Hey all, did a search and nothing came up. I was wondering is it really necessary for the metal body parts (ie fender, hood, etc..) to be strip down to the bare metal before applying primer? Or is it just fine to just leave some old paint and rounghen up the surface for the primer to stick? Which is the best results and what method should i use (eg sand paper paint stripper etc..) for the job. I want to do the stripping and primering because I dont want a 3 color body pannel. In the future I will take it into a shop to have it painted. Let me know

mike

 

You should probably clean it off as best you can. Get an orbital sander, or better yet a porter cable. I'd start with a heavier grit to begin with then move finer and finer, until you're below the base coat...

People used to paint in my school, but I don't talk to them much anymore.

 

Thanx but you didnt anwser my question. Should i sand it down to baremetal or its ok to just roughen up the surface with leftover paint? Cheers

mike

 

baremetal... if you are gonna do bodyworkl/bondo. there's some base-base coat that you can use below the regular paint base as a metal "seal"

Other than that (saw zilvia thread) just get most of the paint off and then paint on tope of that

removing paint - brake cleaner, brake fluid, sand paper, drill "bits" (check out sutozone, advanced etc, saw one there the other day)

 

really brake cleaner and brake fluid. I have dents on my body so i have no choice but to sand it down to bare metal correct? Let me know. Cheers

mike

 

"I have some dents..."

If they're not too deep, just scuff up the surface and use a glaze (e.g. Evercoats Metal Glaze) to fill in the shallow dents. Block them flat, and scuff the surface w\ a scotchbrite and some Comet abrasive cleaner (it's a good trick i've come to love, using Comet that is). Make sure you remove all sheen 'n' shine from the clear coat (or SSU) and paint accordingly. The areas around surrounding the dent, and the glaze itself, sand w\ 220 grit (i'd use a DA sander, or random orbit if you don't have air tools), and proceed to prime\block\paint.

If in fact the dents are too deep, and need to be metal finished (i.e. grinded, hammered out, pulled, etc.) i'd suggest a 7" buffer (such as a Harbor freight buffer, which i believe are on sale right now for 29.99) w\ a eastwood cleaning pad to grind down all the paint. If you're rich, and intend on stripping the entire car, have it abrasive blasted (i'm particularly partial to soda blasting).

Grinding down OEM paint, or correctly applied aftermarket paint is a waste of time if unnecessary.

Lemme know if you hve any more questions.

-John

 

John that is great info. I want to do this but now i'm afraid i might mess up. Whats the worst that can happen?

mike

 

messing up is difficult, as long as you take your time, and follow the p-sheets of the products you're using.

Here's a site that'll really help: www.paintucation.com <--use their forums, and ask a lot of questions if you're unsure about anything. It really sucks to blow $500 worth of materials; don't ask how i know this.

The worst that can happen? I'll be honest, you can completely mess up your car. With that being said, anything that's done to a car, can be fixed (within reason). Again, take your time; ask a lot of questions. You'll be fine.

-John

 

Ok this is what i got as of right now. If there are dents on the metal part of the car. Sand to baremetal and fix it by bondo then primer. So what about bumpers can i just sand that till the paint gets rough? Thanx for the linky pbboy. Cheers

mike

 

Not neccessarily. As i explained earlier, if the dents are shallow (less than 1\8th of an inch deep), you can just sand the dent w\ 220 grit, fill it w\ a glaze (I'd suggest Evercoat's metal glaze), block sand it flat, sand surrounding area w\ 220 on a DA or orbital sander, primer, block sand, finish sand w\ 400 then 600, then seal\base\clear.

If the dents are deeper then that, grind down to metal, knock em out, then fill the imperfections w\ a more structurally sound filler (i'm partial to Rage Gold\Rage Gold Extreme); then do what was stated above. Ultimately, the reason you want to knock the dent out if it's more than 1\8th inch deep is: your filler shouldn't be more than 1\4" deep, and if it's a glaze, it shouldn't be thick at all, no more than 1\8th".

The bumper - if it's dented, or damaged - i'd suggest just getting a new one. If the damage isn't too severe, you can try and knock the damage out from the back\heat it back to shape, then fill w\ a flexible filler, then follow the instructions stated above. Same principals as far as scuffing goes. Take off all the sheen before you paint. G'luck

-John

 

you only need to primere if you see bare metel, and bondo, and glaze

but u can do it on top of 400 and down grit paper

and then u have to sand it agen with 400 and up to base coat it

and then comes your clear

 

Ok might as well ask this. I have a 240 where the new paint was sprayed right over the old paint. It is coming off in a lot of places. I wanted to repaint the car anyways, but since the aftermarket layer is coming off, should I sand that whole layer off? Basically what I'm asking is what are the steps I need to take to get a good sound surface with which to repaint the car a new color. Thanks for all your help.

 

If the aftermarket paint is coming off in sheets, or is really delaminating, i'd take a scraper and scrape off the peeling paint. If you're unable to just scrape it off, you can use a DA and feather all of the edges, primer, then block sand. If you really want to make sure the poorly applied paint doens't jump up and bite you later on, you can grind off all the paint and work from bare metal up. It's up to you, g'luck.

-John

 

i'm gone to get my s13 paint where can i find a color guide
i'm not sure what color

 

www.paintscratch.com might be able to help you. If you're looking specifically for colors provided for JDM s13's, i can't help ya there. Sorry =(

Google it.

-John