What all are the steps that are required to properly prep a car to be painted, minus masking? What grit sandpaper should be used? Should the entire car be primered? What type of primer is best? How many coats? etc, etc.

 

i just got finished painting my car hope i can help a lil....

wash car(simple green preferably gets the oil and greese of
use wax remover on whole car then:
get a glazing puddy(not bondo) and aply to areas with scratches or small dings
goes on like spackling drywall
then let dry and sand whole car with 320 (u can use rougher but finish up with 320)
wash car again
then use a final rinse that u get from paint supply place
then primer the car w. 2 coats(if u are going w./ light color get gray darker color i thinkred..
then dry sand with 400 until car is smooth
blow off all the dust then wash the car with the final prep solvent again
then paint it....good luck...takes alot of time but is well worth saving the money and getting some experience.....

 

Don't you remove the old paint first?

 

If your paint job is in ok condtion then there is no reason to prime the car.

 

it all depends how bad the paint is...if it is flaking remove all of that...otherwise..no..with 320 grit sanding it will dull the surface so that the paint/primer will have good adhesion....oh yea also if u get down to bare metal. u need a metal sealer primer.....

 

you only need to prime bodywork and where you sand out deep scratches and chips to remove the featheredge...i usually sand the car down with 800 on a DA if the paint is in good condition otherwise i use 400 on a DA and got back over it by hand......HTH


[Modified by 91cvcsi, 8:11 AM 8/1/2002]