Spray cans gushing

[tayo1010]

Hello all,

First time posting here so please be gentle with me.

Ok, so I'm can spraying some bits of my dragon green golf gti. It was all going well and the primer went on really smooth. The can was a little tricky to get used to, but after a little practice I managed to spray the areas real smoothly with no sags or drips (even on the vertical surfaces). Happy days.

Then I tried to do the colour coat.....

For some reason the can mechanism seemed so much more sensitive compared to the primer - it either gushed out like a premature teenager or didn't come out at all. I couldn't for the life of me get a smooth finish and now I'm sat here waiting for the most reason coat to dry so I can sand it back down and start again.

So my questions are:

Are some spray cans better than others (I'm using halfords)? Do some have a smoother mechanism (perhaps you can get ones that have a more controlled release rather than the aforementioned gushing)?

It seems to me that considering all the advances in technology, the human race should be able to create a can of paint with a smooth mechanism, perhaps even an adjustable one. Maybe it's just down to physics    (damn physics ruins all the best ideas).

Maybe one already exists so apologies if this is the case and I'm just a rambling fool without the ability to do an effective web search.

Much appreciation for reading my wurdz and lovely to meet you all.

[Seanl]

The topcoat is much thinner than the primer. Primer will go on relatively smoothly even with a bit of a crude application. You have to be much more carefull with the topcoat and lacquer though as its very thin. Lots of very light coats from an even distance. Dont rush it, wait at least 15 minutes between coats. And tbh, most halfrauds paint is a sh!te match anyway. Best to get yourself down to the stealers. Get an old panel, or something similar to practice your technique on first. You dont need to use alot of your paint on it, but you will get a feel of the pressure required for each can in the event that it is slightly different. Hope this helps.

[lemski]

I find halford good, but then I use the same nozzle all the time and swap about cos its a good nozzle. Also if u put the cans in warm water and let the paint heat up slightly its suppose to come out better, never tried personally as I always forget that tip some sprayer told me last year

[tayo1010]

Awesome thanks guys.

I managed to get the top coat pretty even in the end... as you say, I just had to nail the technique through practicing on random bits of metal...

Still all masked off at the mo - need to apply the lacquer tomo. Should I rub down the colour coat before I apply the lacquer? It's already looking fairly smooth and I don't want to ruin it, but thinking I might need to blend it into the original paintwork before I apply lacquer rather than after??? I've been rubbing it down between coats - mainly on the edges so it blends as much as possible. What do you guys usually do when you need to blend a newly sprayed area with the original paintwork?

Can't wait to get her back on the road.... been stuck in the cornish outback for a week now and getting cabin fever lol.

Liking your GTI Sean -awesome colour

[tayo1010]

After reading your post Sean, I'm tempted to get some better matched paint and do a final colour coat using that rather than the halfords stuff - but I guess I won't know how good the current match is until I've lacquered. If it does look like a rubbish match maybe I could do a partial rub down (just take off the laquer and a bit of the colour coat) and spray with better paint followed by a new lacquer coat- is this doable or will a proper rub down be required?

Either way I'm chuffed that the rust has gone woooot 

Thanks again guys 

[tayo1010]

And thanks for the nozzle advice Lemski. Might do the same

[Seanl]

Cheers for comments Tayo.  You haven't seen it in the flesh though! 
No its not too bad tbh, but I have a bit of rust under the n/s quarter window so I need to sort that out too. I bought some halfords paint to do my shark fin, and the bump strips on the door. The colour turned out way too dark and that was colour matched as they didnt have my colour already made up in store. I dunno if the stuff thats already made up is any better, and it depends how good the guy is a matching the colour when doing it that way. Some have had decent matches, but most have not. Remember though that unless your car has had a good detail, your paint will have faded a bit anyway, so the match wont be perfect no matter what. Since you have done most of the work already, personally I would carry on and see what it looks like. No need to rub down before lacquer either. Dont try and blend it for at least a couple of weeks though, to give the paint time to harden and not become contaminated with the cutting agent. I'm no expert by any means on any of the above mind, its just what I have picked up on here. I'm sure someone with a bit more experience will be along to correct me if any of what I have said they disagree with. Good luck mate!

[tayo1010]

Cheers Sean.

Yeah it's not looking too bad at the mo - fairly similar colour - looks fine at the bottom of the doors but a little worried about the roof... looking forward to seeing how it looks after the blending/polishing/etc. Might chuck up a pic here (if it doesn't look too rubbish lol).

In other news some idiot pranged the front grill today - sooo pissed off with people who don't know how to park - and he didn't leave a note grrr.... totally dented it in but, surprisingly, he didn't damage anything else.

Ah well, at least I have some paint left to spray the new grille once I find one and a bit more experience at spraying.

Cheers bud and good luck with the rust.... 

[Seanl]

Sounds good mate.  Stick some photos up so we can see how it all looks now. Some before would be good too.