So I had to buy a new trunk lid and I noticed that the clear coat on the top of the lid is all pealed off,but on the back side where the license plate is,it's still there.

A friend of mine has a sand blaster and I was wondering if I should sand blast the whole trunk lid to take off everything before repainting,or just have it painted over with the paint and clear coat that's already there.Wouldn't it look unleveled if I just paint over it with half of the clear coat missing?

The lid is red and I want to paint it midnight blue pearl to match the cars color if that matters.

 

bump

 

I would personnaly sand it till its all even and smooth with 400 grit and repaint it , watch for small dings and if you take it to bare metal use some epoxy primer + good primer, than seal it , 2 or 3 coats of base , 2 nice coats of clear and your done

 

So you are saying to sand all of the clear coat off and leave the paint,then just repaint over that?Sounds easy enough.I'll give that a try next weekend.

Thanks.

 

If the clearcoat is peeling you must at least feather it out with 4-600 wet sand. Although if the clear is peeling you may want to take it all the clear off down to the basecoat to make sure the leftover dead clear that's on it now won't try and peel under the new paint. then just spray your base down until fully covered. then 3 coats of clear and wet sand with 1500-2500 wet sand paper and buff with an electric or air buffer with buffing compound to get it smooth.

 

So I've started to sand the small plastic piece where the license plate goes,on the trunk.I'm using 400 grit and wet sanding.Should I prime this piece before painting,or is that not needed?

Also,I'm really thinking about trying to paint both of my bumpers myself instead of paying someone to do it.The front bumper is already primed to be painted but my front lip is not.Should I prime the lip before I paint it?I have a product that's called VHT Prime Coat sandable primer filler,is this suitable for what I'm trying to do?I don't really know the difference between regular primer and a primer filler,so that's why I'm asking.

 

you do not need to primer anything where there is no bodywork needed if you sand it down really good with 400-600 wet/dry. what is your front lip made out of? If it is fiberglass then yes I would sand it down really good with 180 grit and put 2-3 coats of primer on it...then wet sand with 400 make sure there are no imperfections you can see and then it will be good to paint. yes that primer will work but if it is spray can(aerosol) then put about 4-5 thin but good coats on it.

 

The front lip is urethane,so would you suggest priming that as well?

 

Dammit! I was just trying to wet sand the trunk lid and I took it to bare metal by mistake,and I wasn't even sanding that aggressively.The concaved areas are a real bitch and the edges where the clear coat is still on don't want to come off.

I'll try a little bit more tomorrow,the exposed metal isn't that much but I can really see that this is going to be harder that I though.I think that if I still have trouble.I'll just sand blast all of the paint off and repaint from scratch.

 

yes I would prime the lip. If you went down to metal on a small spot just use a bit of spray can primer just enough to cover it up. 2-3 thin coats and then wet sand it back down. make sure to wet sand around the area you primed as there will be a bit of overspray.

 

Hey,thanks a lot man,I really appreciate the info.

 

Um for your trunk lid, I'd sand the whole thing down (dry sand) with 220, then shoot 2 coats of 2k high build on it. Block it with 400, shoot 1 coat of sealer, 2-3 coats of base, and 3 coats of clear.

EDITED cause I typed clear instead of sealer...


Modified by mztykal at 2:05 AM 8/15/2008

 

If there are no dents in the trunk lid or anything that is needing repair priming it is a waste of time and money. Sand the old clear off to get a good base to shoot new paint on. Also, why would you tell someone to shoot a coat of clear on before any paint is applied? Do not do that OP.

 

Where does it say spray clear? I said spray 2 coats of HIGH BUILD 2k which is URETHANE PRIMER...

2k refers to 2 part primer.

Yah OP don't listen to me, listen to bads2k...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bads2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If there are no dents in the trunk lid or anything that is needing repair priming it is a waste of time and money. Sand the old clear off to get a good base to shoot new paint on. Also, why would you tell someone to shoot a coat of clear on before any paint is applied? Do not do that OP.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Um, sanding the old clear off to get a good base to spray the new paint on and you wouldn't prime the area...

...and I'm the one not sposed to be giving advice...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mztykal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Um for your trunk lid, I'd sand the whole thing down (dry sand) with 220, then shoot 2 coats of 2k high build on it. Block it with 400, shoot 1 coat of clear, 2-3 coats of base, and 3 coats of clear. </TD></TR></TABLE>

read your post again^^ yes it does say shoot clear before base. And you don't have to lecture me on what 2k is either.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mztykal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Um, sanding the old clear off to get a good base to spray the new paint on and you wouldn't prime the area...

...and I'm the one not sposed to be giving advice... </TD></TR></TABLE>

So your telling me that everytime you paint a car you sand it and primer it? Only when bodywork/new parts are done/needed is the only time you need to prime. Yes you can sand a brand new car down that doesn't require any bodywork at all and primer it but it would be a waste of time and money. the stock paint as long as it isn't dead paint is just as good if not better than a primer base. The OP can listen to whoever he wants and I didn't tell you to not give advice. He's trying to learn how to do it so it's done right and that's what I'm helping him with.

 

Sorry meant 1 coat of sealer.

And yes, I prime everything I sand with 220 to block to make sure it's straight.

 

So it seems that I won't be able to 100% match the bumpers and trunk lid to the rest of the car.I went to this place that can scan the paint on your car and tell you the color code to match it,but my color is so custom that it kept giving the wrong color.

The guy that I bought the car from told me that it was Midnight Blue Pearl,but if you look at it really closely,you'll see flakes of red in the paint giving it a purpleish look in certain angles of light. It's not one of those iridescent colors,it's a lot more subtle than that,which I think is cool,but makes it almost impossible to match.

 

So here is one more question for you guys,do I have to sand the paint before I put on the clearcoat or do I wait until after?I heard that I should lightly wetsand with like 1200-2000 after I do clear coat and then polish the clear coat afterwards.The actual paint isn't smooth after a couple of coats,should this be sanded to make smooth before I shoot it with the clear coat?

Thanks for the help.

 

No you do not have to sand the paint before clearcoat. just spray your color on then your clear. usually 10-15min between paint coats and wait until the clear is tacky before you do another round. usually 3 coats of clear is what we do. The next day come back in with 1500-2000 grit and wet sand everything smooth. make sure not to go through the clear though. then buff with a electric or air buffer with some buffing compound then polish.

 

Muchas amigo.

 

Can I ride around after I spray clear coat and just polish it later?I don't have the loot just yet to get a buffer and I would really like to put my painted parts on as soon as possible.

 

wait overnight before you do anything with the part(s) after clearcoating. Yes you can wait to wetsand/buff until later but it's best to do it next day while the clear is still sort of soft so it's easier on you but if you have no means to buff it out don't wetsand it. Try and put on the clear as smooth as you can so if you don't wetsand it's not an eyesore.

 

Thanks for your help.

I've finished painting the trunk lid and I just finished the rear bumper.I still have to do the front bumper then I'll spray the clear coat on tomorrow.

Like I said before,I couldn't find my color because it is totally custom,so I had to improvise.I got this color from a local supplier called Dark Gray-Black Sapphire-Effect,it's a stock Mitsubishi color,that they had compressed into a rattle can,which I think is very cool for what I'm able to do.I'm using it as a base coat,about three thin layers,and I'm using Duplicolor's Twilight Blue as a top coat,about two thin coats.I did the plastic piece from the back license plate holder on the trunk yesterday and the color match is unbelievably close.

Anyway,it's a total rattle can job,so I'm not expecting super results,just something to tide me over until I'm able to get either a real pj or more experience doing it myself.

Thanks again for all of your help and I'll try to get some pics when I'm finally done with this thing.I think that It should turn out decent for a first timer.

 

I've never sprayed can clear before like you are going to do so I'm not quite sure how it's going to act wetasanding/buffing it. I'm sure it's just like regular automotive clear just in aerosol but be carefull put it on thick enough so you don't sand/buff through it.