Okay, so I'm a do-it-yourself type dude, but I've never painted a car before. I have access to a shop with an air compressor and a pretty good exhaust air system. Except for the hood, the paint on my car is really good, but it DEFINITELY needs a new clear coat- scratches and swirls galore. I have almost no rust period, except for on the front passenger quarter panel where the car got hit before I owned it (small dent). The hood's clearcoat is starting to peel and the paint is fading. Also, both my front and rear bumpers are starting to get those awesome spiderweb cracks in it.

I would like to keep stock color- I like the blue/silver scheme. How can I get that same color paint? Also, should I just sand the clear off the rest of the car, reclear it, and call that good? I am going to strip my hood down to bare metal and start fresh with it. Will there be a noticeable difference in the hood's paint as opposed to the rest of the car if I do it that way? I don't want to skimp anything important but I am doing my restoration on a working man's budget.

To the bumpers. My rear bumper will need to be sanded and repainted as someone tried a rattlecan job on it, and while it looks passable there's overspray out the wazoo on the silver trim. I am hoping the spiderweb cracks are just in the paint and not the bumper itself. The front bumper is a mess. It looks alright from the front besides the spiderwebs, but underneath it's cracked and missing a few good chunks. Is there a way I can repair the bumper, and how would I go about it?

I am sure these questions have been asked a thousand times, somebody should make a DIY paint sticky, lol. Recommendations on paint, tools, and technique are appreciated. I'm not against taking it to a shop, but I want to do as much work to this car as I can. If anyone can give me a ballpark figure of what kind of funds I'm looking at, I'd appreciate that too. Thanks a bunch guys.

 

I'm doing one now on my 87 z. I have a journal on another site, not really a how to, but you may get an idea of some of the steps and time involved from it. I'm not an expert, but I've prepped and/or painted a handful of cars.

I wholeheartedly recommend using a good epoxy primer. That's all that is going on mine before the base/clear. Love that stuff.

http://www.autobody101.com/forums/vi...=20334&start=0

Andy

 

Andy,

That IROC-Z is looking sharp!

Thanks for sharing.

 

From research I conducted in the past, there are several ways to repair the bumper skins, but you'll have to decide which method works best for your particular needs, especially since you say yours is missing a "few good chunks." However, you can find decent bumper covers around for reasonable prices, and sometimes, that's the best (and cheapest) thing to do.

 

go find a good used one. I spent a lot of time on a messed up one.


It had about a 3.5" tear on the side that i had to fix... It was a pain in the ***. Plus the good plastic bumper repair epoxy isnt cheap. It came out looking great but damn... I bet i got 12 hours of work on that one area.

 

post some pics so we can see what we are working with.

 

I'll get some tomorrow before I visit Vato Zone. It's pretty nasty under there but I think it's repairable- I know I could get a used bumper cover but I'd like to learn some body work anyway. I'm trying to avoid going with a used cover unless I have to.

Also, does anybody know what length and thread the bolts that attach the cover to the driver's quarter panel are, and ditto on the bolts for the gfx to the wheel well? Will also post pics tomorrow to clarify that area as well. I even think the "bolts" to attach the cover to the quarter are plastic push tabs similar to the ones that hold the door panel cards to the door but I'm not 100 percent sure.