The body and trim on your European car is one exposed to the harshest road conditions.  Flinging rocks, rouge parking lot curbs, salt, snow, ice… over time all of these have a drastic effect on your car’s appearance.  Because of this, we sell a ton of touch up paint to fill in those scratches and chips in your paint.  Sometimes those little bottles don’t do the trick, however, and you need something bigger.  We’ve got in contact with a supplier that will custom mix cans VIN matched spray paint to your exact color code, so if you’ve got a bigger task at hand, you don’t need to worry about the cost of taking your body panels and trim to a paint shop.  For a fraction of the price you can do a decent job and save the money for more car parts!

We sell a considerable amount of mirror covers, lip spoilers, and headlight washer covers.  Almost all of these items come with just a standard primer finish (with the exception of Volvo and Mercedes which can come color coded).  This means that these parts will need to be painted, which can easily double (if not more) the cost of your repair.  We have a short cut that will allow you to do-it-yourself and get everything back together quick.

Single and Two-Stage VIN Matched Paint

We offer both single stage and two-stage VIN matched paint systems.  The single stage combines base and clear together for a quick an easy finished product, and will provide a solid and basic color coded paint job.  The part number for the single stage is 000E00010. The finish will be glossy if done right in optimal conditions, but will lack the mirror reflectiveness as a two stage paint.

The two stage is a separate aerosol basecoat (SKU000E00008) and a clear coat (000E00009), and will provide a much nicer glossy paint finish at the expense of more effort.  Each basecoat is color coded to your VIN, which you will need to provide when ordering.  We will have your paint custom mixed and put into an aerosol can so you can simply shake and spray.

If you need larger amounts of paint in non-aerosol cans, contact us as these will be special order only and pricing will vary depending on the paint.  We cannot offer Tri-coat paints at this time.

Step 1: Prep the bodywork

As with any bodywork, good prep is essential to the outcome.  If you are painting a body piece that is already primered (it will have a gray or black coating), then you just need to make sure it’s perfectly clean.  Wipe it down with some mineral spirits, then once it’s clean, wipe it off with a tack cloth to remove any lint or dust that might be left on the surface..

Step 2: Prep the paint and workspace

Make sure it is warm and dry out, temperature and humidity has a huge impact on the quality of paint.  Somewhere between 70-80F is ideal.  It’s a good idea to wait for the right conditions to make sure the paint goes on the best.  The less wind the better, and it helps to warm the can of paint up before use to help the aerosol ‘atomize’ into the finest mist possible.  Often times I leave the can of paint out in the sun for a little while, and I’ve also heard of people using hot water.  NEVER use fire, duh.

Step 3: Apply 3-5 coats of VIN matched paint

Swirl and shake the can up for a solid minute to make sure all the paint is well mixed.  With the body part supported, begin spraying away from the part to reduce the likely hood of splatter from the first bit of paint coming out of the nozzle.  When you have a fine even mist, move the spray towards the part you are painting, keeping the nozzle around 10-15 inches away from the piece.  Too close and you will get runs.  Too far and the paint droplets won’t stick as well.

Pretend you are a robot and paint in smooth linear lines.  Since this is the first coat, you don’t need total coverage.  Quite the contrary, the first coat will look a little thin and patchy.  The primer will show through.

Wait 5-10 minutes, and do it again in the same fashion.  The coverage will start to get thicker and the color of the primer will go away.  After 3-5 layers, each with 5-10 minutes in between, your part will look like it has a nice glossy coat on it. Don’t overdo it, you will end up with runs which are very hard to fix.  You will feel like you are not putting enough paint down, but you are.  Just be smooth and DON’T rush it.  Rushing a paint job will almost always ruin it, there’s a reason why custom paint shops are expensive.

If you used the single stage system, you’re done.  Let it dry and attach to your vehicle.  If you are using the two stage system, then continue on to clearcoat.

Step 4: Wait 1-2 days

Now the hardest part, waiting for it to dry.  Overnight is usually the bare minimum amount of time for the paint to outgas all of the solvent in it, at which time it will shrink and you will see the orange peel start.

Step 5: Apply Clearcoat

Wipe off any dust that may have settled on the piece using a tack cloth.  Using a slightly heavier hand than you did when applying the first color base coat, spray the clear on in a medium wet layer for the first time around.  Wait around 15 minutes for the solvents to outgas, this is called ‘flashing’.  The cooler or more humid the environment, the longer you should wait. Repeat once more using a medium-heavy/wet coat.  Be very careful to avoid runs. At this point, you will notice significant ‘orange peel’ on the part and it will look pretty bad.  That’s OK, you will fix that in the next step.

Wait 1-2 days, if not longer if you can tolerate it.  You want this to be as dry as possible for the next step.

Step 6: Wetsand the clearcoat

This is much like restoring a headlight.  Using a 1500 grit patch of sandpaper, spray the part with some water and give the part a light but firm rubdown taking care to be even.  Wipe it off with a clean damp paper towel, the coating should be smooth and dull.  If you have really bad orange peel, you may start with an 1000 grit, and move up to a 1500 grit.  You’ll want to finish with a 4000 grit once the part is smooth and no longer bumpy with orange peel, depending on how important it is to you.

If you are painting a headlight washer cover, you could probably skip all of this and nobody would tell.  For larger items like fenders, spoilers, or mirror covers, take special care to be as smooth as possible.

Step 7: Buff

Using a rubbing compound and a pad (commonly called scratch remover), buff the part until it shines without orange peel showing.  If there is, you will have to go back and wetsand again.  This is the last step, polish until you see fit.  For larger parts, using a motorized buffer will cut this time down considerably.

Overall, this whole process would take a few days, and you won’t have to pay hundreds to have your body and trim professionally painted.  Hope that helps someone out there, and look forward to this turning into a DIY video once the weather warms up a bit!  Until then, the video below explains it pretty straight forward.