repainting/spraypainting case

[Solidox2k]

yo. my friend and i want to paint his mid-tower a different color, a 'gun-metal' purple really.

i was wondering what kind of paint i should use. i realize normal heat buildup is an issue. dont want it to flake or anything. it's only the outside of course. should i strip that grey/whitish color off w/a buffer or something? or can i just spray it right on? should i spray some sort of special coat on afterwards, like gloss or enamel?

 

[Auburn9698]

If you've got enough heat building up in your case to mess up any paint on it, you've got more serious issues, and I doubt your rig would be running, anyway. Would probably be on fire.

I painted my whole case, drive faces, everything, with my university's color scheme. Just got some Krylon spray paint at walmart or home depot, some sandpaper, masking tape and newspaper, and went to town. Painted right over the lame eggshell that was already on it, although I smoothed it out a little bit with light some sanding, first. Put primer on exposed metal. May want to lightly clean the surfaces with soap and water first, or at least wipe em down, to get dust and such off.

You can put clearcoat on it if ya want, even wax it. I've seen a number of sites out there that had detailed instructions of how people did it and pictures, but I don't have the links bookmarked. You should be able to find some easy enough.

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[JP5]

You should prime it, paint it, and enamel it. If you buy higher-end auto paint, it will not "orange peel" as much. You can also use high-end furniture paint. You can sand between paint and gloss coats if you are motivated.

 

[Solidox2k]

thanx for the advice... yea, guess i'll just sand it a bit before painting. as for sanding between the paint and gloss coats...you mean paint->light sand->gloss ?

 

[Auburn9698]

Yeah, try some wet sanding with really fine grain paper/pad. Several light coats of paint are better than one heavy one. Do a couple light coats, sand, do a couple more light coats, sand, put the top finish on.

Your case got plastic parts on it, like on the front? With a little bit of texture in it? Sand that down til it's real smooth, if ya like.

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[Crashman]

Orange peel is as much a problem with the painter as the paint. I can paint from a spray can with minimal orange peel, or spray a bumpy finish from a gun.

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[Solidox2k]

yea, i'll try and avoid orange peel... and i'll try the light sands inbetween coats, thanx for the info.

 

[Crashman]

Well, since each coat with orange peel will put the bumps in different positions (rather than make them bigger), I'd just go with a bunch of thin coats followed by a final wet sanding. That's what we always did at the shop. And those guys at the shop would MAKE FUN of me for talking about what I could do with a spray can...

Anyway, I did a couple van doors base/clear without orange peel, then I did a complete car with some orange peel that had to be wet sanded. There are many factors involved, in this case I believe it was the paint not thinned properly for the spray head I was using. The car was single stage, so the paint was thicker than that smooth clear coat job I did using the same gun.

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