General My Pride & Joy

[bcfc8]

Hi Guys. Haven't posted in a while, so I thought i'd make a return and show you my pride and joy.

Hope you like!

 

[alexGS]

Hi Guys. Haven't posted in a while, so I thought i'd make a return and show you my pride and joy.

Hope you like!

It looks absolutely great - I had to do a double-take to make sure that it was a Mk1. Love those headlights!

I wonder how long you spend washing and polishing (we can see the coloured polish in the pic?) to keep that black paint looking gorgeous! Or maybe we need that question answered by someone else close to you...

I also like the wheels and bet that the photo doesn't do the alloy rims justice.

I wonder if you have thought about painting the bumpers - maybe leaving just a rub strip in black plastic - that would be the only mod I'd do from what you have

Cheers,
-Alex

 

[bcfc8]

Cheers mate! Its definately a MK1 hehe!

I just like to take pride in it, beings as its my first car aswell, i want it to look as good as possible.

I only really wash it when its dirty, but make sure i give it a damn good polish after and you can see the results

I will try and get a pic sometime soon of the alloys, let you have a closer look. Their Wolfrace btw.

Painting the bumpers is something ive thought about. Im not 100% sure at the moment though as i love how it looks at the minute. I'd be scared in case i done it and i wouldnt like it lol!

Cheers again!

 

[MattMk1]

You'd have to be blind not to enjoy colour coded bumpers on a car like that, do it, you won't regret it.

 

[canon]

Looks stunning, agree that it'd look 10x better with Colour coded bumpers (I hear Acrylic paint is the best to use )

 

[ianweaver]

WOW nice dude i have a black mk1 too...

What drop is tht -40mm or -60mm?

 

[bcfc8]

Cheers guys!

I cant quite remember what the drop is, done it a while back. I'll try and remember and let you know. I should really know this lol!

How would you go about painting the bumpers then? Is it as simple as painting it on or is their something else to it?

What kinda places would you get the paint from, and is acrylic the best to use?

Cheers!

 

[alexGS]

Cheers guys!

I cant quite remember what the drop is, done it a while back. I'll try and remember and let you know. I should really know this lol!

How would you go about painting the bumpers then? Is it as simple as painting it on or is their something else to it?

What kinda places would you get the paint from, and is acrylic the best to use?

Cheers!

You can get a special plastic primer in an aerosol can. I'm not sure what products are on your market, but I expect they're similar to what we have - one of the brands here is Duplicolor (American). The general process is to wash the bumper thoroughly with clothes-washing detergent, and also give it a scrub with a green 3M scouring pad (for the trade, these also come in purple, which is a bit more robust). If the bumper has been coated in silicones, you will have to first use a solvent such as white spirits to degrease the surface. You can tell when you're getting somewhere because the black should 'fade' to a matt grey.

Then apply the plastic primer - it's thin and colourless, so be careful to only apply a couple of thin coats and avoid runs.

If you have access to proper spraying equipment (i.e. a compressor and spraygun), you should then apply a light coat of 2K primer/surfacer. Don't go too thick with it, or it will chip later (and being a light colour, won't look too good against the black). You may like to skip this altogether and rely on the clear plastic primer. If you do that, I suggest adding a plasticiser (flex agent) to the 2K (two-pack) acrylic enamel topcoat that you will use. The paint shop should mix it to the 'recipe' according to your paint code (a three-digit number which you usually find under the tailgate (for the Mk1 Punto), or under the bonnet (Mk2). I suggest finding a good paint supply shop (rather than an accessory store...) because a good shop will have all the trade-standard materials and advice that you need.

If you are reliant on aerosol cans, you can still get a good finish - but it takes more work. You would use a primer/surfacer in an aerosol can, which tends to be yellow or grey, and then use an acrylic lacquer. The primer/surfacer helps the lacquer to stick to the plastic and gives a smoother finish. If you apply the lacquer straight-on to the plastic, you'll probably have problems.

Incidentally, not all aerosol cans are lacquer. The alternative, enamel in aerosol cans is, in my opinion, nasty stuff. It stays soft and sticky for a long time (because there's no hardener) and can't be polished. Try to avoid this.

The difference between a lacquer and a 2K paint is that the 2K (spraygun-only) has a hardener added, and dries by chemical reaction. The lacquer (aerosol can) dries by evaporation of the solvent. Lacquer is not as durable long-term and tends to shrink as the solvent evaporates. To avoid pinholes and other problems, you have to apply many thin coats. To get the final gloss, you must leave it for about a week and then polish with cutting compound (e.g. Farecla G3). This polishing also helps to remove dirt, orange peel (surface roughness) etc. so don't be too disheartened if the job looks a bit of a mess after the painting - just get enough coats on, and it will polish up well later .

The nice thing is that the bumpers are low-down on the car and so the quality of the paint doesn't matter as much as it does on, say, the bonnet or the roof.

The best approach by far though is to use the 2K paint and a spraygun - even with just a small compressor, the spraygun applies paint far quicker and better than an aerosol can. Either think about buying a compressor/spraygun and trying them out, or find someone who paints cars and get some help from them...

Alternatively I suppose you can pay a paint shop to do the job - but make sure everyone's clear on what's being done and how much it will cost. For example, some paint shops will use a matt base coat with a clear coat over the top (as you would have for a metallic colour). Don't let them do this... not only will it cost you more, but the clear coat may later flake off and look scabby and awful, and also, repaints/touchups (inevitable on bumpers!) are much harder if there is a clear coat involved.

This is just my advice - others may vary and feel free to shop around for opinions Everyone has their own experiences to draw on. For example, something I learned the hard way is that thick paint is more likely to crack and chip - you might have thought that a thick coat of primer would absorb the impact of stone chips, but actually, it just chips off!

-Alex