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View Full Version : [DIY] Repairing and respraying cracked plastic lips



mugenpower168
23-01-2009, 03:49 PM
Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!


Aim: to repair and repaint minor cracks and chipped front lips/spoilers.

here's what it looks like before...
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/1991/before1xc4.jpg

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/8020/before2lu9.jpg


Required: I used the following, i’m sure there are other products out there, but this worked out for me:
- Q-Bond – plastic repair kit – comes with black and grey powder and 2 x liquid adhesives
- K&H Plastic Primer
- K&H Clear Coat
- Holti coloured spray can
- 600 grit sandpaper
- 1200 grit sandpaper
- Filer
- Couple of chairs, or table if you don’t have stands for spraying

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/4862/materialsvi2.jpg

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7888/filerstu9.jpg


Steps:
1) Remove lip, set the lip on a stand. Since i didn’t have stands, i used 2 old chairs as stands.
2) Dunk the 600grit sandpaper in water and begin wetsanding the lip down, the aim is to strip away the old paint, and even out any minor bumps and imperfections. This was a bit of a bitch to do, because after a while your fingers begin to take a toll – and also probably because 600grit may have been a bit too fine to strip paint so you have to sand pretty vigorously.

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2205/wetsandzw9.jpg

3) Once all the paint has been stripped away, give it a hose down, and dry with a cloth.
4) Now patching up the crack. Using a filer, file down the crack facing the front to form a sort of ‘V’ groove along the crack – this helps the adhesive to bond the crack together.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1527/cracklh3.jpg
sorry about image quality but if you look closely, the crack has a groove through it now... its not flush anymore.. this is what you want to do.

5) Pour the black Q-Bond powder along the ‘V’ you created along the crack (i used black coz my lip is of black pvc) then put a few drops of the adhesive on black powder. Be sure to hold the 2 ends of the crack together aligned as much as possible. Mine was slightly off as you can see in later pics.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/4430/qbondsc6.jpg


6)Repeat step 5 for the other side of the crack (you don’t have to form the ‘V’ groove behind coz you’ve done it for the front already – i didn’t anyway)
7)Repeat steps 4-6 for any other cracks you may have
8) Once the Q-Bond dries (should take no more than a few seconds) begin filing it down.
9) Once you’re satisfied, give it a quick dust down and the painting begins. Set the lip back on the stands and begin spraying it with the plastic primer. Give it about 5-10min then sand it down with 1200 grit sandpaper getting rid of any uneven spray and imperfections. I did about 8 coats with sanding in between – last step is sanding.

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7035/primed1vh3.jpg
...after the first coat

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/5537/primedrl7.jpg
...after the last coat

10) Once your satisfied, begin spraying the spraying the lip in your desired colour. I did my first coat, then once dried, sanded it down with 1200grit sandpaper – to get rid of any overspray and imperfections. I did this another 2 more times before spraying about 3-4 coats on top of each other without sanding in between. Be sure to wait for the paint to dry before applying individual coats.

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/3184/paintedzz7.jpg

11) Once the paint dries, get your clear coat and begin spraying the painted surface of your lip. I ended up spraying about 7 layers of clear coat until i was satisfied.
12) Reattach your lip and your done!

and here's what it looks like now...
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/7702/after1tw3.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/2271/afterfp0.jpg


Other comments
I also realise my lip has been through a lot of abuse from gutter grazes etc, hence there are some deep scratches i didnt bother fixing. My main focus was to respray the lip and fix the crack. This is the first time i ever attempted something like this before and i think it turned out pretty good, better than forking out a few hundred to get it repaired from a panel beater or getting a replacement lip. All up it costed me about 70bux including the Q-bond which i’ve only used a little bit of. Try hold the lip as much aligned as possible, as you can see from the pics, mine is a bit off, but it doesn’t phase me too much.

Hope this helps someone!

Nismo3oi
23-01-2009, 03:51 PM
wow great job, colour matches well

mugenpower168
23-01-2009, 03:53 PM
thanks bru!

NEED VTEC
23-01-2009, 03:57 PM
where did you get the q bond from.. that stuff is the best

Red_EG4
23-01-2009, 04:13 PM
Finish is pretty good. Definitely better than before!
Thanks for the DIY write up!

mugenpower168
23-01-2009, 05:20 PM
Can get Q-Bond from Repco, yeh works pretty sweet!

simonnowis
24-01-2009, 08:30 PM
is your paint code NH-583M - new vogue silver metalic?
if so, is that the correct colour spray can you bought and whered u buy it from?
reason being, I couldnt find it in a pre-mixed can anywhere, had to get it specially mixed up at autobarn which costed $20+ ish and the can isnt even very full, always ended up needing more.

Dy_
25-01-2009, 01:28 AM
is your paint code NH-583M - new vogue silver metalic?
if so, is that the correct colour spray can you bought and whered u buy it from?
reason being, I couldnt find it in a pre-mixed can anywhere, had to get it specially mixed up at autobarn which costed $20+ ish and the can isnt even very full, always ended up needing more.

simon, try peps autospares

they mixed my can for me @ around 20$ and it was fairly big.

simonnowis
25-01-2009, 02:31 PM
thanks Dy_ will def check it out.

defibros
25-01-2009, 03:21 PM
Great DIY guide!

EK9
25-01-2009, 04:32 PM
Awesome writeup! :thumbsup:

Btw, use "macro mode" on your camera for close ups next time... that's why all your close up pics are blurry!

mugenpower168
25-01-2009, 07:10 PM
is your paint code NH-583M - new vogue silver metalic?
if so, is that the correct colour spray can you bought and whered u buy it from?
reason being, I couldnt find it in a pre-mixed can anywhere, had to get it specially mixed up at autobarn which costed $20+ ish and the can isnt even very full, always ended up needing more.

hey, yeh it is, i bought it from repco, the brand of the spraycan is 'Holts Dupli-Colour Auto Spray' the barcode is DSSB06 - Light silver (or new subaru silver). One can is 12bux from Repco.

Bludger
26-01-2009, 02:26 AM
vry good write up with very good resulkts

dynasty
26-01-2009, 03:27 PM
if u get a chance to do it again, should use some spray putty on the crack on the outside, sand it down then use primer, that should cover up the crack completely:), other than that after u use the K&H clear, if u want no orange peels, do a quick cut and polish cos its acrylic lacquer paint so it will bring out more shine :)

tezza88
26-01-2009, 06:48 PM
hey mugenpower168, can u clear ur inbox please lol i cant send my email to you

philip_pc
26-01-2009, 07:13 PM
excellent diy dude, just goes to show that most things can be repaired by yourself with a little elbow grease and motivation =)
the final result looks hot hahahah

E-Honda
07-02-2009, 04:52 PM
good write up

remember seeing your car at the yarra meet...great result for a diy

will give it a try on the missus jazz

nisboi40
08-02-2009, 09:14 PM
hey bro
looks sweet
what front lip is that!!!

Raztaz
08-02-2009, 10:52 PM
hey bro
looks sweet
what front lip is that!!!

its the EK pre facelift type R lip

nisboi40
09-02-2009, 12:32 PM
would it fit on a ej8?

mars_panas
09-02-2009, 12:36 PM
nice DIY...

care to do mine?

hehehe

Raztaz
09-02-2009, 02:35 PM
would it fit on a ej8?

if you have a prefacelift front bar then sure

nisboi40
09-02-2009, 06:21 PM
everything is stock 1996 ej8

paps02
11-02-2009, 02:52 PM
have a similar problem. i ran into a tow bar and it put a hole in my bodykit, its plastic so i think this diy will do the trick.

however, repainting the entire front bar will be alot of work, would i get away with respraying half or the specific location?????


edit** can't upload pic to show you. possible for me to email it to you and you upload???

juns
15-02-2009, 04:23 PM
Great DIY that lip turned out excellent! i'm thinking of giving that a go myself but just wondering where i could find some of that K&H Clear Coat
cheers

Raztaz
15-02-2009, 04:30 PM
autobarn

mugenpower168
16-02-2009, 12:15 AM
thanks for the comments



hey bro
looks sweet
what front lip is that!!!

hey.. its a Honda Access front lip


would it fit on a ej8?

and yeh will fit your ej8 no problem. Mine is an ej8. Will fit all pre-facelift civics (96-98)


Great DIY that lip turned out excellent! i'm thinking of giving that a go myself but just wondering where i could find some of that K&H Clear Coat
cheers

I got mine from Repco, but i'm pretty sure u can get it from autobarn too