my hood and passenger side fender is damaged, and i'm FINALLY replacing them with new replacement parts. they come in a "gel coat". i've been calling body shops around my area, and most charge quite a bit to just spray "primer". can i do this myself? is it as simple as buying a few cans of rattlecan primer? should i sand it a bit after i spray it?

any help/advice would be great!

 

New replacement parts are "e-coated", you can just scuff them with a red 3M scuff pad if you want. I usually DA new parts with 320 grit, but it's up to you. Sometimes the e-coat has a lot of texture and really needs DAed, and sometimes it's really smooth with hardly any imperfections and you can just scuff it with a red pad. After that you need to blow the parts off, and clean them really well, then seal them.

 

one advice, have it mounted first.

they might look pretty and neat right now but the thing about replacement part that is not oem(or a used/old car) is that they don't always fits.

it sucks to put on and off to make minor adjustment after the paint, it sucks even worse if you have to bondo over perfect painted finish.

don't use spray can primer, it's what going to hold all the paint to the fender, you can have the most shiny paint but if they don't stick to the metal=

 

WihaSi knows his sh&^ those parts are "e-coated", or primed from the factory, just as he says, 3m scotch bright pad those puppies and there ready for paint, use dawn dish soap and hot water to prep them before you scuff to get all the foriegn material from shipping and what not grease etc... works just as well as preps all or wax and grease remover, and technically you can spray them, if you do not have a da and they are a little textured or peally just sand em by hand with some 400, be careful though if its silver or gold it will show the sand marks in the base.