DIY paint prep

[rebelDE]

How much are you supposed to sand the car? (metal and the plastik parts of the car) Someone told me down to the metal and didn't have a clue about the bumpers of wings, but i'm hesitant to sand down to the metal? And where would you go about getting the primer?

Any kind of help is greatly appreciated

 

[Blue97GST]

Don't sand it to metal. The original factory primer is still doing a great job of protecting your cars sheetmetal. As for the bumpers, believe me, plastic DOES NOT like to be sanded

 

[Nikita]

i've always just sanded the clear coat layer off. basically you don't want anything to be shiny.

if you plan on changing the color, then sand most of the base coat off also. also, try wet sanding when you've finsihed dry sanding most of the heavy stuff off. the result will be extremely smooth which will allow for an awesome paint job.

 

[rebelDE]

So how do you wet sand? Pour water and sand or have a constant flow of water and sand? I do plan on changing color.

Thanks for the help

 

[Nikita]

you can wet sand by hand or machine...you don't necessarily have to have a constant flow of water, but you want to have the area your sanding and paper to be very wet.

what i do is use a squirt bottle to soak down the area i plan on sanding (until watter starts to run off the car) then i dip the paper in a bucket of water and sand away. you'll notice when you're making progress because the water will turn the color of the paint you're sanding. after a little while, wipe off the excess with a rag and repeat the process. it's really easy and once you start doing it you'll understand better.

 

[rebelDE]

no special sand paper required, any will do?

 

[Nikita]

you can go to a paint shop or even your local Advanced Auto Parts or the likewise. get 600 grit paper, it will say wet/wet or dry on the packaging.

i'd only wet sand AFTER you remove the bulk of what you plan on sanding down with a rougher dry paper tho...do the wet sanding kinda like a "finishing" step. the surface needs to be perfectly smooth after this is done, otherwise you're not done...