Well, after much debate I decided to finally on color scheme for my truck and have started out by painting the engine cover first. Here's some pics of it in primer so far. Hope to start with the first color coat tomorrow after class and start getting things taped and masked off. Going to do the main areas in yellow to match my truck and then using black and silver metallic to accent. Just click the link to see what's been done so far.

http://community.webshots.com/album/214983995VZucsC

 

lookin good!!
post some pics when she's done.

 

Wow! and not even a drop of overspray on the kitchen table

 

How smooth did you sand it? Did you use an adhesion promotor before the primer or can you just add it to the prmer??

 

y2k-lol, yeah i had to mask off the entire kitchen just to spray it

04BlackSilverado-i fully intend too, but unfortunately the weather isn't cooperating today and it's raining outside so looks like i won't get any color put on today. probably take it downstairs and wet sand that final coat of primer i put on yesterday and see about taping things off to spray tomorrow if the weather is good.

As far as prep goes, I cleaned the cover with soap and water, than used some plastic and vinyl prep to make sure everything was clean. Once that was wiped clean and dried off I sprayed the entire thing with about 3 coats of Bulldog adhesion promoter(just picked some up at the local parts store) to make sure I had good coverage on the entire thing. Than I used about 5 coats of filler primer and around 4 coats of buildable primer. After I let it cure overnight I wetsanded the entire piece with 1000 grit. Some of the areas were bad enough that I actually had to take it down just about to the plastic showing through, but overall the entire piece was very slick, but still scuffed to hold the final coats of primer. On the final coats I'm just going to hit things lightly with a 1200 grit and than start shooting the color on. Can't wait to see how things turn out once I'm finished painting and have it sealed. BTW, anybody that has done this....how long do you wait after the final coat of clear and wet sanding to glaze/wax the pieces?

 

I have. I waited about a week after it was painted before waxing mine.

 

tHATS sik!

 

that sure is alot of primer. I sure hope it doesn't crack.

 

I know it's alot of coats, but I also went fairly light to prevent any runs and having to deal with sanding those out. I also wanted to give myself enough of a buffer to sand on and not have to worry about repriming the entire piece. Thanks for the input though. I'll definately keep that in mind due to the fact this is the first piece i'm doing. I plan on tackling some interior plastics next depending on how this turns out.