Purchased a set of “stanky style” ACEP Styling headlight eyelid dealio majobers that have been sitting in my basement waiting for paint for about 2 months now. Finally received my color match paint to get these glossed up and on the car. Here is a brief overview/prep path to get this done.
First hit up a color match paint distributer, in my case the basics like Diplocolor did not make my exact match. They did have something close (universal metallic black) but I wasn’t about that. Wanted something just right and OEM. I hit up automotivetouchup.com to get what I needed. Was like 45$ shipped for a can of base coat paint, clear coat And a spray gun adapter for rattle cans. Took about 2 weeks to arrive.
As you can see, I also used some alcohol and a scotch bright pad. Scuff up your preprimed body piece and then clean with alcohol (hit with tac cloth after if it makes you feel better).
I made a little paint box to avoid dust the best I could. Taped some boxes together to get it large enough. Used another piece of cardboard as a lid between coats to further aid in inhibiting contamination. Elevated my pieces on some floor jacks and random crap
I would recommend getting some good lighting as you’re working, I had an LED photography light panel... some of you might have a flood light or something. Get er out, you’ll thank yourself for catching contaminants with lighting between coats.
Follow the instructions on the cans exactly as they describe the process. Be patient. Use light coats. The only coat that should be pretty solid is your last coat of each phase (ie base or clear in my case)
Tips: the paint dries quickly if you don’t like a hair that got stuck or a paint drop or something weird happens... just sand it with a little 1500 dry paper before your next coat then pick up your sanding dust off the body piece with a tac cloth... do not wet with alcohol between coats.
Here’s finished product curing:
First hit up a color match paint distributer, in my case the basics like Diplocolor did not make my exact match. They did have something close (universal metallic black) but I wasn’t about that. Wanted something just right and OEM. I hit up automotivetouchup.com to get what I needed. Was like 45$ shipped for a can of base coat paint, clear coat And a spray gun adapter for rattle cans. Took about 2 weeks to arrive.
As you can see, I also used some alcohol and a scotch bright pad. Scuff up your preprimed body piece and then clean with alcohol (hit with tac cloth after if it makes you feel better).
I made a little paint box to avoid dust the best I could. Taped some boxes together to get it large enough. Used another piece of cardboard as a lid between coats to further aid in inhibiting contamination. Elevated my pieces on some floor jacks and random crap
I would recommend getting some good lighting as you’re working, I had an LED photography light panel... some of you might have a flood light or something. Get er out, you’ll thank yourself for catching contaminants with lighting between coats.
Follow the instructions on the cans exactly as they describe the process. Be patient. Use light coats. The only coat that should be pretty solid is your last coat of each phase (ie base or clear in my case)
Tips: the paint dries quickly if you don’t like a hair that got stuck or a paint drop or something weird happens... just sand it with a little 1500 dry paper before your next coat then pick up your sanding dust off the body piece with a tac cloth... do not wet with alcohol between coats.
Here’s finished product curing:
Last edited:
