I can't find a single spray paint that sticks to the interior decently. TSPd the whole thing before I tried each time too. Theres alot of awkward corners so I think sanding is out. I've seen custom painted P180s out there, so how did they do it?! thanks a bunch Geoff
have you tried an acid etching primer, not sure if it will 'key' the surface of epoxi powder coat. another question, did you use primer at all?
you would have to pull the whole case to bits, and then wash the case for a month as you'll always have sand pouring out of it. little heavy handed aswell.
I'll head on by home depot and pick up some etching solution now... or do they sell it? in case you guys havn't noticed I'm a novice, so please, explain everything.
top coat paint 'the final colour' needs a base to stick to, so a primer needs to be used. so primers have a chemical solution that eats into the surface you wish to paint, and then provides a good key for the top coat to stick too. i strongly suggest if you want this paint job to look great, dismantle the case, drill the rivets out and line every panel up to paint. paint outside if you dont have a spary booth. might take 2-3 cans of primer to coat it, and just dust the surface with the paint gradually building up the layers as you go. once the primer has cured, usually i find this happens after 2 hours on a hot day, i take some 400 grit wet and dry paper and water, and gently sand back the primer so its smooth, primer never dries smooth. this surface has to be smooth or you will get an orange peel effect. then let it dry before top coat. top coat is best done in lots of layers, on the first layer you should still be able to see the primer underneath. let each layer dry (touch dry) and repeat until perfect. usually i take two bits of 400 grit rub them together to blunt the paper gives you about 750-800 grit paper but much better than if you were to buy 800 grit. then buff the surfaces off smoothing them out wash it, let it dry then another colour top coat can be added, it will look the nuts at this point. you can then decide to use a liquid polish to then buff the top coat up a few days after you finish painting, makes it shiny. any questions feel free to ask. (remember if you see an imperfection in the surface before painting it will show 10 times as bad once all the paint is on!)
man, thats alot of work. Whatever, I'm up for it. Sounds like fun. But I'm totally going to screw it up. How should I remove those rivets? You said "drill the rivets out", so, what, just use a 1/8" (or whatever the id of the hole in the case is) twist bit? What do you think I should replace the rivets with? I don't have (nor do i have access to) one of those rivet guns. Just get buckets of little nuts and bolts? I've been meaning to get some 1000 grit sand paper to lap my processor for a while now, but now that I'm going to need some 800 grit to sand the primer, autta give the motivation to actually find a place that sells it. Just as a little background I've been working with wood for 2 years and 4 years of high school wood shop class before that. Thats pretty well my entire background in this type of field. Thanks for all the help so far! I'm really looking foward to this now. First mod - side window and interior painting (of a surface that really doesn't want to be panted!) 2nd mod - computer that fixes global warming! edit: hah! no longer "whats a dremel?" now I'm a "Minimodder".
hand held rivet guns are cheap as chips and can be found in many hardware stores. and yes use a drill bit the size of the ID of the rivet, when drilling a rivet best to use a hand powered dril, as the rivet heads tend to shear off, which makes life easy, then use something to knock the rest of the rivet out the other side. i just use a screw driver and a hammer if need be. modding can get expensive, but consider this. if you do it bad, its wasted money and you'll regret doing it, best to do it right the first time. if i was you study this thread, and re-read it over and over.
