Painting Urethane Air Dam and Flex Agent

[AlbatrossCafe]

I am painting my Urethane air dam soon to color match my silver Z. I have everything I need except the actual paint itself. I know you want to use a flexible paint or add a flex agent to your paint so that when the urethane flexes, the paint doesn't crack.

I don't really have access to compressed air or a sprayer. I was hoping to do everything from spray cans. If I do that though, I can't mix a flex agent beforehand.

My questions:

• Anyone know of a automotive-quality silver spray paint that is flexible? (I couldn't find in my searches)
• Do I have to pre-mix color match paint and flex agent before spraying? Or can I do something like "spray flex agent first" and then "spray color match on top of it"?

I was hoping to get away with using a simple paint like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3UUJ7K/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=IN3TLZYGFQ6T3&colid=1MCCHSQKI1JT9&psc=1

But I am worried it will crack during mounting/normal driving without a flex agent.

[Mark Maras]

 Check out dipyourcar.com. 

[motorman7]

  I used Bulldog Adhesion promoter on my Yellow Z urethane Air dam.  Works pretty well, much better than paint on plastic.

https://www.amazon.com/ADH-PROMOTER-15OZ-AERO-KLE-ETPO123B/dp/B005IUBMS6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515617607&sr=8-1&keywords=bulldog+adhesion+promoter

[AlbatrossCafe]

18 minutes ago, motorman7 said:

  I used Bulldog Adhesion promoter on my Yellow Z urethane Air dam.  Works pretty well, much better than paint on plastic.

https://www.amazon.com/ADH-PROMOTER-15OZ-AERO-KLE-ETPO123B/dp/B005IUBMS6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515617607&sr=8-1&keywords=bulldog+adhesion+promoter

I've ordered exactly this so far. The question is, what did you put on top of it? Did you do a primer? Or did you just go straight some kind of "duplicolor" automotive paint?

[motorman7]

I sanded the urethane air dam with 600 then 1000 grit.  Then sprayed on Bulldog, then sprayed on final paint.  No primer

[AlbatrossCafe]

43 minutes ago, motorman7 said:

I sanded the urethane air dam with 600 then 1000 grit.  Then sprayed on Bulldog, then sprayed on final paint.  No primer

Cool. That is simple enough. How long you had it on there, and any cracking yet?

[motorman7]

Around 4 years and no cracking.  The initial paint that was sprayed by the shop directly on the urethane and started flaking off in less than 3 months.   

[Patcon]

The guys who use to paint for me used Bulldog on air dams.

As far as painting, rattle can paint really isn't very durable and will come off with some solvents. Some paint shops can mix up colors in catalyzed spray cans. The best thing is to really just get it painted or paint it yourself. You can probably get someone like Maaco to paint it for you cheap if it's off the car. Your could bulldog it first, so then they could do a final once over sand, degrease and spray.

 

[AlbatrossCafe]

Thanks @motorman7, that gives me a lot more confidence.

Glad I got Bulldog. Sounds like it is a must.

I'm gonna give rattlecan paint a try first since it is cheap and simple. If it doesn't hold up, I'll likely always take the dam off and try again at Maaco

[cbuczesk]

I used Shop Line paint with no flex agent on the air dam on my race car and it's holding up fine after 5 years of racing, wrecking and flexing.

Chuck

 

[Jeff Berk]

concerning Bulldog, if you plan on coating it then taking somewhere else to paint:

"...Bulldog is effective up to 24 hours. If the sprayed part is left overnight, the basecoat can be applied with no issue. If the part is left longer than 24 hours it needs to be scuffed and tacked, again. Apply 1 light coat of Bulldog before applying basecoat."

http://www.finishmaster.com/prod/assets/GBDS12326_QBDS12327_EBDS12328.pdf

[Patcon]

59 minutes ago, Jeff Berk said:

concerning Bulldog, if you plan on coating it then taking somewhere else to paint:

"...Bulldog is effective up to 24 hours. If the sprayed part is left overnight, the basecoat can be applied with no issue. If the part is left longer than 24 hours it needs to be scuffed and tacked, again. Apply 1 light coat of Bulldog before applying basecoat."

http://www.finishmaster.com/prod/assets/GBDS12326_QBDS12327_EBDS12328.pdf

Good to know!