about to paint my car..need sum advice

[woah]

hey guys im about to paint my car for the first time. Ive been googling around the net and i need sum answers. My car is still has oem paint and i plan on painting it the 350z blue or any nice blue color i can find. I'm also thinking on making it 2 tone with black on top and the blue on the bottom.Any maybe paint my rims bronze for now. I also have kouki skirts waiting to be installed on my car.Below some pics of my car

1.First step i just got to wash the car before sand to get all the wax and grease off the car.

2.When i start sanding my car i use use a sanding block instead of my bare hands because it will make the surface uneven. I think i am suppose to use 320 grit. I am suppose to use straight motion not circular motion. I dont think i am suppose to sand it to the bare metal but just enough to get the clear coat out correct?

3. I am planing to sand the whole car so is it the same with the bumpers cuhz they aren't metal so do i still sand just sand to get the clear coat off?

4.I have sum dents in the rear quarter panel and i banged it out but i still need sum filler so i do i just apply on the filler and let it dry and sand it down?

5.Then after the sanding process i hit it primer and wet sand it again with 320

6.Then i hit it with the base

7.after the base i just hit it with the 3(i might do 4 or 5 to make it super shiny) layers of clear coat and wetsand in between each coat.











Please correct me if those steps seem incorrect.

[S13xCrazy]

I take it you have never painted before?

I recommending getting something to practice on first to get down your technique.

Also, I personally would primer the entire car before you actually paint it. Just a personal thing though, I guess you don't HAVE to. I just feel like it makes everything the same color and you don't have to worry about difference in colors where you may have sanded differently.

Plus, with the bodywork its a good time to 'check' and make sure you did a good job.

[duffman1278]

Put alot of time into the prep work.

I started out with a 150 grit paper to sand the car on an orbital sander. Than after that I went up to a 240 grit with the orbital and sanding block as well.

For all the tight spaces where you cant get your block into just use your fingers, it'll be fine.

I'm currently working on painting my car and i've spent about a good 2 weeks working on the sanding and making sure I have everything done.

The door jambs and tight spots like those will be very tricky to get to unless you take off the door, than it'll make it 100x easier.

Try to remove as much as possible from the car and than get envelopes and store all the bolts, nuts, plastic holders and label it.

Wash your car for sure or else you'll be like me and have to do double the work. If you get to a spot where you accidently hit the bare metal don't even sweat it just get some cheap old primer from walmart or any autoparts store and primer it right away so you don't accumulate corrosion.

I'm getting all my stuff from here. There's been all kinds of people who use this for classic cars and they have some sick paint jobs that are no joke.

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com

If you search on google too you can find a forum from people who have used the products.

The way I'm doing mine is getting epoxy primer which basically takes the place of ethching primer. Then I'm going to lay the 2K High build primer over that after I've filled in the small dings and minor dents on my body panels.

GL with painting, but remember, it's all in the prep work, the better the prep work, the better your results.

[240sxFTW]

paint it this color.

[r3v_v3ng3]

first wash the car then get some grease and wax remover and apply it on all the place your going to sand

sand the car down with 400 just enough to dull the paint in a criss cross pattern so you can see any high or low spot (guide coat would help)

repair the dents or dings. sand it to bare metal and feather edge it. apply the filler let it dry and sand until your satisfied.

primer and resand the spot again with 400 (you can go 180 but need to smoothen it out with 400)

if your doing base/clear coat you need to final sand it with 400 if your going to apply sealer (highly recommended) or 600 if your just going to apply the base

DO NOT SAND the clear in between coats.. once the clear is applied you either have to wait for it to dry to cut and polish

you can color sand the base in to remove orange peel with 600. just make sure to apply 2 or even more (depending on how your paint covers and the transparency) even coats of base after you color sand it with 600

practice first cause its very hard to paint a car specially if your doing by yourself

good luck

[zach-Ka]

If your gonna use 400 grit then go over it with 1000 grit before you spray.

[dragonboy240sx]

It's been a while since I painted my car, but I took a couple classes at my local community college before attempting it. The school had a very nice setup with a paint-booth that sucked the air and paint down and out of the room. If you can get access to something like this it'll make it a lot easier... less chance of overspray. I practiced for 4 months before trying it on my car and I still made alot of mistakes.

Anyway, your gonna want to primer your car if you want that paint to last. I would suggest trying to get all your products (primer, paint, clear-coat) from the same company. They engineer them to work better together. Don't use spray can primer for your final prime... it won't last. You can use spray can primer on your dints and stuff after you patch them to keep them protected until your ready to do the final prime, but sand off the cheap stuff before hand. I think you'll want to do 2 coats of primer... but I'm not sure... I do know that after you apply the primer you defiantly want to wet sand with 1000 grit paper the Entire car! Do it until the surface of the car is glossy. Double check all over the car at this point to make sure you didn't miss any dents... you'll see them better cause of the glossy primer.

If your ready to do the base... tape it up really really good. Blow as much dust off the car as possible... especially the cracks and crevices. After that use some cheese cloth (I think... you get it at the paint store and it's tacky... looks like cheese cloth at least) Wipe the car down with it to remove the last bit of dust before you paint. Then your ready to go!

If you have some extra parts lying around, practice doing your base and clear coats on these first! It will help when your trying to get an even coat. If you paint in your garage or somewhere similar, try and get ride of as much dust as possible before starting!

By all your paint at the same time... buy extra cause you will probably run out... always better to have extra than not enough.

Ok hope that helps! Good luck!

[hilux30]

I'm reading thinking your car is s*** in the body, but it looks good, or maybe the pics don't show anything. My advice is keep the same color, there is nothing worse than opening the hood and doors and finding some different color inside. Second you need to practice how to primer and sand on something worthless. Third is I hope you are planing to strip the car or all plastic and rubber.. lights door handle... and all bolted parts. and last a pnuematic DA sander at first then block sanding after the primer and filler is layed is HIGHLY recomended. Before painting, good 3M was & greese remover is a must to wipe the car down before spraying.

[Karateboy88]

1000 grit wet sanding for primer? Sounds needlessly excessive to me

Every pro I know uses 400-800 wet sanding. Most of them use 600 grit

[dragonboy240sx]

Maybe excessive... but it did a beautiful job for me. As I said it created an almost mirror finish to the primer... Anyway it can't hurt.

[duffman1278]

1000 grit for the primer imo is over kill and a waste of time.

[k00laid83]

i was reading along and i saw someone say to use 150. i personally use 180 when im sanding old paint. but when you use 150 or 180 you have to primer because it will leave scratches in the orginal paint. but for this guys case i would go with 320 to get the clear dull. then i would use 600 to wet sand. there is no need to primer with those grits. but remember when you paint the car that you use a sealer before you paint. that way the paint sticks a whole lot better. i've been painting for years and this is how i would go about things.

[n240sxfnatic]

If your gonna use 400 grit then go over it with 1000 grit before you spray.

Pointless, 320 or 400 is fine to paint over.

[Karateboy88]

Maybe excessive... but it did a beautiful job for me. As I said it created an almost mirror finish to the primer... Anyway it can't hurt.

I can hurt because time is money and 1000 grit is a major waste of time. Any lines 600 would leave are going to be filled in with base. NO gain for more work.

[zach-Ka]

Just my opinion. It turned out alright I think.

[Karateboy88]

No one said its going to hurt the quality just that it's pointless because it doesn't add to the quality

[zach-Ka]

Again, its just an opinion. I FEEL as though it adds to the quality. It may or may not. It just makes me feel better haha. Im afraid of sand marks. Also I recommend block sanding before painting.

[JoseBronx]

cant wait to paint mines

[woah]

ok thaks for all the advice everyone. So i think imma practice on my spare trunk i have laying in my room. I think everybody is saying sand down the car with 360 and maybe resand with 600? then spray primer and sealer. then base and the clear coat. so i only wetsand after the last clear coast and then polish it?Also for the area that needs filler, i have to sand it to the metal and then add in the filler and sand and then use a cheap primer for temp until i spray the whole car with primer? My friend is going to lend me his sander but his sander is sqaure and i think sum1 metioned a circle shaped sanding. is there a difference?

[woah]

also do any1 have an idea of how much paint i need?i stopped by the alocal auto paint store and they gave 121 for 3/4 gallon of daytona blue b17 he took out some stuff ( i think it was the big flakes or sumthing) in the paint to make it so cheap, i think it was like 320 .he also said a gallon of clear coatand it was 151 for a good brand of clear.

[C3Sierra_S2000]

One thing I did not see mentioned is if you really want the car straight then once you prime the whole thing get some black spray paint (rattle can is fine) and put a light mist over the whole car. Then block it down to the primer again. Any low spots will remain black. If you do this process two to three times depending on how straight your body is then you can expect a better finished product.

[woah]

ok thanks. btw can sum1 answer my question about how much i need?also whats the 2k ,Hs, Sr, and turbo types of primer and clear?

[skyline3489]

i just painted my car last semester at school, i used about hmm a gallon i think, yet i painted the whole lip kit and spoiler to. but id say get extra paint when you buy just in case you need it down the road. like when i finished my car i got hit few months later and had no base coat paint, and the paint i needed was illegal now so i had to get paint matched with total different brand. but im glad i had my pearl left otherwise i would have been screwed.

prepping car for paint id say 120 grit dent areas, fill dent, sand dent with 80, then 120, then 220. then primer area. sand primer down with 120 or 220. then sand whole car with 400 grit. and i forgot what you use for bumpers to sand with the hard sponge thing. just make sure you get the stuff for the bumper that doesn't crack the paint if it bends. once no more gloss on car your good to go

hope this helps and good luck with the paint dude, i was gonna go with a midnight blue at frist but went with glacier white instead

[woah]

koo thanks for all the info. once im done painting i will show the results.

[Karateboy88]

One thing I did not see mentioned is if you really want the car straight then once you prime the whole thing get some black spray paint (rattle can is fine) and put a light mist over the whole car. Then block it down to the primer again. Any low spots will remain black. If you do this process two to three times depending on how straight your body is then you can expect a better finished product.

Do you mind elaborating on this? I'm having a hard time visualizing another layer of primer not covering the lack rattle can paint

[kgriffin]

paint it this color.

i agree that way you can glow lol

[woah]

I just wanted to up update my processme and buddy is sanding down the car with palm sanders using 320 at first we tried 400 but it wasn't enough grit do any1 reccomend starfire electric daytona blue from paintfircars.com? I'm trying to get b17 which is daytona blue so just wondering if there the same or very close shade to each other?

[mynamesmark]

Do you mind elaborating on this? I'm having a hard time visualizing another layer of primer not covering the lack rattle can paint

You primer then mist the black on. When you're sanding away the black that you just sprayed on, some will remain on the primer. These are your low spots. It's a really simple way of making sure you got your s*** straight. Sorry to jack your question, Sierra. lol

[woah]

Hey that's a cool technique but Im using my old paint as a primer so idk if I could use that trick though