Genuine VW Color-matched Spray Paint info Thread

[kcfoxie]

So, my can of Cyber Green metalic flake spray paint from this site:

http://www.performance-cafe.com/prod...oducts_id=1256

has arrived. It's genuine VW/Audi paint in a spray bottle with another bottle of clear coat to seal it. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!

Now, here's some notes for first-timers like me:

The color dash look takes time. I did two tests: the first was to take a brillo pad and acetone to the cluster part of the dash (removed from the car of course) and then to paint the budvase holding trim without acetone to see the results. I'll get photos up once I get home from work today.

Results: ACETONE IS REQUIRED!! The areas that I didn't hit with the acetone-soaked brillo pad (wool pad) bubbled and cracks and did not take the paint, the entire budvase peice did this too... i'll have to acetone/sand those back down and re-do them.

I also tried to fix some nicks in my bumper by the trunk... gotta re-do those too since it pooled and ran.

However, the paint itself is awesome. 100% match. It cost me $32 total to do this experiment, that's for 2 cals of 157mL of paint, one being your paint color and the other being clear coat.

I'll install & photograph the finished dash peice and start working on my others... as I said, pics to come!! Happy painting!

[Ivy]

Can't wait to see the pictures. I've been thinking about doing this but I'm not a very successful "do it yourselfer" so it makes me nervous.....

[kcfoxie]

I can't wait to get them up. The biggest problem is having it pool and run. It takes a somewhat skilled hand. That, and, I am impatient as the day is long and I was in a rush... keep in mind these will be a less than 20 mins combined job... the cluster peice is OK on the outside for the most part but I'll still redo it. However the cost of experimenting was very affordable!

[oneighturbo]

nice find!

[kcfoxie]

Here are the pics: you can see the budvase component didn't take at all because I didn't prime it with steel wool and acetone.

The speedometer cover looks OK shy some parts I missed in priming and the running... it's also a slightly different shade of green because it's not got clear coat.

One of the cool things about this paint is you can spray it into the cap and use it like a brush-on for touch ups. I was reading the instructions that came with it in the cap... pretty amazing stuff, I gotta say. Sorry the pics are so bad, I'll try and get some in the daytime tomorrow.

[Breez]

Thanks for the info, I have the touch up paint (VW "brand") that was a little under six bucks, just to fix some spots on the car that previous owner scraped, but I wanted to paint my interior handles Techno Blue pretty soon, so your spray paint seems like the answer for me!

Thanks, keep posting the pics!

Bree

[FineExampl]

I too ordered some of the genuine VW paint from performance cafe. SLOW shipping if you ask me. I have yet to try the stuff out.

Just a small FYI, the foam insert on the guage thingy comes out if you wiggle it enough. I did and it made my painting easier as i had a place to put something to hold it up with. A wire coat hanger worked marvelously.

Also, your photos are the very reason you MUST strip the pieces before any painting begins.

I have to ask, how was the spray on the genuine cans? The nozzle is different than i'm used to with the Duplicolor cans. This seems more of a regular aerosol nozzle like you would see on a can of hairspray. Is it a smooth misty spray? If so things should be fine.

I'm not overly happy with performance cafe though. I was kind of falsely lead to believe these were full size cans, which they are not. I very well may need alot more paint to cover my wing. Also, for what it's worth, i didn't want nor did i need the clearcoat. I wanted a full size can. I think i'll have to get something else to use as a basecoat to my basecoat just to get the maximum coverage i need for that large of an area.

Here's what you get. (and sorry for diving into your thread this way. i only want to help. )

[Breez]

Thanks John for posting the pics of the cans!

John, do you think that that size can will be enough for my two interior handles?

[FineExampl]

I think so. Just watch your overspray. Short even bursts.

Did you ever see the little robots in the "Its A Small World" ride at Disney world? How they have a smooth even motion from side to side? That's how you want your spraying hand. Do the robot when ya spray.

[Breez]

I got stuck on that stupid boat on that ride for over three hours inside that thing!!! NEVER AGAIN am I doing that!!!

I wish we lived closer you could help me, you are the EXPERT of all experts!

I am nervous because I tend to have that "more is better" approach... and I know I need to behave myself if I want it to turn out okay!

[FineExampl]

More IS better, but in small doses. 100 light coats are FAR better than 10 heavy coats. Remember, you're building here. You have to build slowly and gradually otherwise you end up with crap.

My first bout of painting last year ended up EXACTLY like my buddy KC's did in the pictures. I had to find out the hard way you need to remove that outer layer before painting. Once you do though, WOW!

[kcfoxie]

Yes, the Cafe was really slow. However, these cans look as if they're coming from Germany.. so I don't mind. Also the site said expect a 2 week ship time due to demand. However, I too was disappointed with the size. I knew it came with a clear coat because it said so on the page.

Now, yes, it does seem more like hair spray. I've done more with US-sold ColorPlace spray cans and I thought I'd be able to use this stuff with ease... um, yeah, lol, not so much!

The price is still way cheaper than taking the parts to a shop to be painted... IMHO at least. Plus, the satisfaction of doing it yourself!

I would recommend using the clear coat on your wing, though. I noticed my CG was duller w/out the clear coat when compares to the car's coat. You can't really see my overspray and running well in my pics -- its there. Thats why today I'm acetoning and sanding ALL the parts again and letting a friend of mine do the "little" trims (he's used to painting with REAL paint guns as well as aerosol cans) and I'll get pics of a more "pro" go with the stuff.

I was impressed that it really IS the same paint, just in a spray can. I'd suggest spraying into the cap and using a brush to manually paint (I should have done this myself).

Thanks for the extra input John -- it does paint the "complete" picture. I definetly don't want someone to order a single can thinking it'll paint their entire dash -- it really won't. I was kind of thinking this; but I reminded myself that it's a genuine VW product designed for *touch ups* and touch ups usually aren't "paint the entire fender, please!"

Good luck, I'll post more pics today as we work on the car. I want to patch my door handle and nicks in my bumper as well as the grab handle ends and the two dash trim bits next to my speedo.

[Ivy]

I love the color. This is great information for me! Thanks, can't wait to see the progress some more!!!

[Breez]

I know that when I ordered my small bottle of touch up paint, it had to be mailed as a "Highly Flammable" and "Dangerous Material" through the post office. The dealership warned me that it might take a couple weeks, even though they were the size of nail polish... so if mine took two weeks and yours are much bigger bottles... maybe thats why they are so slow...

[BeetleCouture]

I'm not sure if VW makes them in cans, but I know for my mothers Mercedes someone keyed her car pretty bad and my father didn't feel like paying his insurance deductible and instead he bought the color matched paint in a little paint can and bought a spray gun from ebay for like $20 (you need an air compressor for this) and the car looks like new!

If you want to invest a little money into it, here the place he bought the spray gun head from:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pro-Touch-Up-AIR...QQcmdZViewItem

This is probably how i'm going to be doing my interior pieces once a grow a set of balls. Looking good though! I know my pieces will look a lot worse than that the first time I try.

[kcfoxie]

I'll post pics of the peices in my car today hopefully.

[dragonplayboy]

not to be critical, but that really doesn't look too great, you should sand it down to bare plastic and do the prime-base-clearcoat method, it's really worth it in the end. Also, the paint will start to flake off which will look aweful eventually and be messy. check out the thread where I posted the pictures of my wife's beetle's interior, I think I posted a basic how-to. It's not hard, just time consuming.

[dragonplayboy]

Also, you can use autozone's spray primer at 3 or 4 bucks a can, same with their enamel clear coat. automotivetouchup.com has exact paint match spray cans, and their shipping is really fast.

[diabolique]

I got color matched spray from my VW dealership... the guy behind the counter didn't even know it came in spray, but I was insistent and he finally found the product code. It took about a week to come in and I think it was about 30 dollars CDN. It was worth it and way better then using the stupid goopey "touch up" paint that comes in the tiny little cannister especially for interior painting. However I would recommend using a Krylon for plastics paint colour that is similar to the colour that you want to paint and then using the VW colour matched paint for the upper layers. Makes a big difference in cost as Krylon cost $6 a can as opposed to $30. Unfortunately I didn't think about doing this until about 1/2 way through my painting project, but it worked out really well.

[Breez]

Originally Posted by kcfoxie

I'll post pics of the peices in my car today hopefully.

Any pictures yet?