DIY prepping for painting

[zabak80]

So I have begun the process of prepping the car for painting. I have most of the dings filled in or popped out, the panels realigned, and I am slowly nearing the final prep stages.

I will be taking the car to a "good" Maaco for the spray. However, I am doing the prep work myself and have a few questions:

What wash process should I use to make sure all gunk and grime is gone?

What grit sandpaper should I use for the final sanding?

How deep should I sand? Should it be light, medium or pretty hard?

What else should I accomplish up to the minute I drive it to the shop, assuming all dents are filled and everything else is primed.

Any final tips or tricks?

[zabak80]

If someone could let me know what grit to use for the final sand, it would be appreciated. Should it be 1500?

[ss109]

Are they priming it or are you priming it?

[zabak80]

Maaco just does the one coat, no primer. The car is already painted.

[RomanTaylor]

Sand it to the medal. (You probably want to use electrical buffer to sand whole car)
Primer it yourself if they won't do that for you.

[Mad Machine]

Originally Posted by zabak80

Maaco just does the one coat, no primer. The car is already painted.

Depends on the Maaco. The one near me will do custom work that has won awards... you just pay heavily for it

[RomanTaylor]

You might want to check out local repair shops. As an example my friend restore salvaged cars, they do filling, sanding, primer, paint with professional equipment. He said they would get my car done for about $1500-$2000. Besides I've heard many negative things about Maaco.
So call around and ask for estimate to get your car refinished.
Ask them for steps they take. If you are not planning on selling a car anytime soon you will regret cheap paint job.

[bondovw]

What wash process should I use to make sure all gunk and grime is gone? wax and grease remover

What grit sandpaper should I use for the final sanding? 600 wett

How deep should I sand? make it smooth with no deep sand scratches
What else should I accomplish up to the minute I drive it to the shop, Remove as many parts as you can , assuming all dents are filled and everything else is primed. If you use spray can primer use sem filling primer If you have a spargun evercoat g2 works well.
Any final tips or tricks? Use a block on flat areas and when you prep it. Also use a red scuff pad on anything you want the paint to stick on. Also do not strip it to metal unless you have to put bondo on the area.

[zabak80]

Thanks Bondovw.

So wet sand 600 grit. Would it hurt to do a 1000 grit sand, or does it need to be 600 to stick? I'm just afraid of major scratches showing up.

[bondovw]

600 should be fine, Just dont use a bucket , use a hose so it stays clean when you sand. If your really worried 800 would be ok, 1000 is a little fine. If you have scratches or chips they will need to be feathered out and primered.

[ceb]

...your questions indicate that you have no experience doing this type of work.

Prep is a vital part of the painting process and the final result will only be as good as the preparation. Do yourself a favor and have someone who knows what they are doing do this with you...

[weedshoes]

alot of painters will not paint what they didnt prep

[Itsablurr]

Originally Posted by zabak80

Any final tips or tricks?

Yes...


Block the panels again.


Then block the panels again.


...and one more time.


You are using blocks, correct? And sanding with a guide coat?










....then sand it once more to be sure. A good paint job is 99.9% the result of the quality of prep work. You can spray an $800 gallon of color over mediocre prep work and you'll end up with a mediocre paint job. You can spray a $50 gallon of color over perfect prep work, and you'll end up with a great looking car.

[zabak80]

Dropped it off at Maaco today.

Guy said that the body work was decent in most areas. I will have to have then correct a few of my errors on some of the curved areas, but overall, not bad.

[RNeil]

Sorry my advise comes too late, but I will add my 2 cents. 600 grit is a lot finer than you need for prep. I would have used 200 or 300. If you sand to bare metal, prime it immediately, even if they will prime it. Otherwise it will rust.

We are eager to hear about the final result!

[zabak80]

The Maaco in my area has a pretty good reputation. Meant I dropped it off yesterday.

The hood was jacked up due to a recent attempted burglary of some parts, which is where most of the cost is for them to smooth it out. One of those areas that I tried but failed.

I met with the guy the day after I dropped it off because they had called me with some concerns to bring to my attention before they even started to work on it. We went over every ding and dent and he explained what he would do and verified that the work was needed and showed me both visually and by touch.

Overall, using the Supreme paint special, it's going to be around $800 to bring it to excellent. It includes the value prep and $100 in body work. So I really only paid $200 to fix some major areas. Hell, I don't think most places could buy the supplies for that much. The Supreme is the polyu paint, not the lower enamel. Still has the integrated clear coat, but the Ultimate would have added $1,000 to the job to have two separate coats. 4 year gloss and peeling warranty too.

I was impressed by them calling me before starting and not just giving me some crappy painted product. Also, the guy seemed interested in his job and seemed like he wanted to give me a quality product. Out of the sight of the boss, he said he would take care of all the minor imperfections for no additional charge.

I am impressed with the service so far, now comes the real test, the final product........

[Mudflaps]

Ill be curious to see the result. Post pics when finished.

[ReLiCaRiO]

yes please post pictures when you get it. I've been thinking about doing the same thing. Hope it comes out well.

[RNeil]

This forum has some bad things to say about Macco, but I was happy with the job they did on my '91 Saturn.