Plastic body bits, like spoilers, bumpers etc - are they painted in exactly the same way as ordinary bodywork? That is, primer, paint, and lacquer? I'm assuming there's a specific plastic primer?

Anyone know if Black Magic is available in a rattle can? :S

Yep. Need plastic primer.

Local paint suppliers will mix black magic paint for you, just give them the colour code. (Probably in the boot somewhere or some one in the fabia section will know it).

You can get plastic primer and black magic paint off the shelf in Halfords. Its one of their commonly used/bought colour paints I guess due to common application on VW, etc.

And lacquer on top?

They sell lacquer too, although not sure which one is best quality. I've had no trouble with the clear lacquer they sell in the big grey cans.

In terms of some kind of plan of attack, I would personally:-

1) sand down and thoroughly wash part/s, dry with clean microfibre

2) couple of layers of plastic primer applied 15 mins apart, allow to fully dry, say 24 to 48 hours minimum

3) 2 to 3 layers of basecoat black, 1 hour apart. Spread thinly and evenly to avoid lemon peel finish (been there, done that....)

4) allow to dry hard. I would use some well wet 1200 grit wet & dry to get a smooth surface, then wash & dry before lacquer

5) 2 to 3 coats of lacquer, applied 15 mins apart. More thin coats = good. Allow to dry very thoroughly.

6) Polish up lacquer using wet 1200 grit wet & dry, followed by machine polishing smooth (or just apply Autoglym SRP by hand, but is tougher/takes ages)

Thanks for that Jason. I've bought a VRS front bumper and it needs a little cosmetic work on it before I fit it.

Martin

I'd go higher on the wet n dry and as for then polishing it out, you'd be better off with a compound instead.

AG uses fillers so doesn't correct as easily as a compound.

I used AG, Mer an some Sonus swirlbuster, none worked really.

In the end I grabbed some G3 from halfords and used my DA - amazing results.

Also don't worry about orange peel too much, this can be corrected before the lacquer goes on. Or after if the lacquer orange peels.

Wet n dry:

After G3:

Yeah 1200 is way to harsh for lacquer finishing.

800 grit to key

Then plastic primer

1500 to make sure primer is smooth

Base coat

2500 to finish base coat

Lacquer

Polish with compound

Only done small parts though, but not bad for rattle cans.

I assume that the plastic parts on a black magic car are also black magic? Or is black magic just for the metal parts?

Yeah same black magic paint.

I'd go higher on the wet n dry and as for then polishing it out, you'd be better off with a compound instead.

AG uses fillers so doesn't correct as easily as a compound.

I used AG, Mer an some Sonus swirlbuster, none worked really.

In the end I grabbed some G3 from halfords and used my DA - amazing results.

Also don't worry about orange peel too much, this can be corrected before the lacquer goes on. Or after if the lacquer orange peels.

After G3:

Which G3 product was this? It seems that Halfords sell several. Was it polishing compound?

This is the paintwork I'm trying to correct..... (cheers Billy for the photo!)

Will I have to spot fill all the stone chips before sanding back and polishing up?

And will the G3 get rid of the orange peel?

Also - it looks like this paint is soft, judging by the number of stone chips. Should I put a coat or two of lacquer over it?

Personally I wouldn't even contemplate a bumper with rattle cans, it will look carp unless you are very good at painting, there also looks like a fair bit of prep work to be done on that bumper before it's anywhere near ready to go near a paint can.

Bumpers flex quite a lot and if the prep work and primer is not done correctly then the paint will just crack and flake off (like it looks like it has already started to).

I'm all for saving a few pennies where you can but for me I would give that to a decent bodyshop to do.

Yeah, the mark at the bottom where the paint is cracked is where it's been grounded out.

Which G3 product was this? It seems that Halfords sell several. Was it polishing compound?

It's the compound, wet n dry will flatten the orange peel, g3 will bring the finish back to gloss.

If you lacquer the bumper you'll need to wet n dry it to a Matt finish anyway.

Bumpers are too big for cans really. Easier to correct surrounds and mirror covers.

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I bought G3 Paint Renovator from Halford this evening. They didn't have a G3 polishing compound. Is it the same thing (ish)? Or is it totally the wrong thing?

I need to do some touching up on a spoiler I bought before fitting it too. As far as I can tell it's just gloss black as opposed to black magic. So I got some wet and dry and a gloss touch up stick which I hope will be ok....:S

Thats exactly how I wanted my grille to look lol. Where did you get the stickers from? Can I get a link please.

Have a look at the group buy section. I think Cliff (Pastyboy) is doing another group buy. He gets them made up to your own design or one of the designs he already has templates for.

So is this G3 stuff I've got the right stuff or should I change it for something else?

So is this G3 stuff I've got the right stuff or should I change it for something else?

Too weak I would say.

It looks like the middle grounds

Wet sand> G3 compond> G3 renovator> finishing polish> wax. Probably dont even need the renovator.

I bought G3 Paint Renovator from Halford this evening. They didn't have a G3 polishing compound. Is it the same thing (ish)? Or is it totally the wrong thing?

I need to do some touching up on a spoiler I bought before fitting it too. As far as I can tell it's just gloss black as opposed to black magic. So I got some wet and dry and a gloss touch up stick which I hope will be ok....:S

That's exactly the right thing. It's good enough to take the wet n dry sanding marks back to shiney black.

But for ease and best results you really need to do it by machine.

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