sanding/painting

[coolcloo1019]

Hey guys. I picked up a fender at the junkyard the other day and its black and my car is red so I need to sand it down and get it painted. I was wondering how to go about that, I've never done body work before. What grit do I start out with and work to? Thanks for your help.

[nismofan14]

hmm...been awhile since I helped the guy who painted mine but I think we used 400 grit then 1200 or 1600grit. This is only if there are no chips or deep scratches in them. Wet sand with the 400 then the 1200/1600, rinse of with clean water and wipe down with final clean(made by dupont) or something like it, paint, then when dry wipe over it with a tack cloth to take off anything on the surface so the clear will be nice and purdy. Last when clear coat is nice and hard, wet sand with really fine grit- like 1600 then buff. Also, you may want to primer the fenders.

[dareo]

If you want to do it yourself for about 20 bucks, take some 320 grit and wetsand it. Feather out any chips or deep scratches. Then i'd hit the thing with 2 coats of primer and let that harden up nicely, wetsand at 400-600 grit and do the dry-feel-test. If it feels and looks real smooth put a few coats of your color on. Then, if that came out real smooth, go ahead and clear coat it a few times then do the high grit (around 1500) wetsand and buff.

[rousie13]

I have to wetsand my car soon. Not looking forward to that one. But yeah just do it yourself, it's not that difficult. I sprayed my friends truck over the summer, and it's not bad, just time consuming.

[Dano]

if your car's paint is faded then when u put the freshly painted fender on, its not gonna match, but at least it will all be the same color:)

-Dan

[corn322]

I have a question for those who've done a spray can job on any car part:how shiny is the paint job? is it about as shiny as a real paint job?

[coolcloo1019]

Thanks guys for that information, it answered my question(s)...my whole car needs painting, but i really dont have the money because i want to do the sr swap AND i have to pay for school. I dont think I could do it myself, or could I? Is it really that hard? and what tools such as painting stuff do i need? All your help would be appreciated.

[Eswift]

I have a question for those who've done a spray can job on any car part:how shiny is the paint job? is it about as shiny as a real paint job?

its is decent (cant tell it was painted at 20 ft)

closer than that, paint job is evident

you can hide your tracks very effectively by working through a range of wet sanding and polishing.

looks about as good as a respray at that point.

[ShadowKnight006]

I have a question for those who've done a spray can job on any car part:how shiny is the paint job? is it about as shiny as a real paint job?

I used some of the spray can dye and such on the interior of my project 240 and it turned out pretty well. However, when I sprayed a fender on my old car(87 prelude) it turned out like crap but that could have just been due to my lack of experience.

[driftaholic]

i sprayed one of my headlight covers with the cans you get at pep boys and you can't tell at all. i just sanded, primed, primed, wet sanded, painted, wet sanded, painted, wet sanded, painted, wet sanded, working my way from 600 grit to 2000 grit. i didn't even clear coat it and still looks awesome

[Dattebayo]

JUst sand the whoile thing and go primer dark black. Its a drift car man, not a trailer queen. Or just get in alot of accidents, and when you ruin each panel get a different color for each and then your set. Now u can get a job as a speed clown.

[Bluefire]

Hey cool your best bet is to just prep it yourself and have it taken to a shop... if you wanted you could probably buy the paint yourself and have them use that.... and keep whats left over for another time.... All this will save you a lot of money...

As for prep take out any dents first. Then just wet sand with 400 until the fender looks nice and dull, no shiny spots. And as the guy said above feather out the chips. Then all the paint shop has to do is primer and paint...

If you think you want to paint yourself, your gonna need to spend more money on equipment.... Compressor, hose, Primer Gun, Paint Gun, Possibly a custom paint box...

And contrary to what people have said in previous posts, it is unneccessary to sand after primer and clearcoat. You only need to wetsand afterwards if you didn't do a good job while prepping or spraying.... such as getting orange peel....

Oh and using a rattle can is probably not to bad for small areas like the tops of the 180 headlights and possibly side mirrors. Anything bigger needs to be painted with a good gun in a nice dust-free booth, if you want it to look nice

-Bluefire

[dareo]

The quality of a spray-can job entirely depends on your skill/talent level. Every time i spray-can something it ends up better than the last job i did. I still have a ways to go, as high quality spray can painting is an art.

[Bluefire]

I completely agree with you dareo, but I am really referring to the average person who doesn't have much experience in painting. I'm sure someone with years and years of experience could probably spray fenders and bumpers with cans, but otherwise I think its better to stick with smaller objects first...

-Bluefire