Thread: Paint question - matte finish, want to gloss it up

you could wetsand to get rid of the pebbly characteristics and then for a higher gloss go with a spray polyurethane. In the future you can eliminate the pebbly look by spraying closer and in heavier coats. Sometimes the pebbled look is a nice touch. Possibly post some pics so we can get a better idea of what you mean.

also to get a really high sheen finish when sanding consider using a rubbing compound equal to between 1500 and 2000 grit. It really smooth things out and costs about as much as a pack of sandpaper.

The SEM texture paint is only to creat the texture. Once you are satified with the texture spray on the color and sheen of your choice. It sounds like you want glossy so buy a gloss paint.

Spray on in light even coats after you get good covereage wetsand with 1000 do one more coat and then spray with a clearcoat of your choice. I found that to match my interior i needed to spray a clearcoat flat. It has more of a satin sheen.

Take time to match the paint properly.

Go down to a house of paint or PPG paint house and look in the color books for the exact paint to match the color you are trying to reporduce. They will mix it for you. Get the smallest quantity usaully 1/2 a quart (~8oz) you will need to buy some reducer (basically just paint thinner) and a prevel spray gun (don't worry they are not that expensive)
http://www.prevalspraygun.com/home.htm
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=...r=&sa=N&tab=wf

they should have them at whatever paint store you go to.

You should come out of there spending about 50 - 65 bucks, you get a proffessional matching paint

Here is a picture of the before and after of my 1999 mercury cougar dash.

I am telling you the paint, the texture and the sheen are exact matches. People think its factory

Thanks for the replies. Antimatter: the SEM paint I have isnt a texture coat, its 'SEM Dark Titanium Metallic Bumper Coater'. (http://www.levineautoparts.com/semdartitmet.html)
The base color is a very close match to the interior trim of the car, but to get it matching right, my painted piece needs to be more glossy. The person I got the paint recommendation from in the first place mentioned that it dried glossier than the factory trim, so I imagine that my finish is a result of how I painted it.

I will try wetsanding first to see what the result ends up like. Ill take some before and after pics and post em up tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback!

Oh, and that preval spray gun is a great idea. I didnt know there was anything like that. Looks like a really good option for small projects.

any updates?

just make sure you have nice even coating and then wetsand away with 1000 or higher. It takes a while but you can get a really shiney finish on even matte paints. It wont be glossy but shiny. I still recomend using some clearcoat on the top. I helps protect the paint from scratches and the harsh environent of the car.

If you staified with it then leave it but i still say spend the 40-50 bucks to get the exact paint.

I've been waiting until the paint has fully cured before I do anything to it. The can says 48 hours, so I wanted to be on the safe side and give it time. The paint was still slightly dentable when I poked it with my fingernail last night (in a non-visible spot of course), so I am waiting to see how it looks tonight.
If worse comes to worse and it doesnt turn out, then I will take it some place to get color matched.

If you really want shiny, after the rubbing compound, use something really fine.

I wetsanded from 400 to 1000. Then used 3m rubbing compound, Menzerna Intensive Polish and finally Menzerna Final polish2.

i think that the work done there was awesome but the relection and glare would be a conern of mine. I would keep it satin.

Shotgun did you use a clearcloat?

Originally Posted by antimatter

i think that the work done there was awesome but the relection and glare would be a conern of mine. I would keep it satin.

Shotgun did you use a clearcloat?

Yeah. I actually wetsanded and rubbed the paint, went over it with UVPol clearcoat, then polished that all up.

Keep in mind, those pics are ones that highlight the reflections. Particularly the indoor ones. There's two 80watt halogens just outside of the frame. The reflections would be much less noticable under normal lighting.

Glare isn't as bad as you'd think at all. Though at high noon it can be a little bit much. Not so much the dash, but the reflection on the window. The body is only an inch in front of it and has the same finish so it's not much of a difference. If your wearing sunglasses it's fine. I also keep a dash cover on it most of the time. Though the particular setup of my cabin and windows help. (small front windshield, light from rear obscured from dash by seats and roof). Also that most of the surfaces that are angled towards me (particularlly in my field I left matte black). I also didn't polish up the silver on the gauge cluster as much so I wouldn't get sun spots.



The first time I painted it, I didn't polish it at all and I think it was much worse. Instead of one or two small reflective "hot spots" on the dash, the metallic flakes lying every which way made the whole dash a very bright diffuser.

There's a 14 second video here showing the glare at night. The only time it's really noticable is when it hits the tunnel.


Here's a good pic of the difference between stopping at rubbing compound or continuing with the finer stuff.