Hi guys i have a 96 3.8L Camaro. Its the forest green i believe. My question is my headlight sockets are old looking so i decided to spice them up with some fresh paint. I used regular spot putty to fill in all the marks and stuff from wear n tear. Put a nice coat of a semi metallic black from duplicolor spray can. It looked great! However about 2wks or so later my paint is chipping off and the bondo is gone or cracking off. What kind of putty should i use and also should i spray something onto the paint to keep it from chipping off.

sucks

 

you would have to use something that is for the rubbery plastic. normal filler wont bond (i think?) plus did u sand/scuff the surface prior to painting? without some scuffing there is nothing for the paint to grab to.

 

basically, you need to sand it a whole bunch before you try this again. if you have the patience, go all the way down to bare metal and prime it again too. if not, at least take off the clear coat and some of the paint it self. start rought, and work your way to a finer grit of sand paper. really really fine. i think i stopped at 1000 grit before i started to spray mine. i don't know how much experience you have with this, but make sure you spray evenly, it'll make finishing it alot easier. once you've got the base and clearcoat on, sand it and polish it for a nice finish. the real issue with painting is that you need to have patience and a place to park it for a few weeks. this isn't something you can rush or just touch up here or there.

 

dont try to go all the way down to the metal your bumper is rubber... also you do need to sand the surface a little but just a little use like 500 grit paper and just scratch it your not trying to take material off. next use some good primer (rattle can is fine spend like 6 bucks and get automotive primer) spray 2 coats and wetsand with 1000 grit than 1 coat and again with the 1000 grit than go over it again with 2000 grit (just a little bit with the 2000 at this point your 3rd coat of paint is going to be getting a little thin and will be easy to burn through) apply paint using the same method, and the clear, also same method (2-3 coats of clear on the last spray)

MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE CAN WHEN IT COMES TO DRY TIMES if you rush it will look like crap. i recommend you spend 2 days doing this primer and paint one day clear the next. (also i recommend you allow like 15-17 hrs between paint and clear you want the paint fully cured or the clear can wrinkle it)

heres a link to my burger panel i painted using spraypaint
https://camaroforums.com/forum/4th-g...modding-57616/

 

I second the need for primer. In fact they make a special primer for automotive plastics

Amazon.com: PlastiKote 469 Plastic Primer Enamel - 12 Oz.: Automotive

Many companies make it, this is just the first one that came up in Google

 

I noticed that to about the bare metal.! I would have a hell of a lot more to worry about than the bondo cracking.LOL. i get what ur sayin bout the primer and paint. I used spray can paint last time but it has cracked off 2x on me already along with a lot of the spot putty. what kind of putty should i use and also is there a special kind of spray can paint to use on the rubber bumper so it can flex without cracking? Thanks for the help so far guys.