I have several bad spots in my '88 GTA's paint. I am going to prep it for an all-over paint job. Here are some pics of the areas of greatest concern. Can you body guys give me some advice on this? 1) Previous body work on top of sail panel. The bondo has cracked and chipped. What's the best way to fix this? 2) Paint has "delaminated" ... bubbled I guess is what you'd call it ... and cracked on the passenger side quarterpanel just behind the door. What can I do to ensure that my new paint will be OK in this spot? 3) On the hatch (this is a notchback), there are several places where the paint has chipped off of the fiberglass. Again, what's the best way to make this repair in order to keep this from happening again? 4) I recently had some repair done to the hood in order to fix a badly dented spot. Underneath this primer is a little bondo. Would it be OK to just scuff up the hood and paint directly over the scuffed hood and this primer, or should I choose another course of action? Thanks, guys!

In regards to the bondo, dig it out and start over, its already been compromised. In theory you could sand down to the end of the cracks, scuff with 80 grit and add more goop. Id suggest that if youre doing that much grinding, you might as well replace it with newer better stuff, since youre probably intending on a good looking driver.

In regards to your hood, If thats automotive primer, wet sand it with whatever your basecoat recommends and sling some paint.

If thats rattlecan primer - the correct answer is to sand it off when youre done fxing your sail panel, scuff the car with whatever your automotive primer recommends, bomb it all with primer and then base and clear it out.

I painted my car with the hood, fenders and trunk off the car; I also removed any emblems, the mirrors, headlight doors and the vents in the hood and fenders. I also went and taped over or removed the weather stripping and all the lights.

Nate

It's automotive primer. What about the rest of the hood? And what about the bubbled/cracked area behind the door? And the chips on the fiberglass? Do I need to get rid of ALL the bad paint (it's not the original paint ... I'm guessing there is factory primer/paint and then this paint is on top of it), or just smooth out those spots and shoot it with a sealer?

2 coats of paint and clear? I suppose the correct answer is to strip the car (I know I know...sorry) That a LOT of mils of paint there. Id definitely consider stripping it if youre going through a color change, since you'll need to remove the front fascia, fenders, tail lights, mirrors, hood vents etc etc.

Heres a pic of mine when I primered it just to give you a feel for it

Nah, it's factory primer, then base/clear. Then that was scuffed and a single-stage enamel was sprayed on top of it. I don't want to strip all the way to metal, but I do want to get rid of the top coat of paint. That was my concern for the work that has been done on the hood. Underneath that is still the single-stage paint.

Id put some 120 on a sanding block and take off the top layer of paint...maybe some 200 wet, try to feather any edges and spray a sealer/primer on it.

There are reasons why paint cracks and peels like that. bad adhesion between materials. the only way to ensure that this doesnt happen again is to stripp the car down to bare metal. i know that you dont want to hear it but thats it. Now you can try getting away with sanding through the top coat, yet its not much more to take it all the way down. do what you want, but if the paint delaminates again you will have no one to blame but yourself. Go to http://wwww.autobody101.com and check out there forums. this topic has been covered multiple times. Just my