Spray painting

[LostTraction]

Hi guys,

First of all, please do excuse me if this is in the wrong place.

Okay, so ive ordered a spoiler thats already been painted Olympic white however, im going to have to change the color too power red. My question really is, can i go ahead and just spray paint over the original color and then apply the clear lacquer after it or will i need to take steps to prepare it for painting?

I'm a complete noobie on this topic so please excuse me

Thank you!

[steveo3002]

needs to be key'd /sanded first ....800 wet n dry or a grey scotch pad until theres no shine

[paintman]

If you don't thoroughly key it the new paint won't be able to adhere to the surface & will eventually come off.
Reds tend to be low hiders - as in you need to apply a lot of colour coats to achieve satisfactory coverage & hide what's under it.

[LostTraction]

Thank you for the reply guys! I'm not familiar with the terms but what does key mean

[steveo3002]

key = roughen it with fine sandpaper or scotch pad , gives the paint something to hold onto

[alabbasi]

You might also want to consider applying a sealer to keep possible reaction of old paint with new paint.

[LostTraction]

steveo3002 said:

key = roughen it with fine sandpaper or scotch pad , gives the paint something to hold onto

Oh okay, thank you for the help!

[LostTraction]

alabbasi said:

You might also want to consider applying a sealer to keep possible reaction of old paint with new paint.

When should this be applied to the spoiler?

[Mr Squarekins]

So tempting to say about 2.30pm

Once the original paint is lightly roughened (keyed), clean then lightly dust with a sealer. A couple of light dustings is better than a heavy coat. Let dry for 12 hrs maybe before painting.

[LostTraction]

Mr Squarekins said:

So tempting to say about 2.30pm

Once the original paint is lightly roughened (keyed), clean then lightly dust with a sealer. A couple of light dustings is better than a heavy coat. Let dry for 12 hrs maybe before painting.

Thank you for help man, really appreciate it

[Cookiedough]

paintman said:

If you don't thoroughly key it the new paint won't be able to adhere to the surface & will eventually come off.
Reds tend to be low hiders - as in you need to apply a lot of colour coats to achieve satisfactory coverage & hide what's under it.

Really good point concerning red. It takes some coats to cover. I recently sprayed the door and wing on an a3. I must of put six decent coats of paint to cover the primer on the door repair.