Re-painting a r50 tire carrier

[NIssanBoston]

I just received my r50 tire carrier in the mail, i was thinking of repainting it because some of the rust and faded paint. My question is . basically how would i come across this? i need all the info i can get,what paint to buy what also to do step by step because i never repainted anything so i want to make sure i do it correctly. I appreciate everyone's help. thanks!

[fman]

you tube will be your friend search paint and prep

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdCViyboSXSfns8wtFx3_1g

Edited May 20, 2014 by fman

[Terranovation]

Sand the whole thing down with wet n dry sandpaper 320 grit, then wash it really well with plain water. Dry it off with a clean lint free cloth. Apply metal primer, wait an hour or two for it to dry, apply 2nd coat of primer. Wait 24 hours then sand that with a fine grade 600 or 800 wet n dry sandpaper. Wash it off and dry with cloth. Now apply your color, 1 or 2 hours between coats. Apply 4 coats overall. Then after that if you want a bit of extra gloss and paint protection you could apply two coats of clear coat. Leave it in a nice warm area to dry thouroughly. This is how I would do it for a nice smooth paint job.

[ThaBigPerm]

I did this recently when replacing my 93's carrier. It had quite a bit of junkyard surface rust, but no pitting. I used a stainless wire wheel on a corded drill to knock it all down. Used Rustoleum primer, followed by 3 coats of Rustoleum semi-gloss (the typical level of gloss for engine bays and black attachments like tire carriers). Word of warning - if you go the rattle can route test fire each can on a sheet of scrap wood before pointing it in the direction of your carefully prepped surface. The first can of semi-gloss I used had a partially-clogged nozle, resulting in huge chunks of black crud rather than a nice, smooth layer of paint. Had to let it dry to sand it back down smooth. Also, more thin coats beats a few heavy (read: runny) coats any day.

[Slartibartfast]

If you warm up the spray cans before painting (hot water works well), the paint usually behaves a lot better. It's not strictly necessary (especially if you're some place warm) but if you're going for a good finish, it helps.

 

I pretty much cleaned up my tire carrier with some sandpaper and a rag, sprayed it with rust-oleum hammered, and it still looks alright. It does fade a little over time.

[NIssanBoston]

Thanks everyone!, yeah i'm going to try to sand it down and spray it with rust-oleum and then spray paint it black tomorrow so ill definitly take a picture on how it looks tomorrow once everything is all done and finished.

[mikestewart395]

Late on responding here, but on things that are going to get beat on use enamel paint. Once cured it is harder than lacquer. When I recently painted my truck I used Black enamel. It's a pain because even though it dries by the next day it still isn't fully cured. Took mine about a month before I could finally take a buffer to it. I took it in the woods and plowed through the trees for an hour...not a scratch.