C5 door handle

[hirsty]

The drivers door handle on my C5 is broken I have obtained a replacement but it's the wrong colour. I have rubbed down the replacement but it doesn't seem to like being resprayed. Do I need any special primer? I am a complete novice regarding car paint. I have a rattle can of the correct colour and lacquer. Any advice greatly appreciated.

hirsty

[Paul-R]

You really need to prime the surface first. Wherever you bought the can(s) of paint from should be able to supply something suitable. If they're a proper paint specialist they should even be able to supply you with a few sheets of the correct (different) grades of Wet & Dry paper needed for rubbing down the intermediate stages.

[GiveMeABreak]

Car or car component spraying can be a nightmare. I stripped down and re-painted and lacquered my interior door trims as they began to suffer the known paint peel issue around the grab handles. It took me a week to do the lot. Some I had to strip down twice and start again as the paint would not take and the primer kept bubbling. Getting them absolutely spotless and grease free is essential. I had to use washing up liquid to completely degrease and thoroughly dry them (always wore latex gloves). Several coats of primer, rubbing, painting, smoothing, washing, painting, rubbing down with different grades of wet and dry paper etc. and finally lacquering several times. They ended up being a lot more solid and durable than the originals and they are now like hard shells with a nice gloss hard wearing finish. I had my paint made up at Halfords based on the paint code and used their white primer and spray lacquers. It will be a labour of love - and can be infuriating when you think you have it just perfect and then finding the primer / paint bubbling - then back to square one again.

If you get fed up - you may find it simpler (and ultimately a lot cheaper) to go to your local sprayer and get them to do it for you.

[demag]

You can also buy a neutral sealer coat that stops bleed between different paint/lacquer types which goes on before the primer.

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[hirsty]

So while my car was in for service, I spoke to the paintwork guy, who said they had been rubbed down properly but I was holding the spray too close. I then tried again using a long sweeping action and managed to get a decent finish with 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of lacquer. After drying for 24 hours I fitted it to the car. What I wasn't told was I needed 3 hands and 8" very thin double jointed fingers.

hirsty