So my car was vandalized and I’ll be getting a cash settlement from the insurance company, enough to repaint my car myself…
I have painted bumpers before, using ppg dual stage paint. With these, I sanded/stripped down to bare plastic due to problems with the previous owners paint sticking (it was peeling off in some parts).
The majority (except for the vandalized parts) of my car are in good condition, with decent paint, but I figure since i’ll be repainting some area’s, I might as well do the whole thing. Basically I want to know the best way to “prep” the good paint (sanding details please) and what all is involved (do I need to primer again?).
If it matters, I will be filling the few dents and touching up a few areas with filler.
For the parts that you’re sure the paint is currently sticking well and in good condition… Just ‘scuff’ the surface so the new stuff will stick. Use 400-600 gritt paper, or even a scotch-brite pad.
As far as the places that you use filler/bondo on, sand these areas with something more aggressive… 220 or 320 gritt paper, then fill… then sand in and finish with the 400-600gritt stuff.
As a rule of thumb you should really spray the areas of filler-bondo with a primer of some sort, otherwise its almost guaranteed that you will see the ‘outline’ of that bondo if you just paint over it with no primer.
Also, spray any areas that are bare metal. If you go through the paint when scuffing the body, make sure to prime these areas so (again) you don’t see any ‘chips’ or ‘islands’ when spraying the actual paint.
Be sure to wipe everything down with a wax/grease remover before spraying, I normally use Acetone, but some people prefer an actual brand-name wax/grease remover… either one works very well.
Any areas that you tape off, or have a tape-line… it is best to pull the tape off soon after the paint has started to cure… if you wait too long to pull the tape, you run the chance of pulling the paint up, which would be no-bueno.
Any other specific questions, post em up and I’ll try my best to get you a decent answer.
If you need to ask for step-by-step instructions on how to paint/prep a car, its probably something that you shouldn’t try yourself. If you’re bound and determined, do some research (do searches like the one posted above!!!) And then maybe try some practice pannels.
If you don’t at least have a rough idea of what you need to do and what it takes (procedure, produtcs, equipment, etc) then the outcome of your paintjob/prep WILL reflect that… A paintjob can make or break your car… Prep work is everything when it comes to paint. ‘Learning’ to do it on your own car would be a very brave move.
It depends on the size of things you are trying to fill. As a basic rule of thumb, the cheap stuff works fine… But it may not sand in as easy as the more quality stuff, it will be heavier than the quality stuff, and it may have pin-holes so you might have to do more than one ‘coat’ of filler before it is totally smooth.
