I'm painting my car. Any tips?

Mike SVOR

Founding Member
Mar 28, 2000
649
0
16
Hey all!
I'm finally painting my junkyard beast!
I got an air compressor and air tools for christ mosh.
I went out and bought a hand held sand blaster (kinda looks like a paintball gun)
I have the car, (from the front windshield to the rear end) stripped down to the metal.
The bumpers are off and I am taking out the rear bumper and possibly the front bumper for good.
The doors are getting put on work horses and being stripped and gutted. (crash bars are being taken out along with any other useless metal)
I am getting new front fenders. Know where to get them cheap?
I need new front and rear bumper covers for a 85 4 cylinder, no fog lights.
Where can I buy trim like side moldings, and chrome window stripping?

I have a good background with Auto Body repair. (I'm certified in autobody from highschool,, long time ago)

I have a good D.A. sander, block sander, grinders, 8" disk grinder, bondo, welder, etc...

Any helpfull hints you can give me on the base metal prep, primer prep and paint prep, including how rough to leave each before coating, etc, would be greatly appreciated.

She is being painted dark metalic blue with chrome weather stripping and chrome door handles just like it has now.


Thanks!
Mike SVOR

:D
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Clean as many dents as possible and cold fill(bondo) what ever ones u cant ding out , for the metal surface after you have done all your major (hammering) body work, lay a good thick coat of primer ( spray in overlaping patterns etc, let it dry 30 mins and spray again) and then block sand it to smooth out the primer. Usualy 100-150 grit works great for smothing primer the first run. After you get it where it looks like its decent enough to be painted, primer again (not as thick) and wetsand it, now the paint is up to you, each paint is differnt and i dont know too much about each differnt kind. I know that the bummers you hafta buy a flex addative for both the primer and the paint, the polyurathane bumpers make regualr paint just crack off, u can get that at addative at pretty much any paint store. Im sure you know most of this stuff, just refreshing from what i remember aswell! Good luck on the pain job! (ill pray for you ;) )
 
since you took it down to bare metal i would definitly start out with a good etching primer/sealer before the shell has a chance to get much flash rust. there should be some pretty good paint guides at a bookstore you can check out
 
Thanks guys,
I have the Sealer two part primer already.
I have all the trim pieces off.
The entire car is sanded down. (minus fenders, doors and bumpers)
I have to get a piano string to get the side moldings off.
The bondo work is almost done. I'm on my last coat of bondo.

How fine should I sand down the metal before I prime it? 220?

Where can I get a new fender?

Where can I get new bumper covers?

Where can I get new side moldings for an 85?


Thanks!
Mike
 
mr_woodster said:
http://secure.50resto.com/category.cfm?SID=1&Category_ID=1049

molding

fenders, i would find local, i looked them up on 50resto, it cost more to ship one than it does to buy one! :rolleyes:

bumpers are the same, try to find at a junk yard, or fix the ones you have, shipping pretty much bites on oversized items :(
Let me check and see. I think I have the complete set of chrome trim for at least the front window.


What color are you going with?
 
Mike SVOR said:
What grit should I sand the metal and bondo with BEFORE I prime/seal it?

bondo you can use 80grit to get it even ,then 120 (100-150 is ok) to feather edge it, metal is the least of your worries if its straigh, after the primer goes on and wet sanded , it fills 99% of the small scratchs you see.

Ps: when sanding bondo, make sure to keep your block "smacked" clean if your paper gets gunked up it will sand groves into your bondo...no bueno! :notnice:
 
newpnt.jpg


mycp1.jpg


I did both of these and I'm finally getting it figured out. The Black was the last one(I thought I was ready to take it on.)

This is very basic but gives you an idea.

On the Blue and White car I sanded the paint that was there, sprayed primer, sanded that with 220 and sprayed the white first and the blue last.

The black car I sanded the original red until I was happy with how smooth it was. I used a thick coat of primer/filler and then a 1ft long hand block sander. After going over it extensively I sprayed the entire car black with a "Spray-Can!!" and from about 2 feet away just barely enough to mist it. Lightly block sand again. This will uncover any imperfections(Take a deep breath when you get to that one.) When you're happy from the previous step use a primer/sealer. Two ways to go from here.

After you spray you sealer if the car still looks good to spray you can start sraying color before it the sealer dries.(so I've been told)
Instead, I hit it with the sealer, let that dry sanded it with 400 and then cleaned it with prep solvent to get ready to spray.

I sprayed 4 rounds of black acrylic enamel. No clear coat needed :rolleyes: and then kept the shop at 95*. After drying I found out I had a ton of dust in it so I wet sanded the entire car with 1500 grit and buffed it with a 1500 grit compounded watered lightly. Turned out to look like a rather high dollar paint job for $250 and a solid week of time.
Which is what your all about anyway.
 
I'm doing a base coat/ clear coat (2 stage).
I'm wondering if I'll be able to wet sand the base coat being that it's going to be metalic? And then spray clear over it.
 
You should be ok as long as your just skimming the top. Be sure to find out what your clear coat time window is and follow it. Just so it doesn't end up like 80's fords and 90 Chryslers. I've heard that caravans have sat around as long as a month before the clear was applied.