Do-It-Yourself Paint Job questions..

[Gringo Bandido]

I like doing things myself rather than dragging my car down to the shop to pay someone to...

That being said, I'd like to re-paint my 89 Daytona. The original color is black, and it's going to need some light body work (dents/dings/scratches).

I'll have some extra time on my hands, consider myself somewhat competent, amd own a paint-gun and compressor. I also don't have show car quality in mind.
My goal in writing this is to collect knowledge/links of the steps and materials needed to complete my project. I.e., sandpaper grits, techniques to remove dents, etc.

Any help from those of you with this sort of knowledge that would like to share!?

[Dutch_SpecialiST]

Fore sanding use a eccentric sander, While sanding Don´t exceed the grit difference more than 100 P80 P(120-180) P(240-280) P(320-400) P500.

With dent's i recommend some imagination,I dont think u own the tool's fore that so i suggest a hammer and something like a small metal block to hamer dents out.

What u need :

eccentric Sander(would save alot of time).
Sanding paper.
Filler.
Primer.
Degreaser.
masking tape.

[6daytonas]

Prep & clean. Prep & clean and prep & clean some more...

Tons of useful info on youtube. Use good quality paints. I've had great success with Sherwin Williams auto paints. Remove and disassemble as much as possible. Take your time. I spent three months prepping my '92 Iroc R/T. Primed it in one day. One day of sanding. Base coat took one day. Clear took one day. One day of sanding and two days of buffing.

The prep work and post paint work will dominate the process. Take your time and you'll be amazed at how the finished product turns out.

[Gringo Bandido]

What's a good way of getting the peelign clearcoat off without damaging anything? I was thinking plastic putty knife?

[planetb]

As said above, youtube has a lot of info and prep and clean is your friend! I'm in the process of doing this to my Shelby Lancer right now and just removed the front end tonight. Already have the engine bay scuffed and prep'ed pretty good, but still got another couple hours of scuff pads (3M red) and sander (maybe some block sanding), if not more to go before I'm ready to 2k primer. I'm using simple green and water hose and following up with lacquer thinner while using the scuff pad and its removing all the oil and grease plus paint. Will follow up with a pressure washer later and then some grease and wax remover before a tack rage. Ordered most of my supplies from TCP Global - Quality & Service Since 1974 . Have not started to look at the body yet, but from doing our 1985 Shelby charger, block sanding using 180g up to 2000g until your fingers fall of is the key :) sand down to metal, 2k Primer, block sand, primer/sealer, block sand, base coat, wet block sand, another base coat, wet block sand and clear coat and wet block sand 3000g, buff.. We had lots of mistakes over the years and you learn fast. Seems like best time to paint is at night, but bugs become a big issue in the summer time. We made a paint booth in one of our garage bays, but still had dust issues. wet block sanding helped this a lot. using the proper reducer also helped a lot with runs and flash times.

[knightmoves]

if you look at my thread in the 3,0 section called "new toy" you'll see my 87 T top daytona that i just painted black with purple pearl accent. the big think is prep. good prep can make a worthless painter look good. bad prep can make a great painter look like a joke!!!

to paint you need a DA(double action) sander.
filler for the dents
filler primer for the scratches
primer sealer to seal the old paint from the new
paint color your daytona's paint code should be PX8
reducer for the color
clear coat
hardener for the clear
masking tape 3M green for auto body.
masking paper for auto body. don't use news paper!!!
sand paper 6 inch adhesive backed for the DA sander. you don't want to go past 320 grit. with only dings and scratches you wont need any thing more that that. the peeling clear is called paint delamanation. it happens when the color is given to much time to dry and the clear has nothing to bond to. so it peels off!! you will need to sand it all the way off till you get to good paint. most of the time the peeling will end about 1/2 the way down the cars side. the hood,roof,trunk lid,tops of the fenders,doors and quarters. once the car is sanded it is time to clean. use a good paint prep cleaner. use compressed air to blow out cracks and holes. remove all the lights,reflectors,mirrors,radio antennas,moldings,and so on. tape the car up and clean it again! then clean it again. then clean it again!!! trust me on this if any dirt is missed it WILL end up in your paint!!!!! read the paints mixing instructions and dry times and stick to them strictly!!!

[6g72 acclaim]

Don't forget CLEAN!!!! Wax and grease remover, tack rags (for dust).

A dirty or greasy surface will lead to many issues. Biggest I've had was fish-eye all over the hood of my moms monte carlo, when I forgot to W&G remover it = wet sand = respray = late night = bad day. Lol

[Jakecs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gringo Bandido What's a good way of getting the peelign clearcoat off without damaging anything? I was thinking plastic putty knife?

Just sand it the clear.

My advice: Clean and degrease at least once before you begin sanding. Watch your corners on the sander.

For dents, just bondo that sheeeiiit. I used a couple spots of bondo in areas where my dents couldn't be accessed from behind.

Use good paint. Don't cheap out on the paint, and clear. Thats the worst thing you can do. Even if you make mistakes painting, which you will, you'll at least have a car with paint that'll last a long time.

Also, maybe consider another color besides black lol. Its the worst color for everything besides looks.

[Gringo Bandido]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakecs Just sand it the clear. My advice: Clean and degrease at least once before you begin sanding. Watch your corners on the sander. For dents, just bondo that sheeeiiit. I used a couple spots of bondo in areas where my dents couldn't be accessed from behind. Use good paint. Don't cheap out on the paint, and clear. Thats the worst thing you can do. Even if you make mistakes painting, which you will, you'll at least have a car with paint that'll last a long time. Also, maybe consider another color besides black lol. Its the worst color for everything besides looks.

I don't want to stray from the original color, why is is black the worst? Isn't your C/S that you re-painted black? It's part of the inspiration to re-do mine!

[Gringo Bandido]

Quote:

Originally Posted by knightmoves if you look at my thread in the 3,0 section called "new toy" you'll see my 87 T top daytona that i just painted black with purple pearl accent. the big think is prep. good prep can make a worthless painter look good. bad prep can make a great painter look like a joke!!! to paint you need a DA(double action) sander. filler for the dents filler primer for the scratches primer sealer to seal the old paint from the new paint color your daytona's paint code should be PX8 reducer for the color clear coat hardener for the clear masking tape 3M green for auto body. masking paper for auto body. don't use news paper!!! sand paper 6 inch adhesive backed for the DA sander. you don't want to go past 320 grit. with only dings and scratches you wont need any thing more that that. the peeling clear is called paint delamanation. it happens when the color is given to much time to dry and the clear has nothing to bond to. so it peels off!! you will need to sand it all the way off till you get to good paint. most of the time the peeling will end about 1/2 the way down the cars side. the hood,roof,trunk lid,tops of the fenders,doors and quarters. once the car is sanded it is time to clean. use a good paint prep cleaner. use compressed air to blow out cracks and holes. remove all the lights,reflectors,mirrors,radio antennas,moldings,and so on. tape the car up and clean it again! then clean it again. then clean it again!!! trust me on this if any dirt is missed it WILL end up in your paint!!!!! read the paints mixing instructions and dry times and stick to them strictly!!!

Great info! I'm sure once this begins I'll start my own thread about it and you all can help me along the way!

[danbyrambler]

Read every thing you can find & then think about all of it - Lots of "Sounds good" advice out there - After the job is over & while in progress you'll be understanding lots more about everything - Next paint job will be easier & you'll learn some more & so it goes. Anyway, always block sand except where not possible - Wet sanding's worth it IMHO - A straight line sander is a fine tool to have - How big is your compressors tank? DAs and Straight lines are air hogs - Know your guns tip size? Have next size up & down? Got a GOOD air/water filter? Gonna paint inside? Have an exaust system rigged? Low mounted lights so you can really see what's going on down there? So many, many things - maybe the very best is a friend who's been there. Here's a link for the best filler/primer I've come across-Stuff's magic - not cheap but really, really worth it - doesn't shrink & it's a filler & a Primer - Clausen | The World's Premier Polyester Glazing Putties & Autobody Fillers

Prep work IS tedious-Gonna be some frustration, make you rethink having it done-BUT tons of satisfaction afterwards - Good Luck & post progress

[6daytonas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gringo Bandido I don't want to stray from the original color, why is is black the worst? Isn't your C/S that you re-painted black? It's part of the inspiration to re-do mine!

Black will show every flaw in your work from a great distance away. The other end of the spectrum is white - it hides a lot of flaws unless you are right on top of it. All other colors fall in between with lighter colors being more forgiving.

Black will show every wave in a body panel, every nick you missed, sanding marks, bondo marks that aren't completely flat, clear coat runs, etc.

If you are going to paint the car black and want it to look good from less than 30 feet away, double your prep time and add another two hours to be safe.

[Jakecs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gringo Bandido I don't want to stray from the original color, why is is black the worst? Isn't your C/S that you re-painted black? It's part of the inspiration to re-do mine!

Yeah I was kind of joking, but black is the most difficult color. Every defect and mistake shows up under certain a light.

Don't stop prepping lol. You can never prep too much.

[Gringo Bandido]

How does one remove side-molding? And when removing it is there any care to take so that it can be re-applied or does everyone just get new molding?

[Gringo Bandido]

This is the molding in question. It seems after 23 years of weathering the only solution is to replace it?



For those concerned, the rear tire was filled with air after taking this picture..