I'm n the middle of prepping my Camaro to be painted. I got pretty much all the old paint off, sanded down to the primer. Couple questions...
Should the bumper covers be completely primer, cuz in some some spots, seems no matter how much I sand, all I get is red paint. It feels smooth though.
What grit(s) wet/dry should I block sand with?
Since most likely the car will be painted by Maaco, should I take off the spoiler and mirrors and have them painted seperate from the car?
Should I remove the door locks?

Any input is appreciated.

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86 Sport Coupe, 2.8 V6, dead stock, but not for long!

Daily driver:
2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE2

"Little girls play with ponies!"
www.geocities.com/camman86

 

Help? Please?

 

weel I am doing the same thing to my car and I started off with 400/wet grit to smooth the paint. No need to take down to primer. after that you can layer three coats of primer over it lightly sanding with 1000-1500 sand paper/wet. Do not sand the final coat of primer, just spray over it. usually three base and three clear are good, but I am going 4 base and 7 clear that way I can wet sand 2000 grit then polish it out to a mirror finish.

 

Okay I think I some answers. If the entire car is in primer already and macco is only going to put a top color coat, you want to hand sand the entire car wet using 400 grit paper using an "X" pattern. You want all the sand lines at 45 degree angles.

If Macco is going to prime the car first, you want to wet sand the car with 220 grit. The primer needs a surface to get a good grip on. The importance of wet sanding is the water is constantly washing away debris, avoiding a particle of sand or dirt from creating a scratch that will need to be filled in.

When I painted my car, I completely disassembled it to a bare shell and painted each individual piece (hood, bumbers, doors, fenders, hatch lid, ground effects) separately. In retrospect it seems like major overkill. If the ground effects are fiberglass and you are keeping the ground effects the same color I can not see any reason for removing them first, only increases the chance of scratches upon reassembly. If they are going to be a different color then definitely remove them for a better quality job. Also if they are urethane or plastic you may want to remove them because a "flex" additive will have to be added to the paint and primer and will "compel" Macco to do it right, instead of just spraying everything with the same batch of paint. Make sure those bumpers are sprayed with the flex additive added or your fu**ed.

As for the red paint left on the bumper, touch can be deceiving. You need to spray a "mist coat" of contrasting flexible primer on the bumper, wrap a wooden paintstick (A sanding block is too wide to use on the bumpers) with 220 grit paper and lightly sand over your mist coat. Any places that still show "mist coat" are low spots. Any places that immediately sand away "mist coat" are high spots. This is also the preferred method to make sure body panels are staright, just use regular primer.
The goal is to have all the "mist coat" come off uniformly. So if you start sanding and "mist coat" comes off the red areas first, you know the red paint is still sitting too high and needs to be sanded down.

Good luck.

 

Can anyone else give suggestions?

 

Mike, take the mirrors, locks and spoiler off. The gaskets are black and they look bad when they are painted. There is also and adhesion problem when tring that and it's imposible to paint under a spoiler or the backside of a miror. If you have the time, loosen the covers so there is a gap between the car and the covers. I use BASF and PPG at work and we don't use flex. Modern paints do not need it. The paint today is quite flexible and flex evaporates out of paint over time anyway. Flex was designed for enamels which may very well be what Macco uses at the prices they charge. I can't buy the paint for the price they charge to paint a car. A complete cost me at least $500 in paint (urethane). Take everything off that your ability allows because you really don't want Macco taping anything for you. Paint all over the handles, locks, windshield moldings, etc ruins the whole job. Nightcruser has some good advice (sans flex). You should prime the cover with good primer (nothing worth a $#!+ comes in a spray can), guide coat it and sand (Nightcruser). Flexible primer in a spraycan is an invitation for your paint to blow off. If your going to keep the car, consider finding a shop were speed is not the number one goal. Also, do a gut check before you hand your key's to Macco. Look around at the cars that were just painted. See if they are to your satisfaction. Try to see them in the shop or shade. Sunshine can make nightmare paint jobs look good. Ohh yeah, on a third gen, you'll be ohh so sorry if you don't take the belt moldings off (outer side glass rubbers.) Just my $.02.

Good luck Mike!

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Kenney
82 Trans Am WS7 notchback
83 Trans Am WS6 T-tops
Painter @ Chevy dealer
GM junkie

 

Oh, those mouldings came off a LONG time ago. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

what moldings are you taking about?
and i am doing the same thing. and i am glad i just read this post since i was gonna start sanding and i wasnt gonna wet sand.
and you say it is not a good idea to take off the Ground Fx? i already have and i am working on the spoilers. i am leaving the car the same color so..
and why arent the front frames paint color matched to the car, they were gray primer when i removed the fenders.
and i bought a spray can of GM 8774 red, and i am starting to spray the obsolete areas. any suggestions?
thanks for all your help. i really do appreciate it. and this will help me make my car look brand new again!!

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Jarrad
1990 IROC-Z L98 350 TPI
TH-700R4
G92- 7.5" 10 Bolt 3.23gears
Bright Red Hardtop/ Grey Custom Interior
5,507 IROC's Hardtops/Ttops; 2,415 5.7L IROC's Produced in 1990

DAILY DRIVER: 1991 S10 2.5L/5SPD WITH CAMARO RIMS