Ducati Monster Forum

Bought a red 696 front fender for my 620 Dark and rattle canned  it black. Came out great. Then had a small "fender bender" and the fender bent with no damage but the spray paint cracked. I tried removing it and sanding it but obviously I did a poor job here. Tried some primer and rattle canned it again but as you can see the texture is whack due to the underlying imperfections. Is there a way I can get this all smoothed out and re-rattle it?

(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3719/8805091574_56e7811f4e.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65036619@N04/8805091574/)
IMG_8510 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65036619@N04/8805091574/#) by ricknieto (http://www.flickr.com/people/65036619@N04/), on Flickr

usually and following dp's instructions I did the following:

sand 320 grit then  400 and then 600 . .. I went a step further and used 800 . . Until no paint is visible then clean it use a plastic primer and then paint . . . remember rattle can takes longer to fully dry . . .

Carlos is pretty much right.

You need to sand off all the paint down to at least the OEM finish, if not all the way to plastic or the cracks will keep telegraphing.

I wouldn't use anything finer than 320 for rattle can.

If you go to plastic, you can use Krylon Fusion for the first coat and then whatever color you want. The Fusion sticks to plastic.

Can I use my Dremel with the rotary sander attachment to remove the paint then use 320Grit to smooth it out? Doing it all by hand takes forever. I dont want to do any more damage though so if I have to go it by hand I will.

I wouldn't. There is no way to keep the dremel from gouging.

I've done all of my parts by hand, 2 front fenders[one plastic red OEM, one CF], one seat cowl, an OEM Monster front fender, black to black, all done by hand, got more control over how much force I applied . . . plus used a sanding block

dp, thoughts?

Do it by hand with either a block or a soft hand pad.

Bike parts are too small to use much machine sanding.

You could start with a coarser paper...say 220...as long as you leave some material to get out the scratches.

If you hit plastic with 220 grit you'll be using an adhesion promoter and primer to fill them.

 Wet sanding makes it go much faster as well!

Got it all sanded smooth (320 then 600) down to the white. Rinsed it with cold water then dried it with a clean rag. Now... Ready to rattle can with Valspar Satin black but first ... Valspar primer for plastic?? If so how long after primer before painting?

I wait usually a few hours and help from time to time with an old hair dryer . .. humidity is a lot here . ..  from a safe distance I let the blower in low heat in 3 mins cycles with 3 off mins cycles . .  do 3 or 4 . ..  then spray a thin layer of colour and let 'touch dry' just to check for any imperfections . ..  if non are seen, apply 2 to t3 coats with at least 15mins appart from each other . .. as always I use the hair blower . . .

my surroundings might be very different to  yours . . if you have low to no humidity, then the chemicals might evaporate faster and you might finish coating sooner, but, do not install on bike right away even if dry to touch, let it sit for at least a day or two in a well vented/dry area .  .

So.. "Yes" to primer??

If the primer is specifically intended to promote adhesion to plastic then yes...otherwise see if Valspar offers an adhesion promoter then spray primer over that.

Some primers are intended to be sanded then sprayed over. Some can be used as a wet on wet sealer.

Read the can and follow the directions. ;)