Spraying Mirrors

AndyJ

I'm refitting standard mirrors and have picked up some that are ready primed. Should i give these a bit of a light sanding and another couple of coats of primer first or can i just start spraying?
If they need a sanding what grade of paper should i use?

Cheers :thumbup:

Daniel

i would sand and give a couple more coats of primer m8 and i would say go for a high grade sand paper m8

daiflu

Yea, best to give them a sand with 400grit sandpaper, give them another coat using quality primer, then sand with 800, give a quick going over with 1200, then hit it with some colour and a quality clear.

Sjdickso

As already said sand back with 400 / 600 make sure that the w&D is soaked and i somtimes use washing up liquid as well, just make sure the surface is totally clean for when you re-apply primer. The flat black again then give it some good coats of paint thin and lots of coats sand if required let it go off then plaenty of coats of clear.

AndyJ

Cheers fellas! :thumbup:

daiflu

Sjdickso said:
then give it some good coats of paint thin and lots of coats sand if required let it go off then plaenty of coats of clear.

I'm not sure what colour it is but you should never sand a metallic/mica as it damages the aluminium/mica particles, dulling the effect and reducing sparkle.

Sjdickso

daiflu said:

Sjdickso said:
then give it some good coats of paint thin and lots of coats sand if required let it go off then plaenty of coats of clear.

I'm not sure what colour it is but you should never sand a metallic/mica as it damages the aluminium/mica particles, dulling the effect and reducing sparkle.

When using rattle cans i always flat back with megs 3000 W&D weather it be met or not just dont flat back the final top coat and i have never had any issues with flake pop.

daiflu

Not sure why you would need to sand the basecoat?
Final coat, or not.

Sjdickso

daiflu said:
Not sure why you would need to sand the basecoat?
Final coat, or not.

Normally because rattle can finish is s**t.

Daniel

lol how ya get on andy and pics ????

AndyJ

Not done it yet mate. lol. Hard finding the time with work and having a baby, will get onto it this weekend.

As it happens, i also ned to re-spray my mesh on my front bumper. I was going to do it in-situ, can i just mask off and spray it or will i need to prep it in anyway? I presume just normal black spray paint will suffice?

Drakey

I did a wing mirror on my old Astra after hitting a rather nice Merc when passing on a narrow road.
Got a bit over excited nearing completion with the clear lacqur, really thick stuff and ended up with a few build up runs in it.
Hope it goes ok for you, look fwd to seeing it done.

AndyJ

Right, i've been doing my mirror covers this weekend, i've done exactly as described and have applied a few layers of paint but the finish looks sht, it looks very 'orange peel' and to be honest the paint comes out of the can sht too. Is this how its meant to look, how can i get a better finish before i start applying the laquer?

Daniel

are the paint ans warm and been saken well ??? i found that if ya warm up the paint it flows better

Matt

It also depends on the quality of the nozel on the can. I found Halfords rattle cans were shit, as the spray came out in a cone affect, and gave a piss poor finish. The cans I got from Paints4U were really good, and the paint sprayed in a fan pattern, giving a much better finish.

You'll find the lacquer finish goes go really orange peely with rattle cans, so it's best to give it quite a few coats (I'd say around 6) and then flat it back with some really fine wet and dry, and get them machine polished.

AndyJ

The paint is just at room temperature, should i bang it in some warm water?

I got the paint from Paints4U Matt,the pattern is good like you say except its a bit spluttery if you get what i mean? What sort of grade wet and dry should i use? Machine polishing might be a problem because i don't know anyone who's got one, will a rub down with some rubbing compound do?

Matt

Yeah, the rubbing compound should be OK, as long as the sanding isn't too harsh.

AndyJ

So should i flat it back then use the rubbing compound or laquer it and then use it? What grade of paper should i use, think i've got 1500 or should i pick up some 3000?

Sjdickso

To me it also sounds like you are spraying to close and maybe too much. Very light thin coats and when you start to get the orange peel gently rub back.

Dont warm the cans up in water. Like Matt said the orange peel will increase once you laquer them, so getting this styage right is vital.

Getting 3000 / 2500 grit paper can be tricky so just go steady with 1500 W&D.

I would rub them down to flat and start to build up the coats of paint.

AndyJ

I never was very good at painting. lol.

Going to have to redo one of them anyway, dropped the bloody thing paint side up on some newspaper when it was wet :roll:

I'm holding the paint about 15-20cm away and i didn't think i was laying it on that thick tbh dunno.. I'll give it another go though, still got to redo my bumpstrips and spray my centre console yet so all good practice i suppose 🙂