I just painted part of my front bumper with dupli color spray paint and it looks all bumpy and rough..
Anyone know how to make it look smooth like rest of the car? I think I heard wet sanding works but what grit sandpaper should I use?

 

So you've spray-painted your car... and you're wondering why it looks like s**t?

Mabye take your car to a local shop that does all the Caprices in Kameleon for the local thugs... they might have some real flip-flop paint left over and hook you up for not too much.

Leave the spray paint to the high school kids with Civics.

 

Ha ha ha that's pretty funny. Why did you spray paint it ?

... (there might be a good reason)

 

Hmm.. if I do that, wont it cost more than getting it done by a pro? My budget is really limited(I'm a high school kid with a Camaro).
I think I will just get it done by a pro like this dude.
But since I dont have access to alot of money right now, I would like to make the spray painted part look a little bit better. Any trick on doing that?

 

Hmmm, ok painting can be tricky, normally before u do the actual painting you need to 'prep' the surface, this entails completly cleaning it and sanding it down, usually to around 400-800 grit, then at least 1 layer of primer is put on, and then that sanded down to 600-800 grit. This is assuming that your starting from an unfinished body part, like a fiberglass hood that's still gelcoated white. Now, if your painting over paint, I'm assuming your using spray paint, you need to strip any old wax off the surface to be painted and then sand it down, you can use wet sand paper if you want, usually the 600-800grit you can get from advanced is for either wet or dry, then make sure you dust off the residue after wards, or wash it verywell and dry it, prior to painting. Now painting with spray cans is tricky and not recommended for a good finish, but hey, sometimes ya gotta do whatcha gotta do, now the motion that you use and the weather outside can play a very large part in the turnout, it's recommended to do it in a well ventilated garage if possible, and even then it's easy to get condensation and dust particles in the spray which will collect on your paint. Most of this information I have gained through much experience, anyone having a different opinion please post, I will be the first to admit I don't know much about a particular subject. And remember the paint will only ever be as smooth as the surface underneath it, that's why the deepest and most brilliant paint jobs have been primered and sanded many,many times with over 800 grit sandpaper.

 

Heh, I really screwed up on this one...

Can I like wet sand the surface of painted part with a really high grit sandpaper and make it smoother? (High grit sandpaper like 1500grit) or will it just make it look scratchy?

 

LMAO, but I'll keep my mouth shut. As to actually try to help you out, go over to the Show and Shine Section and talk to Mike and/or Kevin. They will have some honest and helpful recommendations for you I am sure.

Dude, don't do that again

~John

 

Like this "dude"???

That's me

Yeah, that was one heck of a deal. I'm not sure how many of those "We Come To You" paint guys there are out there but that guy definitely did one heck of a job for CHEAP. I have no idea how he could afford to do that.

 

Oh kewl! You are the dude who made that website! Thanks for making that site. It has been a big help installing stuff on my Camaro.

I dont get why people laugh at me for painting it using spray paint though. Today, I took it out of the garage and looked at it and it didn't look that bad. I'm thinking about painting the whole bumper with spray paint. I just did it cuz the paint was peeling off the bumper and I knew it can't get any worse.

 

It believe it depends on the severity of your current problem. There would be no way in the world I'd spray paint my own bumper cover... UNLESS, it looked just so terrible like it was that the spray paint couldn't make it any worse. Sounds like this is your case

Example, I was at the drag strip and a Camaro owner smacked the wall. His front nose was all screwed up and pieces hanging off of it. His car was black and he used black Duct Tape to cover up all the cracks and, basically, keep the front end together. The black Duct Tape looked better than the exposed cracked pieces