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Car Forum / UK Car Forums / General Car Topics (UK group) / May 2008Is it easy to spray a wing mirror yourself ?
I lost the back of the drivers wing mirror on my Ford focus (or possibly had it nicked!). I can get the part (£14) but it comes in some neutral colour and will need to be sprayed (spray costs £16). It's a navy blue colour. Is this a fairly easy thing to do myself or will I make a bodge of it and be better off paying a pro the labour cost? The car is 6 yrs old and I plan to keep it for a couple more so the re- sale value won't be much then anyway! > Is this a fairly easy thing to do myself or will I make a bodge of it > and be better off paying a pro the labour cost? Nice and straightforward - just take your time with it  SignatureAlex "I laugh in the face of danger , then I hide until it goes away" > I lost the back of the drivers wing mirror on my Ford focus (or > possibly had it nicked!). [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > The car is 6 yrs old and I plan to keep it for a couple more so the re- > sale value won't be much then anyway! It's easy enough. You need plastic primer (and perhaps lacquer- is it metallic?) as well. You just need to take your time, flat everything down with wet & dry, used wet. yes it is Metallic. Do you mean I need to paint it first with plastic primer , then spray it and finally put a lacquer coat on it? > yes it is Metallic. > > Do you mean I need to paint it first with plastic primer , then spray > it and finally put a lacquer coat on it? Yep. Flatting down in between. >> yes it is Metallic. >> >> Do you mean I need to paint it first with plastic primer , then spray >> it and finally put a lacquer coat on it? > Yep. Flatting down in between. Nope. Don't flat metallics, they change colour. BTDT the other weekend. > Nope. Don't flat metallics, they change colour. BTDT the other weekend. The one time I've used aerosol metallic (from Halfords) that was the instructions - several coats of base in quick succession and leave a couple of days to dry. Then flat down. Then apply the lacquer. Got a very respectable finish. (It didn't have to match anything else) Signature*Keep honking...I'm reloading. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> Nope. Don't flat metallics, they change colour. BTDT the other >> weekend. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > couple of days to dry. Then flat down. Then apply the lacquer. Got a > very respectable finish. (It didn't have to match anything else) My experience where it does need to match something else is that you do need to leave it well alone and just clear it if you want a match. You tend to get more metallicyness if you flat it. Everything's changed with water based, and you'd have to be a complete idiot to need to flat it - if you bugger it up with a run you can just wipe it off, and it goes on so easily you shouldn't have any trouble with orange peel. > My experience where it does need to match something else is that you do > need to leave it well alone and just clear it if you want a match. You > tend to get more metallicyness if you flat it. Everything's changed > with water based, and you'd have to be a complete idiot to need to flat > it - if you bugger it up with a run you can just wipe it off, and it > goes on so easily you shouldn't have any trouble with orange peel. But do any aerosols contain water based paint? That's what most asking this sort of question will be using. Signature*I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't care. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> My experience where it does need to match something else is that you >> do need to leave it well alone and just clear it if you want a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > But do any aerosols contain water based paint? That's what most asking > this sort of question will be using. Yep. I've got two in the shed. Everything is moving to waterbased paint now. You'll still be able to get aerosols of Synthetic Enamel for a while, but that's satanic stuff. >>> yes it is Metallic. >>> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Nope. Don't flat metallics, they change colour. BTDT the other weekend. twas OK on my metallic blue A3- you couldn't tell it was rattlecans sprayed by a amateur like me outside. Took bloody ages to get right though. In article <87fe474c-061a-42ea-a1d6-c640f3c7ce1f@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, > I lost the back of the drivers wing mirror on my Ford focus (or > possibly had it nicked!). > I can get the part (£14) but it comes in some neutral colour and will > need to be sprayed (spray costs £16). It's a navy blue colour. > Is this a fairly easy thing to do myself or will I make a bodge of it > and be better off paying a pro the labour cost? I'd say it will cost you near a tenner for the paint and wet or dry etc if you don't already have any of it. And it's unlikely you'll get a pro finish - or even if you do, one that lasts as well. Personally I'd pay the 16 quid unless you really want to play with something where making a mess won't matter. I was quoted 60 quid for the same sort of thing - but in a metallic. And they'd only do it when a car of the same colour came in for bodywork. That was a main dealer. > The car is 6 yrs old and I plan to keep it for a couple more so the re- > sale value won't be much then anyway! Signature*When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane * Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > In article > <87fe474c-061a-42ea-a1d6-c640f3c7ce1f@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >> The car is 6 yrs old and I plan to keep it for a couple more so the re- >> sale value won't be much then anyway! I'm with Dave on this, if the cost is only £16, let someone else do it. By the time you've bought paint, thinners etc you'll end up spending the same if not more :-) Mike P > I'm with Dave on this, if the cost is only £16, let someone else do it. > By the time you've bought paint, thinners etc you'll end up spending > the same if not more :-) Just a thought - bodyshops only usually quote the labour cost - materials being extra. And the minimum quantity of that colour they can buy could cost a great deal more. Signature*Save a tree, eat a beaver* Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> I'm with Dave on this, if the cost is only £16, let someone else do it. >> By the time you've bought paint, thinners etc you'll end up spending [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > being extra. And the minimum quantity of that colour they can buy could > cost a great deal more. It could - but there's always the option of finding a busy Ford bodyshop where they may well have that paint in stock. SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com >> I'm with Dave on this, if the cost is only £16, let someone else do >> it. By the time you've bought paint, thinners etc you'll end up [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > materials being extra. And the minimum quantity of that colour they > can buy could cost a great deal more. A hell of a lot of bodyshops have their own mixing equipment. There's almost always a bit left over. And the people who work in bodyshops have been known to save a bit of the paint... Best way to do it as if you mix the 100ml or so you'll need to paint a mirror there's much more chance that you'll get it wrong - the small errors in weighing the pigments are amplified by the small amount of material being mixed. >I lost the back of the drivers wing mirror on my Ford focus (or >possibly had it nicked!). I> can get the part (£14) but it comes in some neutral colour and will >need to be sprayed (spray costs £16). It's a navy blue colour. >Is this a fairly easy thing to do myself or will I make a bodge of it >and be better off paying a pro the labour cost? >The car is 6 yrs old and I plan to keep it for a couple more so the re- >sale value won't be much then anyway! I'd probably decide to spray both mirrors black instead of trying to match one. > I lost the back of the drivers wing mirror on my Ford focus (or > possibly had it nicked!). [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > The car is 6 yrs old and I plan to keep it for a couple more so the > re- sale value won't be much then anyway! If someone's offered to spray it for you at £16, go for it. Otherwise you need to get the right colour base coat, waterbased metallic paint and clearcoat in rattle cans. Which will probably set you back £20 upwards IME. And will need some skill. |
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