I'm looking to repaint my DA shortly. The body is in excellent condition, same with the paint. I just have a few small dings to take care of. For the most part, people thought it had already been repainted. But, as I know every flaw I want to give it a renewal. The bumper and hood have chips from 180k of daily and highway driving. The engine bay needs the most work as its the only area that has rust.

Car is Captiva Blue Pearl. B62-p

So question is:
- What needs to be done to the body? Just sand it down to get the clear off, spray a couple coats then reclear? (Of course clean and prep) what grit should I use?
- How much base coat should I get? How much clear? Remember its staying the same color and besides the chips in the hood and bumper the paints in good condition.
- How do I handle the chips in the hood and pebble divots in the bumper?

What it looked like before she retired from daily duty and I started the build

 

just sand down with 400 or 600, then primer, base, clear. feather out the chips in the hood, which is why you need to prime as you'll probably hit bare metal. for the bumper, if they're deep just use a bit of filler, if not just feather edge it out.

 

if its a pearl, you might as well just repaint. Pearls are hard to match, possible yes... also you would have to blend it.

 

That's the plan, repaint the whole car. I know the paint is faded. It's over 20years old now. Most places just take a paint code and mix. I'm really just trying to figure out how much to order. I've seen nothing but how to paint a car a different color and needing a gallon or so. But seeing it's going the same color, the only area that would be going down metal and to primer is the engine bay and hood. My goal is to paint the bay first so I can drop the motor in and finish the body as my final to the project.

Thanks ShiftDrift. It shouldn't be a problem to feather the bumper or I'll try one of the evercoat products. If I feel its going to be too much labor I'll look into a replacement. I'll probably practice on the hood seeing as it's nice towards the windshield and chipped at the symbol area.

 

just scuff the whole body with 500 or 600 grit. for the chips if they are too deep you can just put putty over it.

 

As said before, 400 then 600 grit would be ideal. I have the same problem with my 91 civic sedan except more to do with rust and dents. When repainting it, make sure to do it right. If doing a pearl, REPAINT THE WHOLE CAR. Pearls never match right, so only doing certain sections will make it seem patchy. As for your dents, body filler is always an option. I'm a perfectionist, so if body filler doesn't seem like a good idea, I usually remove the panels and take it out with a hammer and dolley and do it reeal slow.

 

Some light dings don't go through to dent the metal they are just in the paint. I noticed this when doing body work on my first car. Just sand it down as everyone is saying. And the few spots that need bondo just take down to bare metal and spray with a can of self etch primer after bondo. Then sand , primer sealer , paint , clear

 

if the rest is good just 600 then grey scuff pad. fix your lil chips with some putty and you might have to prime those spots then follow the sand and scuff procedure

 

you dont want to remove the clear coat, just abraze it for adhesion and you do not need to prime the whole vehicle just body work spots and such