Hey guys, just had a few questions but wanted confirmation. Finally planning on painting my fender. I plastidipped it but finally got tired of it so I'm gonna order duplicolor milano red paint and give it a try myself. I'm just gonna order the paint and clear along with the primer but judging from the pictures, I need to sand it down right? It looks like it was before, I'm not sure judging from the paint and marks. What grit is recommended? I want to get this done in a day if possible.



before, really smooth





after red plastidip. not too bad but noticeable in person

 

So here are the steps to getting a good paint job...
Sand and body work
epoxy primer (corrosion protection) (follow induction time)
High build primer
Sand (80-180 if you want really flat panels) Then 320 dry or 400 wet with guide coat then 600 wet with guide coat.
Blow, tack, blow
seal Epoxy reduced 10%, induction time also used. (adhesion promotor for base coat also)
base (follow flash times based on 70 deg temps)
Tack very very lightly after using a fog coat
Clear (follow flash times, can also do the string test)
Cut and buff (if runs are present 800, 1500 wet if no runs but heavy orange peel start with 1500 wet then 2500 and you can use a DA 3000 grit and if you want less buffing 5000 grit)
The 3000 and 5000 are expensive but save a lot of time buffing.

reducers:
Fast 50 deg and below
Med 50-80 deg
Slow 80 deg plus

Flash times: Flash times are based on 70 deg temps, you can adjust flash times based on temps
Below 70 deg is add 15 min per 10 deg temps
above 70 deg remove 15 min per 10 deg temps ( when its hot you run around the car lol)
Don't think I missed anything

 

if theres no bare metal showing, u dont need epoxy primer. just start with sanding and spray a primer surfacer to begin with.

 

its good to use a sealer as a adhesion promoter and also seal out other things underneath. Just reduce out 10% and your good then do your surfacer.

 

sealer is a topcoat not a bottom coat. you do all your bodywork with bondo or primer surfacer, and when thats all done, then you move onto sealer, basecoat, clearcoat.

 

once again you use it to seal out what could bleed through below also it is corrosion prevention if there is a breakthrough of Ecoat. It also helps your primer to adhere to the old paint to make sure your primer doesn't lift.

There are a million ways to skin a cat, I just like the way I have been doing it for 10+ years.

 

sealers arent used for corrosion protection. for bare metal it's epoxy primers/dtm primers/self etching primers for corrosion protection and adhesion. Sealer is a primer (and yes, aides in adhesion) but belongs in the finishing/topcoat process, meaning--on top of ecoats/old paint/primer surfacers... not below.


if u seal something first and then use primer surfacer on top, You risk leaving scratches that will show thru in the basecoat. what you're supposed to do is spray primer surfacer first, block it all out in the right grits, then spray sealer to seal it all up. leaving a uniformed layer for the basecoat/clearcoat. theres no reason to do it the other way around.

 

epoxy can be your sealer (I Don't know if I made that clear), but You would seal with epoxy reduced 10% (also corrosion protection if exposed metal), Prime, Block it out then Seal and base and clear. By putting primer directly to whatever's below it you run the risk of primer lifting and poor adhesion. Sand scratches will be removed in primer stages, if done correctly.

epoxy seal (reduced)
Prime
Seal (reduced)

I don't think were on the same page