11 replies to this topic

[gsms]

Evening all,

I'm going to be painting my new bonnet soon, and was wondering if it's ok to use spray cans on such a large panel..? I'm willing to take time to do it properly, but don't have the cash to spend on a compressor etc.

I'll be using halfords primer/spray/lacquer on my arches, and I was planning on doing the bonnet (fibreglass) too.

Are there any hints or tips I should know?

Cheers. Guy.

[wobblybob]

ive done my whole car inside and out in tins, im only doing it to keep the rust out before i can spray it at work, but its fine to do it with tins and can look good if u do it rite, if u aint sprayed anything before id practise on something first,

[gsms]

Ok thanks!

I've sprayed panels/arches etc before, but never something this big.

Cheers. Guy.

[kada1980]

It bloody expensive to paint a whole car with rattle cans.

[binge]

It cost me £104 To spray my moped with rattle cans.
The results were great! But I did it properly, Took me about a week. Gave each pannel a good 3 coats of primer and about 6 coats of paint.

I laquerd every pannel except the Mudguard, and the mud guard turned out to be the best.

Laquering is the hard bit. Get it wrong and you end up with an "Orange peel" effect...


Clicky to see my moped

[cooper_shaz]

As above, you can spray a whole car with rattle cans.

PAINT IN A CLEAN DRY AND WARM PLACE...Get a decent amount of paint on the panel and let it almost dry between each coat

Leave it about a week to let solvents evapourate and then get some wet and dry 1500 or higher and with plenty soapy water flat the whole bonnet down so that you do not see any shiny bits left.

Then use a rubbing compound, again you get this from halfords in a rattle can
and use this to bring the paint back up

[wobblybob]

It bloody expensive to paint a whole car with rattle cans.

yea but it was cheaper then the cost of a compressor, spray gun, paint etc, because i knew i was gettin a re-spray at work for free so the finish wasent inportant

[gsms]

Thanks for all the advice!

Guy.

[Pandora]

I used spray cans on my bonnet took two i think.

But have a look at our website http://www.minicooper.org.uk

And mine is under jim and have a look at painting front section.

[minilady]

I've used lots of rattle cans on my non-mini "other" car, and I'm not impressed (

1 - It's an *extremely* expensive way of buying paint, and you don't get much in a can. Most of the can's weight is propellant.

2 - If you spray it thin enough to avoid sags, the coat is so thin that it's porous. So you need LOTS of coats before it's properly waterproof.

3 - Some of the paints degrade in the sunshine, often ending up as a completely different colour within a few months. In some cases they go darker, sometimes lighter, and in some cases they turn to a matt powdery surface!

Now the bit you're going to laugh at..... )

My "other car", at 25 years old, was worn down to the primer in places, and in urgent need of something to protect it. I haven't got a spray gun, and I'm certainly never going to waste money on another rattle can, so I decided to hand paint it with a BRUSH. I figured I could get a decent thick coat for minimal cost.

The only source of paint available to me was Halfords. As luck would have it, they had some "Hammerite Smooth" which was a *perfect* match for my original colour, something I'd never been able to achieve with rattle cans. A couple of thick coats of that is really durable, and can be flatted down after a few months to a nice surface, using wet & dry etc.

Far more cost effective than rattle cans, and a more durable surface....

Not saying that's what *you* should do though.

[gsms]

Ah thanks, thats given me a few ideas to think about.

...don't think I'll be using a brush though! :tongue:

Cheers. Guy.

[wobblybob]

it aint hard to get a good finish with cans, dont ahve to do really thin coats either just gotta know how to spray