Painting fiberglass fenders?

[greasywheats]

I purchased a pair of fiberglass fenders from Lil' Bear and need to get them painted. Anyone have any idea what type of cost I should be looking at? I took one to my auto body shop down the street that has a painting booth and they quoted me $175 to sand and spray the 2 fenders (basic black). I didn't realize it would be so much...does this sound high? Is this something that can be done at home with decent results? any input is appreciated!

[Ma3tt]

$12 2 sheets of 220 grit paper and 4 cans of rustoleum........


Its called a 15 foot paint job...... it looks good from 15 feet!!!!

[s4son]

$12 2 sheets of 220 grit paper and 4 cans of rustoleum........


Its called a 15 foot paint job...... it looks good from 15 feet!!!!

Ma3tt,

Did you use this method for the body as well? It looks like it would stand up to an inspection from closer to 15 feet to me. Nicely done.

Scott F.

[demtears]

IF it's a very well known reputable shop that guarantes there work and you will get clean paint work then that sound reasonable. Its not a hard job to do but the time to prep prime and paint to do a proper job is time consuming they probably have a minimum charge to do the work to take a guy of one job to do your's


If you have the facilities to do the job garage, compressor, spraygun sand paper, primer, paint wet sand paper and a high speed buffer then it really Isn't to bad I would spray a base coat clear coat, base coat paint is one of the easiest paints to spray and then you would apply your clear coat on top of the base to give it shine if you get a little dirt in your clear coat you can wet sand and buff back to a shine or re-clear until you get the finish you like to achieve. In short if you have the materials and location to get a quality job then go for it you will be fine, but to buy all the materials you would need, again I would say $175 is resonable.

[mikeschn]

I think Len used Krylon on his fenders. And I don't know what Steve used. I know that Krylon will give you a nice finish, especially if you sand it out inbetween coats. I wonder how durable it is though?

Mike...

[doug hodder]

I shot my own...but then I have the gun and all the tools to do the job....I don't think it is out of line especially if it is done by a good body shop....at that price, I would think it ought to be base coat/clear coat...not just acrylic enamel....I don't know about pricing for body work where you are though....a rattle can paint job is going to be fine if you really lay the paint down heavy and keep a wet edge....just don't spray it dry...and they tend to chip a little easier....just my experience though....I usually have a lot of stuff laying around to spray with though so the fenders were going to be sprayed in base/clear...I had to use up the stuff...my frame is only acrylic enamel though....If you don't have the equipment to do it and have no desire to get into painting, I wouldn't drop the $ . Just have it done....You might also want to check into a Maaco job....not that bad...and after all, regardless of what you do...they will get chipped up...again...just what I've experienced....Doug

[Ma3tt]

"...not that bad...and after all, regardless of what you do...they will get chipped up...again...just what I've experienced....Doug"

yep a $12 chipped up paint job or a $$$$$$ chipped up paint job.. at the end of the day its dark.. I have painted my tear twice and each time it was like a brand new toy, it encouraged the wife to redo some interior stuff to match(Good Move). If I had spent $$$ on it the first time it would still be that split pea green with a cat stuck on it!!!! YUCK!

[asianflava]

Rattle can paints don't dry ar hard as automotive paints. They are also relatively thin coats. You can get a good finish with them but you can't beat auto paint.

I'll probably use Krylon until it starts looking shabby, by then I'll probably have saved up enough money to get it professionally done. I probably will have settled on a color by then too.

[SteveH]

I've done a little painting on fiberglass and the real problem long term is adhesion of the paint. Yes, it must be cleaned to remove any release agents and sanded, but normal primer does not have adequate adhesion on fiberglass. Forget what it is called, but there is a primer/sealer that is made especially for fiberglass that you should use as a first coat before you start building up with sanding primer. After that, it's just like any other paint job.

About the type of paint, the base coat/clear coat paint jobs while giving the best gloss, are almost impossible to spot repair neccesitating a complete recoat of clear any time there is work done repairing chips and such. The strongest paint that is easy to spot repair IMHO is the catalized polyurethane paints like Emron. Emron is one of the most chip resistant paint and easy to spot repair.

And, what did I paint my fenders with you might ask, the same rustoleum black that I painted the frame with, so I can repair/repaint easily.

[greasywheats]

Thanks for all the input guys, I think I'll do like Asianflava is doing and try a "rattle-can" job myself and if it looks too shabby or gets old quick, have them sprayed professionally later. I'm on a budget here and $175 is pretty spendy right now.

So- any tips on making a spray job come out best? Is is best to spray from far away and do multiple coats to avoid drip? How many coats of paint should i shoot for? Should I sand in between coats? I would like a glossy finish...is there spray clear coat that I can do a couple coats of after I paint?
Thanks again!

[Ma3tt]

sand with 100 then 200 grit paper (wet is better), Clean well with lint free cloth then paint. Hanging the fenders is best. Each one of my fenders has two cans of rustoleum on them about three solid coats. 24 hours drying between coats. advantage of can paint easy, cheap, cheap and easy chip repair, and cheap. my main body was done with aluminum primer then roll on paint.

[asianflava]

I found this article on painting computer cases. It prerry much applies to painting anything.

http://case-mods.linear1.org/case-mod-101-how-to-paint-your-computer-case-part-1/