Re-Spray Nightmare

[secubis3]

I decided to respray my car (albeit one panel at a time) after doing some rust removal and minor repair work. I started on the rear panel by the petrol filler cap. Now after reading the thread from skatiechick and marias' reply on spraying bumbers ( can't be much difference between bumber and panel spraying can there?) I set to work. After a while the panel was finished, but when I spilt petrol on the panel the paint sort of melted in front of my eyes. :banghead: :censored: So after days of hard, slow and repetitive work I am back at square one.
Did I miss something or what??? I have never seen this happen before, there is nothing in the manual about melting paint. Can anyone shed some light on this? am I missing a prep stage or am I going mad.
Going to a garage is not an option as I want to do it myself ( it's the only way to learn!!!)
Cheers S

[E_T_V]

What paint did you use to spray the panel with? Some are soluble in petrol (hence the problem with them attacking paint). Also fresh paint usually isn't dry for a week or so after it is painted (unless it is cured in an oven) and during this stage it is vulnerable to solvent attack moreso than when it is completely dry. Also you need to be sure that the primer is totally dry before applying the top coat else the solvents from the topcoat allow the primer to become liquid and the the whole thing becomes a sticky mess.

[secubis3]

I used paint from Halfrauds. I used a red plastic primer, then a grey primer then the red flame 89 paint.
I gave the primer 36 hours to dry then sprayed with the overcoat. the paint had been on for ten days before I spilt the petrol.

So is the paint from Halfrauds the wrong type of paint? or do I just need to be careful when filling up?

[E_T_V]

Why are you using plastic primer on a metal panel? I assume it was a metal panel you were spraying. That plastic primer really does take its time to dry before you can put anything else (including grey primer) over it. I made this mistake when re-spraying some wheel trims and it turned into the sticky mess I described above. If a plastic panel isn't flexable then you can usually leave out the plastic primer if the surface is already painted or has a good matt surface to key into.

I'd try spraying it again without the plastic primer as in the end I found it wasn't worth using on my wheeltrims. I'd leave normal grey primer to dry for 24-48 hours to dry before I applied a top coat. If you don't want to re-do the whole lot you can test it out on the fuel filler cap or similar small test panel to make sure first.

[secubis3]

So it's a case of stripping the damaged area and starting again ( without the plastic primer) being careful not to spill petrol when I fill up.

So is it also best to use laquer to protect the paint or does it look after itself once it is dried?

[mgdavid]

paint that requires a lacquer coat is clearely labelled as such, even from Halfrauds! So it's just a case of 'read what it says on the tin' and it will 'do what it says on the tin!'
good luck,