(S) to lacquer or not to lacquer??

got my modded clio sideskirts, spoiler and one off rear bumper to spray and been told not to bother with lacquering them cos its a b***h and could bubble etc.

will it be ok without lacquer or should i do it? dont want to make a mess of my nice new bits.

cheers

It depends on how good your finish is!
Adding a couple of coats of laquer is no harder than spraying the base coat itself - The added advantage is that it makes the colour a bit more chip resistant, + you can wet n dry it & then polish it up smoother finish with less risk of going through to the primer!

what paint you using? if cellelose(sp?) laquer when paint is still tacky

just gonna get some spray paint mixed up at a local motor factors. bit cheaper than halfords.

are there different kinds of lacquer?

so i just spray it on like i would the primer - couple of layers. wet and dry paper then polish afterwards.

Pretty much!
1) Do a covering coat which is fairly dusty & not too wet.

2) Leave for about 5-10 mins to go slightly tacky.

3) Then do a 2nd wet/shiny coat over the top (try not to overload the paint & dont worry about complete coverage).

4) Leave for 10-15 mins till paint is slightly tacky.

5) Do another wet/shiny coat & make sure that you cover everywhere - This is the final coat so make sure its wet, but dont overload the paint so it runs!

6) Leave paint to harden for a couple of days before handling.

7) leave for at least a week before any wet/dry smoothing & polishing.

P.s if you can somehow heat/bake the paint all of the above times will be significantly shorter!

Maybe I'm the only one but if I had went to the bother of making custom bumpers and skirts and wasn't confident about spraying them myself I would just let a bodyshop do it, yeah it's pricey but the finish is what your after and if it is anything less than 100% your just going to be disappointed.

Weigh up the cost of DIY paint and time versus a bodyshop, might not be as bad as you think.

Liam

I opt for bodyshop if the item looks big enuff for me to balls up lol. However i havnt got the most steady hand, and have seen many ppl do a great job them selves.

well i have done the primer myself and am confident about the spraying its just i heard that the lacquering bit was a bit iffy - bubbling etc. haven't got a problem doing it just wondered if its nescessary cos i was told it wasn't. fairly competent and confident with all this DIY stuff hence making the bumper etc.

the bumper is a cinq s one cut in half from left to right. extended six inches down using fibreglass and with all recess etc filled in. also got a nice big cut-out for mesh and my centre exit zorst.

cheers for the replies. will post pics once done.

If the car is a metallic then lacquer is required or it'll look dull and stand out a mile away no matter how good you do the paint.

Liam

If it is metallic and it aint lacquered it will be dull as hell, you also havent got a hope in hell of the paint staying onas the metallic colour is what we call base coat meannig it is used as a BASE but if you have a solid colour such as broom yellow then lacquer is not needed all that is need is loads of coats of colour

Got any pics of the rear bumper it sounds really nice if not slightly too deep

its not metallic. just a dark red. dunno exactly which red though. getting a colour match at a motor factors.

Got any pics of car with mods etc come on im dying to see some it sounds impressive

only got old pictures at the mo. takin new ones though when its all fitted for a before and after transformation. should be posting in the next week or two hopefully.