How to Paint Plastic Car Lights
An important thing that you should bear in mind if you want to paint plastic car lights is that you will have to spend about 70 percent of the total time sanding and prepping the lights. Once you are done with the sanding and prepping part, rest should be easy. Here is what you will need to successfully paint the plastic lights of your car in order to give the car a totally different look.
Things Required:
– Water
– Soap
– Grease and wax remover
– Copper wire
– Masking tape
– Low-grit sandpaper
– Plastic primer
– Spray gun
– Urethane car paint
– Clear coat
Instructions
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1
Clean the plastic light by washing them with a mixture of soap and water. Wipe clean the lights with grease and wax remover in order to get rid of stubborn grease and wax stains that did not go away even after washing the lights.
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2
Attach one end of a copper wire to the car’s chassis and ground the other end. This will neutralise the chassis of any accumulated charges, eventually preventing attraction between the plastic and dust.
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3
There may be areas adjacent to the lights that you do not wish to paint. Cover such areas with masking tape.
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4
With a piece of low grit-sandpaper, lightly sand the lights. Apply a thin coat of primers manufactured especially for use on plastic surfaces. Wait until the primer coat dries completely before moving onto the next step.
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5
Sand the primer coat lightly after it is dry. A properly sanded coat of primer will provide a better surface for the paint to stick on. Make sure that you sand the lights very lightly in order to avoid damage to the plastic layer.
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6
Spray a coat of urethane car paint on the lights. Use a spray gun for this purpose. Wait for approximately 15 minutes in which time the coat of urethane paint will dry. Spray another coat if necessary and let it dry before moving on to the next step.
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7
Finally, apply a couple of clear coats, letting the first clear coat dry before applying the second one. To finish the task, carefully remove the masking tape that was covering areas adjacent to the plastic lights.
