Paint options for the plastics

kdawg302000 said:

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View attachment 13845

Ok...WTF? I feel like all i am doing us moving the scratches around. Lol...apparently, im not as good at following instructions, as i though.

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As you get to the finer grits the scratches will get smaller and smaller. You wont notice gloss until you get to the very end. The nice part is that the time spent sanding goes down with every finer grit. I'd recommend drilling out the rivits to make the piece more manageable. You can either replace the rivits with more rivits or do as I do and just replace with some stainless screws/nuts/washer combo.

I'm not gonna lie.... those of you who have ever done any body work know how tedious my job can be and that elbow grease/ perciverance plays a major role in producing a great paint job or fixing a dent or whatever. Even I found sanding and buffing out the stock plastics to be a PITA. Granted, I started with one which someone had prepped with 400 and painted, just the same i got half done and gave up lol. Still have the part, but I doubt I'll ever polish it out, probably just keep it as a spare and paint it if I need it. So, Kdawg, you've got a lot of work ahead.

What grit are u sanding with?

34nineteen said:

As you get to the finer grits the scratches will get smaller and smaller. You wont notice gloss until you get to the very end. The nice part is that the time spent sanding goes down with every finer grit. I'd recommend drilling out the rivits to make the piece more manageable. You can either replace the rivits with more rivits or do as I do and just replace with some stainless screws/nuts/washer combo.

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I was gonna stop at 1000 to go for the matte look. I used 400, 600, 800 then 1000, but something didnt feel right and i went back to 400 and did it again. Surprisingly, it actually looks better than the first time. So after too many sours and a nap, im gonna run to the shop down the street from my place, that i never knew existed and grab some finer grit...maybe up to 2500. Come back and start moving down the line again. I have a whole new respect for painters for sure. This s*** is tedious. Im gonna pop the rivets too, as they are changing colors as i scrape them now and then.

BuellyBagger said:

I'm not gonna lie.... those of you who have ever done any body work know how tedious my job can be and that elbow grease/ perciverance plays a major role in producing a great paint job or fixing a dent or whatever. Even I found sanding and buffing out the stock plastics to be a PITA. Granted, I started with one which someone had prepped with 400 and painted, just the same i got half done and gave up lol. Still have the part, but I doubt I'll ever polish it out, probably just keep it as a spare and paint it if I need it. So, Kdawg, you've got a lot of work ahead.

What grit are u sanding with?

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Man. My hat is off too you. I never disrespected painters by any means, as i know it is a damn fine trade, but Jesus H. Christ! I have only been doing it for a few hours and i can say, i could not have the patience for this. The pics were the 400.

Question: its sandpaper, so there is gonna be scratches, but should t3hry be so damn noticeable? Or am i just noticing them, because im doing it and also looking at them at angles in the light. Im wondering because the airbox is coming next and thats gonna be was more of an eye sore than the chin fairing, if I F*** up. Also, probably gonna complete the gloss part if i cant pull this matte thing off.

kdawg302000 said:

Man. My hat is off too you. I never disrespected painters by any means, as i know it is a damn fine trade, but Jesus H. Christ! I have only been doing it for a few hours and i can say, i could not have the patience for this. The pics were the 400.

Question: its sandpaper, so there is gonna be scratches, but should t3hry be so damn noticeable? Or am i just noticing them, because im doing it and also looking at them at angles in the light. Im wondering because the airbox is coming next and thats gonna be was more of an eye sore than the chin fairing, if I F*** up. Also, probably gonna complete the gloss part if i cant pull this matte thing off.

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Have you been wet sanding or dry? Once I get about 240, I ‘m wet sanding only.

Lunatic fringe once told me the job is significantly easier when watching porn hub.

34nineteen said:

Have you been wet sanding or dry? Once I get about 240, I ‘m wet sanding only.

Lunatic fringe once told me the job is significantly easier when watching porn hub.

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Im on daddy daycare and busy neglecting my kids, while trying to figure this out...so no porn hub today. I even tried to get some cheap child labor and bribe my 5 year old with some gummy worms, but he sucks worse than I do. I stopped him after 3 hours. :angel:

I have been wet sanding for all of it. Went and picked up some 1500, 2000, 2500. Gonna hit it with 400, 800, 1000, 1500, then see if i wanna give it the 2000, 2500. All been wet, so far, so ill keep it that way. Is it possible to get worse than when i started? Hahahaha

Don't be afraid of a rough grit. You'll do the MOST time sanding with 240 to get a uniform finish. Once thats real nice, go to a finer grit and it goes much faster.

If you start at a grit thats too fine you'll spend many many many hours not making a difference, that what it sounds like is happening. What kind of gummy worms?

Cooter said:

Don't be afraid of a rough grit. You'll do the MOST time sanding with 240 to get a uniform finish. Once thats real nice, go to a finer grit and it goes much faster.

If you start at a grit thats too fine you'll spend many many many hours not making a difference, that what it sounds like is happening. What kind of gummy worms?

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Ok...this will be fun and you guys should enjoy this.

So i have never sanded anything before, so i literally have no idea what it should look like. Just tryingntonget that smooth feel anyway...

I got some 3M from home depot like cooter said and they only went up to 400, so i grabbed some 240, 320 and 400 3M. Then went to an auto body store and they had a bunch of stuff. So i grabbed 600, 800, 1000 in this off brand they had. Then grabbed some 1500, 2000, 2500 in 3M.

I have been fighting with this damn 400 for the past two days trying to figure out whats wrong, as i was trying to palm it and couldnt as my hand would slip right off as soon as it made contact. So i was using 2-3 fingers, as i was taught in high school sex ed (atleast thats what i called her) and it was still slippery as f***...good for those jobs, bad for this job. After i tried using the other 3M i had. I immediatly realized that the backing was different. Just looked at the stuff from home depot and i didnt grab the wet or dry and the back basically turns to a river rock when wet.

Long story, long....Ill go back tomorrow and get the 400 3M stuff at the auto body store and start over.
You can stop laughing now! No seriously, its rude!

Ok, after getting the right paper, i basically started over. I think i understand now. It looks more like cooters explanation. I also think i understand the cross-hatch. Looks good, yet not quite like i mentally expected it to. I was going for the matte black look...which is looks close, but not quite as uniform as i would like. It was a fun little project, but not sure its gonna end up, like i expected.

Keep a dry rag nearby and you can check for even-ness with a swipe to dry it. Look for glossy or uneven places and concentrate on those areas.

You never read the thread I posted did you?:upset:

Cooter said:

Keep a dry rag nearby and you can check for even-ness with a swipe to dry it. Look for glossy or uneven places and concentrate on those areas.

You never read the thread I posted did you?:upset:

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Sad thing is, i have read that post about 50 times. Dip, crosshatch, dip, cross hatch, dip, cross hatch, dry, sun/light....dip, cross hatch, dip cross hatch...

But even with 2000 and 2500, i still see little shiny scratches. Its dull and has no shiny spots, but not evenly dull like the pic you posted and if i angle it in the light, i see little sparkly scratch marks. I cant get that s*** to go away. Unfortunately, never had a dad around to teach me this ****...so i learn through failure. THIS IS THE WAY!

But i think im getting better. Just trying to perfect the chin fairing before i take down the airbox.

kdawg302000 said:

But even with 2000 and 2500, i still see little shiny scratches. Its dull and has no shiny spots,

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I don't know what you're trying to say here? You have to be all uniformly dull at 240 before you even think of going with a finer grade or you will spend Eons rubbing away with no result.

"You will spend the MOST time at 240." If you can manage to do that, the rest goes pretty quickly. Heck, it starts to get shiny again at 2500. 2500 grit is dang near 'compound' levels of grit.

Cooter said:

have to be all uniformly dull at 240

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I know people uniformly dull all dam day. I don't even have to wait till 2:40

rb70383 said:

I know people uniformly dull all dam day. I don't even have to wait till 2:40

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Cooter said:

I don't know what you're trying to say here? You have to be all uniformly dull at 240 before you even think of going with a finer grade or you will spend Eons rubbing away with no result.

"You will spend the MOST time at 240." If you can manage to do that, the rest goes pretty quickly. Heck, it starts to get shiny again at 2500. 2500 grit is dang near 'compound' levels of grit.

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Ok. I see where i went wrong. I was reading through your old post and it said, if they scratches were light to use 400, so i started at 400 and never used the 240 i bought. Back to the drawing board. Will grab the 240 and start over.

Whatever it takes to get that first uniform finish. I have even used 80, 150, 180 to repair crash scuffs.... Before 2:40pm LOL

This is a very good point. If you skip ahead to a fine grit too early, you won’t be able to get the deep scratches out. Also don’t go too fast and “overheat” the plastic.