Painting a urethane part and installing Airwalker lip

[repiv]

DISCLAIMER: THE INTENTION OF THIS THREAD IS TO OUTLINE A PROCEDURE FOR PAINTING URETHANE. COLOR MATCHING IS A PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR AND CAN BE AN ISSUE EVEN WITH PROFESSIONAL PAINT SHOPS, ESPECIALLY WHEN DEALING WITH AN EXISTING PAINT THAT HAS AGED FOR YEARS AND / OR PAINT THAT IS COVERED WITH 3M FILM. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE PROCEDURE AND DON'T DWELL UPON THE COLOR MATCH OF THE PART INVOLVED, AS MANY FACTORS ARE AT WORK WHEN MATCHING PAINT. ALSO NOTE THAT THE AIRWALKER LIP IS SIMPLY USED HERE AS A "DEMO" PART. WHETHER OR NOT YOU LIKE AN AIRWALKER CLONE LIP (OR DISCUSSIONS AS TO ITS FIT AND AND FINISH) IS THE TOPIC OF ANOTHER THREAD, WHICH I WILL GLADLY RESPOND TO SHOULD ANYONE CARE TO START ONE.

When I got my Airwalker front lip, I decided to save a few bucks by doing the painting myself. It would have cost over $250.00 Can. to have a good body shop do this. I ended up spending about $40.00 for materials.

ALWAYS test fit any part before you paint it. If you need to do any dremel work or filing or sanding, you don't want to grind off your paint work.


Have a relatively clean and dust free area to work (at least sweep out and clean the area). Suspend the part on a suitable stand:


Next, dry sand all the surfaces to be painted. I used wet/dry sand paper.
WHEN SANDING, hold the sandpaper with your bare hands, do not use a sanding block. You can "feel" much better with your hand and will be less likely to sand too much. Also, be very light handed when you sand near edges or corners. These areas sand off quite easily.


Use compressed air to blow off the lip whenever needed:


Wash the lip with dish soap to get most of the oils and loose plastic compounds off the surface. (I used Windex 'cause it was handy.) Then with some cotton balls, rub the lip with alcohol to make sure it's really dry:


Here are all the sprays you'll need to do the job properly. Always shake each can well before using. Rattle the little ball (inside the can) around liberally and have the paint at room temp and use them at room temp, NOT if it's near freezing. Hold the nozzle about 6" to 12" away from the surface to be painted. Start with a sweeping motion away from the part and press the spray nozzle when you are over the part. Release the button once you've passed the part. Remember, light coats are always better than heavy coats, so don't linger with too slow a pass. If you are too slow, the spray will run. If this happens, wipe it off gently and adjust your distance and speed of the pass next time. Don't try to cover the surface with a solid coat each time. After 3 coats, it will be covered.
Start with 3 coats of "Adhesion Promoter". Paint does not stick to plastic very well and this helps. Let dry to touch between coats and wait at least 1/2 hour after last coat. Sand very lightly to get the large globs flattened if necessary. This stuff is like some sort of solvent that chemically "roughs up" the plastic.
Then you do 3 coats of "Flex Fill". This is a primer that is needed for parts that are soft and will move under daily use. Wait to dry to touch before doing another coat (1/2 hour). After the last coat, wait a day and then lightly WET sand if necessary. (Soak the sandpaper in luke warm water for an hour and use a water spray on the paint as you sand. Sand in straight lines, in two directions (90 degrees from each other), NOT in circles. Blow off dust.
Then do 3 coats of color. If you need to wet sand between coats, leave it to dry well for several hours. If no sanding required, wait about an hour. Feel the surface with your bare hand to determine if you need to wet sand. After the last coat, again wait a day.
NOTE: You can go to an auto body supply shop and have your paint loaded into a spray can. If you take your paint code and your car to the shop they can match it up very close. Honda's paint code for Silverstone is for a "normal" concentration of metallic flakes. Upon comparison with a color chart, it turns out that my car is actually a "coarse" metallic flake. This may be why some touch up paints may not match perfectly and why some body shops have a hard time matching your color.
Then do 3 coats of clear. Generally, these do not need wet sanding, but again, feel first. Don't sand the final coat. Wait a few days after you're done before installing on car.


Here it is after the Adhesion Promoter:


After Flex Fill:


After 1 color coat:


Finished product will all clear coats on:


Now to the installation:
The Airwalker lip is attached by its own elasticity by gripping the front bumper. It is also "helped" by these double sided tape sections in the critical places:


Since you don't want to peel off the tape backing (red) before you have the lip on the car as you need to move it around, you'll need to rig something up so you can pull the backing out afterwards. I folded over a small corner of the backing and stuck on some tape that I folded over double (so it doesn't stick to the lip where you don't want it to stick) and left the end hanging out. Once the lip is on where you want it, you pull on the tape to remove the backing and then press that part down.


"Sizing" things up before the final install:


Done:

[waltss20003]

Should of payed to have it painted. The Honda metalics are so hard to match, and from the looks of it yours is off. My painter has had to redo so parsts that he has done for me just because Suzuka is a pain he say's. I know he has gotten pretty good with the Honda colors because he has painted three or four S2000 aftermarket parts lately. I know what you mean about trying to save some money.

[repiv]

Originally Posted by waltss20003

Should of payed to have it painted. The Honda metalics are so hard to match, and from the looks of it yours is off. My painter has had to redo so parsts that he has done for me just because Suzuka is a pain he say's. I know he has gotten pretty good with the Honda colors because he has painted three or four S2000 aftermarket parts lately. I know what you mean about trying to save some money.

You must remember that you are comparing brand new paint with paint on a car that is years old, PLUS, the whole front end of my car is covered with 3M film, except for that lip. The paint I used was perfectly matched to a part of the car that was not exposed to the routine beating that a frontal part takes day in and day out for years, nor a part that was covered with 3M film. Had I decided to cover the lip with 3M film, the optical comparison would have been a lot closer. Color matching is a problem not only for the DIY'er, but for the professional (as you so aptly pointed out). This thread is not about color matching. It's about the steps taken to do the job at home if so desired. I guess I should have pointed that out from the start. That's what any of my "How To's" are meant to do.

I simply present the method. You, as the owner must decide if it's for you. Obviously, it's not for you. This does not detract from the rationale or reason for this thread's existence. On a side note, for me, a front lip is something that gets beat up every day, both in terms of being sand blasted by road debris and by scraping on the ground when going up and down ramps. Aftermarket lips don't tend to fair well compared to the OEM lips, which have higher ground clearance. For me to pay that kind of money to get something like this painted, only to have it damaged and replaced later on, seemed economically unfeasible to me. If it seems that way to others, then this is the way to go. What one "should" or should not have done is up to the individual. I make no such judgements on which catagory of people might want to do this. Those who are anal retentive about such things need not apply.

[Looter]

I too....have an "Airwalker" lip...It is hanging out in my shed.....!!! Having the front of the "S" repainted,along with the Veilside Milleneam hood, right after "SESM", Silverstone....'03......The price, although I knew, getting into it....is "Outrageous".....but I am anal about the car......Think I will have the shop save me some paint, after the front-end work...and I will try to spray my lip....as per your wright-up.... Thanks Dave....Glad you are over here.....

[joe_s2k]

Excellent job! Thanks for posting this Dave. I have this exact same lip ready and waiting to be installed...

[David W]

I learned a lot. Thanks.

[waltss20003]

Originally Posted by repiv

You must remember that you are comparing brand new paint with paint on a car that is years old, PLUS, the whole front end of my car is covered with 3M film, except for that lip. The paint I used was perfectly matched to a part of the car that was not exposed to the routine beating that a frontal part takes day in and day out for years, nor a part that was covered with 3M film. Had I decided to cover the lip with 3M film, the optical comparison would have been a lot closer. Color matching is a problem not only for the DIY'er, but for the professional (as you so aptly pointed out). This thread is not about color matching. It's about the steps taken to do the job at home if so desired. I guess I should have pointed that out from the start. That's what any of my "How To's" are meant to do.

I simply present the method. You, as the owner must decide if it's for you. Obviously, it's not for you. This does not detract from the rationale or reason for this thread's existence. On a side note, for me, a front lip is something that gets beat up every day, both in terms of being sand blasted by road debris and by scraping on the ground when going up and down ramps. Aftermarket lips don't tend to fair well compared to the OEM lips, which have higher ground clearance. For me to pay that kind of money to get something like this painted, only to have it damaged and replaced later on, seemed economically unfeasible to me. If it seems that way to others, then this is the way to go. What one "should" or should not have done is up to the individual. I make no such judgements on which catagory of people might want to do this. Those who are anal retentive about such things need not apply.

Not trying to Piss you off, although I achived that. I liked reading your "How To's" on the other site and even have used a few. It was early this morning when I posted ( not an excuse) so never mind me.

[VinhPham]

Very Cool thread BTW. Hey Repiv. Just want to ask you why did you decided to go with rattle cans instead of spray gun? Did you prefer the conveniency of spray cans or just didn't have access to a big air tank? Just curious cuz Im actually thinking of doing this myself too. Thanks

[repiv]

"Pissed off" might be too strong a phrase to use. It was quite early this morning for me, too. I was rushing to get going out the door for work. I would more like to use "mildly annoyed". Annoyed at both myself for not clarifying and defining what I was trying to do with this thread and at the purpose of this thread being mis-interpretted. This was the primary reason why I made a DISCLAIMER in almost all my "How To" threads in the other site. I had hoped it would not be necessary to do this here due to the different sort of "clientelle" but I suppose I might have to begin again. There's just too much opportunity for my intentions to be mis-interpretted or mis-understood. It's not unlike my sunvisor mod for mounting a radar detector. Some people didn't understand it or didn't like it because it removed the functionality of the visor. I don't make judgements upon whether or not the reader likes it or finds it useful for himself / herself. I just present the way to do it for those who wish to give it a try.

[repiv]

Originally Posted by VinhPham

Very Cool thread BTW. Hey Repiv. Just want to ask you why did you decided to go with rattle cans instead of spray gun? Did you prefer the conveniency of spray cans or just didn't have access to a big air tank? Just curious cuz Im actually thinking of doing this myself too. Thanks

Mostly for the convenience. I didn't want to buy a spray gun, nor did I want to experiment with air pressures (which can make a tremendous difference in the final work). Spray cans don't need any clean-up of equipment to speak of between types of sprays) and once done, the rest of the can is simply put up on the shelf for later use if necessary. If paint is bought in bulk, you must find ways to store it in airtight containers if you wish to keep it beyond the time you do the actual job.

[Coop]

Thanks, if I redo my front bumper again, I will follow this.
Last time I did the front bumper, because I didn't fell like paying a dealer or shop to paint the car and not have it match (like the last 3 times), so I saved the $$$$$$ and it still does match, but the money is in my pocket.

[funkemonke]

this is one of the primer autozone is selling.
my question is, will this work for my polyurethane lip?


here are the other primers on the shelf


a pic of my lip, (greddy)


thanks!

[repiv]

I think most types of primer will work, but read the label to make sure it's good for plastic and flexible surfaces. Whether or not you decide to use an "adhesion promoter" or not is up to you. I would recommend it to reduce the risk of the final paint job from flaking due to the amount of flex in that piece. If you wash the lip well and dry it using an alcohol, you might be OK.

[funkemonke]

thanks

[tv4184]

Where did you buy your airwalker lip repiv?