Tailgate respray...

[S1monR]

Hi all,

I thought I share the latest improvement to my Micra. When I bought it, the tailgate was really damaged due to the previous owner carrying his bike on the back of the car and allowing the pedals to scratch and dent the panel. I've been learning the art of paint re-finishing so thought it would be a good idea to get some practice and hopefully improve the look of the car in the process.

I used a bit of masking paper to make some templates to help with the re-application of the badges prior to removing them, along with the rear lights. Next I masked up around the area and tackled the worst of the paint damage with 240 grit wet and dry. Next I filled any remaining imperfections and treated a few little areas of corrosion with rust converter, prior to flatting it back with 300 grit and 800 grit wet and dry:



Next came several coats of 1k primer and another flat back with 1000 grit wet and dry, followed by three thin coats of 1k Blade Silver and two of 2K lacquer:





It now shows up all the damage on the rear bumper, so I guess that's the next thing to get a bit of paint. I just need to give it a good polish and then re-apply the badges and number plate with some trim tape to finish the job.

 

[novocaine]

Looks good. spraying outside is always a risk, but it looks like you got away with it.

you'll do the bumper, then think "oh, that side panel looks a bit flat"
then you'll do that and think "oh that door looks a bit flat"
and so on and so on, till you reach the other side panel and it turns out you've sprayed the whole car.

 

[S1monR]

Haha - cheers for the reply! Yes, I don't like spraying outside either, and in this case the car was reversed up to the door of my workshop so it wasn't completely out in the open.

You could certainly be right about knowing when to stop! Both bumpers seem to have the reverse metallic paint direction to the rest of the car (not sure what the technical term is for this) so maybe respraying those will be enough! But then there's a bit of a dent on the O/S/F wing and a couple of imperfections elsewhere so....!

 

[novocaine]

Haha - cheers for the reply! Yes, I don't like spraying outside either, and in this case the car was reversed up to the door of my workshop so it wasn't completely out in the open.

You could certainly be right about knowing when to stop! Both bumpers seem to have the reverse metallic paint direction to the rest of the car (not sure what the technical term is for this) so maybe respraying those will be enough! But then there's a bit of a dent on the O/S/F wing and a couple of imperfections elsewhere so....!

bias. sprayed from the other direction. fairly common sadly, not all colours show it.