Friday, July 9, 2010

Learn to Restore Paint on Your Old Car - Car Resprays and Respraying - Spray Painting

Like all painted things, car paint too begins to lose its sheen and gets discolored as the years go by. Wind, snow, heat and other forms of weathering, pollution, abrasions, bird droppings etc are reasons for your car to look old and weather-beaten. But if you are keen on restoring its lost luster and making it look presentable again, there are ways of doing it.

The first step to be taken is to get the car thoroughly cleaned. Wash it with soap if necessary and make sure that every nook and corner of the car is free from grime and dirt. Next is to scrape away the top oxidized layer of paint off the car, which can be done with the help of a foam compounding pad. Once you are through with this you will find a cloudy look on the surface of the car. To remove this haziness off the body, you must polish the car, but before you begin, you must ensure that the polish you are using is mild.

To get back a glossy look again, you must polish with a circular polisher and the white foam polishing pads can give you the best results. Give a finishing touch to the car by using an orbital polisher beginning slowly and then steadily increasing the pace. Take a small patch and gradually proceed ahead. If you want to paint your car you will need to put on a layer of primer.

Before you add a coat of paint to your car, you must work out how you are going to get about it. It is always advisable to use a spray gun to get the right texture of car paint if you want your car to look glossy and smooth. If you think you can manage to paint the car yourself, you will save the expenses that are incurred if you get it done by a professional. A standard spray gun with a pressure of 70psi can do a wonderful job but anything below that will give you a thick smudgy coat.

Many of the paint companies give instructions as to the kind of Spray gun that should be used for a particular paint, which can include a specific fluid tip and air cap. Hence, it is advisable that the spray gun be purchased from a paint shop only.

You must know the ratio of hardener or thinner that is required to be added to the paint you are planning to use. Once you have got the right proportion, you can pour it into the spray gun ready for use. Point the nozzle in the right direction and gently spray the coats until the desired effect is obtained.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

How to Apply a DupliColor Bed Liner - 3 Tips

A DupliColor bed liner gets you a truck bed coating from one of the leaders in automotive paint. Dupli-Color is best known maybe for touch-up paint, but they are one of the leaders in do it yourself bed liners too. Here are three tips for installing your own liner based on our personal experience with truck bed paint.

Tip 1: Scratch for success.
Like with any kind of painting, surface preparation is a must if the paint is going to stay where you put it. Luckily for truck bed paint, the surface prep is quite easy. That's because you really want a rough sanding job. No fine sanding is required. What you want is a really coarse sanding of the surfaces to be coated. It really is just an all over heavy scratching. Easy to do...

Tip 2: But wash first...

Even before sanding, wash the bed completely. Here's why. Nothing makes paint peel faster than applying over grease and wax. That's why it's important to wash the truck bed first with a regular grease and wax remover. Just ask at the auto parts store and they'll have what you need. It's an easy step, but one you don't want to skip.

Tip 3: Plenty of paint.

The thicker the truck bed coating, the better. A gallon isn't enough to cover the typical bed. Get at least an extra quart and an extra gallon is even better. A thicker coat lasts longer and looks better too.

A DupliColor Bed Liner is a great way to improve the looks of your pickup without spending much money. It's simple to apply and looks almost just like a much more expensive spray on bed liner.