Hello all, since I am a complete newb I have some questions. I recently acquired some parts for my bike I’d like to try and paint this off season but I have never seriously painted automotive parts before. Anyway, my bike is orange but the parts I got are not. I got a metal fender that’s painted red. It’s got some chips and scuffs but generally good condition. Do I have to take down to bare metal to paint it or do I sand it and prime it then paint I t or do I just sand it smooth and paint over the existing paint? The other parts I acquired are plastic and painted black but in perfect shape. Again do I take them down to bare plastic or should sand primer and paint or should I just scuff and paint over the existing paint paint without priming? Do I need to seal already painted parts? Lastly I order some raw plastic parts. What is the sequence? Scuff, adhesion promoter, prime sand then sealer and paint or adhesion promoter then sealer then prime and sand and paint? So many videos online it’s actually very confusing for someone who has never done this before. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Metal and plastic are treated differently when being prepped for paint.

Need to know what products you are planning to use and how you are planning to apply them.

There is a Fiberglass and Plastic section that deals specifically with those materials.

The paint is OE Harley Davidson Sedona Orange with the OE activator. I do not know who makes the paint for Harley. The primer is just generic 1k primer and the sealer I have not purchased because I don’t know if I need it for most of the job. I’m going to spay in my garage with a smallish home compressor and an a SnapOn gun. I believe my tip is either a 1.4 or 1.2. As I said with exception of the two speaker lids everything is already painted and I’m just changing the color to match my bike. I have been reading through some of the topics in this forum and others. Honestly I’m still a little confused because there seems to be so many opinions on the correct way. Sealer no sealer prime or stuff and paint. I just thought if I asked about my exact situation I might get some more direct info about what exactly I’m trying to do. I do understand that it’s very difficult to give someone advice because the intricacies of different primer, paint, clear coat and material combination and their interactions with each other. What works for one may not work for another. I am merely interested in a sequence of events. If the plastic parts are already completely painted do I have to seal them again? Do I even have to prime them or can I just paint over the existing paint. Same for the metal fender. That has some chips so I was going to sand it down quit a bit to get the chips out but beyond that should I prime the whole thing again or just the parts where I sand through the paint. I’ve seen some people say you have to seal metal parts also. Yet I rarely see people doing that. Is it necessary and under what circumstance? I don’t plan on doing this tomorrow so I have time but in my experience the hardest thing for beginners of anything is learning what to do when something goes wrong not just how to do it right in the first place. Thank you for your reply and I will continue to read through the forums.

My rule of thumb is you don't need to prime before paint if the paint
is original and in good shape. Just sand and paint.
If it's been painted before then it's a question of how thick it will be if painting over it
so for me, if more than 1 repaint before, then I strip and start over.

On something I want to be more durable, like bumpers, I always prime with a sealer
coat of epoxy (1:1:1), only because it greatly increases adhesion, slowing road rash.
Any bare metal has to have some epoxy primer on it first.
Epoxy primer is also a sealer so no other primer needs to go over that.

JCCLARK wrote:My rule of thumb is you don't need to prime before paint if the paint
is original and in good shape. Just sand and paint.
If it's been painted before then it's a question of how thick it will be if painting over it
so for me, if more than 1 repaint before, then I strip and start over.

On something I want to be more durable, like bumpers, I always prime with a sealer
coat of epoxy (1:1:1), only because it greatly increases adhesion, slowing road rash.
Any bare metal has to have some epoxy primer on it first.
Epoxy primer is also a sealer so no other primer needs to go over that.

I agree. Stay away for the 1k products for sure.
You can go over the painted surfaces with a Maroon Scotchbrite pad (roughly 400 grit) to dull the surfaces and provide scratch for your epoxy sealer coat.
Wipe the surfaces with W&G remover (spray it on and wipe it off with clean shop towel before it dries) and let that flash off.

Apply your epoxy sealer with a 1.4 tip. Be sure you test your spray pattern on paper first. You want fine consistent drops through out the pattern.

Once the epoxy is on let it cure for an hour and then look it over real good. If you are happy with it, you can move to your base coat, then clear following your tech sheets for flash times.

My concern is your compressor may not put out enough CFM to handle your spray gun.

Thank you for your advice. I also have questions about my compressor but currently I don’t have 240 to my garage and running it will be a bit of a chore. It’s in the planning stages but for now I’ll have to take is as slow as I can while trying to keep a wet edge and hope for the best.

What model Snap-on spray gun do you have?
It will have CFM requirements for it to operate correctly.

Jakuzi1 wrote:Thank you for your advice. I also have questions about my compressor but currently I don’t have 240 to my garage and running it will be a bit of a chore.\

got an electric stove or dryer?

Another concern with not having a proper spray set up, is the Sedona Orange is a pearl color which you will want to spray as consistently as possible.