[Chris007911]

Have one in my tub this very second matter of fact. Doing extensive body repair after drunk driver hit it.

[brooder]

I work out of the bathtub as well. It's a perfect location for sanding. Just hose everything down when you're done.

[snypez]

i never thought of that. That seems like a good idea haha.

[katanawarrior]

If your going to to Auto Paint, why not Auto Clearcoat? Also, just FYI, be careful, because there are different types of paint, enamels, etc, and sometimes they dont play well together.

[chinto]

I work out of the bathtub as well. It's a perfect location for sanding. Just hose everything down when you're done.

My wetsanding takes place in the laundry tub for the most part

[zodaddy]

just make sure all paint is same color one of my part was a different than the other all was same color supposed to have been but it turned out good with dupli will post pic when finished the add ons

[Chris007911]

You all probably know this already, but found a pic I made for a friend a while back that wondered about orange peel. The magic step that really makes it pretty.

[yngveny]

I've spent 100+ hours repairing my fairings. Duplicolor is still my preference in primer/paint/clear.

Here are some of the things you might need.



Example of my right fairing a year ago.



I argue that it is 95% Technique/prep work, and 5% product. I've been wanting to make some intructional videos on all the things I've learned. I've read all the painting guides and walkthroughs on every website I could find, but there are things that are left out. Such as plastic body repair.

Seriously, that second picture looks pretty much exactly the same as my fairing after i lowsided.
Except i also had a small piece break off where the fairing knocked into the frame.
Guess we had very similar accident.



I am currently in the process of repairing it. Have repaired the damage with filler (kind of tricky to get those curves right) and fabricated a piece of plastic to fill in where the small piece broke off.
So far I think it looks good. Can only hope I can get the paint as good as yours, that looks awesome.
Any tip (or instructional video) would be greatly appreciated

[SweetLou]

For the primer, i would start with the sandable fill primer. when your done with that, they have a sealer primer you can use to really finish it off (that one is not sanded).

clear coat, you really have to lay it on thick i found to get it looking good, but then you have to worry about runs.

[yngveny]

Good point Lou
Already put on two coats of sandable primer on the parts I have repaired.
Will take a couple of more coats and wet-sanding to get it ready for paint.
What I worry about is the actual paint and clear coat, but with the good help of the excellent write ups here on the forum, I'm sure I can do it.
Anywho, guess I have to wait for warmer weather before I start painting.
Wouldn't want do that while it is sub zero degrees in my garage....

...or if I could find a heated place to do the painting, not sure my wife would like it if I took it into the living room

[hardlydangerous]

Stick with a brand...never mix different brands of paints, primers, clears etc.

for bikes and most projetcs I recommned the lacqure paints. they are very easy to use and provide professional quallitiy if you take the proper steps and prep/finish work.

For repaired surfaces use a sandable filler primer, these will cut down your time spent chasing small imperfections with spot putty.
I recommend a finishing primer o rsealer primer over the entire piece so you get a uniform color and no light/dark spots.
For the base color, follow the instructions on the can. be sure to shake the cans for at least 2 minutes and always spray within the temp range. Other wise you may end up with pieces not being the same color.
once the base paint is on clear it. I recommend 2~3X more clear the color. so if you put 3 coats of color on... you want 6~9 coats of clear
Don't worry about the clear coat finish, if its dull or orange peeled a bit that ok
After the clear coat has cured you are going to start wet sanding it with 1000 grit. **remeber to add a couple drops of dish soap to your water solution**
wet sand the entire surface until all of the orange peel and pitting is gone (now you see why you wanted the extra 3X the clear !)
Once all the orange peel is nearly all gone start going to a finer grit 2000 then (2500 for darker colors) once the finish is perfect! it time to polish out the dull sanded finish to a high mirrior shine.
For polishing you can use the yellow Mothers powerball "for paint" and or a foam waffle pad on a drill.
Just to keep things simple I usually recommend the Meguiar's 3 step deep crystal system for polishing. i've used it with great results. however you can use the professional products as well. The deep crystal system can be applied by hand as well, but thats a lot of work.

Step 1 is a swirl remover/paint cleaner and prepares the surface for polishing. by the time you are finished with the first step all of the sanding marks sould be gone and the finish will have a nice shine.

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+A3016

Step 2 is the polish/sealer. this is a finer cut polish and glaze that will give the paint that deep wet look and replentish the vital oils needed to keep you paint fron fading and cracking etc.

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+A2116

Step 3 is a wax...

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+A2216

If you take your time and don't skip steps or rush it, these are the kinds of results you will get from dupli-color spray paints and the Maguir's deep crystal system

[eazy1100]

Dupli is very good for rattle can. A while back I used it (dupli plastic) is the kind that I used (primer and Paint), but they did not recomend the plastic clear coat, but a nonther type of clear coat. It was still by dupli, but just not the plasic, like the primer and paint.

[chinto]

I recommend 2~3X more clear the color. so if you put 3 coats of color on... you want 6~9 coats of clear
Don't worry about the clear coat finish, if its dull or orange peeled a bit that ok

6-9 coats of clear is a waste of time and product (read $$$). 3 coats of clear is plenty. With each coat of clear you add, you are simply building up the high spots. If you have orange peel, your orange peel will be more prominent and will require more sanding to level it out. By the time you are done sanding it even your clear will be only 2 coats thick anyways. Might as well save yourself some time and money and only spray 3 coats then level it out.

You all probably know this already, but found a pic I made for a friend a while back that wondered about orange peel. The magic step that really makes it pretty.

thats a good picture/explanation, but I have always had better success when sanding in the same direction throughout the entire surface of the part. The photo shows a few spots there where you can see that you have started to sand across your original sanding direction.