How to 'fix' a painted case?

[angelkiller]

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!

 

[BrooksyX]

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.

 

[WhiteLotus]

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.

 

[phanbuey]

+1 for sand blasting.

 

[angelkiller]

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.

 

[phanbuey]

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.

 

[BrooksyX]

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.

 

[phanbuey]

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.

 

[BrooksyX]

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.

 

[angelkiller]

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.

 

[BrooksyX]

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.

 

[phanbuey]

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.

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

 

[Taz100420]

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!

 

[phanbuey]

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

 

[Taz100420]

lol thats awesome

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

 

[angelkiller]

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

 

[BrooksyX]

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.

 

[AsRock]

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

 

[onry]

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

 

[vbx]

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

 

[angelkiller]

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...?

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?

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.

 

[AsRock]

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.

 

[angelkiller]

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.

 

[AsRock]

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.

 

[angelkiller]

.
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.