2G How to paint a 2g eclipse? Tips?

[Brad Bell]

Hello I am about to paint my 2g 1999 eclipse, I am wanting Black Cherry or something of that nature. Currently the car is black with the hood and hatch being maroon from a donor car cause they were in better shape than the original. I have already sanded the car down and now I am just asking for some tips for painting the car, I don't want to paint the door sills or jams, just the exterior. Can someone give me like a step by step procedure to paining the eclipse. I have the front bumper off which is stock, and bomex aftermarket rear bumper and side skirts off the car as well. Do I paint them on he car or off the car? Do I need to install the headlights before or after painting?

 

[khmersun]

@2gGst98 thats looks pretty cool and cheap just make sure u figure something out for the ground area and I would also recommend if you paint in an enclosed area to please have some type of way to have ventilation like a fan blowing out the fumes and overspray or you will not be able to see clearly after a coat...if you wear contacts or plastic lense glasses wear goggles or your contacts will dry out or your eyeglasses will have overspray that won't easily come out...and if it is plastic don't try to use reducer or thinner to help remove the overspray let's say I learned the hard way

 

[Tanro]

I personally wouldn't worry too much about orange peel. Even OEMs like mercedes and BMW come with a shit ton of orange peel now...

Its not that hard to sand and buff if you need that perfect finish. I learned it at work (I work for said Mercedes bumper / BMW spoiler OEM) and when we need to do show car parts it takes about 20 minutes to sand and buff a bumper.

I suggest 3m Compound, with an orange 3m pad, and 3m Machine Polish with a black 3m pad.

Sand paper is up to you, but sand with 1000, then 1200 or 1500. Going to 3000 is optional with 3m compound. Bit easier to compound down, but not needed. Just be careful near the edges to not sand through the clear where it picture frames.

Then compound slow at first until the white compound starts to go clear. Then speed it up a bit. Make sure to work with the edges of the pad, not the middle.

After you compound it, clean with 50-65% IPA or non Ammonia glass cleaner. Then use the machine posh to correct any light swirls, or haze/polish marks left.

Blue Polish wont remove sanding marks.
White Compound will remove all the swirls, sanding, and haze, but sometimes its a bit harder, especially on blues, blacks, and darker reds / greens.

 

[Robotech]

Definitely you want to sand your clear. Here are two examples. The first is my GSX which I sanded, and the second is a GST that I picked up recently with a professional paint job that was never sanded. Note that the black hood on the GST was mostly sanded and buffed, but the rest of the car was not.

I personally wouldn't worry too much about orange peel. Even OEMs like mercedes and BMW come with a sh** ton of orange peel now...

Its not that hard to sand and buff if you need that perfect finish. I learned it at work (I work for said Mercedes bumper / BMW spoiler OEM) and when we need to do show car parts it takes about 20 minutes to sand and buff a bumper.
.

As an example of this, here is a sanded paint job (the one I did) and a professional non sanded paint job:

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professional non sanded:

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note that the hood appears to be sanded