Hey guys I have a 92 RS and it is half red and half ugly purple, so I was looking at painting it. Ive never done it before but I have a newborn and dont have much money to be paying someone to do it. I have someone who would let me borrow their spray gun, but I was wondering if i could start sanding now and if i sanded and just didnt get around to painting it for another year what would happen. Or do you have to sand and then paint all in one. And if i can start sanding now what do i need to do it? and could i get some specifics cause you guys know what you are talking about and use abreviations that i have no idea what they mean thanks alot
Mitchell

 

How much do you want to sand it? If you want to go down to bare metal, you definitely can't wait long to get paint on it. It will start to rust almost immediately. If you want to paint over the original paint, you can just scuff it up with a scotch brite pad or 400 grit sand paper, then paint it. If you want to go down to bare metal, think about paint stripper instead of sanding it down. Save yourself some effort.

 

i think i just want to scuff it up and paint over the original, i have a scratch on my door that goes down pretty deep and it seems like the top coat is like peeling away fro it and also i have a chip on my hood that goes down to the metal that has a rust spot on it, will i need to go down to the bare metal at these spots?
Thanks
MItch

 

No but you will need to "fill" in the scratch and chip with glazing putty then sand them smooth. But before you do that you have to go to walmart and get a detail sander by 3M so you can get the rust out of the scratches. Then do the spot putty. Let set up overnight then sand with 220 grit. Prime it then sand with 400 grit and youre ready for paint in those spots. hope that helps. For any othe bodywork questions PM me. Ill give you some pointers.

 

heres a pic of what im talking about.

SCRATCH: _____ _____
\__/

SANDED FILLER
l
l
SMOOTHE
l
V
Filled scratch: _______________
\::/

See how to do this so you cant see the scratch?

 

well that didnt work out right. It looked all neat on the page but you get the picture right?

 

That rust spot on the hood will have to go down to bare metal. All rust has to be gone or the paint over time will bubble up form the rust starting to come back. So that portion you will need to sand down to metal then feather in the spot repair. As far as just suffing the old paint that is an option. If your car is pretty straight then you are good to go. If you have alot of deep scratches and dents along with the paint cracking then you should go down to bare metal to fix it right. Otherwise scuff up the old paint ,fix the imperfections in the body and prime it. If you use epoxy primer such as PPG DPLF-50 then leaving it alone untill you paint the car you will be fine. It's not susceptible to water like other primers or sanding primers. It's a very good sealer. If you left it out for 10 years it might break down from the sun, but for a few years you will be fine. I have an old fender that I painted with it just for practice 5 years ago and it still looks fine. It sits outside in the weather all of the time.

 

Fix what needs to be fixed and paint over the old paint (scuffed up) Any paint you apply to bare metal will not stick nearly as well as the factory paint/primer. If your paint is cracked (as is common with 80's era factory paint) is has to go down to bare metal. Don't try to paint over cracked paint.

 

ok cracked paint, flaking or peeling.
You DO NOT have to take it too metal unless the cracks or scratches go that dep I use a dual action sander and 220 paper to take my work down. If you have a chip then sand it until you can rub your hand over it w/o feeling it so that its just smooth and not noticeable. For peeling paint adn stuff same way just sand em out or as its called feather edg them to make them blend w/ the area around it w/o being able to feel it or catch yur nail on it. Just work them down and blend em in so you don't feel em thats all needs to be done.
Glazing putty in the toothpaste type tube sucks it shrinks over a matter of few weeks or swells and junk I know I've got spots under my fresh paint now were I had it. They weren't there before but aftera couple weeks they showed up.
Only the special icing or thin ice stuff or kind in a can w/ hardners you mix in don't shrink or aren't supposed to but in your case you shouldn't need em.

Get you a dual action sander cheap if you got an air compressor or get an electric sander and some medium paper 220 grit basically and sand them bad spots smooth and blended if you go to bare metal get some primer and spray over the area of the bare metal then sand it off by hand w/ 400 grit paper.
If you sand now you'l have to sand later pretty much to make a better job because you might get scratches or dents or chips before then.