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Has anyone got any pointers? Ie what grade Wet/dry to remove existing lacquer? Approx time scale? how many coats of primer/colour/lacquer?

It's currently Williams Blue, but want it resprayed metallic black to match my car.

Also there is a dent in the front of the bonnet that needs to be pulled out, nothing serious its quite shallow and roughly the diameter of a cats head.

Cheers

Gaz

Good luck mate

Over the dent, theres a sucker thingy you can get from poundland for, err, a pound
These are suppost to be quite good as i was told the other day

Cheers, No pointers though...I'm overwhelmed with confidence

lol

spend some time to read this

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=27741

how to prep and re-spray.

I'm far from an expert, so this is my opinion and how I'd do it:

Sand the bonnet down to bare metal (might want to use a sander to make it half the work - Use mid grade sandpaper, not coarse (probably mark the metal) or fine (will take weeks to sand lol)

Apply a minimum of 2 coats of primer, with light sanding (very fine grade - wet & dry) between coats. I'd recommend about 3 coats.

Depending on colour match (if there is any required) a miniumum of 1 coat of colour, probably best with 2 or 3 coats. With mine, I only need 1 coat for a colour match with existing paintwork, any more and it shows up far too dark.

At least 2 coats of laquer for a good finish.

For all, use light spraying don't coat it as it wont stick properly and end up messy.

As for the dent, try a dent puller, if not, fill it with body filler. Make sure you spend a lot of time sanding it smooth and flush with the rest of the bonnet or it'll look shit even with layers of paint on it.

Thats my advice anyway, but I'd recommend getting a proper paint shop to do it as it'll cost you quiet a bit of time, effort and money to make a decent enough job of it.

Hope that helps

Wow, thanks. I'll leave the reading till tomorrow when my mind is ready for it.




thanks for the advice, I've been thinking about getting a bodyshop to do it for me. I just wasn't sure whether it'd be worth my doing it. I'll phone for some quotes.

Tbh I would like the experience, I'll have to see.

Thanks

If you want experience, try with something a bit smaller i.e. colour coding door handles, trim e.t.c.

Not worth working on something big like a bonnet.

Then if you fook anything up, its simply a case of £2 and a trip to the scrappy

Dust is a major problem too - it's a nightmare if it sticks to your paint or laquer. So preferably, you need somewhere out of the way (due to paint fumes) and clean.

If you were going to do it, I would invest in a paint gun as opposed to using rattle cans.

The main thing with spraying is technique and as has been said cleanliness. spray tins are ok for small jobs, but for the likes of the bonnet i'd try and source an oil free compressor.

There are loads of guides available about bodywork and painting techniques, but the main thing after all the prep work is smoothness of the movement of the spray gun at a steady distance and correct application thickness of paint, too much and it'll run badly and look cack, too little and youll remove all the paint when you come to sand for the next coat!

Several thinner coats will give a far better finish than one thick one.

You'll need a wide selection of wet/dry papers and sand from the coursest to the finest when removing the old paint.(you don't need to get it to bare metal, take a couple of layers off and then clean it de tack it -special cloth- and use pannel wipe, let it dry then prime it let that dry smooth it down with fine paper, de tack it again, prime clean detack then paint)

When al the painting is done (same sort of thing as with the priming) let it harden, flat the paint down as before, really clean it off again, and a few coats of laquer can then be applied one after the other in whteever interval the paint tin reccomends. Then use some buffing materials to get a mirror shine once the whole thing has hardened (depending on the type of paint used the techniques may vary slightly)

Once the laquer has hardened for a week or two you can then wax it with a good quality wax like meguiars

Hope that helps.

Just have a go if you can bear having a dodgy looking bonnet for a bit. Oh and to do this properly it'll take a good few days, so no putting the bonnet back on the car inbetween coats to pop to the shops

Eerrk. the detailed write up is much appreciated and scary. I think I'll have a go spraying but just do something like the rear arches (yes its a clio), as they need doing. I suppose the best thing I can do is put it in with a garage as they'll be able to get a good colour match.



Is it illegal to drive around without a bonnet? Serious question like.

Cheers

G

No bonnet will get you points i should think (something to do with if you hit a pedestrian they'll end up in your engine!)

so long as the pulleys and belts are covered up, you should'nt have a problem

hence why i said, all the pulleys need to be covered = no dangerous parts
got stopped loads while we had this but never got tickets etc etc (ignore the fenderless bit hehehe)

its no different to a motorbike thats why they have belt/chain drive covers

Not to mention the engine is bloody hot lol!

Hmmm, nice view, reminds me of carmageddon

Ooooooh carmageddon, forgotten all about that game, happy days!