Pre heating?

[m408]

Just recently had to strip a bad paint job. Did the strip and rinse. In a hurry, as always to re paint, I put the cleaned parts in my dehydrator for a quick dry. When dry, I re primed. The parts weren't hot, but warm and the paint seemed to adhere smoother. Just my imagination, or is warm plastic more receptive to paint?

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

Milt, yrs and yrs ago, my father-in-law (a body & paint man) used to turn the heat up on a car in the garage for several hrs till the metal was really warm before he'd go in and paint it w/ the old delux enamel. He turned out some nice paint jobs. all stock, no custom stuff. He was nerves as a whor& in church the first time I did a custom mural. He wouldn't even stay around to watch.

[jbwelda]

milt i guess thats the same principle as warming up your spray cans in hot water before using...if you dont do that you should try it.

well i guess its not the same in some ways: your idea would make the paint flow smoother maybe; warming a spray can increases the pressure thus the atomization, and the paint being warmer makes it flow smoother, so that part at least sounds like the same concept.

[ramonesblues]

When I was just starting out painting cars(mid sixties) we used to warm the synthetic enamel on a hot plate to thin it and shoot it without thinner. it gave an incredible gloss, but was risky. The warmer you make the metal and paint the better, to a point. you don't want the paint drying to fast, as that causes a lot of other problems. If you take some time to experiment, you'll eventually get some great results. good luck.

[samdiego]

I paint outside and noticed the benefits of El Sol years ago, especially when I lived in Tucson. I could polish the standard enamels (Testors, Pactra . . .) after a day of letting them sit on the porch. I'd set everything out in the sun for about 15 min to warm and warm the can in hot water. This stuff would flash in about five minutes but still flow out really well.

Edited May 31, 2008 by samdiego