Painted mirrors - Do they HAVE to be laquered?

[Wabby69]

As the title says?

I have painted my mirrors and they look the nuts - But everytime i laquer things they look real bad afterwards!

Would it be ok to use them without being laquered? Any drawbacks etc?

Thanks

[Add_Gee]

The paint will be more likey to chip, plus it will oxidide quicker and the colour will fade.

Can be left if you like tho, just might mean re-painting in 12 months time...

[Wabby69]

Everytime i laquer, i get orange peel real bad, or lumps in it.

I tried heating it, and all sorts, but laquer just doesnt wana go on for me

And i dont wanna ruin my perfect paint job with a ****ty clearcoat

[Wabby69]

Any advice on how to whack laquer on?

[esto]

you dont need to get it perfectly orange-peel free when you spray clear, give it a few coats, flat it back and polish it

[cruiser992]

like said before you dont need to laquer them, i swapped my facelift mirrors for the older square ones and colour coded them and they look sweet without laquer just make sure u give it a little sand down between coats and if you are going to laquer them make sure the paint doesnt bloom (when the air is too cold e.g. i done mine in my shed with the missus' hairdryer )
i'll put a pic up of mine before and after laquer to give you an idea but there isnt that much difference and even without laquer they polish up great.

[Wabby69]

Thanks mate - So without laquer they are going to be ok?

[cruiser992]

yeh they'll be fine mate but as Add_Gee mentioned you might have to paint them again in a year or so but i done mine last october and they're going fine, i laquere them and didnt like it so i took the laquer back off and i jetwash it and everything and its fine

[Wabby69]

Just put myn on, it has cracked the paint slightly, and chipped - But on a part that wasnt supposed to be painted anyhow. lol

Will give her a wash and get some pics

[LongLiveTheNova]

I didn't laquer my spoiler on my old car, it was nice and shiny.
But tree sap etc soon started to eat into the paint surface. Lasted a fair few months tho, and still looked decent.

[Wabby69]

Well, heres some pics

On and looking good


Teach me to ****ing overtighten


Hmm. . . Arches next. . . hmmm


Not bad match for 12 year old car, eh

[esto]

Teach me to ****ing overtighten

your not the only one to do that mate lmao

[dafz]

Since it's a non-metallic colour, it'll be fine without laquer, just wax it with the rest of the car and it'l protect it.

[Wabby69]

Glad to hear im not the only one esto

[LongLiveTheNova]

Nice one, the colour match looks spot on

[angryman]

Mine come out alright when I did them...didn't flat paint back, just sprayed laquer on

[cruiser992]

they look good mate , my car is a weird colour its like blue but purple lol so it was hard to match it and make the new paint look the same as the older paint.

[Benn]

Mine come out alright when I did them...didn't flat paint back, just sprayed laquer on

you not flat back the paint,
you flat back the laquar then polish it...

[angryman]

Didn't do either .....just sprayed laquer over paint, left for a couple of weeks and polished

[Benn]

yeah you only flat and polish them if you wanna,
get anything dust out of the paint and makes the finish flatter/less oranger peel.

[jaye944]

Glad to hear im not the only one esto

HI Wabby,

Here's the deal, yes with Metallic colours you need the Base coat and a laquer.

Now with a non-met. they "say" you don't need a laquer, but I've found that you get a better result with lac and it also gives some extra protection.

few tips with spraying.. if your using a proper spray gun then things are easier as you have standard preasiuser all through the spray. unlike cans where it starts off huighthen gets lower and lower.

so here we go

1> prep: the more you put into prep the better resuts you get. The item (mirror) should be as smooth as possible with no dents, dents scratches etc. so, use your sandpaper and filler here

2> primer: you must use a good primer, and it should be the proper colour for the colour you are spraying. you can use a filling primer if you want, but when properly dry sand it down a bit.

3> Topcoat: spray your top coat, now paint generally has a "flash" time, that is the time it takes to go off/dry, you want to lay the 1st coat down, then leave it about 15mins, so its slightly tacky "NOT FULLY DRY", then spray your next coat.. dont forget REALLY LIGHT coats sprayed from about 12" away, spray lefty to right, top to bottom, overlapping each run and not releasing the trigger till you have gone well past the end of the item.

Do this say for 2 to 3 coats. on the FINAL coat, again, when the paint is "just tacky" THEN SPRAY your clear coat, ONE coat slighly thicker that the rest, be carful not to heavy so it runs

Then bingo bango perfect job.. done this loads of times with great results

ALSO dont forget to mask properly

HTH

J

[Ian H]

look quite good, i might have a go at doing mine one day, problem is i got metalic paint so could be a bit hard matching the colour.

Although i suppose i could t-cut the hole car that would help get the colour matching surely?

in the image where its cracked it looks like you just sprayed over the black plastic and didnt do any prep work?? whats actually involved in it? anyone have a little walk through guide? im assuming the arches will take **** loads of work though due to being textured?

[angryman]

When I refurbed my mirrors (+ a spare set) I chipped off all the paint back to the plastic, rubbed down with 1200 grit wet n dry and warm soapy water.
Sprayed several coats of plastic primer, not normal primer, rubbed this down with the same, (correcting any imperfections) then a few coats of paint.
I left them to dry for a few days then sprayed a couple of coats of laquer
All this was done in the warm and not outside.....keep them dust free as well

[Wabby69]

I did prep them - the reason the paint split is because i overtightened the bolt on the back of the mirro

[ScottsportUK]

this may have been said.....wether you need to lacquer them depends on the colour and the type of paint, if its a solid colour then the paint will usually be a direct gloss (no need to lacquer anyway) but if the colour is a metallic/pearl etc then it will ideally need to be lacquerd....and if youve sprayed them with water based paint they DEFINATLY need lacquering.......coz it will wash off