stage1 finish... [MERAH] project

FLAMEBOY · Dec 13, 2005

well, got my car painted last saturday, and fit everything sunday evening.

here is the pics of the process...

me and my mates start sanding everything around 12 at noon... then we start masking 4pm, take 2 hours break for beer, ciggies, talk sh*t, and arguments of how to do this that :ubbgrin: start painting around 6.30... then finish everything around 9.30pm... i ended up paying him AUD$250 for the job...

painted RED: Front lip, Rear roof spoiler, Carbon bonnet (1/2), Interior plastic strip, engine cover (i know this is the 4th red i sprayed on it

).
painted CARBON GREY: Grill, small grill bit on the bumper

and here are the before/after pic and other the raw pics of it when its finish... i took it this morning @ my workplace carpark... bit grainy since i use my crappy camera, thx to photoshop i can fix up the colour :tongue: i'll take the a proper pictures later with my other camera (proper one... promise)...

jflo · Dec 13, 2005

hmm lookin' pretty good. what color is that ?

FLAMEBOY · Dec 13, 2005

the original concept, photoshopped...

'04 wrx seats

calder Park - drag night

engine bay and bracing

FLAMEBOY · Dec 13, 2005

jflo said:
hmm lookin' pretty good. what color is that ?

thx man... its a velocity red 27A... i thought US version hav that colour as well?

L8R · Dec 13, 2005

Fucken sweet!

Pretzellogic · Dec 13, 2005

Up until this point, I thought the five-door was ugly.

Excellent work.

ChopstickHero · Dec 13, 2005

bling

low_psi · Dec 13, 2005

very nice

FLAMEBOY · Dec 13, 2005

lol... thx guys...

i pick the five door coz i got 2 siberian huskies... i cant fit them on the 4 door... they will rip my seats apart....

VRMS6 · Dec 13, 2005

Looks very nice...I like the CF hood and painted grill look....What front lip is that btw???

POSEIDON · Dec 13, 2005

How hard was it to mount those WRX seats? I've thought about doing that myself.

Looks good btw.

Kooldino · Dec 13, 2005

Any tips or special care to paint the CF hood?

Hughes412 · Dec 13, 2005

Very nice, points givin for the hard work and good taste!

goldwing2000 · Dec 13, 2005

First class job. Good on ya, mate!

KzA · Dec 13, 2005

Kooldino said:
Any tips or special care to paint the CF hood?

Interested as well (sssh)

mazda3zoom · Dec 13, 2005

looks really good man.

TheJohnny · Dec 13, 2005

nice work, car looks SWEET..... DUDE!!!!! (thumb)

FLAMEBOY · Dec 13, 2005

TGM3: the lip is 'Garage Vary' lip... www.vary.co.jp
POSEIDON: wrx mount is pretty close to mazda3 mount... but you need to weld an 'L' bracket to connect the front mount of the wrx seats to the mazda3 mount holes

Kooldino and KzA:
carbon fiber usually comes with clear coat... so the painting work the same with painting a normal painted panel...

sand the carbon fiber surface with fine grit sand paper (800 or 1200)
then clean the surface with soap water and rinse... (makesure no dust left)
prepare the surface, spray it with 'prepsol'...
then apply a very thin layer for a base... then let it touch dry, and re-coat...
put a very thin coat each time... and just put enough to cover the carbon fiber pattern. if you want to avoid putting too much layer, spray the base with grey primer first...
remember than carbon fibre can flex... so if you put thick layer, it will crack the paint...
then after enough layer applied, put 2-3 layers of clear coat... get the UV protected if you can...

TIPS:
some carbon fibre bonnet have poor clear coat with pores or micro bubbles. this defect on the surface might cause a uneven layer, or holes or even bubbles. in case of a bubble or holes on a layer of paint... wait till the layer harden, and sand the layer with fine grit sand paper... better use hand as the machine sander tend to burn the paint... if you sand on every layer, you'll be fine... but only sand if its necessary....

hope these tips help...

tsunami · Dec 13, 2005

very nice man.... lovin that look... gold/red/cf....SWEETNESS!!!

Kooldino · Dec 14, 2005

FLAMEBOY said:
Kooldino and KzA:
carbon fiber usually comes with clear coat... so the painting work the same with painting a normal painted panel...

sand the carbon fiber surface with fine grit sand paper (800 or 1200)
then clean the surface with soap water and rinse... (makesure no dust left)
prepare the surface, spray it with 'prepsol'...

What's prepsol exactly? Kind of like mineral spirits?

then apply a very thin layer for a base... then let it touch dry, and re-coat...

So I don't need to prime it...I can just go ahead and apply the color?

put a very thin coat each time... and just put enough to cover the carbon fiber pattern. if you want to avoid putting too much layer, spray the base with grey primer first...

LOL, guess that answers that.

remember than carbon fibre can flex... so if you put thick layer, it will crack the paint...

I guess adding a flex agent would be the way to go.

then after enough layer applied, put 2-3 layers of clear coat... get the UV protected if you can...

TIPS:
some carbon fibre bonnet have poor clear coat with pores or micro bubbles. this defect on the surface might cause a uneven layer, or holes or even bubbles. in case of a bubble or holes on a layer of paint... wait till the layer harden, and sand the layer with fine grit sand paper... better use hand as the machine sander tend to burn the paint... if you sand on every layer, you'll be fine... but only sand if its necessary....

hope these tips help...

Thanks much!

stage1 finish... [MERAH] project

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