preperation for paint

[90_eclipse]

hey guys,

I'm really into my car, and originally it was tan. I love the black DSM's a year back, so I thought it'd be cool to try to paint it myself. Yeah, bad idea. So this year, i've been strictly working on preparing the car for a professional paint job. Why did I choose to do this myself? Well... I love my car, and I wanted to save the extra buck. I'm 16, so money isn't exactly the most abundant thing I have, but the time and dedication is something I do got.

Since the beginning of July, I've been sanding the car down to bare metal. It's been a pain in the ass. I didn't use the original primer because I partially f'ed it up when I thought I could paint it myself. Soo... I'm starting with bare metal. The hard part is that sometimes I'd leave the car outside and the dew, sometimes rain, would oxidize the body, meaning that sanding the body to say 200 grit at that time would have to be re-done with 80 all over again then slowly working my way up.

I took a few pictures to see what you guys would think. I'm really looking for any tips or suggestions whether it's things that speed up the process, or quality control. If there is anything that's making me nervous, it would be the dent repair... This is my first time using body filler, and it's slightly intimidating. the feather-etching? thing is annoying and I'm not sure if I'm suppose to use the spot corrector without primer. I planned on having a shop do primer as well as paint.

Pictures by p8ntballsk8ter94 - Photobucket

please note, I took these pictures after it rained earlier in the morning, so there is some rust spots and water marks.

 

[throwedgsx]

I definately wouldn't have recommended that you sand it down to the metal. Self etching primer will always cover f*ck ups. But now that its down to metal i would ruff up the metal a bit with say 200 before you spray primer so it has a nice rough service to stick to. Spray a couple coats and then block sand it with 400. Repeat agian, and again, if necessary to completely cover the metal. After sanding between coats be sure to tack it with a tack cloth.

 

[dsmer1994]

I definately wouldn't have recommended that you sand it down to the metal. Self etching primer will always cover f*ck ups. But now that its down to metal i would ruff up the metal a bit with say 200 before you spray primer so it has a nice rough service to stick to. Spray a couple coats and then block sand it with 400. Repeat agian, and again, if necessary to completely cover the metal. After sanding between coats be sure to tack it with a tack cloth.

I agree with this 100% ive helped paint 2 cars and we did what you did and put it down to the metal it was a bi*** after that but i agree with everything he says above.

 

[68442]

You shouldn't get bondo wet, it has talc and will soak up water and rust from below or bubble thru your paint eventually. Nothing wrong with going to to metal but if the paint is intact as in not peeling or rusting I wouldn't bother. You want to pull or pound out the dents as much as you can if you can get access, like that dent by the rear bumper. For the filler go past your low spot a few inches and sand in a X until the edges get milky thin....then stop. Coat it with epoxy and move on.

You need to get some epoxy primer on that bare metal to stop it from rusting. You should also be wiping the panel your working on with wax and grease remover before sanding otherwise your spreading contaminants everywhere.

Epoxy is waterproof and you can scuff it when your want to recoat with high build 2k primer to do your block sanding, the high build you don't want to expose to a lot of water. Neither has UV protection so you can't drive it around a lot.

I'd focus on one panel at a time if you insist on doing this in the elements.

Your really going to have to work your arse off to pull off a black paint job, it shows everything.

Good luck!

 

[Satabird88]

I agree, Use epoxy on that to seal up that bare metal. I would definitely use 80 Grit on a DA sander to rough up that bare metal. Sand it and keep going till it is nice and shiny. 200 is way to fine to be sanding the metal with. If you do that as soon as you paint it and drive it down the road it will start chipping. Primers need more tooth then the paint does.

So rough up the metal with 80 grit, do your bodywork, shoot it with 3-4 good coats of epoxy and block it. Then shoot it with a good high build primer surfacer. Block and block some more. That is the only way you are going to get a decent looking black paint job. Blocking is your friend.

It is hard for me to summarize what I do day in and out in a couple of paragraphs but that will get you going. Look up autobody books and read. Also make sure they are more current, I know there are still autobody books out there with directions telling you to drill holes in dents, pull them then just fill over the holes. Not right.

Anyway good luck, only way to learn is just doing it.

 

[99eclipse420a]

i am also trying to get my car ready for paint and i didnt take it all the way down to metal and i think it helped a lot but i think its a little late for that but i agree with the bondo it will show up later

 

[nickk90]

thier is some stuff called metal wash from eastwodco that will keep bare metal from flash rusting. its not too expensive and will help you out till you can get it in primer