore that was there before.
If anyone has any questions or wants any pointers about doing this just post your questions I'll be glad to answer them.
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/JayBacc/...oglightPockets (You can zoom in on the picture in its viewing window. The Magnifying glass is in the upper right corner of the viewing window.)
Anyway, last year I decided that I wanted to paint it because I figured how ever it came out it couldn't look any worse than it already did. I've had one busy year so unfortunately I didn't get to post this until now.
How I did it:
I started by wet sanding the surfaces first. I didn't go down too far, I just went far enough where I had a nice starting surface. There's a link to pictures of this below. I did all the painting inside a garage with the window open but garage door shut. It was about an 80 degree day with low humidity. I bought a Duplicolor primer in a spray can. I don't remember the name of it and I couldn't find it on their website but it was a clear primer that was meant for plastics. It came in a 12 oz. can. It was weird using this stuff because it was clear so you couldn't really tell how even the coverage was or anything. Because the primer seemed really light I ended up using almost the whole can. After a short drying time, I then used Duplicolor Auto Spray for the paint. The stock paint looked like a flat black and with my car being polo green metallic I decided to use gloss black for the headlights and foglights. I figured a glossy black would look better against the polo green than the stock flat black did. I used two 5 oz. cans of the black. I was going to buy a 12 oz. can but the Autozone near me only had 5 oz. cans. I put the first coat on light and let it dry for about 2 hours. I then applied the second coat a bit heavier, and then after about 2-3 hours of drying I applied the third coat. After about an hour I went over it very lightly with a fourth coat just to finish off the little paint that was left in the can. The black paint was glossy and had some nice depth after the fourth coat but when I started applying the clear coat it looked less glossy, but I wanted that clear top coat anyway for the added protection. After about 3 hours I think, the paint was pretty dry, it wasn't real sticky or anything anymore so that's when I started with the clear coat. It was the Duplicolor Auto Spray Clear Top Coat. I originally only bought a 5 oz. can, but after two coats the can was close to empty and I felt like I needed a little bit more on the top coat so I bought another 5 oz. can and applied two more coats. I didn't use all of the second 5 oz. can, there was a little left in it. I did the first two coats pretty close together and then waited about 45 minutes before doing the second two coats.
How it came out:
It came out pretty good. Being that its from a spray can its not the best, and you can't expect the best out of a spray can, but its not bad either. The surface wasn't perfectly smooth but you can't tell unless your kneeling down in front of it and inspecting it. The gloss black looks so much better against the polo green metallic body color than the stock flat black did.
How it held up:
Well after a year it still looks good. The paint is softer than with a professional paint job. There are small marks and dips where it gets hit with pebbles and stuff on the highway but you can't tell unless you're right up on the paint looking at it. I use microfiber cloths to wash my car and the paint doesn't really like those that much. They get swirl marks easily even with the microfiber cloths so you have to be real gentle. I feel like allowing more drying time, especially before parking it in the sun in the driveway and driving it again would have definately helped but this is my only car and I only had a weekend to do this before needing to drive to work again and the garage wasn't mine so I couldn't leave it in there to let it dry. It still looks better than it did before though.
I highly recommend that anyone with the same problem as me do this. Its a cheap and easy solution and it looks a lot better than before. Its definately not professional paint shop quality but you can't really tell unless you're inspecting the paint job and it will definately make you feel better about your car because you won't notice that eyesore that was there before.
If anyone has any questions or wants any pointers about doing this just post your questions I'll be glad to answer them.
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/JayBacc/...oglightPockets (You can zoom in on the picture in its viewing window. The Magnifying glass is in the upper right corner of the viewing window.)
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