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excossack



Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5843

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 110 Td5 SW Caledonian Blue
Painting plastic grill & light surrounds
Time to pull my finger out and get the replacement grill and light surrounds painted. Currently black and going silver.
So prep work.
Degrease plastic with white spirit?
Light rub down with fine wet'n'dry?
Degrease
Light coats of plastic primer
Maybe a rub down?
Light coats of top coat
Finished by clear coat? 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock
Post #410988 25th Mar 2015 10:25pm
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NickMc



Member Since: 01 Oct 2014
Location: Norn Iron
Posts: 1624

Northern Ireland 2006 Defender 90 Td5 HT Bonatti Grey
Use proper panel wipe not white spirit available in any good motor factors, will be a rip off in halfords. Check if its a sandable primer.
Post #410997 25th Mar 2015 10:45pm
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custom90



Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20356

United Kingdom 
Personally I would use acid etc primer on a rigid plastic. I use Autotek avaiable from EBay and it's also sandable.

I intend to do mine sometime in gloss black.

I've got Upol panel wipe too.

Take your time and get perfect prep before actually painting and it does take time to get it just right.
Post #411000 25th Mar 2015 10:50pm
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custom90



Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20356

United Kingdom 
I'd also clean with water first and a new scouring pad to get rid of most the dirt.
Then dry and and panel wipe.

Thumbs Up
Post #411001 25th Mar 2015 10:51pm
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NickMc



Member Since: 01 Oct 2014
Location: Norn Iron
Posts: 1624

Northern Ireland 2006 Defender 90 Td5 HT Bonatti Grey
Etch primer on plastic is a bad idea, they make proper plastic primers and additives for proper paint by the likes of PPG it really depends on what type of paint you are using cellulose, 2k or water based.

1. You wont really need it
2. They are normally only available in larger bulks and by the time you bought all the stuff it would not be worth it you could have a body shop do it for the amount you'd spend on materials.
Post #411007 25th Mar 2015 10:58pm
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custom90



Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20356

United Kingdom 
I've always found plastic primers to do the opposite of what they should and peel.

But every man to his own.

I've always stuck to Autotek acid etch primer for most things along with Simoniz acrylic base and lacquer paint.
Had perfect results every time.

Never had any reaction, peel, orange peel or cracking.


Only thing I think you would need a flexi plastic primer is on any plastics that are non rigid and that are moved or flexed or thin plastics.
Post #411013 25th Mar 2015 11:24pm
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
Re: Painting plastic grill & light surrounds
excossack wrote:
Time to pull my finger out and get the replacement grill and light surrounds painted. Currently black and going silver.
So prep work.
Degrease plastic with white spirit? / I would just wash with traffic film remover with light scouring pad , good rinse off
Light rub down with fine wet'n'dry? / light rub down with soap and water
Degrease / use panel wipe and tack cloth
Light coats of plastic primer / do the same , leave warm for 24hrs
Maybe a rub down? / rub down with soap and water ( fine paper ) then panel wipe and tack cloth
Light coats of top coat / lights but not too many , 2-3 otherwise paint will be soft underneath for too long

Finished by clear coat?
same

personally I would use plastic primer , acid etch is what the name says and I don't think it will etch plastic

preparation is the main thing , mess up or hurry first few stages and you can not recover it , mess up on last stage and you can recovery it by polishing extra , you cant fix whats under the paint !
Post #411032 26th Mar 2015 7:57am
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Dave-H



Member Since: 08 Feb 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1507

England 2007 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 HT Tonga Green
I was going to do the same as you, until i saw that Silver/Grey grill and headlamp trims are only £48 from Paddocks, and that's including delivery.

At that price It's not worth all the effort [and expense] of spraying the old ones ..... Cool Guns and Landrovers .... anything else is irrelevant.
Post #411041 26th Mar 2015 8:31am
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Andy80



Member Since: 31 May 2013
Location: Essex
Posts: 490

England 2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 HT Cairns Blue
Hi Guys,

I wonder if the painted Grill/Headlamp surrounds on definitive Limited additions are simply painted standard items or are available as a primed item for finishing?


Andy Working towards Carry on camping!
Post #411046 26th Mar 2015 8:48am
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Anderzander



Member Since: 08 Feb 2011
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 1000

United Kingdom 
Quite a lot of afternarket new ones on eBay for just over £30 posted - then breakers wanting £50 for faded genuine items.....

Be good to know what the quality is like on those cheaper ones. They seem to get good feedback.
Post #411049 26th Mar 2015 8:57am
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100inch



Member Since: 15 May 2012
Location: Brunswick
Posts: 411

Australia 2010 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 CSW Santorini Black
What about using primer and paints from brands like Tamiya? Sure their products must work well on plastics? m
Post #411053 26th Mar 2015 9:32am
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DaveGL



Member Since: 19 Dec 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 57

2007 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Cairns Blue
I bought a set of new black light surrounds and grill from a seller on e-bay for £36.

The quality doesn't seem any better or any worse than my originals, frankly it's not worth messing around with the whole painting process!
Post #411210 26th Mar 2015 7:39pm
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NickMc



Member Since: 01 Oct 2014
Location: Norn Iron
Posts: 1624

Northern Ireland 2006 Defender 90 Td5 HT Bonatti Grey
In my experience the cheaper ones tend to fade quicker and are more smooth in texture. Nothing 5 minutes with a bit of autogylm plastic and bumper restorer won't fix.
Post #411213 26th Mar 2015 7:47pm
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excossack



Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5843

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 110 Td5 SW Caledonian Blue
Thanks for the replies people. I was going to go Brunel grill with Caladonian Blue 110 or match the grill to the same colour...... 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock
Post #411414 27th Mar 2015 1:47pm
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Tonyrec



Member Since: 22 Feb 2014
Location: Lake District
Posts: 137

United Kingdom 
Bought a 'take off' mat black set off ebay and they have been painted Santorini Black by a bodyshop. Just waiting to collect them and swap them over with my 8 week old grey ones.
Post #411608 28th Mar 2015 7:44am
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