ive been spraying up my old green grille to race blue by reading up on the tinernet on how to do it after I fancied having a go myself. I bought a twin pack of skoda aerosol after seeing that mater used it on his VRS (part num HFB 381 084 - 8x8x)

So far ive done the following

wet sand with 800 grit paper

two coats of primer.

3 coats of race blue

2 coats of lacquer

The problem I have at the moment is that the last coat of lacquer ive put on has gone cloudy in parts. it was put on yesterday morning and has been in house drying since and im not sure what Ive done wrong. could it be a reaction or have I put it on too thick or is there a step im missing and I need to polish the cloudy bits???

thanks in advance and ill try and get some pics up later.

Pictures below

old colour

Primer

Race Blue with 1 coat of lacquer

Edited 26 January, 200917 yr by sworrall
Pics added

Sounds like it's too thick. Try putting it in the airing cupboard for the night to make sure it's absolutely dry all the way through.

good idea, ill stick it in there now

if it doesnt "uncloud" am i ok to wet sand it and then put another coat of lacquer on that?

thanks Stu

My grille was also cloudy but i just kept applying more lacquer and it started to change and eventually became a nice shiny wet look.

http://briskoda.net/styling-car-care/ethoss-black-grill-guide/89989/ mines in post 23, ignore the dust on it.

Edited 26 January, 200917 yr by martziniuk

Make sure its really dry and then wetsand with some very fine wet and dry, allow to dry again ,then LIGHTLY build up the coats, allowing each coat to dry and lightly sanding between coats .Time consuming I know , but the result will be worth it. Also when you use too heavy an application , this allows any moisture in the air to be trapped in the spray particles and hence the cloudy look . After the final coat of laquer , lightly sand again , then apply something like t-cut ,polish this then apply wax polish and hey presto ,one shiney polished finished article .Hope this helps.

Make sure its really dry and then wetsand with some very fine wet and dry, allow to dry again ,then LIGHTLY build up the coats, allowing each coat to dry and lightly sanding between coats .Time consuming I know , but the result will be worth it. Also when you use too heavy an application , this allows any moisture in the air to be trapped in the spray particles and hence the cloudy look . After the final coat of laquer , lightly sand again , then apply something like t-cut ,polish this then apply wax polish and hey presto ,one shiney polished finished article .Hope this helps.

thanks for all the advice, i put the last layer on in the front of the garage with the door open and it was about 4 degrees out so dont think this helped.

re the wet sanding above what grit would you advise for this? ive got 800 at the moment but can pick up some finer stuff tomorrow if needed.

I was about to ask where you were painting it as it sounds like the lacquer is blooming - basically it's too cold to be painting it, it needs to be warm (the grill) and painted in a warm room and kept warm until the paint has gone off (dried)

you're right gizmo, looks "blooming" awful at the mo! with that in mind am I best to give it a wet sand or just go over it again with more lacquer indoors in the warmth?

Make sure it is FULLY dry and hard, give it a wet sand with the finest wet and dry you have, dry fully, warm then paint again.

(Make sure SHMBO doesn't see you as even lacquer can go everywhere!)

cheers gizmo, will give that a go, away from prying eyes and noses in the utility!

When I sprayed my bumper ,I did it in the conservatory whilst SWMBO was at work , then went round with the Fabreze .She never knew to this day:D

The problem I have at the moment is that the last coat of lacquer ive put on has gone cloudy in parts.

put the can of lacquer in some warm water for a bit before you use it

thanks for the advice all. I gave it a wet sand and re-applied a couple of coats of lacquer inside the house and its right as rain now. just need to work out which "rubbing compound" to use after its hardened

just to let you know I was successful in getting a good finish on the grille and lower grilles. Fitted sunday but its been snowing ever since so no pics yet!

Only other thing I wanted to check was that its recommened to use rubbing compound after two weeks on the lacquer. is this just normal t-cut or do i have to buy something special??

just thought i'd put a pick up of the result. dirty as hell im afraid due to the snow.

thanks to Mater for the idea to code the bottom grilles as well

rubbing compound is pretty harsh stuff, they sell it at Motor World branches, about £4 IIRC

That's looking really good, mate! Well done for persevering! To rub it down, you can use something like Safe Cut (yellow bottle from Halfords) or Autoglym Paint Restorer. Just take it easy with them.