Painting Textured Fender Flares

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:43 pm
Hello! New member and first post:

I'm a body tech/painter in training and I'm looking for some advice. Currently the painter and the shop I work at is away and I ordered some oem style fender flares for my truck and would like to paint them while he is away for something to keep me busy.

So I open the box and they're the textured style fender flares :(

Has anyone painted the textured style flares with success before? I'm torn between sanding the texture out to a smooth finish and then priming/sealing/base/clear,

Or would I be ok to scuff them with a scotchbrite pad and seal/base/clear the flares. I don't mind if they have the textured look even with paint.

Adhesion promoter needed as well?

Any help is appreciated as I don't have much time to do this little project. Thanks!

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 4:05 am
As you say, two options: textured finish or smooth.

Smooth finish is a lot more work, sanding down the plastic and then the primer, before base and clear.

Textured finish is easier. Just scuff, then plastic primer, base and clear. No sanding, lest you destroy the texture.

Most important thing is to make sure the plastic is clean and ready to take paint. Where source is unknown we wash with soap and water, then Prepsol, then soap and water again. At this point it's a good idea to use an alcohol type cleaner. Heat the pieces in the booth to 60C then, using two cloth method, clean with an alcohol cleaner. We call it Methylated Spirits but I'm sure you have a different name for it - basically 95% ethanol. Repeat.

At this point I'd use a special plastic primer - Axalta 907R. This is quite thin and can be top coated wet on wet after about 20 minutes. Keep each coat light and thin so you don't fill in the texture.
Chris

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