spray painting a chassis? please help!

[dmccaulley]

Ok so i decided to mod a case for myself. I picked up an Antec 300 case on sale at micro center.

The first on my list of mods was to spray paint the chassis matte black.

I used the place holder plates (the ones u pop out and throw away) in the 5.25 bays to test my paint since its the same material as the case itself.

One of the plates i sanded, the other i left alone and just painted. The sanded one looked kinda weird, but the one i did nothing to came out looking fantastic.

I dont want a really deep shiny black, and I was happy with the way the test plate came out so i took the case apart and put a single coat of paint down on the chassis without any sanding. While it was starting to dry i dropped a screw driver on one of the test plates, and the paint just scraped off cleanly. I started scratching at it more with the screw driver and the paint on that test panel just comes right off. It sat there for a few hours drying (and seems dry to the touch). Now im freaking out and worried about the paint chipping or peeling...


This is an antec 300 case (right out of the box), with a steel frame. I ONLY painted the steel frame, not the panels or anything. I used krylon spray paint, 1 coat with no sanding.

Is there any danger of the paint peeling or chipping off? I dont want paint flakes all over my hardware which could potentially ruin something. Is the paint job ok or is it going to become a problem? If so.. is there any way I can save it?

thanks so much in advance,

-dan

[Commando]

Just sand it down and paint it again. No big deal.

Yes you have to worry about chipping and peeling. Surface preparation makes a huge difference and isn't that hard.

I don't know if your dealing with plastic or metal so here's how to prep both.

Plastic
- sand with 600 grit sandpaper (you can get this in the automotive section)
- spray a light coat of Adhesion Promoter ( you can usually find this where the spray paint is)
- spray several light coats of your color
- sand smooth with 1000 grit sandpaper
- spray with clear coat (to protect the paint)

Metal
- sand with 600 grit
- spray a light coat of self etching primer
- sand with 600 grit till smooth
- spray your color
- sand smooth with 1000 grit
- spray with clear coat.

Hope this helps

TD

[Spawn-Inc]

only problem with matte finish and a clear coat is it makes it shiny. thats why i never do that when i spray matte black.

i've painted 2 cases matte black. both i never presanded or did anything really. just wiped it down. granted this is not the best paint job in the world no question but it works and looks good. it scratches easy but i don't really mess around with it for it to get scratched.

note that i did about 2 coats.