# How to 'fix' a painted case?



## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

Hello all

Ok, so about a year ago, I painted my P180. Well, I didn't do a very good job with it, but it was my first time, so yeah. Anyway, since then, the paint has gotten nicked and dinged in some places. Since I'm going to be doing some more cutting soon, I thought I'd try and fix/repair the paint job.

So I have a couple of questions. First, is there a way to fix the little dings and scratches? If I just paint over them won't there be too much paint on the surrounding areas? Second, if anyone cares to read the the thread I linked to, is it too late to do a clear coat? Last, is there anything else I can do to improve my paint job?

Thanks!


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## BrooksyX (Apr 26, 2009)

If I were you I would just sand the entire case down and start over again. Make sure to use plenty of coats of primer, sand the primer, then use the actual paint. Also make sure to do the clear coat before it gets beat up again. Painting over your bad paint job will just make things worse.


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## WhiteLotus (Apr 26, 2009)

Personally i think your original paint job wasn't bad at all.

You could consider sand blasting it to get rid of the original paint and start all over again.


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## phanbuey (Apr 26, 2009)

+1 for sand blasting.


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## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

Sanding the whole thing would take forever... literally... plus there are some spots where sandpaper can't reach. So repainting isn't a good idea. Cool.

@ WhiteLotus
Sand blasting? Can I do that myself? (I don't think so) Where could I go to get that kind of thing done? Starting over doesn't sound that bad.


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## phanbuey (Apr 26, 2009)

angelkiller said:


> Sanding the whole thing would take forever... literally... plus there are some spots where sandpaper can't reach. So repainting isn't a good idea. Cool.
> 
> @ WhiteLotus
> Sand blasting? Can I do that myself? (I don't think so) Where could I go to get that kind of thing done? Starting over doesn't sound that bad.



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DD1C4/?tag=tec06d-20

there ya go, you can totally do it yourself (just not indoors lol)... sanding paint by hand is rediculously hard/impossible.


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## BrooksyX (Apr 26, 2009)

angelkiller said:


> Sanding the whole thing would take forever... literally... plus there are some spots where sandpaper can't reach. So repainting isn't a good idea. Cool.
> 
> @ WhiteLotus
> Sand blasting? Can I do that myself? (I don't think so) Where could I go to get that kind of thing done? Starting over doesn't sound that bad.



Do you have an air compressor? If so the you just need a sand blasting attachment for it. Shouldn't be to expensive at your nearest hardware store. You might even be able to take it into an auto body shop and have them do it for you. I remember back when I was in high school the autoshop class had a huge sand blasting container. Definitely big enough to fit a PC case in it.


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## phanbuey (Apr 26, 2009)

BrooksyX said:


> Do you have an air compressor? If so the you just need a sand blasting attachment for it. Shouldn't be to expensive at your nearest hardware store. You might even be able to take it into an auto body shop and have them do it for you. I remember back when I was in high school the autoshop class had a huge sand blasting container. Definitely big enough to fit a PC case in it.



the problem with the p180 is that the container will sand the plastic off the top of the case too...

EDIT:  You can also try graffiti remover... http://www.hotsy.com/Detergents-Gra...amp=graffiti&gclid=COGctd2XjZoCFRJexwodHRbt9g  << less messy, will work just as well.


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## BrooksyX (Apr 26, 2009)

phanbuey said:


> the problem with the p180 is that the container will sand the plastic off the top of the case too...



That is true. Good point.


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## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

The plastic on the top might be removable. It's only held by and adhesive iirc.

@ BrooksyX
No, I don't have an air compressor. I'll look into some auto body shops.

@ phanbuey
Do you think Home Depot/Lowes' will have something like that to rent? I don't wanna pay $60 for something I'm gonna use once. The graffiti remover looks interesting... you sure it'll work here?

And this is a general question, after I do one of these paint removal techniques, what will I be left with? Will the case be exactly like it was before I painted? Or will it be rougher, etc?

Thanks again.


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## BrooksyX (Apr 26, 2009)

You should be able to rent something like that. I would look into autozone. At autozone you can rent tools for free basically. What you do is pay a security deposit for the full price of the tool you rent. Bring the tool back in good shape and they give you all your money back or you can just keep the tool if you like it. That way you will just have to pay for the sand, which should be cheap.

Not sure if autozone would have a portable sand blaster though, I would guess yes.


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## phanbuey (Apr 26, 2009)

angelkiller said:


> The plastic on the top might be removable. It's only held by and adhesive iirc.
> 
> @ BrooksyX
> No, I don't have an air compressor. I'll look into some auto body shops.
> ...



well considering most graffiti is done using the same type paints as the ones you used on your case, there is no reason that something that is designed to eat away at the paint should't work beautifly... plus there is no clear coat so the paint is exposed - ready to be eaten by some chemicals.

The removers cost like $5 bucks...  i would get one and try it somewhere like on the back of the mobo tray.  Chances are the paint will come right off... and the primer might stay on for a bit longer.  
http://www.nextag.com/Graffiti-Spra...rices-html?nxtg=1ba10a240527-EE0E291FFFD93CD0

Instead of painting your case, you may want to consider polishing it.  I like the sandblaster idea because you will be left with steel which you can then use some metal polish to make it look awesome.

EDIT: this is the texture you will be left with after sandblasting http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4447/steelio9.jpg


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## Taz100420 (Apr 26, 2009)

A cheap and easy way to remove paint is Brake Fluid. Sounds funny but it WILL strip paint off anything. Just spray some all over the painted areas, wait for about 10-20 mins and remove the paint effortlessly. Then wash it off with some water and soap and dry as best as you can to prevent rust if its steel. Ive done it many times!

Sand blasting is grainy. It will go out with some primer coats!


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## phanbuey (Apr 26, 2009)

Taz100420 said:


> A cheap and easy way to remove paint is Brake Fluid. Sounds funny but it WILL strip paint off anything. Just spray some all over the painted areas, wait for about 10-20 mins and remove the paint effortlessly. Then wash it off with some water and soap and dry as best as you can to prevent rust if its steel. Ive done it many times!



lol thats awesome


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## Taz100420 (Apr 26, 2009)

phanbuey said:


> lol thats awesome




Yea we used to put brake fluid in Super Soakers and have fun with cars in the junk yard lol.


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## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

Sweet guys. So can I pick this stuff up locally? Brake fluid at Autozone (or similar) and Graffiti remover at...?


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## BrooksyX (Apr 26, 2009)

You can get brake fluid at lots of stores. An auto store would have it but you could also get it at fred myers or walmart too.


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## AsRock (Apr 26, 2009)

Maybe a wire brush depending on how well the paints on there and what you can afford to get the paint off.


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## onry (Apr 26, 2009)

media blasting is another option VS sand blasting and it doesn't pit the metal. its basically baking soda


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## vbx (Apr 26, 2009)

I would drop it off at a body shop and let them do it.


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## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

AsRock said:


> Maybe a wire brush depending on how well the paints on there and what you can afford to get the paint off.


Wire brush? Isn't that kinda like sandpaper...?



onry said:


> media blasting is another option VS sand blasting and it doesn't pit the metal. its basically baking soda


Media blasting? What's that? Where can I go to get this done?



vbx said:


> I would drop it off at a body shop and let them do it.


Any idea how much this would cost? I don't need an exact number just a rough estimate.


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## AsRock (Apr 26, 2009)

angelkiller said:


> Wire brush? Isn't that kinda like sandpaper...?



No it would actually get in the corners much much better than sand paper.  just requires some elbow grease  ( English saying ).

Just in case you don't know and go looking for some thing called elbow grease lol,  it's a metaphor for working hard at manual labour.


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## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

AsRock said:


> Just in case you don't know and go looking for some thing called elbow grease lol,  it's a metaphor for working hard at manual labour.


We say that here too. Except we spell labor differently.


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## AsRock (Apr 26, 2009)

angelkiller said:


> We say that here too. Except we spell labor differently.



.
Well i live in PA USA just that old habits die hard .  But never heard it used over here.


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## angelkiller (Apr 26, 2009)

AsRock said:


> .
> Well i live in PA USA just that old habits die hard .  But never heard it used over here.


Could be a southern thing. I dunno.


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## phanbuey (Apr 26, 2009)

Wire brush will be effective - you mentioned that the paint is chipped and scratched - that pretty much proves that the wire bursh won't have too much of a hard time with it.

IMO the paint removal "effort" rating (ranked from easiest to hardest):
1. Getting it done for you.
2. chemical reaction
3. sand / media blasting
4. wire brush
.
.
209. Sanding by hand

In terms of cost:
1. Wire Brush - $3
2. chemical reaction - $5-$10
3. Sanding by hand ~ $10
4. Media/Sand Blasting ~$60
4. Getting it done for you ~$depends on who you know.

 you can get grafitti remover online, i have no clue where to go and buy it...


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## coodiggy (Apr 27, 2009)

Here's a list of media/sand blasting service providers in your area, via searching thomasnet.com http://www.thomasnet.com/north-carolina/sandblasting-services-70410204-1.html

You can call a few of them and find out how much they charge to figure out if it's something that you can afford/want to have done. Find out if they offer media blasting; (soda, nut shell/hull or  abrasive imbeded plastic media) to prevent pitting and over heating of the metal that might lead to panels warping. Just be sure there are no plastic bits left on the parts as the sand blasting method will destroy them quickly.

Also, harbor freight has small gravity feed blasting guns and hoppers for reasonable prices, then you'd need to rent a compressor that can handle the psi/cfm of the tool. You could hand sand the bigger panels, then spot blast the hard to get stuff using the gravity feed gun. Just be sure to wash/wipe everything down real good before repainting.


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## angelkiller (May 3, 2009)

Alright, I've decided *not* to remove the paint from my case. Why?

1. Removing it is gonna be a PITA.
2. Repainting it is gonna be a a PITA.
3. After closer inspection, it's not as bad as I thought. The chipped areas that I have arn't worth fixing imo.

So now, I'm going to add a clear coat. Here's what I got:






Is that ok to use as a clear coat or do I need something different? And how many coats do you think I need? Thanks.


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## coodiggy (May 3, 2009)

hmm.. as long as the paint that was on there isn't a different chemical; lightly wet sand the previous color coat; wipe it clean with a lint free towel; cloth, tack cloth before painting, start with a "tack coat" it is a very thin fine mist coating of your clear over the whole surface; almost can't tell that it's been sprayed on; other than the sanded surface apears less dry, but not wet or even close to looking wet, just slightly darker in apearance. let the tack coat dry a bit AKA "flash over", so that it's "barely tacky" before starting on the next coat..  the purpose of the tack coat is to get small beads of clear evenly sprayed on the surface; so that there are no unevenly coated surfaces; that way the first/second coat of clear will be less likely to fish/eye/ or  orange peel..// one thing that may happen; if your paint chemical reacts, the first layer of color will soak up the clear solvent, let go of the layer of paint underneith it and wrinkle up as it expands..


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## angelkiller (May 3, 2009)

coodiggy said:


> hmm.. as long as the paint that was on there isn't a different chemical; lightly wet sand the previous color coat;


The paint already on the case is the exact same thing, just different color. When you say lightly sand, what grit sand paper should be used?



coodiggy said:


> let the tack coat dry a bit AKA "flash over", so that it's "barely tacky" before starting on the next coat..


About how long should I let the tack coat dry? 

Any ideas on how many layers of clear coat I need? I was thinkin of 2.


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## coodiggy (May 3, 2009)

Avoid wet sanding the color with anything below 800 grit, skip this step if your color coat isn't very thick. You don't want to sand through the color.. The wet sanding is just to give the finish a little tooth; something for the clear to stick to so it is less likely to peel off. You can avoid sanding the original finish if you clean/degrease it with an alcohol wipe, then wait for it to dry, then wipe it off with a tack cloth or clean lint free rag.  Use a good tack coat of clear over a well cleaned surface, the first tack coat of clear can dry/cure completely, the second should be "tacky" to the touch, not quite sticky, but not dry/cured. Once the second tack coat is dry enough "just tacky to the touch", and the coverage is such that there appears to be no unpainted surface; "it looks uniformly matte" Test the dryness/tackyness on a not obvious section using the flat of your fingernail Lightly tap your fingernail on the surface. It should be dry enough so that no clear comes off onto your fingernail, so that your fingernail doesn't quit stick, it feels like the paint wants to stick, but doesn't hold or pull off. When your tack coat is at this stage, you can apply a thin first coat, so that it looks like there is good coverage of a simi glossy coat; wait for it to dry a little; between "tacky and sticky" then apply  the final "wet" coat, so that it looks like the whole surface is glassy, but not so thick that it will run.  Avoid painting in low temperatures or high humidity, the paint should have a recommended working temp; work in a clean well vented area; need to be really clean, no dust floating around, and for some reason bugs will want to fly right into your final coat.... If they are small, just pick them out with the point of a needle leave the blemish, or leave the bug in like amber  trying to dig them out usually results in a mess.


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