Prepping for paint

[zoom zoom]

I know most of you are getting ready and heading out for madness, so I really appreciate you taking a few minutes to look at my thread, I have the next 2 days off work, so I need to strip my car of the bumpers/lights/mirrors and sand it, and hopefully get the bondo work done so I can paint later this week or next.

I was wondering if you guys could give me some pointers, what's best to use to get the old clearcoat off, it's chipping and peeling hardcore. do I need to sand it down to bare metal all over, or just get the clearcoat off and primer over it?

What's the best method of stripping the old stuff, I have a sander with a variety of sandpaper grits, a drill with a wire cup, a grinder with wheels (can buy anything I need whatever is easiest)

Any other bones you can throw my way are great too, stuff I should look out for or be particularly careful about etc.. I want it to look nice, it's not going to be pro by a long shot being my first time, but hopefully it won't be too bad.

[zoom zoom]

oook.. I worked on it for a few hours yesterday, and a few hours today, I hope this is good enough to paint on, i still need to sand the rest down, and i really wish i could figure out how to get the trim/molding off without tearing it up.

http://i55.tinypic.com/2ywg8dv.png

[FeistyFesti]

I think you just need to scuff up the old paint with 320 grit all over the car to give the new primer and paint a "mechanical tooth" to adhere to. I'm gonna be rolling on Interlux Brightside yacht/marine paint at the very end of October for my paint job. I'm gonna scuff with 320 grit and just rolling on 4 coats and wet sanding and polishing the final coat.

[zoom zoom]

with the clearcoat chipping off like it is i don't think the paint job will last long if i don't get all that off.. so i'm gonna sand it down to the old paint/primer with 60/80 grit and go over that with some 300ish grit and paint.. i had to get all the paint off that one spot for the bondo that's gotta be put on it, there was a massive dent there i popped out, but it needs bondo to be a smooth surface.


I really would like to find new door trim that keeps water out of the doors, and at the bottom of the windsheild, the rubber crap is peeling off the chrome strips , and it really looks like #$%t new rubber strips on the top would be great too but i doubt i'll ever find those.

[lessersivad]

By what it looks like in the pics, I'd say you got it sanded down far enough.

What kind of paint/method are you planning to go with?

[zoom zoom]

uhm, i bought a spray gun a couple weeks ago, it says it's compatible with "most oil based paints"

as far as the paint itself is concerned, i don't really know if there's a certain type/brand I need or what. Haven't even decided on a color(s) yet honestly. I was wanting a matt/gloss black, but my g/f veto'd that idea, and left me with no other clue as to what color is acceptable. so I was thinking maybe a blue on the bottom and black on the top? divided by the ridge in the panels, oor.. really not sure yet.

[lessersivad]

If you're just going oil base like say from the hardware store or home depot/lowes then I would make sure to get the same type of primer. I've had pretty good results, primer wise, with primer made for rusty metal. I buy the red oxide. I don't know if it is available in other colors such as gray, or not.

The good thing about using the primer is you can kinda get the "feel" of your new spray gun. If you have an error you can either wipe most of it off with mineral spirits or wait for it to dry and sand it off.

2 tone red oxide/gray may be an option if you're going for a matt finish.

[hotrodin4me]

If you want the car to look nice you need to do a final sand with 600 not 320.
you will see sand marks in the paint if you dont use 600 as a final sanding.

[zoom zoom]

If you want the car to look nice you need to do a final sand with 600 not 320.
you will see sand marks in the paint if you dont use 600 as a final sanding.

are you talking about sanding the base metal with 600, the primer, the paint coats, or the clear coat?

So far I've been using 60 grit for getting the clearcoat off, and it's working pretty good, I hit parts of the car with some wally world primer just to cover bare metal until i can get the rest sanded and ready.. will it be ok if I just primer over the cheap primer or do I need to remove it? also, should I go back over the car with a finer sandpaper than 60 before hitting it with primer?

I was thinking just leave it as-is, primer it, then hit it with like 220 grit, primer again, and sand with 220, then paint..maybe use some 400 on the paint coats..


pics of it so far..

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.294620877231353.91615.100000503297459&l=f061c3e39f&type=1

sorry I haven't had time to crop/upload those most recent ones... this is what I did last week and during the week..

http://i52.tinypic.com/oiat07.png

http://i53.tinypic.com/25ro70p.png

http://i56.tinypic.com/2aiq7f7.png

http://i53.tinypic.com/287f2ih.png

http://i55.tinypic.com/2ywg8dv.png

ALSO.. I really want to get new trim for the door/window & windshield, so if anybody has info on where to procure that stuff PLEASE, let me know. Doesn't have to be OEM or w/e, as long as it works and doesn't look horrible.

[mikeand]

PnP in Columbus shows having two Aspires on their lot...long hike for you I know.

[zoom zoom]

I really don't mind driving that far, it's just finding the time for it, my work schedule consumes my life, and the time I do get is being put into kids/cars. Even if I do get a chance to get up there there's no telling what shape the used stuff is in, so I'm looking for new stuff if at all possible, i don't care if i spend 200 bucks on it, as long as the crap works, i'm getting fed up with this stuff as it is, it's a ton of work, and I want it to look nice.

[Flyin4stroke]

I just sanded mine again after I got hit in an accident. I started with 80 grit on a dual action sander. Scuffed everything. Went to metal where bondo needed to be applied. Then I went back over the car with 120 then filler primered then light sand with 180 then primer again and hit with 400 for base coat. The main thing u have to focus on is any scratches or dips in the paint will show. So sand the spots all the way down where it is chipping or peeling. If it's peeling get it off the car before it causes lifting issues later. Here's a pic of my last paint job it was my first too. Wet sanding clearcoat is where it gets tricky.

[zoom zoom]

Thanks flyin4stroke, from the pic that car looks great! Basically that's what I'm about to start doing, primer over this 60 grit sandpaper then use some 120, primer/400 grit.... Couple questions tho..

What type of primer did you use on your car? spray or rattle can? I've been instructed to use "acryllic enamel" but I've already sprayed walmarts "automobile primer" over spots of bare metal in an attempt to avoid surface rust. I'm not sure if that needs to come off before I spray the acryllic enamel primer or not?

Did you use the same metal primer for the plastic bumpers? I have the rubber bumpers and the rubber side trim for the aspire to paint.

I've been procrastinating like crazy with this project, I just got burned out with all the sanding, but it's time to get on it again if I want it done before the end of the year. +the lack of new materials like the window trim kinda disappointed me, I'm still not sure what I'm doing there yet but I'll worry about that when I get there.

[zoom zoom]

This is the type of paint job I'm going for..

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/nerd_racing189/mycar-COPY.jpg

I want to stick with a budget of around 200$ for paint if possible, I can't imagine why it would cost more, I need primer, 3 colors, and clearcoat. I don't know if I'll really go for the acrylic enamel or not, I need to do more research on the differences. From what I understand (pls correct me if I'm wrong) "AE" doesn't require clearcoat. Which means it will fade. (I work on the river and we use oil based paint and no clearcoat and after 6 months the boats paint fades horribly)

So primer, base coat blue (whole car), tape off rear and spray gray (whole back half) then tape off 6" +/- less of the rear half and spray it darker grey almost charcoal, then call my buddy to come airbrush the lines between the color changes, and clearcoat. Yea, it's alot of work, but I've got the time.

Now from what I understand you can't mix paints like AE and laquer and urethane.. so I need to do some googling on what type of paint I need to use. I don't understand what basecoat/clearcoat system means, i thought all paintjobs were primer/paint/clear, and I hope it's just me making it harder than it is instead of it actually being this retarded.

[Flyin4stroke]

Yeah I'm need mine back soon and now is my busy season at work so it keeps getting put off. I was going to start spraying my engine bay today but worked popped up a d yesterday it rained all day.

I used rattle can primer this time. Last time I only primed half of the car with a spray on acrylic primer cause we ran out in the process. I wasn't footing the bill so I just sprayed it cause I built this car for a friend. As long as you have a good surface to lay paint to I was told it will hold. The people at the paint place told me that if the car already has paint on it and isn't in that bad of shape then scuff and that will be the primer. I'm no painting expert I'm sure priming the whole car would net a better result, especially with a high quality primer. But I don't have that kind of cash laying around I just dropped 5 bills on my new paint. What most people pay for there cars.

Also for anything that can flex such as rubber or plastic you want to use a product called bully dog. It makes paint stick. It's about $15 a spray can but you only need to do you bumpers and spots. It's a great product. you can also add it to you paint because it is 100% water clear primer. Here's the lid off of my new color of paint. Self etch primer where you can't sand such as the engine bay areas.