84' Cutlass pro touring build

[Tony1968]

I need some direction. The rear tail light assembly is plastic. Before I ruin anything can someone briefly explain the prep and primer steps?
Can I use the same epoxy primer?
Do I use adhesion promoter? (I have Bulldog)
Also the 'chrome' is going to be black if that matters
Thanks
Interesting on the factory writing (85 Cutlass) when mine is an 84. Guess it was made later in the year

 

[pagrunt]

I need some direction. The rear tail light assembly is plastic. Before I ruin anything can someone briefly explain the prep and primer steps?
Can I use the same epoxy primer?
Do I use adhesion promoter? (I have Bulldog)
Also the 'chrome' is going to be black if that matters
Thanks
Interesting on the factory writing (85 Cutlass) when mine is an 84. Guess it was made later in the year View attachment 209681 View attachment 209682

Scuff of the paint pretty good & don't hit the plastic surface if you don't need to. With automotive plastic/urethane body panels it is better to clean them up than totally stripping off the paint. I learned this when I was dealing with body shops & this mainly applied to production work than resto work. This way you'll still have a good base to have something for the new material to bite into. It shouldn't make a difference using the epoxy primer but there should be something to ensure the OE lacquer paint has an adverse reaction with the new paint dispite that I've seen PPG's DBU & DBC lines get sprayed over lacquer. But I would encourage a good sealer to be safe. Keep in mind this is my opinion & I've been out of the paint shop buisness for over 14 years.

 

[Streetbu]

Yes, use the same epoxy primer, and I would use the adhesion promoter also.

 

[Tony1968]

Thanks guys. Watched many videos on YouTube but all of them were for primed oem bumpers and such. I will scuff them with maroon pads and seal with reduced epoxy.
But I still wonder about the chrome plastic.?.?

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I need some direction. The rear tail light assembly is plastic. Before I ruin anything can someone briefly explain the prep and primer steps?
Can I use the same epoxy primer?
Do I use adhesion promoter? (I have Bulldog)
Also the 'chrome' is going to be black if that matters
Thanks
Interesting on the factory writing (85 Cutlass) when mine is an 84. Guess it was made later in the year View attachment 209681 View attachment 209682

Fwiw. I plan on hand sanding my bumper covers, taillights extensions, and mirrors until they're flat and all the lacquer paint is off. I'll use spi adhesion promoter then epoxy, no high build on my bumper covers, its so brittle when dried i dont wanna put it on something so flexible. The epoxy is super flexible. I have dried pucks that are almost like a hard rubber. I can bend them in half without cracking.
As far as the chrome goes, Rktpwrd used oven cleaner to remove it from his metal window trim. I wonder if itd work on your plastic beauty rings?

2 days of sanding and today laid 2 coats of epoxy then 3 coats of single stage satin black. View attachment 209553 View attachment 209554 View attachment 209555 View attachment 209556

Cars looking great. It's gonna be a badass ride real soon. Keep up the awesome work. You seemed to lay down that black pretty smooth. Did you find it easier to spray, in comparison to the ss white?

 

[Tony1968]

Fwiw. I plan on hand sanding my bumper covers, taillights extensions, and mirrors until they're flat and all the lacquer paint is off. I'll use spi adhesion promoter then epoxy, no high build on my bumper covers, its so brittle when dried i dont wanna put it on something so flexible. The epoxy is super flexible. I have dried pucks that are almost like a hard rubber. I can bend them in half without cracking.
As far as the chrome goes, Rktpwrd used oven cleaner to remove it from his metal window trim. I wonder if itd work on your plastic beauty rings?

Cars looking great. It's gonna be a badass ride real soon. Keep up the awesome work. You seemed to lay down that black pretty smooth. Did you find it easier to spray, in comparison to the ss white?

I will have to research using oven cleaner on plastic. I used it to strip underbody and it's strong stuff. I'd hate to dissolve the plastic!
And yes the ss satin black seemed to lay out better than ss white. Or maybe I'm getting a little better at the process 🤔

 

[Tony1968]

Scuff of the paint pretty good & don't hit the plastic surface if you don't need to. With automotive plastic/urethane body panels it is better to clean them up than totally stripping off the paint. I learned this when I was dealing with body shops & this mainly applied to production work than resto work. This way you'll still have a good base to have something for the new material to bite into. It shouldn't make a difference using the epoxy primer but there should be something to ensure the OE lacquer paint has an adverse reaction with the new paint dispite that I've seen PPG's DBU & DBC lines get sprayed over lacquer. But I would encourage a good sealer to be safe. Keep in mind this is my opinion & I've been out of the paint shop buisness for over 14 years.

Excellent information. Thank you!

 

[Rktpwrd]

But I still wonder about the chrome plastic.?.?

As far as the chrome goes, @Rktpwrd used oven cleaner to remove it from his metal window trim. I wonder if itd work on your plastic beauty rings?

Whoa whoa whoa, let’s slow down a little bit here, it would appear that there’s some confusion over what the oven cleaner was used on.

The oven cleaner was actually used to remove the anodized clear coating from the trim pieces, not any chrome plating from plastic. I most definitely would not recommend attempting to use oven cleaner on chrome plated plastic.

Now that being said, I did paint some of the chrome pieces on the car with great success, most notably the insides of the headlight and taillight bezels. The prep for these areas is super simple; just thoroughly scuff the chrome areas with red ScotchBrite, mask and spray on your Bulldog adhesion promoter (same stuff I used), then shoot your black.

As simple as that. 3+ years on Olds Cool now, and no paint flaking from the painted chrome areas yet.

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

Build is looking good! One tip I have that you may or may not know about/want to do. I scuffed my taillights with the maroon scuff pad and clear coated them. Damn did they look good!

EDIT: Looks like you polished yours, same effect I suppose. I know plastic headlights have a UV coating on them for protection, not sure if taillights to too. Probably wont matter, at least not for 5-10 years

 

[86LK]

Whoa whoa whoa, let’s slow down a little bit here, it would appear that there’s some confusion over what the oven cleaner was used on.

The oven cleaner was actually used to remove the anodized clear coating from the trim pieces, not any chrome plating from plastic. I most definitely would not recommend attempting to use oven cleaner on chrome plated plastic.

Now that being said, I did paint some of the chrome pieces on the car with great success, most notably the insides of the headlight and taillight bezels. The prep for these areas is super simple; just thoroughly scuff the chrome areas with red ScotchBrite, mask and spray on your Bulldog adhesion promoter (same stuff I used), then shoot your black.

As simple as that. 3+ years on Olds Cool now, and no paint flaking from the painted chrome areas yet.

I like the look of those formerly chrome headlight bezels now being black. something I'll eventually get to on my build