Painting Alloy Fuel door?

[Dazz4C]

Hey everyone. I saw this on 9g.



Wondering if anyone else had thought about painting it? I think it looks really nice...

Problem is the cost of OEM paint is probably more than the fuel door.

Can a mod move it to Exterior? I meant to post it there, not in vinyl and graphics. Sorry.

[rayray]

I must say that looks pretty sick. Any info on the 9g thread about the process?

[Momengah]

That actually looks pretty good. I wouldnt mind doing something like that

[Dazz4C]

I must say that looks pretty sick. Any info on the 9g thread about the process?

It was in a thread called 'post your graphite greys', which are all photoshoots and stuff. So not really much on the process; I'd assume it's just a sand/blast + powdercoat.

The link to thread: http://9glancers.com/index.php/topic,61 ... #msg198598

[malkinfalcon]

Looks very good...I think MANY here would be interested in that!

[Chubb]

The alloy fuel door is well alloy so the painting process would be as follows.

- sand the alloy fuel door gently, around 2000 grit wet and dry should be good.

- clean the door with wax and grease remover (use gloves to prevent adding grease from your hands to the surface to paint).

- As the surface is alloy an etch primer is going to be needed so it can bind to the alloy surface (normal primer will not stick to alloy surfaces)

- to get a nice smooth finish coat the etch primer with a couple of coats of normal primer giving a light sand and clean with wax and grease remover in between coats this is ensure you have a very smooth finish.

- clean the surface once again with wax and grease remover and apply the coloured paint, several light coats is recommended.

- Once dry wet sand the painted surface with the finest sand paper you can find.

- finish with a couple of coats of clear and job is done.


this may not be the process the pro's follow but it is the process I used when airbrushing my engine covers, 2 years latter and they still look new.

[malkinfalcon]

Where do you even get cans of OEM paint such as cool silver A31? Looked up ebay but all they have is repair kits with barely any paint (~15ml :S)...

[Chubb]

you will have to go to an automotive paint store where they should be able to mix up paint for you and add to an aerosol can.

[squala]

Some Autobarn stores mix your paint colour for about $30 per can I think.

[mcmusc]

one thing to remember is the imprint of the word lancer will be filled up by your primer and not look so good unless you use a special 'thin' primer

[Bags]

Yeah that looks killer.

[tencents]

looks nice! Why doesn't Mitsu sell it coloured in the first place?

[ofey]

looks nice! Why doesnt Mitsu sell it coloured in the first place?

Because colour contrasting is also appreciated by a mjority of people.
Try putting on a blue shirt, blue tie, blue pants, blue socks, blue shoes and a blue jacket.

The thing then would be why stop there? Why not colour match your grill surround?

[lukeaday]

I can spray these alloy fuel doors!!!
Keep in mind, there are colour variations from different paint manufacturers and even different colours depending on how any painter applys the paint.

I know the P26 red (my colour) is all pearl and no metallic and it is a nightmare to get the same colour as the factory paint.

Also the A39 dark grey must be colour eye matched to the factory paint finish as there are variations in the colour.

I am not trying to justify possibly getting the paint colour wrong, I am just telling all you guys how it is.

Next time you go down the street check out how many cars you can spot with different coloured bumper bars!!