Vehicle Painting

[Kracka]

I am going to attept to paint my new fender myself in order to save some money. If I do a crappy job, I'll just pay to have it professionally done...but I figure its worth a shot. I have been doing a bit of research on how to prep the panel etc. I bought a large variety of 3M automotive sandpapers and tack cloth and will be working with SlimStyleDSM who does have some bodyshop experience. The 3M products came with a decent guide stating when to use each grit sandpaper, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a website that gives detailed step-by-step instructions on prepping, priming, painting, and clear-coating. Any info would be appreciated. Please no posts stating how terrible at-home jobs look, I don't care to hear it. I am going to give it a shot and if it doesn't turn out well I'll get it professionally redone.

[LightningGSX]

Why kind of paint/clear are you gonna use? And is the fender painted already or is it in primer?

[Kracka]

The fender was painted with clear coat and pin-stripe as of about an hour ago...but I was sitting down there and got it all sanded down with 80-grit. Tomorrow I'll take my 220-grit to it and possibly "primer" it. I was planning on using "Plasti-Kote" primer, paint, and clearcoat. Do you have any recomendations? The fender will be painted white, do you recomend a white or a gray primer?

[BUCKY]

I would recommend a grey primer it helps you to see that you have entire fender covered and that it it even. I recomend using Kleanz Easy to to clean the fender before you paint it. Wipe the entire fender with it after all prep is complete rite before you go to paintt, It takes all chemicals and dust off the surface. This helps avoid a fish eye efect or ruff surface from ocuring. I also recommend doing about 5 coats of primer and then sanding with around 400 grit. after that put one more light coat prep and paint. For a first timer a base clear application is the easyest. If you use a one step urethane (clear in the paint) in shows more inperfections where with a seperate clear the clear will fill them in. Remember on your primer you want a tite spray and with the paint you want a wide spray angle.

I hope I helped this is what I have learned painting at home.

[LightningGSX]

Sanding it with 80 grit was not required, unless the previous paint was in shitty condition or the pin stripe was cleared over, in that case you should just used a chemical stripper and started with bare metal and saved yourself alot of sanding.If it was in decent shape you could of just went over with 320 or 400 grit and primered it.You're using a sandable primer right? If so after its primed, wetsand with around 600 grit(you can go with finer sandpaper, but you run the risk of adhesion problems), then paint/clear it.Make sure you do your sanding with a sanding block, so the panel stays reasonably straight.The difference between white and gray primer is minimal, just make sure you get a good 3 or so coats of paint.Be careful with the clear, so you don't get runs and make sure you get all the edges good.If you take your time and use common sense, it should turn out pretty good, the color white can hide alot of screw ups.

[LightningGSX]

And yeah like BUCKY said, make sure you clean it well, I use 3M general purpose adhesive remover, wipe on/wipe off don't let the cleaner dry on the fender.This is very important, especially if use use silicone based cleaning products(tire dressing, vinyl dressing, some waxes, etc)

[Kracka]

The pinstripe was cleared over, thats why I went with the 80-grit. I used a 3M sanding block. I will be getting sandable primer. Will a gray primer vs. a white one affect the final color as long as I get 2-3 coats of color over it? I plan on wetsanding my color coats starting with 1000-grit working my way to 2000-grit. Should I sand the final color coat before the clear goes on? I am guessing I should lightly sand the clear coats with 2000-grit, then only buff the final clear coat with an oribital buffer and thin-cut 3M compound?

[Kracka]

80-grit sanded then wiped down, you can tell where I sanded the pinstripe off ;)

[LightningGSX]

Originally posted by TalonTSiDude@Mar 9 2004, 01:56 AM
The pinstripe was cleared over, thats why I went with the 80-grit. I used a 3M sanding block. I will be getting sandable primer. Will a gray primer vs. a white one affect the final color as long as I get 2-3 coats of color over it? I plan on wetsanding my color coats starting with 1000-grit working my way to 2000-grit. Should I sand the final color coat before the clear goes on? I am guessing I should lightly sand the clear coats with 2000-grit, then only buff the final clear coat with an oribital buffer and thin-cut 3M compound?
I'm not sure what Plast-kote is, but I'm thinking its the stuff in the spray can right? If so, that shit is pretty thin, so maybe do more coats of color, and I wouldn't sand the color in between coats unless you get dirt in them.If you tack-rag it good in between paint and clear coats, you shouldn't have to do any sanding after the primer.If you decide to sand/buff the clear when it dry be careful, like I said, that stuff goes on thin and you'll probably sand through easily, even with 2000 grit.As far as the primer, I'd go with the gray in your case, then you can see thin spots in the color easier.Whites are usually high pigment colors and cover pretty well, so white or gray primer shouldn't make a difference in the final color.