Paint time

[Briboy]

Got first and second coat on her.

[Briboy]

And some White

[Pat911]

Looking good there.

[AnnaWilson]

Interesting painting.

[Briboy]

Looking back at the pics I realize you can see the blue is dull.
I ended up with a lot of Orange Peal due to temperature and poor mixing ratio.
So I wet sanded it and am going to shoot it with a 4th coat to attempt to get a smoother finish.
I am using Ford Blue and Gloss White Valspar implement paint that I had on the shelf already. I prefer a single stage paint like this because mess ups and later repairs are easier IMO to deal with.
Doing things "right" got the better of me so I used off the shelf reducer with the proper mix. well it is too cold for that and the paint sprayed too thick.
It looked good until dry then the orange peal reared up. I wet sanded as smooth as I could.
Armed with that info I thinned the white with acetone at more like a 3 to 2 and it went on much better and dried much quicker and smoother. I will repeat that with the last coat of blue.
Its been under 30 degrees here in NJ and my 150 year old garage is less then air tight. with the single heater running I can maintain 70 degrees however there are cold spots. I am not a painter/body guy so mistakes are "par for the course" (LOL Pun).

[55BigBlock]

Did you add a little hardener? Give it till spring and sand and buff. It will look great.

[Briboy]

Yes, Blue was Paint, Reducer, hardener. 3 to 1 + cap full of hardener.
White was Paint, Acetone, hardener. 3 to 2 to cap full of hardener this was the right mix.
I need to add that I did have a couple runs in the blue + the orange peal was not light like you would expect, so an aggressive wet sanding and a respray was inevitable.
I have to keep reminding myself..... Most people will not see what I see and Its a friggin Golf cart not a show piece...

[slonomo]

Painting is easy. Getting the paint to stick is tricky. Getting the paint to look good is difficult. Getting a show finish, extremely difficult, nearly impossible.
Add cold temps, humidity, and things go haywire. That's why I use flat rattle cans lol

I am no paint expert, but I was told by one that painting flexible body panels like a golf cart body requires a special paint or it will crack and peel. Is that true?

[Briboy]

Plastic panels like car bumpers, sport bike fairings, and golf cart bodies require an additive to make it flexible.
The body of this cart is all Fiberglass and is very thick and rigid so that was not a concern.

[55BigBlock]

I noticed you used implement paint. On my CC DS I used a quart of International Tractor Red. It is $19 from Home Depot. Any automotive red would have cost me 3 or 4 times that. Since the body is polycarbonate, I sprayed it with adhesion promoter, primed it with 2K primer, used acetone as reducer and added hardener to the paint. After about a month or so, I cut and buffed it. It's amazing what a little compound and a buffer can do.