skoosh

.........bonnet vents.

I've purchased a pair of pre-facelift bonnet vents and am going to spray them this weekend, assuming that they arrive in time.

They are currently mint green and I will spray them black, can anyone offer some advice on primers and preparation etc etc.....

I'd like to do a good job but do it myself or, do you suggest that I get them done by a pro?

Cheers you lot.

Skoosh.

dnb

Get a quote to have them sprayed, and then decide. The price will probably be horrendous for a small job, as a big part of the work is in doing a decent colour match - is there anything else to be colour coded? If so, then remove it from the car, and negotiate a decent price for doing all of it!!

If you do the spraying yourself (and you've not done any spraying before) you'll need to allow plenty of time.

I've achieved some passable results using cans of spray before now - OK for things like bonnet vents, but I'd not want to do panels this way. (The finish from a proper spray gun using 2k paints is much better)

Get yourself some wet&dry paper, some plastic primer, the colour spray and some clear laquer - don't use the Halfords paints if you can help it (especially the laquer) I don't like the finish it gives.

Assuming you're using a cellulose based spray can, heres some very rough instructions... They don't cover everything, but should give you an idea.

Rough up the surface of the vents using fine wet & dry with plenty of water. This is to take the shine off the old paint. Don't sand flat spots into the vents!

Wash the vents well in water and washing up liquid, let them dry in the air, and then wash them in paint thinners. Be careful to not get greasy finger marks on the vent surface.

Put on a couple of thin coats of primer, and leave it for as long as it says on the tin. (Thin coats are much better than thick...)
It might help to practice spraying with the tins on some old surcaces so you get the hang of it...

Do the same with the colour paint - I'd say 3 coats, but it depends on the colour and how you do the painting... Let it dry.

If you're laquering them:

Then get the finiest wet&dry you've got and very gently with loads of water rub down the paint a bit - just to give it a slight matt finish. Wash in the usual way. Then spray 2 to 3 coats of laquer.

As you can see, the time's all in the preparation work.