Trying to prep my car for paint. Tips/Special help?

[OrangeMustangGt]

ok, for anyone who has done a paint job, etc. what im planning on doing is sanding my beast, and spraying a coat a primer on them having it painted. what steps and grits should i use for the sanding, and what primer do you reccomend? oh im going black color. thanks!

 

[OinkAodeOink]

Unless your cars body is straight and dent/ding free, you might want to use some filler and fix the dings, before primer.
Level those out, then sand with 400-600ish, and primer it

 

[RIO5.0]

with mine i scuffed the whole car with 320 and Red Scotch-brite pads.....took care on the dings..a coat of high build primer, guide coat it...then block it out wetsanding it with 320 followed by 500...youll find any low/bad spots...
We hi-build primered it again, guide coated it and block/wet sand again up to 1000...Then go over the entire thing with Gray Scotch-Brite pads...


all i can tell you is TAKE YOUR TIME....if your doing the prep work and he's just shooting it...it best be good....any sanding scratches, everything shows after its painted/cleared...you gotta be bigtime fussy or you'll be sorry...trust me...i spent 2 months sanding/blocking/wetsanding and couldn't really see what the painter was showing me as bad stuff...i thought it looked fine...???EVERYTHING shows after its painted....

 

[1105]

Unless your cars body is straight and dent/ding free, you might want to use some filler and fix the dings, before primer.
Level those out, then sand with 400-600ish, and primer it

what he said, then go back and sand the primer with 400-600 too

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

ok i hear ya, so what im saying is do i have to remove all tha paint of just really scuff it up? also explain "high build primer" and "guide coat' thanks

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

woah ok, whell i went down to my local auto store today and saw that primer was 70! with the hardner, etc. where did you find the high build? also i bought some 320 grit, and should i really go down to the base paint, meaning the green, etc?

 

[RIO5.0]

If your car had mint panels the regular primer would suffice...hi-build is just that, it builds a thicker coat...you can fill imperfections and sand em out with going thru it and having to reprime...We used 2-3 coats of it...you can sand till its just the way you want it...stuff dries fast and sands like butter...easy to work with...hi-build is sweet for the minor chips/dings and such your gonna have, like the front bumper for example...
Guide coat is used to tell you things are flat and all blended in...you shoot a panel with your primer...then take Black spray paint and lightly dust the panel..it kinda speckles the primer..now when you sand your sanding til all the "guide coat" is gone...then your sure your sandings all blended...you can get stuff dead flat...no ripples..its really a sweet method to get stuff flat...low spots and such will show right up as they stay Black....it really tells you when things are correct...when the Blacks gone, your all equally blended in....

No, you dont have to remove all the paint....Geez, you would really have your hands full if you go to base metal on the entire car...WOW..i would scuff the entire car with 320 at the minimum...you wanna scuff the clear good....any base metal should be primed or sealed asap...lest it will rust again before you know it...
We did mine in sections...320 scuff it....go over that with Red Scotch-brite pad...use a good degreaser and clean the panel....We then used Spray-away foam glass cleaner and paper towels..wipe the panel again to get the solvent/dust off the panel...now its ready to prime...its gotta be clean....

A little tip....Armorall spray...if you used that on your car be super carefull to clean the panels good, if not, the primer will "fish-eye" bigtime...I used to wipe the Black pc on the bottom of the rear bumper with Armorall....That thing fish-eyed bigtime...i looked and went W.T.F.??? The painter said it was Armorall...He hates that stuff with a passion and has been burned by it before..

 

[RIO5.0]

woah ok, whell i went down to my local auto store today and saw that primer was 70! with the hardner, etc. where did you find the high build? also i bought some 320 grit, and should i really go down to the base paint, meaning the green, etc?

This is the hi-build i used....another excellant one is Mar-Hide 2-K, it can be hard to find..Ever here of Robbins Auto Supply??? Its a good size chain up this way and I got all my stuff through them as they sold PPG paint...

also snapped the wax/cleaner solvent i use and the Sprayway cleaner...I sanded, use the solvent, let it dry, go over the panel with Red scotch brite pad, blow it down, then wipe the panel down with sprayway til the paper towels are clean..then paint...

The guy who helped me works for Ford as a painter...he uses scotch brite pads to scuff down before primer (red)...after the final wetsanding with 500 on the primer.....the panels were done the same, only Gray (ultra-fine) scotch brite was used....smooths it up bigtime and kinda re-preps a panel for paint if its been sitting for awhile....
I had the luxury of 2 people that painted helping me....theres alot to getting a nice paint job....you'd pay 7-8 k for the paint job they gave me...i would suggest you find someone in the game to help you along...especially if your going Black...things gotta be pretty mint for that color....