Painting gel coated Fiberglass?

Unit74

Unit74

Final Approach
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Mar 8, 2014
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Unit74
I have a set of K2U wheel spats I need to paint. I rattle canned them gloss white straight out of the box. First coat was meh.... So I hit it again with a second coat about 5 days later. They wrinkled and krinkled all up. I have spent hours scraping off the old paint.

After getting off the paint, I sanded them real good to scuff up the surface.

So how should I paint them? I obviously have no clue what I'm doing. I have 4 cans of Rustolium automotive paint I bought. The first try was " Rustolium ultimate" paint. Basically didn't stick in some places, wrinkled in others.
 
Time to try a two part epoxy paint. Sold at most marine stores. Get the sprayer bottle,apply thinly.
 
Give the epoxy paint enough time to fully harden - like ~ 1 week or more in a warm place. Wrinkling is caused by the new paint solvent attacking what's underneath.

No warranty tho - I'm not a painter.
 
Take them to a body shop that does know what they are doing
 
Prep is the key. Your spats may have had mold release on them. Ask the vendor how to prep and paint. If you don't get a good answer try washing with lacquer thinner, sand w. 220 grit wet or dry paper then 400. Wash again with solvent and let dry overnight. Then use plain enamel, several light coats. Do not try to cover with just one coat.
 
airdale said:
Prep is the key. Your spats may have had mold release on them. Ask the vendor how to prep and paint. If you don't get a good answer try washing with lacquer thinner, sand w. 220 grit wet or dry paper then 400. Wash again with solvent and let dry overnight. Then use plain enamel, several light coats. Do not try to cover with just one coat.
Click to expand...

This is good advise. You also might want to hit the pants with a light coat of primer before you move on to the finish coat. Primer is designed to stick to various substrates. Paint is happier trying to adhere to primer than to those other substrates. Again, light coat on the primer...
 
The original paint said a few light coats 5 min apart, which I did. I let it sit for about 5 days thinking it was cured. Sprayed to smooth out some imperfections and krinkle city, here we are.
 
primer. wet sand imperfections primer. wet sand 400 or 600 grit. Don't sand through the primer. Spray a tack coat. Then coverage.
 
So I got it all cleaned up, sanded it good. Primered and them used Rustoleum Automotive Enamel gloss white.


I guess we will see. Doesn't have to be perfect as it's on the bottom of the wing.
 
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