First of all let me start by apologizing if any of these questions sound dumb, but i honestly have no idea about body work.

This is the extent of my knowledge, I removed my oem alloy rims took one of thos brushes that go on a drill and used and used it to scratch off all the clear coat of the alloy and roughin up the surface. I then taped up my tire and valve stem, applied a healthy coat of primer sealer (dont even know the difference in primers) sanded it down with 400 grit paper. I repeated this step about 4 times. Let each coat dry over night under a heat lamp. Then i got some black hi temperature engine paint from walmart put 6 coats of that on them rim sanding with 400 and 800 grit paper between each coat. Except the last one i did not sand, everyone said the rims were amazing for a spray can job here is a pick.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...ageID=15494254

not a great picture but it gets the point across.

Anyways to the real point of his thread. A few months back i got into an accident and just got my car back from the body shop. I cut a deal with them and they straightened out the entire body of my car and got me a new front oem bumper. Then they were suppose to prime the whole car. Well this is what they did, they told me the put a primer sealer over the car and didn't strip it down first i'm not sure if they just sprayed directly over the orignal paint job or what. The car looks awesome imo for just being primed, the primer sealer they use isn't super flat. There are some rough spots on the car if you run your hand across it where they rolled out the back fender, he told me it was because they did body work right there. I also noticed in one spot i could see the original Honda pin stripe sort of of beveling under the coat of primer sealer (like i said i'm not sure if they even sanded the car before applying the sealer or if there was a need too). They also said they did not blast it to the metal because in most cases the factory base coat is very good. He assured me that when i came back to have it painted they would block sand it smooth and then shoot it. All in all i think im satisfied with the prep job no running primer or anything like that i'm just not to sure about them not stripping he car down first and wondered if this was standard practice, or if they were cutting corners (which i know they did a little because they did not prime the door jams, i dont really care about that to much this isnt a show car just a daily driver) which would lead to problems later? They quoted me about two to three grand to paint he car. Well all in all they have been nice and worked with me as im in a bad financial situation and they even agreed to let me make payments on the detectable i owe them. But in reality i will not be going back there again there are two many final touches they cut on like the splash guard on my intake side, which is causing huge problems at this time since i live in so cal and there are huge flash flood right now, and am currently using a makeshift splash card to keep water from getting all over my intake filer. And for some reason my windshield seal looks really stupid. They also took 3 months to turn my car around after quoting me alot less time on many different occasions and i deliver pizzas so i cant have that sort of down time. This was a smaller shop.

Now i want to get the car painted on a budget like i said this is not a show car but ive heard if you have good prep work you can get a decent 200-400 dollar job at Macao. So what should i do from here. He mentioned block sanding before the painting. What does this actually mean using like one of those sponge blocks they sell at wall mart with sand paper on them? What grit should i be sanding down too? Should i be sanding lightly to makes sure i don't sand the primer sealer off the car? I have no idea how thick the coat of primer is. I also have a friend at another head body shop i was going to ask for some tips on what to do to this car to save money on the paint job maybe even have him do it. Are schedule differ alot and have not had alot of time to ask him for advice plus im trying to get as many options on the topic as i can.

Basically im not sure if ive got good prep work or not, its pouring rain and nighttime right now so posting pics of the car is not feasible if it will help i can gather some pictures tomorrow for you guys.

I saw this image looking through the forum it was a Macao job the exact color i want my car and am very satisfied.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...o/100_1670.jpg

I am a little worried as ive heard of people not having dirt particles washed off there car before the Macao job and things like that. As long as it looks nice with no runs and no dirt under the paint, and th paint job will go for a few years ill be happy as i can always shell another 2 to 400 for a paint job by then if i still own the car, just dont want the paint chipping off in a few weeks/months. I am open to other suggestions besides Macao but im trying to keep it on a budget.

My plan is to do the paint, get a carbon hood, find some junk yard 17 i like that will fit refinish them to my liking or maybe have hem powder coated or something. Put some led mirrors on and projector lights. Basically right not i wanna get the car in nice cosmetic shape. I have a few mods done and am a decent mechanic i have alot of maintenance issues with the car i'm working on at the same time to get get it running better. but after all the cosmetics are done thats when i'm going to go crazy on the mechanics convert this accord coupe over to a stick get a cam and some nos and other goodies. Basically only thing its got now is an intake and exhaust. I really love my car and hope to keep it for years. I'm just thinking its about time to slowly start making it look like the car i want it to look like. And the Honda paint job was super crap from the start cant belive a good prep and Marco could be any worse.

P.S. Sorry if any of these questions were stupid, but im really a nube interested in learning body work i also i have a nissian sentra couple like a 92 or something im interested in restoring and doing and engine swap on (has more potential than a crx imo) would like to be competent enough to do all the body work to this car myself as it will be an expermanet build for speed and not flash so f it ill pull my own dents on that one . Just gotta learn the basics. I even have a paint gun compressor and thought of shooting that one myself but i have no idea where to do it, has anyone heard of a place you cant rent a paint booth?

 

Can you summary it bit more?? You want to paint the whole, right??

 

in summary i think a body shop i recived my car from just use a primer seal over the oem paint after they did bondo work. Was this cutting corners, car actually looks nice for the work they did.

Im looking to paint the car car on a budget i was thing Macao people say if you do your own prep Macao isnt bad. So exactly how to i go about block sanding the car to somooth out the few rough spots and get it ready for Macao. And should i Macao job stay without chipping to this kind of prep?


Just looking for any advice dunno **** about painting, have little money atm and other things ahead of his paint job with the car but i wasnna get on whatever needs to be done. And just know my best options from this point on with the car as painting it goes

 

um sponge block won't get it smooth. you need an actual sanding block( use 1/3 sheet block), usually 320 grit sandpaper. if you want it really smooth, wetsand would be the best ( eliminates scratches alot too)

but i think to be honest primer sealer can't be sanded? i think it is to protect the old paint and to give you 1 true color to put the new paint on.
you don't need to strip the paint unless its peeling. they should have prep'd the car before priming. if they didn't the sealer problaly would have flew off by now.

cheap way to paint would be rustolem paints and a spray gun.

 

Maaco is subjective to the people worker there, thats why you have to go based on the shops reputation, not the brand name. Ive used all of the different levels of paint maaco offers and all of them are great depending on the needs as long as you go with a reputable shop that employs good painters. Its a franchise business, much like chic fil a, so the quality varies from place to place depending on the owners dedication to his work.

As far as doing the prep work on your own? If you have zero prior experience using body filler, sanding, and spraying primer etc, i would highly recommend you just have the shop handle that. Like i said, as long as the shop is reputable, the work will be done properly. As far as single stage paints go, go with a FLAT color, nothing with metallics or pearls in it like factory nighthawk black or other colors that include any sort of metal flake. Cutting, compounding, and polishing a single stage paint that has flake in it will wind up in disaster, as there is no clear coat to prevent you from sanding the actual color and sanding into the metallic.

As far as doing all that buffing work to bring out the shine AFTER you paint, go on detailcity.org or autopia.org and then can assist you much better on that end.

 

well like i said my car has been covered in a primer sealer im looking to do the rest of the prep besides tappin on my own. I want to make sure if i get a macco job it adheres well. So now that all th bondo work has been done and primer sealer has been sprayed what is the next step to block sand?

 

just lightly scuff the car with 600 grit before you take it in, and your ready to go.

 

IF you don't know much about paint and don't have tools then take it to a shop, and ask alots of questions about painting and prices..