Upper Dash / Rattle Can Results / Finishing ?
 

hi, friends,

back with more Qs .. in a previous post the SPI forum was mentioned as a possible source for help. b4 I go sign up there I thought I'd try my poncho brethren again first ; )

upper dash on my 69' was flaking badly so I took it way down then primed and sanded a few times.

I've been patiently applying rattle can coats of #57 0% gloss midnight green from KolorKorrect in NJ .. and sanding between coats.

after yesterday's coat I felt there was enough paint applied and assumed I'd be able to wet sand any blotches out with 1000, 2000 and 3000 paper. I quickly realized it wasn't going to be that easy and read more about limitations of rattle cans, about wet lines and applying in varying directions.

with what little paint I had left I re sprayed and was able to improve things.

besides my Qs about dealing w/ blotches, it <seems> to me that if I wet sand any finer than 1000 that fine scratches remain and finish just becomes more mirror like which doesn't seem appropriate for a 0 gloss upper dash.

before trying to paint again should I bring dash down w/ 600 and start fresh (overlapping wet lines and varying spray angles) ? and is 1000 as fine as I should go when wet sanding?

btw close up of dash makes it appear dash is to bare metal .. it's not obviously.

thanks for the help!
mike
MA

I think you can get nice results with a rattle can without trying to color sand or buff…that’s for body panels. Lay down a couple of light coats and then final heavier finish coat. It won’t hurt that you’ve sanded previous coats, one final flat finish coat should do it.

so I shouldn't sand what's there currently to get some uniformity before applying final coats?

and the quality with which I apply these final coats is what's going to determine dash' finish? ie not any final sanding?

I appreciate the help!
mike

I rattle can sprayed mine and did not sand. I felt it was good enough just laying the color on. Remember, there's a windshield between the viewer and dash from outside. From inside, you barely notice it. I never even contemplated sanding it for a better finish. I left that to the outside panels that would get noticed way more.

I think I used a red scotch Brite. " Very " lightly scuffed just to give the new paint something to Adhere to then couple coats until I was happy with it.....Black is rattle can too....

I didn't sand mine either. Of course, if you don't sand you won't have any sanding marks to cover. You do, so I'm not sure what the result will be if you don't do anything else like a fine scotch brite or 0000 steel wool. A coat of filler type primer might even help it.
I agree that it's not a very noticeable area when put back together.

I guess I wasn't applying paint very well as I was left with the uneven finish seen in enclosed pic.
I assumed you sanded to remove the blotches ..

I'm going to re spray while being mindful of applying in varying directions.

Thanks, fellas,
mike

What kind of nozzle does it have? I like rattle cans that have a nice fan nozzle.

Judging from your pics, I would sand with red scotch brite, wipe it with final wipe, tack cloth and spray again. Sand at a diagonal to your spray pattern in both directions (X pattern) and that should remove the blotchiness.

It almost looks like you're spraying too lightly and not getting enough coverage as it tries to dry quickly. You may want to try spraying the narrow direction, so overlap spray is still wet enough to flow together. It's more work, but better results.

Yeah, that's why I like the fan pattern products. You can get a good wet overlap.

I was on hold w/ upper dash for awhile while I waited on a fresh can of paint.
Finally got to it .. Varying spray angles did the trick.
Thanks for the help.

Oh yeah...that looks MUCH better.

Thanks, Greg ..
I also didn't sand final coat.

Finally getting this behind me I can really button up interior, get dash in which is also finally ready to go.

Best,
M

Looks very good now!