How to repaint the door mirrors ?
Discussion
The door mirrors on my 98 car are looking well shabby. Apart from the stone chips , the paint is flaking off the frames quite badly around the mounting points. Given that they can be a bit fragile and a PITA to get off the doors, it would appear to make more sense to paint them in situ.
I think that providing that I remove the mirror glass and the rubber band trims and mask the rest of the car to death, it should be fairly straight forward. My car is silver. TVR called it Silver Stardust, but it's actually a common BMW colour called Arctic Silver.
My question is, given proper preparation could I do an acceptable job with spray cans like these, or do I really need a man with a spray gun?
I think that providing that I remove the mirror glass and the rubber band trims and mask the rest of the car to death, it should be fairly straight forward. My car is silver. TVR called it Silver Stardust, but it's actually a common BMW colour called Arctic Silver.
My question is, given proper preparation could I do an acceptable job with spray cans like these, or do I really need a man with a spray gun?
Edited by sparkythecat on Monday 22 August 00:33
It is possible to do an aceptable job, yes. Not so sure with the mirrors in situ though.
I''ve resprayed mine with aerosols with perfectly acceptable results, but I've found that to get a really good finish with metallics the final coat needs to be quite wet, which brings you close to "run" territory, and is very difficult to do if you can't spray onto a horizontal surface. This may just be me though, I never seem able to apply lots of thin coats as you are supposed to. No patience.
You will need to finish with a laquer as well, and these seem to be more prone to runs than the paint itself. I had a perfect finish in the paint and the very first blast of laquer ran like Hussein Bolt.
If it helps, I sprayed a motorbike I built many years ago (early 80's) with aerosols, and it was featured in Bike magazine. The finish was good enough under photographic scrutiny, and I dare say aerosol technology may be more advanced 30 years on, so it can be done.
I''ve resprayed mine with aerosols with perfectly acceptable results, but I've found that to get a really good finish with metallics the final coat needs to be quite wet, which brings you close to "run" territory, and is very difficult to do if you can't spray onto a horizontal surface. This may just be me though, I never seem able to apply lots of thin coats as you are supposed to. No patience.
You will need to finish with a laquer as well, and these seem to be more prone to runs than the paint itself. I had a perfect finish in the paint and the very first blast of laquer ran like Hussein Bolt.
If it helps, I sprayed a motorbike I built many years ago (early 80's) with aerosols, and it was featured in Bike magazine. The finish was good enough under photographic scrutiny, and I dare say aerosol technology may be more advanced 30 years on, so it can be done.
temperature plays a part too you will need it to be warm not a damp cool day. damp cool weather will turn the paint dull warmth will help reduce the running of the paint and the paint will dry with a shine will dry should you put too much on.. if you are heavy handed on the nozzel!! a good job is poss for sure. and not the end of the world if you mess up rub down and do again good luck..
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