I've been wanting to repaint my car since I first bought it. The first owner decided to do a really bad paint job right over the factory one, and now it's peeling, chiping, and scratched all over. The color they used is very close to factory but not quite, it has a lot of oarnge peel bumps on it, and someone resprayed the fender with some rattle can green that's not even close.

Since it already has 2 paint jobs, crappy job and original, am I going to want to strip it down to bare metal again, sand it a little, then paint? How much work would that be? Is there a better way to do it? I've never painted a whole car before, but have seen many people on here do it.
Here's some of the worst sopts on the body:







I just want to be factory color again so I wont need to paint door jams or anything like that. I have mosty new weatherstrip to put on after the paint. And best of all, there's no body rust!

 

If there's no rust you should be able to just sand down to the factory primer. One other thing--you may think there's no rust, but there may be some hiding under your t-top weatherstripping. I was appalled by what I found under mine.

 

Going through 2 coats of paint, what kinda sander would I need? I thought using aircraft stripper might be a little more time and cost effective, but I really don't know.

 

just wet sand it? or is it too bad for that??

 

Never wet sanded before, so I dont really know anyhting about that. And I'm kina wary about putting new paint over the sruff that's peeling and flaking off.

 

Yeah, to do it right strip to factory primer. IMHO


There is always body work on a 20year old car. Whiskey dents will be noticed with new paint and no body work.

 

I have a decent sized orbital sander but that's the best I got. Should I sand it or chemical strip?

 

I would probably hit it with a D/A with 180 and see how fast it cuts. I do not know how much is on it but if a bad repaint I would not hesitate to go with 80 and then 180 and run a med block across it as the last of the factory top coat is coming off to kind of see what I got before the primer coats and more sanding.

I only use air tools for this kind of stuff, never had any luck with electric sanders on cars-they are for somebodies deck!
Maybe another member can recommend one.



Oh and spots like you mirror I would just strip completely.

 

I've been looking close at the places it peeling or chipped. It looks like the repaint was done with no prep work or primer, just paint on paint. So sanding will probably work.
If i could get it down to the original coat, rough it up, prime than paint would that be good? Like I said there's no visable body rust or bubbles so the original primer seems to be holding. Just gotta get through the crappy repaint I guess.

So what grits would be suggested from start to finish? And whats a good place on the body to start? I'll probably have to go pannel by pannel mostly right?

Thanks to those who have replied. ANYTHING is helpful. I've never tried to do this before.

 

An orbital sander will work just fine on the larger surface areas - some of the finer/tight spots you will need to do by hand. An 80 grit should be a good start and just move up from there.

There are many opinions on what to do from there - I'd suggest a good on here as well as the internet in general. I've spent about 3 weeks reading different sites and I still need to do more research... You'll get a lot of different information but you will see some similarities and a method that will fit your particular needs and abilities.

The single biggest piece of advice I can pass along is that when you think you are done sanding, you have more to do! The surface should be so smooth that you can run your hand across the panel with your eyes closed and not be able to feel any difference from one end to the other..

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

this link may help you

http://www.autobody101.com/forums/index.php

 

amazing site thanks crazy

 

That is a good link, been reading a lot of stuff there.
Just a few questions for my specific app though. After I sand that top layer of paint off and get it nice and smooth, should I prime over where I just sanded< and whats a good primer to use? For the smaller parts I've painted on other cars I've used SEM self etching primer.
I plan on going to my local auto paint store and having them mix some factory color paint up for me to finish it off.

 

Wouldn't you want to take this car down to bare metal? My '91 has (mostly) original paint, which is completely peeled off the hood and roof to the point where I had rust covering the entire hood and roof when I bought it. I have a Van Nuys car, which apparently had to conform to some stupid California EPA regulation which translated to extremely poor quality primer, which is why all the paint flaked off in the first place.

If the primer is bad, then wouldn't you want to remove it completely and start with new primer on bare metal? Wouldn't the paint just flake off again if the primer is bad to start with?

 

The thing is, the original paint never peeled, at leat to my knowlege. Its the VERY poorly done repaint that's peeling.
The lack of rust and even rust bubbles means that the original paint and primer were good and keeping water out right? So, it would make sence to only sand off what I have to, the bad repaint...

 

A lot of shops that have to warranty their work will only strip to bare metal, that way they can be sure it will last.
If no adhesion issues are present I will leave factory primer on as they are usually pretty good. If you have to work a lot bumps out it may be easier to work the filler on metal.

Personal preference I guess.

 

Cmon, im asking for an opinion, people love giving their opinion!
After I sand that top layer of paint off and get it nice and smooth, should I prime over where I just sanded< and whats a good primer to use? For the smaller parts I've painted on other cars I've used SEM self etching primer.

 

There are several types of primer and paint out there. Be sure to do your homework and make sure whatever you go with are compatible. The various paints can cause a chemical reaction that would prevent the paint from sticking or variety of problems you don't want to deal with...

On my project I will take it down to the factory primer, add one coat of primer, 3 coats of base and 2-3 clear... I would suggest the same for yours, get rid of the PO paint and the factory base - if you go all the way to the metal you will need to get a special etching chemical to allow the primer to properly fit. If you have a few smaller spots that have been taken to metal you can get this chemical in an aerosol can to save $.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for that! Very specific info and the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

 

make sure if you repaint the nose and anything plastic you use FLEX AGENT in the primer or it will crack.Might be way the clear failed and paint behind it.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Dont want it to spider web like it is now again. Should I get a flex agent in the pain too or is it enough to just be in the primer?

 

you can..I've painted a few cars but never a 3rd generation and thats all the guys who taught me say...use flex agent..

 

A 2k primer/ sealer is what I would use after sanding on the factory primer and body work.
You seem to know about the etching stuff over the bare metal.
After a good build (about 2 to three) I would start blocking sanding the car to see how straight it is.
Anything that has been kicking around as long as these cars have a few whiskey dents...


The paint manufacturer will usually state about which coats get the flex agent. Usually it is the catalyzed ones. Can be primer, usually the clear and depending on, the base coat used.

I do not use the flex agent.


The original finishes have more UV and adhesion problems.

 

Other problems have forced me to put the painting on the back burner, but I'm almost ready to do it.
The guy at the auto paint store said it would be around $250 for the paint and clear. That seemed high to me, but they're the only paint shop in town. Anyone who's painted before, how much did your paint and clear cost?

 

It looks like the PO used way to much hardener and painted during a cool wet climate. you can paint your car outside but its best if its done on a warm dry day. also make sure your compressor has a filter dryer attached.

 

What brand of paint and is it a non-metallic color?

A fellow can spend $250 on just the clear if he wants...

It is hard to get a good price if you do not buy a lot of paint frequently.

 

For 1 gallon of red base coat, a gallon of clear, a gallon of primer surfacer, a quart of sealer and all the reducers and additives to make it all work I think was around $1200.

 

I know this thread died almost a year ago, but I don't see the sence in starting a new one. I had to put off the paint untill this spring for financial reasons, but not it's happening for sure. Got about half the car DA sanded right now and I have a few more questions..

After I'm done DA sanding, shoul i hose the car off or something? There's lots of dust everywhere and I feel like it would clog up the finer paper. And what should I do after sanding to make sure the car is dust free before paint?

Here's a few pics of the side that's sanded. The back portion was obviousley repainted, along with the front of the front fender, while the door looks original.

 

Use grease and wax remover, one cloth wet, and one cloth for drying. These cloths need to be extremely clean and dust free. Do this until it's really clean, then use a tack cloth to get the rest. When using a tack cloth, dont push it onto the body of the car, or the adhesive will transfer to the panel.

 

Oh and the rear portion of your car, and the front portion of that fender look like single stage paint. I could be wrong though.

 

Ok, so the car's all sanded and the paint's bought. I've got a gallon of base (2 gal sprayable) and a gallon of clear.

I want to spray it in a garage but it would have to be at my parents house then and it's got stuff all around on the walls, and no decent ventilation system. Also it has lots of junk in the rafters and lots of dust. I have seen some good results from outside paintjobs, but with that I worry about dust and letting it dry in direct sunlight, even though it would be weaker morning sun...

Any suggestions from anyone who's painted before without a booth, and no real garage to construct a booth in?

 

Plastic. Lots of it. Cover everything around the car, and then mist water onto the floor to keep the dust down.

Also, remove your door handles and all exterior lights. You'll want to paint under these as well as, especially around the rear markers, the trim rings are removable, and you don't want to see rings of original or repaint color in these spots if you're painting a different color. And don't forget the door jambs. Won't hurt to actually remove this stuff and check for rust or anything underneath.

 

My friend you have no idea how much work :your looking at to do it right, One little drop of sweat from your brow can ruin an entire section. I did a paint job once and never again. Check around your area you can get decent paint jobs for under 1,000.00

 

that's good advice, and I'm in a similar situation as k-slice. My problem is that if I line the area around the car with plastic, it takes away all ventalation, and painting in the summer in texas with those conditions is not good news.

I'm just going to have to blow as much dust out of the rafters and shelves as I can a few days beforehand, sweep before, and then wet the floor

K slice, what brand paint did you buy, and what's your gun/compressor setup?

 

I'd close the garage door enough to fit a box fan or 2 under it and plastic around them... Have the fans blowing OUT to keep dust out, or use some fine mesh (say, from a floral shop or something) to keep the dust from being blown in by the fans.

 

the room has a few windows, i was thinking of pushing air out of them.

what would be better? pushing ait out of several windows, or all of it going out of one location like under the door?

 

Windows would be easier to seal off then the garage door

 

Well the painting is done! It's far from perfect and I'll be the first to say it! But it's my first paint job, it was done in a garage, and I learned a lot from it! Over a year after posting the first post It's finally over. Here are a few pics of how it went:

Here's the garage getting taped off:



After 2 coats of paint:


After all the paint and clear:

 

looks like something from the emerald city!

how do you feel it turned out? anything you wish you had done differently?

 

Closer up on some of the imperfections:

The hood ended up being pretty bumpy. I'm gonna hit it with a buffer and some ultamate compund and see what that does.


Some areas turned out great! The back, mirrors, a pillars and sail pannels are all smooth. On the drivers fender though my compressor stopped running and the gun lost pressure. I didnt notice early enough to stop the gun from spitting little glops of clear on the fender and door... Oh well.

 

how many coats of clear is that? to me, it looks like you need to to cut it smooth, and then put two more coats on, with better atomization. if you compound that, you're just going to wind up with shiny bumps

 

I used PPG Omni stuff from the paint store. It was the only thing decent within my budget, but hey, I didn't use rattle cans!
I had a harbor freight gun and a 26 gallon craftsman compressor, both of which worked great as best i can tell.

I really want to hear opinions, what I don't want is to hear how bad it looks, or how I f***ed up another thirdgen. If you want to offer any constructive advice on what I can do to make it look better, that's encouraged too. Thanks everyone who's helped so far.

 

It was 2 coats, first one was probably lighter than it should have been. Wish I had laid them both on a lil heavier....

Camera was in night shot mode for the 2 finished pics, that combined with the setting sun made the color look weird.

 

I hope you see that's what I was trying to do....

that kind of globbyness is a sign of your air mix being a low. I would open up the control on the gun, boost your regulator a little, and see if you get the hood smoother. do you have a long board you can cut it with? Harbor freight sells them for $8... I should know, I bought one yesterday.

 

with two coats, (maybe 1.5) you don't have a lot of space to start cutting the clear. just in case, so you have enough base left that you can give the hood a do-over?

 

Does cut mean sand?

 

yes, but with a long, rigid board that will sheer off the tops of the hills.
with something like this. light pressure, with at least 400 grit. some would say 180

work your way to smoother grit before you respray. If you are low on base, I would say maybe cut some, put two more coats on, and then cut it again, sand to 400, 800, then 1200, then buff it

if you aren't low on base, it would actually be easier to start over on the hood, and use your experience to get it smoother the second time

I may be wrong...post the pics over at autobody101 and see what the pros there say. Nice people over there that don't mind helping newbies

 

That board may be a bit unnecessary. Eastwood sells foam sanding blocks in various lengths, but they are really for work BEFORE painting- you don't want to be block sanding the clear. It is too late for that. Get some wet/dry sandpaper(350 up to say 2000 grit) and some tupperware containers. Put each grit in a different container with water and a couple of drops of dish soap and leave them to soak overnight. Then, starting with the 350- some guys go with a much more aggressive grit to start with, but 350 should be fine- go over the ENTIRE car until it is uniformly dull and you have knocked off all the high spots in the clear. Keep that paper wet all the time, stopping to squeegie off the water from time to time to check your progress. Then move to the next grit and start over! You are going to hate sanding by the time you are done. Once you have got it smooth and uniform with the 2000, you can move up to compounds and polishes to finish.

A couple of other tricks you might like to try: 1) run thin painters tape along the very edges and the peaks of the panels. Some guys do this so they don't break through the paint where it is thinnest. 2) I saw one guy take a piece of that sweat hose from Home Depot/Lowes- the stuff that you bury in the garden that sweats water out and irrigates the garden- attach it to his hose and then cap the end. He put suckers on each end of the tube and stuck it to the car above where he was sanding. Kept the area wet all the time. Cool idea, but I have not tried it myself.

If you don't think the car will survive all this sanding, you don't have enough clear on it.

Good luck!

 

for cutting a buffing clear, I agree everything you said. wouldn't you agree from the look of that hood he's in the need of some more drastic steps?

 

Cutting a noob loose with a longboard on clear is not a good idea, neither is sanding clear with 350grit paper...even if it looks like that. His best, and cheapest bet at this point is to wet sand the clear and re-clear it. He may be able to bring what he has to a shine, but his forearms will look like Popeye's and he'll have aged three years in the process. My suggestion would be to use Mick's process using 600 (remember he's a noob); then degrease, tack, clear again with the appropriate settings on the gun. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'll give you kudos for using the correct products and attempting your first paint job, but I would've practiced on something else first.