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Who has painted their Fuel Rails - not had them done, but actually did a DIY paint job? If you have, can you please post what steps you took, the materials/paint you used and of course photos?
I used Rust Oleum Acrylic Enamel spray paint. I cleaned the fuel rails with soap and water, then a degreaser, then soap and water.
I then applied 4-5 coats of the yellow spray paint then two coats of clear on top. Turned out fine and people have told me it looks good when they see it in person. I used the same paint on the hood insulation inserts.
Doing it myself saved $250-$275 over buying pre-painted rails.
Paint has been on for about 9 months and has worn well. Look as good today as when I first installed.
I used all Automotive TouchUp products including their paint prep wipes, adhesion promoter, primer, color, clear, etc. and if I could have a do over, I would buy covers already painted. I believe my issues were user error/inexperience, and I do think Automotive TouchUp offers great products. Here are a couple of my takeaways/mistakes.
1.) If you plan to sand/smooth the covers first, good enough will not be good enough. While I was able to sand the flat areas completely smooth, some of the tight crevices that had to sanded by hand still had some slight texture. I thought the primer would be enough to get rid of the rest of the texture, unfortunately it did not. I ran into a body guy at a car show who told me he used super glue and a plastic squeegee to fill all the dimples in the plastic and then sanding took no time. Don't know how well it works, but might be worth a try as sanding the covers is a royal PITA!
2.) Cleaning the parts is the most important step. I've only driven the car 200 miles or so since I painted my covers (probably 15-20 heat cycles) and the paint is already bubbling. I'm pretty sure it had to be residual oil on the covers, but do not see how as I used a commercial degreaser, followed by dish soap bath overnight. I then allowed the parts to dry for a couple days. Just prior to painting I wiped them down with IPA and used a paint prep wipe once I had the parts hung ready to spray. I was also wearing gloves during the entire process. Don't know how I could have cleaned them better, but pretty sure that is the cause of the bubbling.
3.) Let the paint cure for a week or so before installing. I taped the edge of the covers to get them around the fuel line, but the new paint still "rolled" off the edge under the tape because it was too soft. Alternately, I suppose you could remove the fuel line for the install and then reinstall.
4.) The only tip I have that turned out great is using pre-cut vinyl letters. I sprayed the color then installed the black vinyl letters and cleared over them. You can't tell the letters are vinyl and they turned out much better than had I tried to mask and paint the letters.
Hope this helps, but for the time I have in my covers, I wish I had let the pros do it. Would have been well worth the extra $$$.
04-15-2019, 11:24 AM
Who has painted their Fuel Rails?
