BMW laptop project

Hello everybody I am new to this forum and I saw the paint jobs on some of these laptops and I just had a idea. Ok I have a Dell Inspiron 4100 that I got for free from a friend, and I was thinking about painting it with spray paint and then a coat of gloss. Ok here's my idea. Since I am a big BMW fan I wanted to paint the laptop BMW red (Electric Red) and the keypad black and the palm rest red. And best of all I wanted to take the dell emblem off and replace it with a BMW Steering Wheel emblem. All I want to know is what do I need to prep the laptop for a paint and help would be good. As you can see this is what I plan on doing.

I want to paint the outside of the laptop BMW red



R = Red B = Black

 

you will need to take the entire system apart, because paint can destroy computer parts.
you will need to thoroughly sand down each part and make sure it is smooth with at least 400 grit sandpaper before you go to use any kind of primer.
I would say 2 coats of primer is good.
Than after the primer has dried, you will need to lightly wet sand the primer to knock off the high's in the paint.
Than you will need to clean the surface with something like rubbing alcohol to remove any of teh remains from sanding.
Than you will need to spray down the spray paint. After every coat is dry, you will need to wetsand with 800-1200 grit sandpaper. Than after 4 or so coats are applied, it is time for clear, and you should put at least 4 coats of clear on the system to protect the paint.

Before painting anything, you need to get the bmw logo, and cut the lid to make the bmw badge fit. You may have to use a dremel to cut the cover to make the whole large enough. To make sure that it fits well, use body compound to fill the holes and make sure the surface is nice and flat, to make the system look nice.

my brother painted some parts of his computer system with year 2003 electric red from BMW. It looks really nice, the color is really sweet and it looks great with a little HOK red fireball pearl/flake.

K-TRON

 

imola red or death.

 

alpine white with piano black acccents.

mMmmMm my dream bimmer =P

k-tron's post is pretty spot on. the quality of the finished product all depends on how well u prep it. make sure u use smooth, sweepin motions.

 

Sounds like a great project and i cant wait to see how it turns out.

On another topic... what happened to notebooks like this. For something made in 2002 this is a pretty slick looking notebook. They just dont make them with the same stylings anymore. Its sad really

 

Sounds cool. I've always wanted a laptop painted british racing green with burlwood accents and a jaguar (from a jaguar steering wheel) roaring on the lid. That'd be sick. And difficult/expensive.

 

Sounds like a good project, but why put so much effort into an old POS Dell? Why not something newer and better and more worth the effort?

I do like the BMW laptop idea though, for some time I was considering getting my W7S an ///M style paintjob, but I decided it wasn't worth the time or money to do so, since its just a computer that I'm probably gonna replace in two years anyways.

 

Wow well thanks for the help. But I have one question K- Tron? What is wet sanding is that when the sandpaper is wet. Red not death BJ188. Houstoned I have a friend and he has a 1998 BMW M3 that is piano white. And redline I want to put the effort to make the POS Dell look better than all those laptops that cost tons of money that I dont have. Plus the laptop was free.

 

never had any experience with wet sandin such a small piece like laptop parts. but as far as cars go, u just drag a hose or water source with u and sand while the water is runnin onto the area u'r workin on.

 

wet sanding is pretty much what it sounds. However wet sanding needs to be done very slowly with ver fine sandpaper. Wetsanding is done to knock off the high's (buildup) of paint and make the surface flatter. This needs to be done to make the surface smooth. The water is needed because it is a lubricant, and helps keep dust down and keeps the surface clean, so you can feel what you have done. For wetsanding it is recommended to use at least 800 grit sandpaper. On my laptop I used up to 1200 grit, but my painter used up to 4000grit when applying clear coat. Going over 1200grit is not really needed, its just what my painter did for me.

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the info Houstoned and K-Tron. But i have another question and this one might seem simple but I just don't know. Ok here it is How do you ground yourself? Any help would be good.

Mr. Bullet

 

ground yourself?
I am not sure you need to do that.
But if you want to be safe, just wear rubber shoes and I guess run a wire from the spray can to a large metal object to be grounded. Its not necessary at all, but if you want to, go ahead.

K-TRON

 

Thanks K-Tron just wanted to make sure because I heard that you could fry you motherboard.

 

wow, well you are not thinking of painting it with the parts inside are you?
That is a bad idea.

You will need to take the system apart before painting, because paint is conductive and can destroy the inner components. You should wear a grounded wrist pad and rubber insulative shoes when disassembling the laptop.

From what I understood before, I thought you were asking if you needed to be grouded when painting.

K-TRON

 

No I meant when taking the laptop apart. And one more thing what are some good brands of paint.

 

for plastics, krylon fusion is the best, for spraypaint, but I am having trouble finding some in my town. I usually airbrush, but spraypaint works good too, if you dont have the equipment.

If you drive around town, you will find many spray shops and auto body shops, I am sure they can point you in the right direction, or even let you use their paint booth, to paint your laptop.

Just whatever you do, do not use a heatlamp to speed up the drying process, your laptop will melt.

K-TRON

 

Do you think Molotow & Montana spray paint will work. Its meant for graffiti but I think it will work. Plus if you go to their website they have hundreds of colors to pick from.

 

I have never heard of it, but you must try it on another surface first. A lot of spraypaints will eat right though plastics, because of the propellant used, so you need to get a brand of spraypaint like krylon fusion, which has a non plastic eating propellant.

Try emailing the molotow people and see if they can give you a yes or no response on using it on plastics.

K-TRON

 

I just sent them a email, but I I'm probably going to stick with Krylon Fusion

 

real good tip. always use the paint on a test piece before sprayin on yur actual piece.

u'r from TX so u should have alot of o'reilys or autozones. they should carry krylon brands there.

 

Well the people from Molotow replied to my email and this is what they said

"Hello,

yes you can use it for plastic but the underground
must be completely free of grease.
For better grip you can use a "Kunststoffhaftvermittler"
(Sorry i dont know the exactly word in englisch)

The Molotow Premium please in thin laminate lay on.

Best Regerds
Molotow Distribution"

First of all I think he is German and that big word means Plastic Bond (Correct me if I'm wrong). So I might order a couple of cans from them. And when the cans come in I will test the paint on an old plastic phone and see what happens. And I will check O'Reilsy & the Autozones for their paint.

 

Let us know how it works. I have never heard of them, but dont let that stop you, their stuff may be really good.

K-TRON

 

One more thing do you really need primer or can you paint with out it

 

Primer works best. I would recommend it.

 

you will need a plastic primer, and I recommend about 2 coats.
I think you can get some by Krylon, or 3M company. Its best to use the same brand as the paint, so that the chemical and aerosol repellent are the same, and they both have the same basic chemical makeup. This way the layers do not bubble or anything like that

K-TRON

 

Ok today when I was taking my laptop apart to paint it I noticed that one of the screws was tighten to tight and I cant get it loose no matter how hard I try. I was wondering if I could spray WD-40 and let it set for awhile.

 

WD-40 is not a lubricant. Try a different screwdriver or you can always drill it out.

 

Ok I will try a different screwdriver instead

 

Sounds interesting ill be looking forward to the results

 

Indeed. If you take your time and do it correctly, this should look pretty sharp. I'm subscribing to this as I'm very interested in seeing the outcome.

 

if you cant get it out, you can one,
try a penetrant, like liquid wrench, or liquid penetrant - both are mde by solder-seal. I am not sure if they will dissolve plastic, so try it on a piece of scrap plastic, like burger king toys
You can also try using a dremel, with a rotory cut off wheel, to cut a line in the head of the screw, so you can use a larger flat head screwdriver.

K-TRON