Painting Fiberglass Cap

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:51 am
I'm getting ready at my first attempt at painting so I don't expect it to be perfect but should be good practice. I have a Leer Fiberglass Cap for my truck and it is currently a faded moroon color and I want to paint it with Centari AE blue metallic to match my truck. What prep work do you guys recommend? I have been told that it isn't necessary to prime, I could just clean, degrease then sand with 400 then apply a non-sanding sealer before paint. Any recommendations would be appreciated.



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:14 pm
I might do the same thing with a cap I just picked up for my truck. I've only been involved with a couple of paint projects in the past and know the general items, but I'm curious about the prep on my cap as well as any base coats I may need. Do I need flex additive in the paint or can I use some type of a bonding primer that works with fiberglass? Do I even need to prime it, or just wipe it down with wax and grease remover before I shoot it. Any help would be great. Step by step, even better.
Thanks in advance,
Alan

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 1:11 pm
No flex, no primer-surfacer needed unless you need to take out scratches or do repairs. Scratches exist even if you can't see them. If you want to skip primer sand well with 400 and use a sealer/adhesion coat to make sure your base sticks to the substrate/previous coating.



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 2:29 pm
I don't expect this cap to look like new, I'm mainly just trying to get a good coat of matching paint on it for the times that I do have it on my truck. I don't expect to have to make repairs, it's in good shape with the exception of old faded paint. The surface seems pretty rough from sitting out for a few years, and I intended to use a primer to see if there are any areas that need to be looked at. Would I still need the sealer/adhesion coat if I did prime?? Is a 400 grit paper a good general use paper for pre-painting? And if I do prime, will that take the place of the sealer/adhesion step or would you suggest doing it with the primer as well, meaning adhesion-primer-sand-then paint????
Thanks in advance.
Alan

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 3:34 pm
If you're using a good 2k primer-surfacer you won't really need a sealer. You could get away without it and even put your basecoat right onto the previous coating. Some things are worth the extra insurance, but it sounds like this isn't going to be displayed at any shows. 400 grit is the standard when prepping for basecoat.



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:14 am
No you're definitely right, this is a freebee cap that just happens to fit my truck and the only reason I even got it was for one trip out west at the end of this month. Although, since it's in good shape I figured if I can get a good coat of paint on it to match my truck I'd leave it on for the winter. The surface is very smooth now, but not glossy at all. It doesn't need any repair, and I'd rather this be the only time I paint it. The surface does have some stains/dirt on it, and will need a good cleaning before sanding, can you recommend something to clean it with? If you think I can just paint directly on the existing surface, as long as I sand and clean it, I'll just do that, I'll save me a couple of bucks in primer. How about fizz cans for primer, would that help at all?
Sorry for all the questions, but I want it to look like I at least tried.....
Alan

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 12:35 pm
An autobody supply can give you a good degreaser, in a pinch you could use acetone or alcohol I guess. Not sure what a fizz can is. Chances are pretty low that your basecoat won't get good adhesion to a sanded previous coating. If you already have a sealer it's worth the 10 minutes to put it underneath, but if you just want it done as easy as possible you should be able to skip it and still have a decent job that will last.

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