Painting Fibreglass Fenders?

[coolpool]

I'm looking at painting two US90 fenders in the near future plus the tanks, front fenders etc. I scoured some old threads and it seems most folks send them out. Is this something a "Do it Yourselfer" could do, or should I just farm it out to be safe? I have never painted anything without a spray can thus far.

[Kfx-xc-racer88]

you'll never get a good enough finish from a spray can! the paint in them is just too thin.
if you have got a spray gun and compressor, have a go and try doing a small panel first to see how it goes! the finish on 2k paint is much better and you can color sand them to get them mint!

[coolpool]

you'll never get a good enough finish from a spray can! the paint in them is just too thin.
if you have got a spray gun and compressor, have a go and try doing a small panel first to see how it goes! the finish on 2k paint is much better and you can color sand them to get them mint!

Sorry if I confused anybody with this post. I don't mean to try spray painting the fenders; I will buy a gun and attempt it myself if it's feasible. Sometimes things are just not worth doing yourself; but I'll try anything once.

[Vealmonkey]

Modern acrylic enamel paints must be used in conjunction with a respirator system so you won't die. Best left to professionals who already have the proper tools. Even small auto body shops are being phased out slowly due to equipment, materials, costs and regulations. It's not like spraying the old lacquer paints anymore when you would just thin out everything to 300% or so and just wet sand the heck out of it.

[Kfx-xc-racer88]

You can buy a cheap respirator in the U.K. for about £20 probably about $30 in the U.S. and wear some paper overalls, i've done a bit of 2k paintwork it's good fun especially when it turns out right!!! lol

[WIkid500]

ya know if you end up with a spray gun I hear the Dupli-color paintshop paint isn't bad. It's a lacquer paint to keep things simple for the non-professional painter. They have been doing some real cool things with this paint, and there is a wide variety of colors to choose from.

[HuffieVA]

Invest in a respirator designed for paint fumes (not just dust) the mid sized body shops are the ones being hurt by the EPA regulations, small guys have an exemption (i.e. paint it yourself restorers) the problem is, once you "paint for hire" you likely fall under the regulations... This means you can still (at least as of this morning anyhow) paint your own stuff in your own shop with whatever you want. Its not hard, but you wont find "do it yourself" type directions on the various ingredients, Dupont's website used to have some good tips as well as House of Kolor's website...

If and when the EPA begins to regulate painting in your own home, there will be alot of flat black / rattlecan cars, trucks and bikes running around...

[jmax857]

Modern acrylic enamel paints must be used in conjunction with a respirator system so you won't die. Best left to professionals who already have the proper tools. Even small auto body shops are being phased out slowly due to equipment, materials, costs and regulations. It's not like spraying the old lacquer paints anymore when you would just thin out everything to 300% or so and just wet sand the heck out of it.

you can still buy lacquer based paints. they are easy to spray and very inexpensive, go to an autoparts store and buy some duplicolour body shop paint. its lacquer based, pre mixed. just dump and spray you cant go wrong for 19.99 a quart. i will admit its not as good of a paint as enamel paints but its very user friendly.