Also, leave the Mirko off of the car for 30 days after spraying it. That way the paint/clear is fully cured and will be durable. Considering that it's the most damage prone area of your car, it's more than just a good idea.... it's the only way IMO. Then you can color sand it and buff it to a glass like surface and not worry about it developing a texture. Sometimes if you color sand before it's totally cured it will get a texture or an orange peel look because it hasn't fully release it's solvents.

Use tons of clear! Spray one nice and even coat on the light side, let it flash, repeat upwards of 10 times. Rattle cans don't lay down a lot of material like HVLP guns, so the more coats you can get down without sagging, dripping, crazing or the like.....the better.

Sand with 600 grit inbetween coats if you need to (crap in the finish or any minor fixes), but other wise as long as it's cleaned with a tack cloth you shouldn't need to do anything else besides let the clear flash.

DuPont makes a really good trim/door jam clear coat that comes in a rattle can. It flashes very quick and flows out very nice. You could easily get 10 coats on with this stuff. I used it the lasttime I did my front bumper/mirko and loved working with it and it's results

30 days, I dont know if I can wait that long Thanks for the advice swazo.

Nothing too harsh, as to avoid having scratch marks.

Get a nice coat of primer on there. It shouldn't take long at all to dry. Apply a thin coat of paint to avoid running. Wait until it's a little tacky, and spray another coat. Coat the Mirko until it's covered. Let it dry completely. Spray with clearcoat in a little thicker layer, as you'll be able to tell when it starts to shine that you've got enough on there. Let it dry, and apply another coat. Keep doing this until you're happy.

Mark

Yes i painted my Rawburt. I need to do it again as there is a huge chip now

In all honesty, I think I only waited 2 weeks. But 30 days would be ideal.

No matter what, if something nasty enough actually removes fiberglass when it hits it..... it doesn't matter how much clear is on there or how cured it is. But for 99% of what's going to hit it will have a lot harder time in chipping it if you do let it cure.

Look at the bigger picture. How much time do you want to spend in repairing your mirko and/or it's paint? If you do it right the first time, you'll save a lot more time in the long run.

Lots of helpful hints here guys. I'm planning on tackling my sideskirts and this thread will definitely help. Thanks!

I sanded the mirko with 400 grit then shot some primer. Should I sand the primer, and if so what grit?

Wetsand w/ 400 grit & soapy water (carwash), put your paper in the bucket & use a sponge to keep the surface wet & soapy & wipe after you sand to check the smoothness...hose off, let dry. Wipe down w/ a tack rag & paint.

If you can still see deep sanding marks, repeat until smooth


FYI...make sure the primer's heavy enough not to sand completely through, you want a good surface for adhesion, and lightly sand around the edges...it's easy to sand right through those areas.


...and this is where you will get many different opinions

First off, what kind of primer? Etching primer is what you should have started with. Filler primer is what you should spray next, and that can be block sanded with 400 & 600. A sealer primer is purely optional, it'll give your top coating process come out that much better.

Second, 600 grit is fine enough to where you won't see the sanding marks when painted and clear coated.

Filler primer is what I used.

Originally posted by Decepticon:

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Yes i painted my Rawburt. I need to do it again as there is a huge chip now

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ewwwwwww..

i knew it...