Messed up painting louvre, how to fix?

[Michael]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm going to sand it down lightly tonight and then give her a good rinse so she is ready to paint tomorrow. Regarding a primer, I have never used one before when doing this job. Is there one anyone recommends for use with the SEM trim black? Perhaps something I can obtain locally?

Although I have never tried it, I would go with the SEM primer. A: because you know it will be compatible with the paint, B: should be avaliable where you got your trim black, and C: it comes in black so no worries about color blocking.

[uhhair]

OK guys well that was a failure. I sanded down the entire thing with 400 grit, wiped it clean, then used 800 grit. Then i washed it all off, let it dry, and tried again. Same result (see attached). I really am getting very frustrated and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I also got brand new cans of paint to eliminate the possibility of old paint. Is there a video anywhere of someone painting their louvers I can watch? Perhaps I am just not doing it correctly? I am really confused, I did this to another car I had 2 years ago with no prep work at all other than washing the louver and it came out perfectly after 3 coats. Now I have done this twice and it is coming out horrible.

[David T]

You washed it off? How? It should only be blown off with air and wiped with solvent. Next it should be primed with at least 1 coat of primer. You must follow the directions and other general rules like temperature, not doing it in direct sunlight or in high humidity. You can ask where you are buying your supplies what is going wrong too. Just because you just bought the paint doesn't mean it wasn't sitting on a shelf too long. Did you mix it up enough? A lot of things can go wrong and cause problems. Maybe you are putting it on too thick or too thin, holding the can too close or too far away. Not letting one coat dry enough (or too much) before putting on the next coat.

[uhhair]

What solvent should i be using? I dunno, I am just overwhelmed at this point and think I'm going to take it somewhere to be done. I clearly have no idea what I am doing and it seems like everyone tells me a different thing to do. Some people say don't use a primer (including the instructions from SEM,) and then others say to use one. I bought my cans from R&E paint supply and they appear to be new (the label on the can is definitely the newer style.) I am painting them in my garage, 85 degrees out, door open, no direct sunlight. They are on the ground but propped up about 45 degrees as I just don't have a flat wall I can place them on and not worry about getting paint anywhere. I am just incredibly confused as I did this a few years ago with minimal effort and they came out perfect.

You washed it off? How? It should only be blown off with air and wiped with solvent. Next it should be primed with at least 1 coat of primer. You must follow the directions and other general rules like temperature, not doing it in direct sunlight or in high humidity. You can ask where you are buying your supplies what is going wrong too. Just because you just bought the paint doesn't mean it wasn't sitting on a shelf too long. Did you mix it up enough? A lot of things can go wrong and cause problems. Maybe you are putting it on too thick or too thin, holding the can too close or too far away. Not letting one coat dry enough (or too much) before putting on the next coat.