Painting a Hood

[ponysarepretty]

A friend and I are going to paint the hood of his car... what kind of a car it is I will not reveal, but it is a pretty beat up car and it looks very faded. What I am thinking of doing is:

1. Taking off the hood by the hinges
2. Cleaning with a strong detergent.
3. Wet sanding with 600 gritt?
4. Duplicolor Primer + Black Paint + Clearcoat
5. Wait a couple of hours.
6. Mount the hood again.
7. Wait a couple of days then wet sand the clearcoat... (what gritt)?
8. What else?

 

[Red2000GT]

Wet sanding is tricky but start with about 400 grit,then move to 800,then if required,1200. You don't need to wait 2 days before wet sanding and make sure you have lots of water supply to keep the sand paper clean.

 

[urban96]

when wetsanding the clear you might wanna use distilled water with a dab of dish soap

 

[ponysarepretty]

wet sanding is essential? my friend isn't that picky seeing as how his car is basically dulled metal right now justa fun project more than anything else

 

[Turbo92PGT]

Wetsanding the hood before primer and paint is necessary to have a half decent job. But the wetsanding of the clearcoat is just to get any dirt nibs and such out of it. Its not necessary, and i dont think i'd even waste your time if you're just using spray paint cans to paint it. Its not going to turn out that great. Just the quality of the paint in those cans and the small fan. Might be kind of hard to get it to look nice, but hopefully. Good luck

 

[STNG_96]

Have you ever painted before? I actually did a complete 1st timers job on my tempo this past summer. We sanded the whole car with 400 grit, then used rubbing alchohol to clean it, and sprayed a one-stage, rather that base,coat,clear. Then we used 2000 grit to wet sand and buff. That step is very crucial, wet sanding and buffing can make a really bad paint job look good, so be sure and take your time, and be patient, there is some hard work involved.

 

[Turbo92PGT]

I do paint and bodywork for a living and am going to school another year to further myself with it =/ lol you're exactly right as far as the buffing being important. I just dont think with spray paint, the film build will be thick enough to sand or even just buff without burning through. And with spray paint I WOULD wait ATLEAST 2 days to sand/buff it. Spraypaint takes forever to thoroughly dry.

 

[ponysarepretty]

I do paint and bodywork for a living and am going to school another year to further myself with it =/ lol you're exactly right as far as the buffing being important. I just dont think with spray paint, the film build will be thick enough to sand or even just buff without burning through. And with spray paint I WOULD wait ATLEAST 2 days to sand/buff it. Spraypaint takes forever to thoroughly dry.

I learntthat thehard way when i pressed into my freshly painted interoir pieces, leaving lovely finger prints

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Keys to a good paint job:

-surface preparation, get it perfect the first time
-smooth even pain application, many thin layers are best
-dust control
-surface finishing
-final coating

If you screw it up do not be afraid to just go back to a harsher grit sandpaper, knock down the finish, and spray it again.

 

[KronicRacer]

it will many take many cans of spray paint and time