How Do You Seal Matte (Flat) Black?

[WYTSKY]

Hey guys,

Originally my dash was loosing that factory black rubbery paint so I had a crack myself going glossy argon silver... which was fine but now I wanted to go to something more original looking.

I have done my third coat now and I am about half way until done (I take my time, about a day between coats and a good sand, best way for a good smooth and scratch resistant finish) but on my old glossy dash I sprayed clear coat to protect it from scratches.

As a test I just softly ran my nail down the flat black and you can see a line, I just dont want to go to all this effort to find it is so easy to scratch. Advice/ideas?

If there is no way and the matte is just really high maintenance/really easy to scratch I'd prefer to start again now with another glossy colour then to put it back in and then have to take it all out again.

This was my old colour (sorry for crappy pics, I never got a good shot of what it looked like)

Thanks,

Adam

[RusH_]

If im not mistaken, you can purchase a Matte finish clear coat,

I'm not sure where from but im quite sure it is available.

[Daleo]

If not, I'm pretty sure House of Colour do a "flatting" agent that you mix with paint to acheive a matt or satin finish.

[Hanaldo]

Hey guys,

Originally my dash was loosing that factory black rubbery paint so I had a crack myself going glossy argon silver... which was fine but now I wanted to go to something more original looking.

I have done my third coat now and I am about half way until done (I take my time, about a day between coats and a good sand, best way for a good smooth and scratch resistant finish) but on my old glossy dash I sprayed clear coat to protect it from scratches.

As a test I just softly ran my nail down the flat black and you can see a line, I just dont want to go to all this effort to find it is so easy to scratch. Advice/ideas?

If there is no way and the matte is just really high maintenance/really easy to scratch I'd prefer to start again now with another glossy colour then to put it back in and then have to take it all out again.

Thanks,

Adam

I wouldn't have gone with the sanding between coats method, I believe you are mistaken in thinking that will be the strongest way. A mechanical bond will never be as strong as a chemical bond, the paint will scratch off easier the way you have done it. Anyway, too late now and it will probably be fine. Just a heads up.

For the finish, you can get a matte clear coat as Rush said. Quite easy to use, should be available at most decent auto shops or at least a paint shop.

[adamskill]

^^^ what he said. good luck

[WYTSKY]

Thanks guys, appreciate the help.

Hanaldo, thanks the heads up, I have tried without sanding before and to be quite honest I really havent noticed much in terms of better scratch resistance sanding in between or not - the thing I have noticed that sanding helps is the final finish, just from things like overspray etc ( as I am doing it out of a can) where it can become a little rough or not completely even, just a light sand with wet and dry in between and a soft cloth to remove the dust gets rid of the small imperfections. eg. you spray a flat surface, a tiny buldge of overspray or metalic flakes dries on the surface, if you keep spraying it will get larger, but if sanded off before the next coat the surface is smooth again giving paint a good chance to get into all the pores of the plastic and end up with a smooth finish. Calipers and stuff that needs to be really tough, fair enough, but not going to be 100% smooth

I called a few places and couldn't find much. ended up getting a can of dark metallic gray gloss (similar to factory r34 dash surround) and am now nearly done ( will post pics at the end), with a few clear coats it will be really resistant against scratches and I actually think it looks better then the flat black.

Soz for shitty iphone pics, this is the colour after 2 coats

Example of annoying metallic bits needing a sand

[GoHard]

As the others have said, you shouldn't sand metallic paint. Use a tack cloth for that sort of thing. A few nice coats of clear, then sand the lp off the clear, then buff. It will then be like glass and you still have your metallic flakes.

[WYTSKY]

ahh I see, so normal paints ok (basic colours), but with the metallic flakes (which i'm not normally used to) you don't sand? I thought Hanaldo meant all spraying, but that seems to make sense with adding the clear coat... then just do this at the end? or what do you buff it with?

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4596

[GoHard]

It aint plastic you are polishing... Its paint. Normal clear coat cut/polish. After your base, 3 or 4 nice wet layers of clear, wait a few days, hit it with some 2000 to remove bumps, then any type of car polish to remove scratches. don't spray the clear too lightly or you will have your "sealed matt finish"

good luck... clear coat is tricky... make sure the humidity is low

Edited October 3, 2011 by GoHard

[WYTSKY]

Thanks mate

Will post when done.

[WYTSKY]

well, finished spraying the final coat of clear about 2 hours ago, it will be ready to put back in tomorrow, took so long because Melb's weather this week has been shocking with all the dampness and rain.

pretty happy in the end, I took people's advice and didn't sand the metallic and it did still come out really good, nice colour when the sun hits it.

I also did apply 3 decently heavy layers of clear and on the tiny bits where there was over spray/small hairs ( i was spraying this outside after all ) I gave those parts a very find sand to get rid of the little lump.

thanks for all the help!

[WYTSKY]

completed:

[wilderboy]

hey mate where did you get the dash/ac blue lights i love them!!

[pup_07]

hey mate where did you get the dash/ac blue lights i love them!!

I got some off eBay, I'm sure you can find them anywhere online but eBay is the sure fire way to go