I had my integra painted 5 years ago from Maaco, my integra was slightly in a accident and the only thing that was slighty damaged was the headlight, front bumper, driver fender and hood. I replaced those with new oem ones and I took the insurance money and had Maaco painted the car. I love it for 5 years but the color is getting boring. I had their Signature paint job which cost $1299. Overall the paint is awesome, if i didn't want to change the color of the existing paint, i would keep it but it's time.

I was wondering how would I prep this paint for painting it myself?
Would I need to sand it down all the way?
Or do I just ruff the paint a little?
Do I need to primer it?

Those are my questions.
Thanks in advance.

 

just hit it with a scotch brite bad and make sure you get rid off all the shine on the car. Then clean with degreaser and thinner. You should be ready to shoot your base over that

 

^Yep, I would do the same. Unless you need some dents removed or something, that's a different story.

 

So I take it, don't even sand it? It's super glossy, has metallic look to it because the paint I got was Silver Effect.. Effect meaning metallic glitters per Maaco's term.

I need to get some degreasers then, I'm going from a "Silver Effect" to a "Solid Black" meaning it's going to be Jet Black type color. No added metallic or anything beside clear coat.

Any other inputs?

 

Well, you don't have to sand it, but scuff it using a scotch brite pad. That's to create a rough surface and promote good adhesion. I would think maroon color pad. Then degrease and clean it all up real good. the black with cover over that no problem at all. If you originally had a really dark color then wanted to cover it with something light, then you would have a harder time achieveing coverage.