Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics DIY Mirko Paint Job

So I won the Mirko from the SZ raffle and think I'm going to try to paint it myself. I know the body shop will quote something ridiculous for a piece that will get chipped to hell anyway. So I'm going to give this a shot anyway... Can you guys provide me with a process to do this.

Just scuff it up with some fine sand paper, shoot some primer, couple coats of spray paint going light and even a couple times, finish with some clear coat.

Ill paint it for you $50 including paint

I used duplicolor base and clear on mine....i've had it on for about three weeks and it's got so many paint chips that i'm going to take it off and re-paint it every couple weeks.

You are a bit more fortunate however, a paint chip on a white mirko with silver paint won't show much if at all so you may not ahve to worry. I know the duplicolor clear left an awesome gloss finish while it lasted.....

Josh, how do you have yours secured?

Mark painted his right before SZ since I fixed a few chunks that were missing. Looks great. Just painted it with some paint and clearcoat in a can. I must warn you though, the clearcoat in a can has pretty terrible durability. I think even bugs will chip the clear, so give it 6 coats or so.

use duplicolor base coat but get some good heavy rustoleum enamel clear coat, enamel is VERY tough once it drys.

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