Painting my Mini

[myredmini]

Hi, Im going to be painting my mini and just had a few questions:-

1) ive been reccomended to use barcoat, so i need to 800grit wet flat the car or scotch it. Do i apply one good coat of barcoat ? After that has been applied do i need to flat it off again before applying primer ? or do i apply it while still tacky ?

2) Do i need to apply primer onto barcoat or apply my old english white top coat straight onto of the barcoat ?

Thanks
Dan

 

[the snooper]

prep the car spray a good even coat of bar coat let it go off for 1 hour do not flat
then prime flat your primer then top coat just make sure you dont rub through the bar coat when flatting the primer

 

[myredmini]

The U_POL Barcoat says do not overcoat with primer ?

Really appriciate your advice at this time of the morning.

Thank you
Dan.

 

[the snooper]

i think you have mis read ive just looked at the data sheet for upol barcoat and this is what it says

BARCOAT should be overcoated with primer/surfacer

ive never used one that didnt need primer on top

here is the data sheet

 

[myredmini]

Oh sorry you are right, I did mis-read, its late haha! am I best using a high build primer or just a normal primer ?

Thanks
Dan

 

[the snooper]

the data sheet suggests 400 gritt wet flat before the barcoat so i would go for the high build just incase there are any flatting marks showing then once primed use 800 before the top coat

 

[myredmini]

Thats spot on!! brilliant advice, thank you so much..

Dan..

 

[the snooper]

no problem good luck with it

 

[myredmini]

Also, how many coats of high build ? do I apply, leave 10 mins then apply another coat without flatting or just one good coat ?

 

[the snooper]

it all depends on how good your prep is in the first place, give it 2 or 3 coats of high build if you have marks showing through then flatt ready for top coat if still not good enough give it another coat regarding time between coats by the time you have got back to where you started you should be able to start again check by touching paint that is on the masking tape to see how dry it is celly primer usually goes off quickly providing its not too cold

 

[Engineer]

If your car has been painted using cheap synthetic paint then either 2K or cellulose will react with it, and you will need to use barcoat. So before doing anything carry out a solvent wipe test, which may well indicate you can paint without messing around with barcoat, which in itself can cause problems.

 

[steveo3002]

id try and find out whats on it before you lashing barcoat on it

what you need to be carefull of is , on a hot day the underlaying paint might soften and cause the new stuff to crack /sink

id consider stripping if its a bad job

 

[Engineer]

I think a fair few people who rely on barcoat to avoid stripping a poor pant job end up needing to strip anyway, but will have wasted time and money trying the barcoat first.

 

[pedrobedro]

I've never done a whole car in barcoat. Paint it first then if you get any problem areas treat them separately.

 

[steveo3002]

id always been told barcoat is a absolute last resort when you dont have time to sort it properly , i only used it once in 16 years of car painting full time

 

[Engineer]

Anyone who suggests barcoating a whole car, is perhaps someone whose advice should be ignored?

 

[the snooper]

got to say ive never done a full car in it either just the odd panel maybe used it twice 3 times max in 20 odd years i think i still have the tin nearly full

 

[myredmini]

The paint on the front end isnt very good but the wings and a panels are being replaced so it will only be the brand new front panel to have that paint on which i can how do i test it will be ok without bar coat ? The body shop i was going to have it done by was going to barcoat it because he looked at it and said it was the best option for him to do because im on a budget..

What do you reccomend i do ?

 

[the snooper]

its a tough one to judge as you can never guarantee that you wont get any reaction it all depends on whats on the car in the first place obviously if you sand it down to bare metal then the risk has gone but you would then have to use some self etch primer and start from scratch

 

[steveo3002]

sand it off ..start fresh