i've seen a few guys on the forums paint their own cars...when you paint a car, don't you have to cure the paint in a huge heat room? i painted my grill with automotive paint and after a few months it had chips all over, i thought that was because you have to cure it for it to completely harden? am i missing something?

 

Did you add hardener? Did you rough the surface up a little? Prime it?

 

i did it at work, we have a paint booth here..i sanded it, primed it, used hardener in the paint, and even let it sit for about a week before i installed it....it's really not that bad since its just the grill, but the reason i ask is because i'm thinking of respraying my whole car, since i'm going to need to paint the hood and bumper soon anyway..but i really don't want to get into it if my whole car is going to look like my grill after a year

 

I painted my grill, its been like 3 weeks and already has chips. Its because of rocks. You should expect chips in the front of the car. I painted my M3 lip spoiler and its been a month - no issues yet.

 

same with me and my mesh grill frame
did it myself, the paint didnt match 100% and it didnt have as much clearcoat as the rest of the car, it started chipping after 3 weeks; in other words, you can tell it aint done professionally

now, i got fed up with it and im brining it to the shop...i shouldve done that initially, saved myself and 20 bucks on paint...5 clearcoat...and days of stress

live and learn!!!

 

You will still end up with the chips in the paint regardless even professionally painted. What you need to do is paint it yourself then get it shot with that 3M protector. There is no way to get around the chips.

 

so all these guys painting their own cars, is there car going to be covered in chips after a few weeks? My car's paint is about a decade old now and the bumper has the same amount of chips as my 6-month old grill (relatively)...I want my new paint to be as strong as the oem paint...does that mean i'm going to have to spend 4 grand at a paint shop??

 

stone chips are a fact of life mate no way round it unless its made of plastic and its colour impregnated like some of the light weight sports cars

 

I have a secret way of fixing it, but you can't tell anyone....

Electrical tape. Its kinda ghetto, but you won't be able to tell unless you touch it. One of the local guys showed me his grill and I was amazed it had no rock chips. He told me to look closer and I noticed it was electircal tape. I couldn't tell until I was like 1-2 feet away but you have to do it right.

 

lol, i don't know about electrical tape....i suppose that would work ok for the grill, but i'm wanting to paint the whole car this summer, i don't think taping up the whole thing would be a good idea