So I have been preping my car to send it off to maaco to get sprayed . Since they suck at prepping I am doing it all. My question is , what should I do about the cracking stock paint on the front nose ? Should I sand all of it off down to the plastic so it does not show through on the new paint? I have heard of some people not sanding it all off and eventually it comes through.

 

I had the same thing with my nose. I just sanded it all the way down so that i couldn't feel or see the cracks anymore. Its kind of a pain but as long as you got some good new sandpaper you should be good. Good luck

 

Cool. I just dont want them to come back after I get the new paint on .

 

sand it with 180 grit on a da down to the plastic prime it with a good 2 part filling primer, wet sand with 400 grit followed by 600. the cracks will eventually come back but this is the best way to do it. been painting cars for 6 years now, tried a bunch of different ways. that seems to be the best

 

heres a lil more input you. have to use a plastic primer and add a flex agent to it. those cracks are created because of the flexing of the plastic. so sand it as described by joe but again USE PLASTIC PRIMER AND ADD FLEX AGENT) then tell whoever is painting the car to add more flex agent to the paint manufacturer precautions should be followed such as mixing ratio and compatibility.

 

but if you wanna get rid off them for good and dont mind taking the extra time to do it let me know and i will get more into details

 

Cool . Maaco is spraying it so I will relay this info over to them . Thanks guys.

 

I'd love to know I will be painting my car so please tell your secret

 

k. you gotta dig into each individual cracks with the edge of a 2 or 3" grinder.(be careful not to go all the way through.) go to an autobody supply store and buy a polyflex (its a flexible body filler for plastic) (DO NOT USE REGULAR BODY FILLER IT WILL FLAKE OFF THE PLASTIC EVENTUALLY) fill the grooves you just made with the grinder sand it down and proceed with applying the primer for plastic block it down with 150 grit sand paper get either a good poly primer or epoxy primer add flex agent. sand it down to get it ready for paint and add flex agent(as recommended by manufacturer) to the paint as well.

The reason to follow this process is b/c as i xplained b4 the cracks are created by the flexing of the plastics so by digging into the cracks you are releasing stress on old plastic and adding more flexibility to it by using the flexible filler to it and the flex agent.

I've never had a comeback since i began using this process. this is the correct way to fix cracks on fiberglass and plastics.

 

ive fixed a lot of fascias in my shop over the years and that is the best way

 

What is a good name brand of polyflex and flexible bodyfiller? Thanks

 

plyflex its the name evercoat makes it

 

Thanks

 

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